Reading, Writing, but No 'rithmatic

I can’t decide which I enjoy more, reading or writing. It’s pretty much a tossup. So this week I come to you as a reader.

Over the past week I’ve read books whose authors I wasn’t familiar with, and I’m glad I did.

Someone recommended Victoria Thompson, and I tried her first book. I found that she’s a wonderful writer and I’ve already ordered her second book. She does a great job of portraying an earlier era, and setting scenes to remember.

Anyone who knows me knows that at this stage in my life my preference is something with a little humor. There’s enough real drama in everyday life already.  Some of my favorite authors write nothing but drama, and that’s okay. I’m already hooked on their writing.

While there was no humor in Thompson’s book, the drama grabbed me. So sue me. I read something with drama instead of humor.

Then I read a guest blog by Cindy Sample, and had to try her series. I think my daughter will try one of her books, too, because Sample kept me laughing. I’ll be ordering her second book, too.

Carolyn J. Rose has tickled my funny bone, too. Her Substitute Teacher books are quite entertaining. (Love the dog in the stories. His name is Cheese Puff, and the name fits.)

The characters in all of these books are memorable and leave me wanting more.

How some authors can be constantly humorous surprises me. There was an author, who shall remain nameless, whose humor really brightened my day. Unfortunately, he or she became quite repetitious after several books and began changing his or her style. He or she had her characters doing things, or they had things done to them, that just burst my bubble. (I handled not revealing the author’s name pretty well, I thought.)

There’s one itty bitty thing that really annoys me when I’m reading, and it has nothing to do with the authors named above. I’m annoyed with myself. Before I started writing, I seemed to miss typos and errors, for the most part. Since I began writing, I catch things that should be corrected. It takes a little of the fun out of reading.

I’ve also learned that it’s not always the author’s fault. You can submit a manuscript and somehow things change a bit in the transmission. Yes, I’ve found typos that seem to pop up on their own. Go figure. I even went back to check the original manuscript in one case and son-of-a-gun, the original didn’t have the error.

So give authors a break when you read their material. Please. No, this has nothing to do with me, but with books in general. I hate being so gnit gpicky, or is it knit kpicky, or is it nit picky(?) when reading.  Okay, I’m chuckling to myself. It’s nitpicky or nit-picky. Take your pick.

Being nit picky doesn’t stop me from reviewing books; however, I won’t review every book I read for two reasons. The first is that if I don’t like a book, I won’t review it. I have a large To Be Read stack, so if I haven’t done a review, it doesn’t mean I didn’t like the book. It means I probably haven’t gotten to it. And, if I see that an author has plenty of reviews already (in the hundreds) I probably won’t review the book. It’s already been done many times. Well, maybe I’ll add it to my reviews on Goodreads.

So that’s it for this week. I’m a reader first. Hmm. Maybe I’m a writer first. Maybe there’s a tie. Maybe I’m too picky. Maybe I should try changing my reading habits.

I’m sighing loudly now, and ready to get back to reading.

Are you picky as a reader? As a writer?

Until next week, read a good book, review it, and enjoy your next book, too.

CLICK HERE to visit Marja McGraw’s website

CLICK HERE for a quick trip to Amazon.com

Just a suggestion, but you might want to take a look at the book trailer for Old Murders Never Die at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTBOpzq-wDM . The music is haunting and so is the story. While it’s not a new book, it’s still worth a look.