Writer's Workshop: Binge Reading
Somehow Tuesday passed me by and it's nearly Thursday already! I took a quick run over to Mama's Losin' It to see what prompts she put up for this week. I decided on the last one (again):
Book Review Time! What winter read has you snuggled in and turning pages?
Well...
As you may or may not recall, I decided to let go of Facebook (et al) and Netflix (et al) in order to attempt to live a bit more deliberately. See, they were taking up so much of my time that I was getting absolutely nothing accomplished (with the exception of feeding the animals [it seems they need to eat every day! Who knew?], cleaning the litter boxes [because ew], and the occasional load of laundry [so I didn't have to wear my bathing suit under my pajamas to work]). My addiction to social media and just plain old media was all-consuming and, if I'm honest, a bit mindless.
So, on January 2nd, they went bye-bye.
Sniff.
And since January 2nd, I have read... 24 books, y'all.
Yes. I said TWENTY-FOUR.
Yes, I know it's only been 20 days.
Clearly, I just traded in one addiction for another.
Sigh.
Around the 15th or so, I started to wonder if this was really any better than binge watching murder mystery after murder mystery on Britbox. I decided it probably wasn't, but I was happy to realize that my attention span hadn't shrunk to that of a toddler's. On speed. Like I thought. Seriously, when you spend all evening on the Internet, hitting refresh over and over, and jumping from FB to Instagram to Twitter, you do start to wonder if there's such a thing as late onset Attention Deficit Disorder. But I'm proud (or at least relieved) to say that not only can I get through 300 pages in one sitting, I can start the next 300 with only a pee break.
That's something, right?
And? I have even forgotten to eat.
Me.
Forgot to eat.
What in the fresh hell, people?!
Now, I'm not going to lie and tell you I've been reading scholarly tomes like War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and Great Expectations.
Nope.
I've been reading a lot of Kindle freebies... of the murder mystery genre... you know, just like the television programs I watch (and I got suckered in to paying for a few of the "next in the series" titles, but only if I really liked them). Also on my reading list were a few actual paper and ink books.
Most of them were actually really good. Only four of the freebies were less than stellar (and made me think I should consider book editing in the self-publishing arena as a future career path). They were a series, written by the same author, and I really did think they had potential (but if they hadn't been free, I wouldn't have read past the first one). They also prompted my first ever Amazon review (if, for no other reason, to say that the editing was utterly appalling).
But tonight I'll tell you about the series that kept me going for just shy of a week (and I'm telling you about them mostly because I just finished them and I can remember them reasonably well; the ones from two weeks ago are a bit fuzzy).
The series was written by a husband and wife team (Melissa and Kevin Hill) who publish under the pseudonym Casey Hill. The books are set in Dublin, Ireland, and center around a forensic investigator called Reilly Steel. She's an American, transplanted on the emerald isle, and she works closely with the police, solving some pretty gruesome murders.
As with the crappy series, the editing left a lot to be desired (I think that's just typical for self-published titles), but, unlike the crappy series, the writing was solid enough. Given that I read so many mysteries, I judge them by how quickly I can figure out the murderer. If I can do it before I'm halfway through, chances are I'm going to give the book a big thumbs down. With this series, I was unsure until very close to the end, at least with the first four books. Good stuff. With the last three, I figured it all out much more quickly. I'm not sure if I'd just become accustomed to the writing style and recognized the writers' tells, or if the storytelling just got a bit shoddy. The books all came out pretty close together and it seems to me that when you're rushing like that, quality is going to slip.
I thought it was interesting that the authors, who are Irish, chose to write a main character who is from the U.S. They did well for the most part but there were a few slips in the dialog, where she used an Irish expression instead of an American one, or when she claimed not to know an expression that she certainly should have heard, having been in Ireland for a while at that point. But they were small issues, really, and only mildly annoying.
Reilly Steel's personal life was significantly more annoying, however. The way she handled relationships and her own feelings didn't quite ring true for me, but I didn't read the books for any sort of romance. I do think, though, that if you're going to include it, you shouldn't pussyfoot around it. It made me want to slap her a little.
All in all, though, I'd recommend the books if you're just looking for quick, cheap escapism. I think four or five of them were free with a Kindle Unlimited subscription, and the others were $4.99. The titles are as follows (and I think this is the right order):
Serial
Victim
Hidden
The Watched
Trace
Aftermath
Endgame
Other than these, the books I've read this month are:
Lying in Wait by Liz Nugent (paperback)
Watching You by Lisa Jewell (paperback)
The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter (Kindle)
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman (paperback)
The Roommates by Rachel Sargeant (Kindle)
When We Were Worthy by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen (Kindle)
Watching Over Me by MK Farrar and MA Comely (Kindle)
Follow You Home by Mark Edwards (Kindle)
Nine Elms by Robert Bryndza (Kindle)
Unspeakable Things by Jess Lourey (Kindle)
Kindle Series by Patti Battison (it was OK but not great)- Silent Grave, Obsessed, Desperate
Kindle Series by Sally Rigby (this was the crappy one) - Deadly Games, Fatal Justice, Death Track, and Lethal Secret
And tonight I'll finish a paperback by Sara Blaedel, set in Denmark, called The Running Girl.
As I mentioned, nearly all of them were quite good. I loved Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, which was not a mystery (shocker), and was a book club read. The characters (especially Eleanor) were utterly charming and the storytelling was drawn-out in the best possible way. I recommended it to several friends, all of whom enjoyed it.
After I finish the book I'm on, I'm going to switch genres, I think. I'm chasing murderers in my sleep and yesterday, when Pippy knocked over his bowl of food, I told him he'd contaminated my crime scene with his kibble.
(For the record, my kitchen doesn't really look like a crime scene. I swear.)
Anyway, I downloaded Sarah Millican's book, How to be Champion, after seeing her on Graham Norton. I hope she's as hilarious in writing as she in person (because she makes me laugh so hard, I weep).
So, that's me and what I've been up to. Not too much deliberation happening, I have to admit. I'm going to slow it down a bit and try to do, you know, other things. I'm not sure what. But something.
Anyhoo... what about you? Read anything good lately?
XO,
Actually, I think reading is probably the better binge as it increases your vocabulary and keeps your brain more active. It makes you smarter, sharper.
ReplyDeleteYes. We'll go with that! :)
DeleteMy wife reads a lot of Kindle freebies (she can read two or three in a sitting) and has the same complaint. It drives me crazy that there are people who care so little about their readers that they let something that hasn't been at least edited for SPaG errors and to fix things like Julie having blue eyes on one page and brown eyes on another. And that goes double in spades for books you pay to read. I keep trying to get Mary to leave reviews on Amazon, but ...
ReplyDeleteYes! That's exactly how I feel. Even in the good series I talked about, there were several errors where two of the main characters (detectives/partners) got mixed up. At one point, Detective Chris Delaney was talking to himself (!) and at another, his partner had his name changed from Pete Kennedy to Pete Delaney (!). Gah! I would hope the reviews would help, but I don't know. I had to wonder, after reading the other (5 star) reviews on the one I reviewed 1) if the other reviewers read the same book I did, 2) if they were all personal friends of the author, or 3) if they've actually read a quality mystery (or book, even!). I know it's all subjective, but still! I really do think I might try my hand at editing for the self-publishing industry. I've done it on a smaller scale, so it's not new to me. And honestly, I couldn't be worse than some of them out there!
DeleteI rarely read unless it's something for work, or kids books to my class which I love doing! I found reading a good book more restrictive than technology!! If I get stuck into a good book it is far too consuming and NOTHING gets done. Now, I usually limit my reading to school holidays but then its tricky to find the 'right one'. I also get the guilts, feeling like I should be doing something else more 'productive'😂 Every holidays I think I will catch up on scrapbooking, but all those other 'productive'things get in the way😂🙄. And, although it's not a book but it almost is because it's told as if it was a script, go see The Gentlemen if you haven't seen it yet!!😊
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of The Gentleman but I looked it up and I'm now planning to see it. And not just because it has Matthew McConaughot in it. Really. I swear. Also, is this Anne H.?
DeleteFirst, I miss you on Facebook, even though I'm not on it that much. It's weird to not see anything from you at all. (Yes, I realize I can talk to you anyway I want.)
ReplyDeleteI did read Eleanor Oliphant and can I tell you? I wasn't impressed. I didn't find her charming at all. I know that's what she was supposed to be, but I just couldn't accept it. There were a couple of things that really bothered me. Like, she's so unaware of everything pop culture-y, but she said that eating in cafe (or wherever she was...a coffee shop?) was like being in an American sit-com. Based on the countless regular things she didn't know, how would she know what an American sit-com is like? I could see the thing about her mom coming from a mile away. Her alcoholism was treated kind of weirdly and then not really addressed in her therapy. The writing wasn't great either. I don't know. I realize I'm alone in my thoughts on it, and I can get behind a fluffy novel if it satisfies, but this one didn't for me. I did like Raymond, though. I feel like if people read it a second time, they'd have a different opinion. Of course, this is just my opinion. It's going to be a movie with Reese Witherspoon producing it, so clearly it's touched a lot of people. It was a palate cleanser after reading Midnight in Chernobyl, though!
I like Lisa Jewell, and recently read both The Family Upstairs and I Found You. I liked the female leads in both of those books. I like the Karin Slaughter Grant County and Will Trent series, and her non-series books too. I recently read The Last Widow by her. Dervla McTiernan is good too (The Ruin and The Scholar).
You know I love non-fiction too, and last week I saw a guy in the elevator of the doctor's office (because I'm always at one or another) with a book in his hand, and I blurted, "What Erik Larson are you reading?" He politely showed me his book. I nodded and said, "Ah. Dead Wake. The Lusitania." He's got a new book coming out next month about Winston Churchill and The Blitz. I get so excited when one of my favorites has a new book coming!
Right now I'm reading Dragonfly by Leila Meacham about a team of OSS officers in France during WWII. It's good so far.
So there.
I miss you on FB, too! I miss everyone on FB. I'm not sure if it's because I've committed to stay away for a year that the missing is worse, as when I take little breaks, it's not so bad. Sniff.
DeleteRE Eleanor Oliphant, we all know you is weird. Erm... I mean 'gifted.' You is gifted.
The Family Upstairs is on my list, as I read another one by her recently (Then She was Gone) and really liked it, too. I know you love your non-fiction... it's generally not my thing, but I've read a few good ones in the last while. Have you read Educated by Tara Westover? You probably have but if not, do. You'll like it. And I read Code Girls by Liza Mundy, about the female codebreakers during WWII. Good stuff.
Reading Ribbons of Scarlet for book club which is a novel of the French Revolution written from the point of view of women, each one written by a separate author, but it moves seamlessly through time as you read each story. I've enjoyed it although not quite finished with it. Of course we're meeting tonight, so I guess it will be more wine club than book club for me!
ReplyDeleteYou've gotta love book clubs where there's wine! I've not heard of that book but I'll look for it!
DeleteI need to get back into reading - I'm reading a silly murder mystery right now, which is a quick read. I have a mile-high pile of unread books awaiting me - but I have to admit that sci-fi tv shows are more appealing right now!! But I'm going to make a goal to read more this year!!!
ReplyDeleteI love sci-fi television but not so much sci-fi reading. Dunno why.
DeleteI have that mile-high stack, too. I'm bound and determined to get through it this year!
Have you read "The Silent Patient"? It is good.
ReplyDelete