One of my favorite things to do is read a good book, but I
have a short attention span, so it takes a lot to draw me in and hold my
interest long enough to read past the first page, let alone finish a book. I’ve
thought a lot lately about what it is that entices me to read an entire novel,
and I’ve come up with a few things that captivate me as a reader that I’m
trying to incorporate into my own writing.
- I read
some books purely for the beautiful language. I may not be that interested in the story or the characters, but
the language lulls me. For instance, reading Ally Condie’s Matched
trilogy is like riding a raft down a gentle river, the way her words float
across the page enthralls me. Crossed, the second book in the Matched series starts out “I’m standing in a river.
It’s blue. Dark blue. Reflecting the color of the evening sky. I don’t
move. The river does. It pushes against me and hisses through the grass at
the water’s edge.” Notice how the words flow, smoothly, rhythmically, like
a river. You can see it. Feel it. Hear it.
- Another
thing that grabs me like a Pitbull and won’t let go is a unique ,
engaging voice. I just finished
reading Supernaturally, the second book in the Paranormalcy series. The fun voice is part of what carried
me through the first two books. It starts out “Oh, bleep. I was going to
die.” Whenever the MC swears she says bleep. Cute. Original.
- Then
there are those books I read simply because I adore one of the
characters. And it might not even be
the main character. Even more than the voice in Paranormalcy,
I liked one particular character, who only popped up once in a while and
is portrayed as bad, but whenever this character came on the scene, I
cheered. In James Dashner’s Maze Runner, my daughter fell in love with one of the side characters and
followed him through to the end of the series.
- Humor is another thing that compels me to read. Even
though horrific things happen in Maze Runner, there’s a lot
of humor in the dialogue, thoughts, and actions of the characters that
tickled my ribs and made me laugh out loud. I especially enjoyed the made
up swearwords like “klunk” and “shuck”. One hilarious character named
Jorge cracked me up every time he opened his mouth.
- The
story itself, the plot, can hook
me and reel me in. Hunger Games is one of those books where
the plot, more than anything else, is why I couldn’t put it down.
- My
favorite books, the page-turners, have several or all of these strengths
combined. Plot, character, voice, humor, great writing. Some examples of
brilliant books I could read over and over again are: Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale, Jane Eyre, Lord of the Rings. The Poisonwood Bible, and Harry Potter.
