Lately I’ve been trying to make a dent in the towering stack of books beside my bed. This pile consists of new books that I’ve set aside “to be read” and also some old “keepers” that I’m reevaluating to see if I still want to keep them (or make shelf-space for new ones). Unfortunately, my husband gets upset if I suggest simply buying more bookcases:)
So last night I found myself reading a book I’ve had sitting by the bed for a year, and I got to the part where the hero and heroine meet and he is intensely attracted to her. And suddenly, I felt that excitement, the knowledge that I LOVED these characters and wanted to keep reading all night and stay in this world. I wanted to vicariously experience this love affair and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.
Of course, I eventually had to sleep, but when I woke up this morning and saw the book on my bedside table, I found myself wishing I could spend the day reading. I’m now completely caught up in the story and can’t wait to get back to it – I even find myself rationalizing why I can put off writing my own book to read that one... And every once in a while I catch myself thinking about the book and get that jolt of anticipation and excitement that I have a great book to read tonight. It is exactly this feeling that makes us love reading – and writing. It makes me wonder how people can not like reading. Haven’t they ever experienced this?
9 comments:
Yes, Gail, I have experienced exactly that feeling! It's amazing and exciting that someone else's words can have that effect on a total stranger, isn't it? It's something I hope I can accomplish with my own books. Almost magic, huh?
That's exactly what I love; when I can completely lose myself in a story and the characters. So much I'm thinking about them long after I finish a book. ( Which is far harder than it was when I first started writing, because I'm much more apt to analyze how a writer put a story together.) So, are you going to share the title with us?
It was Ransom by Julie Garwood. Even though I don't write historicals, I love to read them.
Don't you hate it when life gets in the way of a really good book?
Alfie
The last book I stayed up until the wee hours reading was Tess Gerritsen's VANISH.
I have about 300 books to read on my TBR shelves . . . don't think I'll get to all.
I was that way with Christina Dodd's book, My Fair Temptress. Once the hero and heroine met -- watch out! But don't you guys find that you need to get away from your own writing once in awhile and read something purely for pleasure? I consider it allowing time for my creative well to fill with magical water again. One author recently told me that she hadn't read for pleasure in two years! I think I would die of thirst if I had to wait that long to refill that drinking well!
Gloria, I think that's why I like reading historicals so much; they are very different from the contemporary romances I write.
I went on a major Lisa Kleypas binge recently; it's been so lovely to escape into the world of lords and ladies. I just got her latest book and I'm being very careful about when I start it because I know I'll have Gail's problem: I won't want to put it down. That's a wonderful and exciting feeling but tomorrow's my husband's birthday and he might be a little annoyed if I spend the day with my nose in a book instead of baking his cake.
I do that more often than I like to admit. It's almost like I get a "book enduced" form of insomnia, and I can barely sleep until the book is finished. Now, my husband just thinks I get occasional bouts of insomnia, and I'm not telling him any different...
Oh, yes, that's the feeling that made me first want to write. I've been having the same problem with my books on tape I borrowed from the library for my walking. Even after I finish walking, I want to just sit down and continue listening.
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