For Love of a Good Story

Ever have one of those weeks or months where you really try to settle into a book to read and you just can't seem to get into anything? Yep, I'm there now. I can't tell you how many books I've picked up off the shelf in both my home and at the library and about 2 chapters in (if that much) I put it down uninterested in the characters or flow or anything that's going on.

One of these was as book I'd read years ago, but it was so long I only remember the cover and not the particular story. Then there was the new one by Michael Crichton that deals with pirates in 1665 Port Royale. Now, I'm a huge MC fan. The fact he's putting out books two years after his death either says he stock-piled manuscripts like the rest of us do, or the publisher's wheels were slow to turn. I think it's the former (partly due to what I read in the book flap) but mostly because two chapters into the book and we're still at the governor's mansion getting the dude ready to go to a hanging. Defineately not the fast-paced reading I've come to expect from his books. No intrigue. No nothing. Were they afraid to edit him since he had died? I don't know. Deceased or not, not all the words he'd written were precious. Throw the ones out that didn't work. That's all I'm asking. Anyhoo, that book languishes in my workbag waiting for me to return it to the library.

There's also been numerous sci-fi by some of my favorite authors, but I started reading and I'm like...boring. Why? What is this sudden case of reader's ennui I've developed? I love to read and it's making it not so enjoyable for me at the moment.

Could part of the problem be that I'm rushing forward on my own work, trying to get as much done as possible before my surgery next month? Maybe. At the end of the day, my head is so full of my own stories, there isn't room to fill it with anyone else's work.

We'll see. Maybe during my stretch off I'll go to the library and try again. What's the worst that can happen? I don't like the books and have to return them? - *sigh*

Sign me,

Searching for an Engaging Read