I'm a fan of book reviews, if only to gather up some titles of new offerings so that I can be more efficient at the library. It's a slow go if you don't have any idea what you're looking at as you peruse the spines in the new releases section. And once I get the book home, I'd rather not waste my reading time on something that has a plot I won't like - say, medical examiner solving mysterious murder.
There's another thing about pairing the review to the actual novel. By reading both, I can see how the book gets distilled down to a query-like essence, with the reviewer using some words and phrases that sum up story line and plot. As always, I'm looking for a bit of learning. The whole reading for pleasure thing is out the window.
With that in mind, the next book I read is going to be Kate Atkinson's latest, One Good Turn. It's not that the plot is intriguing or the characters of the sort that I could relate to. No, I'm going to read her book because the NYT review indicates it has multiple story lines and the writer does a good job in keeping everyone in line.
The first thing I thought of when I read the review is that I could learn something from this novel. How does one go about weaving separate plots in a book? Two unrelated characters appear in one scene together, and then are given their own story lines to follow, but how exactly does that work properly? Within the confines of the novel, all the disparate stories come together, and I can get a sense of how to do that by reading this book. Not reading it for enjoyment, no, but I will treat the novel as if it were part of a homework assignment.
In a way, I'm just part of the home school movement. Continuing education, so to speak.
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