I am a voracious reader; but I am also a very picky reader. I have a set group of authors I like to read with occasional ventures into certain topics or themes.
One of the authors I like is Dale Brown. He is former Air Force and writes military thrillers filled with futuristic “toys and gadgets”.
I am less than 25 pages from finishing “Dreamland: Retribution”. A book I intend to finish today! Dreamland is a real place – maybe by a different name – in the Las Vegas area not too far from Nellis Air Force base.
One thing I frequently see when reading bad reviews – why read the good ones, I already know I am interested in the book – is that the story line isn’t believable or that the author spends too much time describing things. Well how else are you going to know where the scene takes place???
Another favourite author of mine is Alistair MacLean who can spend pages describing a specific arean but when it comes to violence, he is very sparing. A line he frequently uses is “a rose formed on his forehead.” No big gory descriptions and you know exactly what happened.
MacLean doesn’t use a lot of profanity either. He has two lines he uses for such a character…”he carried on a dialog that was unprintable” or “he cussed for five minutes and never said the same word twice.”
A lot can be said for such writing. There are descriptions of what is happening and where it takes place and then there is “blood and guts” that goes beyond what is needed.
Well, it says right up front that the book if a work of fiction…it is supposed to be “out there”. When writing for television, the first thing you learn is “the willing suspension of disbelief”. For me, reading is a form of enjoyment – real or not – and a way to learn some things. Even a work of fiction has some elements of truth in them…or at least the authors I read do. I love it when a fictional character is put into a real life event.
When I finish this 421 page book I began last Sunday, it will be book number 50 this year! I read on a Kindle and the Kindle app keeps track of my reading. It tells me that I have completed 49 books so far this year and that I have read 1,168 days in a row! Kindle also likes to make recommendations for the next book when I finish one; only problem is I have already started a new one by the time it gives me a “recommendation”.
My next book was going to be a Clive Cussler book but I downloaded a “Star Trek” original series book the other day and am going to read that one. I try to read something light weight after reading a complicated book; especially something that “makes me think”.
One thing is for sure…I will never run out of books to read. My Kindle is filled with a few hundred books including the entire Gabriel Allon series from Daniel Silva; and books from Clive Cussler, Jack Higgins, James Rollins, Dale Brown, Dan Brown, “Star Trek”, Elizabeth George, Tom Clancy, and W.E.B. Griffin.
I have a Kindle and I never leave home without it. You never know when you will have to wait and can get in a few pages of reading. 🙂