A New Year, Many Books To Read & Reviews...

2013 is here and whatever this means to you in terms of goals, I will have to admit my first thought was I will read and read and read...Reading happens to be a perfect vehicle for dreaming and I am such a dreamer...

There are many new books appearing on the market for this year and I am happy to see most will be available in the format I prefer: hardbacks or even paperbacks. So far I am not convinced ebooks are the thing for me (albeit I realize for students or commuters it must a life saver!).

Having read my share of duds (when will I stop reaching for a book because of the appeal of its intriguing cover or tantalizing resume?) I try to remember ONLY the ones I enjoyed and of course the ones I anticipate (more on those further on).

We all have different tastes and anticipations when reading a novel but I believe we shall agree we look for a diversion from the humdrum of everyday life. Mystery, Fiction, Non Fiction, Biography or Autobigography, Historical Fiction, Romance or Self Help etc...There is no right and wrong upon choices in most cases (albeit I stir away from expletives and violent situations personally and there are some genres I cannot see myself reaching for! Our society is violent and perverse enough!)

As to the definition of a good book...

It all depends on the passion of the author...Any avid reader will tell you it is obvious from chapter one the writer enjoyed writing the story or not. Did he/she feel a relationship with his/her characters? Did he/she believe in the story? The amount of research done is always a giveaway in my opinion.
Was there a message to pass on to readers and how clear does it come through...

I could go on and on but since we are all different, here is a list of what I like in a book...

History!!!
Romance
Locales
A little mystery
Strong protagonists
Nasty antagonists
Triumph of good over evil
Dialogues!!!
Interesting plot!
Unusual endings
Closure (I am wary of sagas)
Humorous characters
Cliffhanger chapter endings

What I do not like in a book...

Politics
Racist and self serving plots and extreme comments
Expletives!!!!
Violence
Ghosts (or vampires!)
Clichés
Poorly described (or not at all) locales, characters and plots
Writers who preach about their beliefs through their characters
Endings that don’t really end (problems with sagas again!)
Selfish and insipid characters

It seems to me that logically if a writer enjoyed writing her/his book I will enjoy just as much reading it!
So grab a good book and read! It matters little if you read a few lines or a few chapters at the time just immerse yourself and dream...

For those of us who follow Sarah Sundin's work closely, her next book is coming out in August 2013! (see announcement HERE)
A heartfelt article written by Sarah about 'Unsung Heroes' can be read (HERE) as well ! (just a hint, you will find the article in question on pages 79, 80 and 81 - there are however some great reviews from other well known authors).