Reading Pt. 3

Like most people, I read a variety of genres and authors. What do I look for in what I read?

I think I’d have to answer that question this way: I want a good story.

I’ve read self-published books with grammar and spelling errors but finished them anyway because the story was excellent. Likewise, I’ve read books by bestselling authors where everything was professional, from the slipjacket to the title page to the font for the text, but stopped partway through because the story was not good. In my opinion, of course.

My favorite author is Louis L’Amour. He wrote a lot of westerns during his lifetime, as well as a few adventure and mystery novel, but it is the stories of the American frontier for which he is best known. Safe to say he’s probably not at the top of the all-time best author list for any literary critics.

Why does he rank so high on my list? Because he told great stories.

His tales didn’t have to be complex with interwoven plot lines and surprise endings. He told stories about people. To me reading one of his books, which I still do, is like sitting around a campfire with someone telling a tale, the old oral tradition of passing along stories. Granted, some of his books had similar plotlines or characters you feel could be the narrator from another of his books, but in some ways that’s actually a good thing. It’s like eating comfort food.

Each of us knows what we like in our choice of reading. I pick what I like and live by the phrase that life is too short to read bad books. I know I’m not giving advice in this blog, but that right there is gold.