Beem Weeks's Blog - Posts Tagged "bad-books"
Writing Reviews
I'm currently perusing that big box of books I've collected and read over the past twenty years or so, with the intention of reviewing them here on Goodreads.
Some are quite memorable, an easy review to post. Others, well, truth be told, I've forgotten plots, characters, or whether or not they were any good.
The cool thing is rediscovering a great read I'd let lapse from memory. In some cases it's as if I'm reading it again for the first time. I think that would be a phenomenal gift to possess: the ability to read a great novel, erase the mind, and read it again. And it would work for amazing movies as well. I'd use it for the Nicole Kidman film The Others. What a twist at the end--which is only a twist with that first viewing. If you haven't seen that film, I highly recommend it. (Yeah, it's a slow build, but the payoff at the end is worth every second invested.)
Anyway, I've read some really fantastic novels over the years--some awful ones as well. I used to order books by the bulk from a catalog some years back. The main thing I learned from that experience is that a hardcover book that sells for $1.99 is usually worth less. I didn't keep those bad ones around, so I won't be reviewing them. And that's a shame. It would have been quite fun to put the screws to truly horrible examples of writing--like the novel that began chapter one with the word "the" used no less that fifty times within the opening scene. (No joke. This scene only covered a page and a half.)
So as I continue digging out those dusty remains from decades past I'll post my recollections on my Goodreads page. Hopefully these reviews will encourage others to give a read to one or more of my favorites. Keep reading--and writing!
Some are quite memorable, an easy review to post. Others, well, truth be told, I've forgotten plots, characters, or whether or not they were any good.
The cool thing is rediscovering a great read I'd let lapse from memory. In some cases it's as if I'm reading it again for the first time. I think that would be a phenomenal gift to possess: the ability to read a great novel, erase the mind, and read it again. And it would work for amazing movies as well. I'd use it for the Nicole Kidman film The Others. What a twist at the end--which is only a twist with that first viewing. If you haven't seen that film, I highly recommend it. (Yeah, it's a slow build, but the payoff at the end is worth every second invested.)
Anyway, I've read some really fantastic novels over the years--some awful ones as well. I used to order books by the bulk from a catalog some years back. The main thing I learned from that experience is that a hardcover book that sells for $1.99 is usually worth less. I didn't keep those bad ones around, so I won't be reviewing them. And that's a shame. It would have been quite fun to put the screws to truly horrible examples of writing--like the novel that began chapter one with the word "the" used no less that fifty times within the opening scene. (No joke. This scene only covered a page and a half.)
So as I continue digging out those dusty remains from decades past I'll post my recollections on my Goodreads page. Hopefully these reviews will encourage others to give a read to one or more of my favorites. Keep reading--and writing!
