Do you read random things?

[Sinisa]

It's a bit random title, I agree :) Still, there's no better one for this topic.

You know when you listen to a book after book after book... and you realize you have a set of favorite authors and narrators you can read/listen no matter what?

Author's imagination is amazing and narrator's delivery borderline epic? Yeah, now you know what I'm talking about.

Well, every once in a while I like to get out of my comfort zome and listen to something different. Thing is, when I do - I take a 180 turn towards something different.

I listen to new, up and coming authors who basically just started. These are the people with great ideas, and have just started putting their first written words together. Oh Gods, it can be amazing!

Sometimes it's their third book, sometimes even tenth. But sometimes the very first.

Very firsts can hurt :)

Especially when they try to play to the tune of masses, just in order to reach broader population. Unfortunately, books don't work that way. And even more unfortunately, no one told them that.

But it seems like that barely stops anyone today to fill their books with politically correct goodness. It's usually a Young Adult theme, more than usually a homosexual one, and with just a sprinkle of racial stereotypes. You know, just enough to please and not offend everyone.

- Big, strong black person (or a Russian giant) with a soul of a teddy bear
- Over-beautiful (shut up, it's a word now! :) "I don't need a man" girl/woman
- Super-computer-level socially inept Asian guy fresh of the college
- And a white "I must help everyone and become a leader!" guy with charisma 10
He also, completely by accident of course, ends up with that forementioned girl. Oh yes, and she's a physicist or microbiologist.

Did you notice how there's never a latino guy or, Gods forbid, a girl? Every sixth person in US is hispanic, but I guess that doesn't make the cut for Top5 racial stereotypes.

Holy... what a tangent!
OK, now that I've basically described Alien vs. Predator, let me get to the point before I completely derail this thread.

What's the point of all this, you may ask?

Well, point is that I've had enough of junk I couldn't even listen to for a full hour. And not for the lack of trying!

So I've decided to run a little experiment. Idea sparked up in a conversation with my friends, and so we made a bet.

I'm to pick 5 random books from those new authors that generally offer a free book in exchange for an honest review. Books can be tagged Fantasy, Science Fiction and/or Crime and are not to last more than 10 hours. 5-6 is preferred.

And I am really to give them honest, non-biased, reviews.

If the end result turns out to be less than 15 stars total, meaning less than 3* per book on average, they will take me out for food and drink.

Should books score 15* or more in the end, I'm to take them out for a round of beer. Yes, no food. They are nice friends like that :)

So I started. I picked 5 books and requested them from authors/narrators/publishers. I was granted access to 4. Pretty good, considering I'm not "I'll rate you 5* if you give me the book for free".

On the contrary, I can actually bash it pretty hard. Check my review of Hugh Howey Lives . Left me scarred for hours.

On my righteous quest to proving a point I picked Revelation: Demon Kin (Kastor Blackwood Series) first. Book by T.R. Lester.

It was interesting. Not really my cup of tea, but interesting nonetheless. It got 3* and this review.

Author actually contacted me after the review and we discussed the book a bit. I then figured out T.R. Lester is actually a girl and I've been a sexist bastard for assuming otherwise in my review.

But that's not what we discussed, and I realized she's a pretty nice person who valued my honest, yet perhaps poorly constructed, feedback. I ended up buying a set of her books not only to support her but because I was genuinely interested in reading them. And the ratings were pretty good, too!

Ok. 3*. On average, that means I lose the challenge.

Mixed feelings so far.

Lets see what abomination can karma throw at me...

Enter Wolf Killer (The Hammer Commission) by John Van Stry.

Holy shit! This one was so interesting I had issues putting it down!

It's a fantasy-crime supernatural-police-investigation thriller. (I screwed those dashes, I know :)

Here's the review. It will tell you a far better story than I can here in a few lines.

End result? 5*!

I was now at 8/25. Dangerously close to 15 stars, but I didn't care. This book was g-reat and well worth of buying a round for friends!

Next!

Primal Dawn by Ryan Kirk.

I got strangely triggered at the beginning of a review for this one, but I think it's mostly because I was happy that this book wasn't bad! There is still a chance for new, up and coming and relatively unknown authors!

Book got 4* from me, mostly due to being somewhat predictable. However, I'm very inclined to read the next one in series and will pick it up as soon as it's out.

Total? 12/25 stars!

Now I need next two books to completely suck and get 1* each in order for me to win. Knowing my luck, they will be 1* and 2* just so I will have to put up with shitbad books and suffer, yet still have to pay for drinks... >_<

But look at the surprise!

Days of Future Past - Part 1: Past Tense by John Van Stry!

Yes, John Van Stry again! Author of book #2 in the Challenge Series - Wolf Killer! I almost pissed my pants when I realized the narrator is the same, too.

I called in sick at work and got to reading. As expected, a magnificent job by both author and narrator. I'm a new fanboy!

Review here, and straight 5* mark! And you know the best part? This one actually is a dystopian story! Oh joy!

What? That makes it 17/25?

Well... to Hell with it! :D

I didn't even care anymore at that point and didn't request a new fifth book!

I suppose that brings the score to 17/20, with two 5*, one 4* and one 3*. I call that a very good run.

Strange thing for all these books is that I'd gladly read through their sequels. I was really surprised!

In the end, what did this challenge teach me? Two things, really.

1. Don't judge all the apples in the sack if you pull out few rotten ones first. There may be some very, very shiny ones that will make you crave for more. My faith in young authors - restored!

2. Don't ever bet against your friends! Especially if there's more than one. They most likely see the picture more clearly than you, with mind clouded by righteous fury against authors you shouldn't have been reading at all in the first place :)

3. Oh, there's a third thing as well. I guess I'm just untrustworthy like that :) I've dealt with stupid things that got me triggered quite enough by now and am officially over it. Yay! Salvation! ^_^

So... there you go.

End of my ranty post.

Can you understand how I felt when started this challenge? Did that ever happen to you? How did you vent? "OMG RAWR! BLOOD!"

Or do you just don't care and read like a machine without having things like these get to you? "Meh... Next!"

Or do you read only what you know you'll like - favorite authors, books vetted by friends and ones with good reviews/scored? "Foolish human!"

Or have I offended you so deeply you'd have me taken into the woods and left tied for bears and wolves? :) "Die infidel!!"

I'd appreciate your thoughts, especially if you can back them up with some reviews of your own.

Nothing beats a review written shortly after finishing the book, when emotions still run wild :-)

Thanks for sticking with me for this long!

I surely didn't make it easy for you :)

Take this beautiful gift as a token of my appreciation :)

[Empress, Seeker of wonders]

You lovely sexist bastard. (I am referring to your T.R. Lester remark. I've had been in your position assuming wrong and ultimately it doesn't matter)

Diversity awareness (and yes I include self published little known authors in this) is something many in the book community have been trying to raise. And here is the thing - it's not that we on purpose avoid certain books, they are just not popularized well. We need to make the conscious effort to seek them to find them as they are simply not as widespread. This is why l like and respect part of what BookRiot is about. They aim to spread this awareness and if you are looking to read something out of your comfort zone - head on their blog/vlog as they can give you good recommendations

But you doing this challenge sounds great. If you want to keep on reading new authors and things you would usually avoid, you can just make it as a rule that every third, or 5th or even 10th book falls into that category.

For myself I did a list of topics and kind of books that I want to eventually rea. I haven't set an end date as I get in reading slumps, but it is the reason I read Milk and Honey (and consequently proceeded to watch all of Rupi Kaur's videos and her TED talk). This books may be one of the bravest things to write ever. However I avoid writing reviews so I can only share book titles.

Another book that I read because of my to-read challenge is Unwelcome Bodies which has become one of my favorite dark story collection. Not that I have read many. The author manages to reach down inside of me and scare me of what is there. That is how much I like this. The book is also very much dystopian/pa.

The third book I will mention is an author's debut. A dark-fantasy novel with a lot of drama: Miserere: An Autumn Tale. As non-native English speaker this novel challenged me with it's adjectives and sometimes the sentence structure, but I loved it. I picked it up as I was looking for a stand alone fantasy book and this one had good reviews and a higher rating, but it is still not very popular and it is not a cheesy book. I'm glad I read all of these. I really need to go back to my reading challenge.

All in all I am not a fast reader and my reading depends very much on my mental state. Which means I do not plan ahead what I will read. Which is one reason I cannot access R4R offerings. I just can't promise I will commit or even finish on time.
So I can randomly choose the genre, or type of book I want to read but I will carefully look into what I am picking up.

Anyway, thank you for posting this topic. Hopefully few other people will chime in as well.

:)

[Jim]

I like to stretch my reading boundaries, but when I do, I often go to "great" literature that I haven't yet read (War and Peace and Don Quixote are on my list) or to acclaimed authors (e.g. V.S. Naipal, Tom Robbins, Salman Rushdie) to see what all the fuss is about. Only occasionally have I picked up the first-time authors that I think you are talking about (i.e. self-published, if I read you right).

The results are a mixed bag. I find much of classic literature to be decent but somewhat long-winded and dry for my modern, A.D.D. sensibilities, yet there are really and truly gems to be found there. Acclaimed authors are also a bit underwhelming -- too often the critics choose their darlings not for their gripping story-telling but for what the author represents to them or worse, because they identify with an author's very narrow niche. (How many novels of white, male, middle-aged, professors of literature torn between their families and their much-younger graduate-student lovers do we need?) But again, there are authors whose praise is fully justified: Cormac McCarthy and Kazuo Ishiguro are superlative; Miranda July's fame preceded her authorial debut, but The First Bad Man is nevetheless amazing; and as much praise as Annie Proulx has received, it is still not enough.

Now, of the 5 self-published books that I have read in the last year, 4 were atrocious: within a dozen pages you could tell that the book wasn't worth finishing and in fact should never have been allowed to see the light of day. The single good one, I will plug here: Smashed, Squashed, Splattered, Chewed, Chunked and Spewed by Lance Carbuncle, a bizarre journey to the land beyond the river Styx and back (that land, btw, is Florida) -- go read it!

I also try to step out of my comfort zone with departures from fiction altogether, and here is some of the treasure that I've discovered: Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age (the European avant garde, WWI and its cultural aftermath), The Naked Civil Servant by Quentin Crisp (best memoir I've ever read: well-written, erudite, and hilarious), Sketches from a Hunter's Album by Turgenev (most vividly beautiful nature writing ever).

Lastly, I would take issue with your description of what makes a book bad. Certainly it's true that the stereotypes and predictable plots that you describe are key elements in really, really bad writing (but they're not politically correct, rather, the opposite, mostly). And throwing in characters and plot elements simply to assuage modern sensibilities is also a recipe for a terrible book (and can have elements of political correctness). But characters and plot developments that stray from our expectations are necessary elements for an intersting read, and very often these things can be labeled as (or perhaps even motivated by) political correctness. A plucky, independent, willful, and gleefully promiscuous, consequences-be-damned female character will work in any number of modern, sci-fi, or fantasy settings but not for the daughter of petit-nobility in 15th century Europe -- not unless the plot involves our heroine getting shackled in a nunnery or burnt at the stake. Likewise, the simple presence of homosexual characters or plotlines doesn't automatically shift a book into the "bad" category -- it all depends on how its done and how it fits with the whole. Michael Moorcock's fantasy books have gay protagonists,but it's just a part of the character, like being straight is for most other fantasy novels. Quentin Crisp is gay, and if he had cut that element from TheNakedCivil Servant, it would be fiction rather than memoir. Crisp is gay; I'm straight, and it's still one of the best books I've ever read. So! A book can have "politically correct" elements and still be excellent, and a book can have "politically correct" elements and still be awful. I would contend that the presence or absence of gay or lesbian characters, independent science-loving women, etc. is generally immaterial to a book's quality so long as they are handled well and fit the setting of the novel.

Wow! This post turned out way longer than I thought it would! Anyway, here's to us all continuing to expand our reading horizons!

[Papaphilly]

I always read random things. I read what catches my eye at the moment. I consider myself very lucky that I do not only read one genre and then end up stuck. I love that there are so many independent authors nowadays because I get to sample as many as I want.

As for diversity, I have never thought one way or the other about the author other than do I like their writing. I have never avoided an author for (fill in the blank) background. I do not care about their politics or if their politics show up in their story. I do not care how an author treats any character either. I only ask the story is well written. This is for novels.

If it is for non-fiction/ history, I want to know if there is a slant that I need to know if it will change the truth. I still want it well written, but I do not want reality changed for the sake of politics or personal political views.

[R.S.]

Yes.

[Vir]

I mostly read randomly. My decisions are based on how I feel at the moment usually. And what is written in the synopsis. I used to think my favourite genre was thriller, but over the years i've realized I'm rather eclectic in my book choices. A good story is a good story be it a teen novel or a sci-fi thriller. I am a sucker for a good book jacket too.

That being said, I have a hard time reading non-fiction, even though I always start out with the best of intentions. If it's too dry, I lose interest. For example: when The Lost City of Z came out, I was so excited to read the fascinating tale, but I got about half way through before giving up. I felt like i was reading a text book.
But this doesn't stop me from wanting to read non-fictions; it's just harder to find ones that are written in a way to be able to hold my attention.

[Angelia]

I have Always been a reader..always. I love to get lost in a dystopian wasteland.
But when I was young my granddad gave me some great advice. He said that for every 3-4 books I read I should pick one from outside my normal genre, or even better pick one that teaches something. And I have always done my best to heed his advice. Sometimes going as far as literally closing my eyes and grabbing a random book. I do feel this has helped to enrich my reading and learning.
Some books have been just ok.. and some just plain sucked but usually they were decent books that helped to open my mind just a little bit. And isn't that one of the purposes of reading..to escape for a bit and open our minds to the endless possibilities and scenarios.?...

[Mackenzie :)]

yes and no mostly on the genre of mystery and thrillers

[DDee]

No.
OP said : "Well, point is that I've had enough of junk I couldn't even listen to for a full hour. And not for the lack of trying!"
Spot on, even if, to remain politically correct, I'd replace junk with "things I don't like". From my experience, that's especially true with post-apo survival genre which I abstractly love, but is filled with works which underlying ideology I don't really share.
I'm so hard to please that I always check out what it's about and what people have to say about it (and what I have to say about what people have to say :) ) first.

[Steven]

To answer the question: Most certainly! Fiction or non-fiction, I read anything that attracts my attention. I also review anything that attracts my attention. Two recent reads and reviews: Isaacson's Leonardo da Vinci, and Kennedy and Mays's The Mutineer's Daughter. The first is non-fiction; the second is sci-fi. I'll grab dystopian and post-apocalyptic when I can. (I also write it.)
And a final note: I'm insulted when Amazon's bots send me an email recommending books based on my previous purchases, pretending to know my tastes. My book choices are random!
r/Steve Moore