Sunday, June 2, 2013

Forgive My First Response

I have another sin to confess. I edit books now. I try to be generous, as I hope people are generous to me. Last night, I started a New York Times best selling author. I try not to pass judgment too quickly, because I have been moved by books before that at a first I considered juvenile. I finish books.
Yet, last night, I found myself first looking at grammar, then the plausibility of an action taken by the heroine. I had to stop myself. I don't want to be that way. I do hope my books will entertain and not make people stop reading because of some point irritates them. I give passes on some, especially, if I'm also reading a C.S. Lewis' novel. Maybe not a good idea to pair up first time writers against a classic.
I think last night, I had higher expectations because this author is a New York Times bestseller. I have heard her interviewed. This is the first book of hers I started reading because at the library they usually have the third or fourth of series without the first or second. First is what this new novel is.
I'm having an easier time reading Diane Keaton's book about herself and her mother because I expect a degree of scatterbrain from this delightful woman. I'm a sucker, too, for mother/daughter relationships from the fifties and sixties, as well as a bit of history. All history is personal. I will post on this book, later, when I finish it. Plus, Diane is not a professional writer with many books under her belt.
Anyways, I'm confessing that I have this habit of being maybe a bit too critical. I don't want to be so. I want a degree of understanding from my reader, too. I read to learn. I look past some faults because learning is not always intellectual, but emotional and spiritual. I'll plow through, hoping to learn. I'll be patient, as in the golden rule. Forgive me my first response.

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