{"id":105,"date":"2010-05-18T22:08:35","date_gmt":"2010-05-19T05:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/eatreadandbeharried\/?p=105"},"modified":"2010-05-18T22:08:35","modified_gmt":"2010-05-19T05:08:35","slug":"blogathon-2010-switch-rama-day-the-three-cs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/blogathon-2010-switch-rama-day-the-three-cs\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogathon 2010 Switch-Rama Day: The Three Cs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Heather and honored to be guest posting today! <\/span>Lisa and I share a love of reading, so she asked me to write about books. I\u2019m a YA enthusiast but also enjoy chick lit or a comically written non-fiction from time to time. I read a lot \u2013 and friends, both online and off, know it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of this, I get asked for book recommendations quite often. Most times, these recommendations lead to a gushy tale a week later about how much they \u201cloved\u201d the book and I listen with a satisfied smile, knowing that we now share a hidden secret of faraway settings, despicable character choices and frenzied plot lines. It\u2019s almost like I\u2019m recruiting a book army \u2013 a circle of friends that will no doubt support me when I need a book recommendation of my own. <\/span><\/p>\n

While I love the \u201cyou were so right\u201d acknowledgement, sometimes, I get a \u201cwhat were you thinking\u201d response. They simply hated the book I adored. First, I\u2019m shocked and hurt (because I\u2019m strange and take it personally even though I didn\u2019t write it or even know the author personally) and then I prod for answers, needing to know why they didn\u2019t like it. Was it the ending? Was it the protagonist? Did they find the switching POV to be confusing? <\/span>Did they even finish it?<\/span><\/p>\n

Listening to their responses lead to the ultimate contemplating question: What makes a book good?<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n

And more often than not, the most common responses I received had to do with one of three things I call the three C\u2019s: <\/span><\/p>\n

1. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Cover<\/span><\/span>: <\/span>The cover didn\u2019t appeal to them, the image didn\u2019t reflect the storyline, or it led to presumptions that were wildly out of proportion. <\/span>They say not to judge a book by its cover, but some can\u2019t help themselves. Personally, I tend to lean toward covers that have pink or black on them \u2013 it\u2019s a preference thing, and I\u2019m trying to work on it. <\/span><\/p>\n

2. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Connection<\/span><\/span>: They just couldn\u2019t connect to the characters. They didn\u2019t \u201cfeel\u201d it. They were always an outsider, intruding in the story, instead of blending in seamlessly. <\/span>I have read many stories like this, most of which I finished and several in which I didn\u2019t finish. Connections must happen, otherwise you have no reason to keep reading. Lately, I\u2019ve become an abandoner because of a lack of connection; I simply know that if I\u2019m not hooked 50 pages in, it won\u2019t happen.<\/span><\/p>\n

3. <\/span><\/span><\/span>Consideration<\/span><\/span>: There was nothing to be learned by reading the book. Even fiction can have a lesson or underlying theme (eg. when in doubt trust yourself, don\u2019t give up on your dreams, don\u2019t trust your co-workers, etc). If the story told itself in a way that there was no hidden insight, no driving message, or it was confusing, then you become disappointed. When I read a book like this, I feel empty and as if I wasted hours of my time. <\/span><\/p>\n

So, what makes a book good to me? <\/span>Possibly the same thing that makes a book good to you, but since we are entirely different beings, we will relate to them differently. <\/span>And this is a good thing because then authors of all types will have a chance to send their message loud and clear. However, this impasse won\u2019t stop me from trying to pass on what I love. <\/span>\ud83d\ude42<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

My current recommendation: The Maze Runner<\/em><\/a> by James Dashner. I recently finished it and found it phenomenal. My official review was posted a few days ago on my blog, <\/span>Lost In the View<\/a>!.<\/span><\/p>\n

Come visit anytime to talk books or writing at Lost In the View<\/a>! And thanks to Lisa for having me!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, I\u2019m Heather and honored to be guest posting today! Lisa and I share a love of reading, so she asked me to write about books. I\u2019m a YA enthusiast but also enjoy chick lit or a comically written non-fiction from time to time. I read a lot \u2013 and friends, both online and off,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[772,99,789,793],"class_list":["post-105","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","tag-books","tag-heather-feasy","tag-reading","tag-wordcount-blogathon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/landguppy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}