BOOKS ON THE SHELVES

How many times do you go into your library and browse the shelves for a good book to read, one that you haven't read yet? One that will jump out at you as you scan the rows of titles? By the way, what constitutes the meaning of a "good" book to you?

I become bored very easily when it comes to reading. The content has to grab me at the onset or I have trouble reading on. Now I know that the inability to catch my attention at the beginning isn't always a sign that the book isn't good, not at all. For I've plodded on through boring only to discover the book was a gem. So although it's best to have those action openings -- murders, rapes, interesting incidents, exciting happenings (doesn't always have to be a bad occasion)-- quality writing will most assuredly hold the reader till the action does begin, or what have you.

One such writer who takes a lot of patience out of me is Thomas Hardy. If you've ever read Hardy, you know what I mean. He'll drone on and on about something and you wonder if continuing with the read will be worth it. Of course it will, for here we have a classic, quality writer ... and reading his words whether there is action or not is very much worth the read. This man has a way with words. Love it.

On my library shelves, in addition to the latest best-selling novels, I have many classics, in fact I collect them. Books written by L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, T. Hardy, Du Maurier, D. H. Lawrence, George Elliot, Cookson, James Joyce, Dickens, Trollope, Steinbeck, Harper Lee, Twain, Melville, Hemingway, and so forth. And of course all the popular classic writers of today.

This morning I was searching the book shelves for a book that might hold my attention, and nothing leapt out at me. Can't imagine that happening, for I love to read. It soothes my soul. I looked through the self-help book shelves, nothing there grabbed me either; looked through my writing how-to bookshelves in my office, nothing there jumped out at me; took a look at the biography shelves, even the Presidential auto-biographies, nope, nothing there.

So, maybe I'll do some writing and editing instead. Although I had wanted to take a break from both, since just finishing two novels to be published in the next few weeks.

Maybe that's the problem, after such concentration and dedication in getting the two novels into shape, and now that they're pretty much done, maybe I'm just feeling restless after experiencing the elation, then a let-down one usually feels after writing or editing a book. Could be.

Maybe I need to rest my mind, do something utterly mindless like watching the broadcasts leading up to the Royal Wedding this week. Yes, that's what I'll do. Then next week it's back to business, more editing, more writing, more reading.

So for now, the books on the shelves will be untouched, all nice and pretty in their rows, till I regroup and start all over again.