If you read my review of Tish Cohen’s latest book, The Truth about Delilah Blue, then you know that I definitely consider it a good read. I was tickled pink to get the chance to ask Trish to talk a bit about her own bookish ways, including what makes a good read for her.
What makes a good read for me is, first and foremost, characters I want to spend time with—especially the protagonist. That doesn’t mean the lead character must be in any way like me, or like anyone I might choose as a friend. It just means I want to be fascinated enough by his or her life that I want to move in and watch things unfold. Does the plot need to be quick? Not if I am hooked by the character. Once I am hooked, I am happy to watch that person make oatmeal.
Sometimes while I am writing, I will feel too distracted to read but that never ends up being a good thing. What happens is I start to feel uninspired and ho-hum about my work. The fix? Pick up a book that blows me away, read the greatest passages out loud and use that awe to kick start my own writing. It always, always works. My favorites include Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, The Hours by Michael Cunningham, Olive Kittredge by Elizabeth Strout.
In terms of matching author or genre to mood, I don’t think that’s how I choose books. More often, I pick up a book because the premise or the author interests me. And, yes, I have been known to buy a book for its cover. Best one was Emma and Me by Elizabeth Flock. I loved the little girl’s face on the jacket and, happily, wound up loving the book.
Thank you so much, Tish, for stopping by and chatting about books.
Browse inside The Truth about Delilah Blue.
Okay, peeps, don’t forget to checkout the rest of Tish’s blog tour dates!
How interesting. Middlesex keeps coming up so I am going to have to read it one of these days. That is a main thing with reading for me too, if I don’t care at all about the character, the story can be quite dull.
I’ve read books where the main character was hateful and I despised them, but I loved the book because they were interesting. Other times a character deemed “good” bored me to tears and I hated the book. Weird how that goes, eh?
Exactly! I don’t really have to LIKE the character, they just have to interest me. Sometimes too good is too boring.
Good question for Tish Cohen. I’m second guessing now the question I submitted for her….well, we’ll see if anyone shows up on the 21st.
Ah, I’m sure it was a great question. I’ll be showing up.
For me, it’s always the first couple of pages. If they hook me, I’m in for the long haul. The trouble is, it often means I’m trying to read several books at once, and I’m not good at that!
So cool to see Tish here!
PS. I’ll be showing up on the 21st, too!