Sample Fail!

I discovered what might be my all-time favorite book, Sarah Canary by Karen Joy Fowler, while surfing the Amazon website many years ago. I’d heard of the book and, curious, I used the “Look Inside” feature to read the first chapter. I immediately fell in love – with the language, the characters, the humor. Consider this snippet from page one:

In 1872, the residents of the asylum for the insane in Steilacoom, Washington, were thrown out of their beds by earthquakes resulting from volcanic activity in the Cascade Mountains. The event was so profound it cured three of the patients instantly. These cures were responsible for a brief and faddish detour in the care of the mentally ill known as shake treatments.

She had me at “shake treatments.”

These days, Kindle gives me a similar option to sneak a glimpse into a book before I decide to purchase it. But some books that sound intriguing or thrilling or thought provoking in the write-ups, fail to pull me in, and the sample languishes on my e-reader until I eventually delete it, usually after revisiting it once or twice because I’ve forgotten what it was about. Then I’m disappointed all over again.

I probably have dozens of dead samples on my Kindle: books that sounded good but didn’t grab me. Maybe they moved too slowly. Maybe they painted a violent picture much too graphically. Maybe I just didn't care about what was happening in the book. Whatever the reason, I decided they weren’t for me.

Some of the dead and dying samples currently on my Kindle:

• Sexually, I’m More of a Switzerland – great title, just didn’t pull me in
• When We Were Strangers – probably well written, but I wasn’t in the mood for the story line
• The Distant Hours – so many people love this book. I might, too, if I could just get into it.
• The Sisters Brothers – I actually plan to buy this one. It definitely grabbed me, but I had too many other books already queued up.
• Cool, Calm & Contentious – I thought I would love this, but I didn’t.

And now three that I did purchase after reading the samples:

• The Psychopath Test
• The Hunger Games
• The Three Weissmann’s of Westport

What about you? Do you read samples? What is it that makes you bite, and purchase the book? 

You’re reading what?

My name is Vicki, and I am a reading snob. (Recovering) I wasn’t always snobbish about what I read. As a young person, I eagerly devoured books that ranged from Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan stories to the westerns of Louis L’Amour, from Victoria Holt’s gothic romances to Ayn Rand’s paeans to “objectivism,” and of course mysteries of all types. So what changed?

Well, my years as an English/American Lit major certainly introduced me to what academia considered “quality” fiction. But that didn’t really sway me, I don’t think. Because the truth is, I find many books considered classics downright boring. No, I think what happened was that over many years of reading a wide range of books and authors, I came to appreciate good writing. I learned to recognize formulaic plots and clichéd writing devices. The more poorly written novels just couldn’t hold my attention anymore.

I then fell into a trap, however, assuming that just because a writer wrote in a certain genre (romance) or a book cover carried a certain style of illustration (Fabio), it must be poorly written. How wrong I was.

Two things made me realize the error of my ways: First, I was discussing books with a woman I met at a party. I mentioned that I really liked Tony Hillerman’s books. He wrote mysteries set in the American Southwest and his main characters are Navajo Tribal Policemen, Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn, two of the most fully drawn characters I’ve ever encountered in any book. I want to have these guys over to my house for dinner.

Anyway, this woman responded, with a noticeable sniff: “I prefer Barbara Kingsolver’s writing. Hillerman writes at a fourth- or fifth-grade level.” I hadn’t read Kingsolver at the time, but felt somewhat slapped in the face by this comment. (I went on to read several of Kingsolver’s books, and she has become a favorite author of mine.)

The second wakeup call came from a website I frequent called Readers Paradise – a place for people who love to read and discuss books. Posters there read books of every type and category: fiction, non-fiction, romance, mystery, memoir, and more. And everyone is welcome. Several people kept mentioning that they liked reading Georgette Heyer. I researched Heyer, and learned that she is considered “the undisputed queen of Regency Romances.” I confess I didn’t know what that meant. But looking at the covers of her books, I was somewhat put off.

This just didn’t look like something I would read…so I didn’t. But I kept seeing her name mentioned with such fondness that I finally picked up one of her books, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I have since read several others and plan to read more.

I never want to be that sniffy woman. I want to always stay open to new authors and new stories, because without that openness, I might miss out on something truly astounding.