Talk to any writer, and you’ll hear about a good book they’re reading. Most all authors are voracious readers. I recently swapped books with another author from a writing group. While reading this author’s psychological thriller, I started taking notes about what I liked in their writing and the few issues I found in their prose.
When I was done, I wrote a book review and rated it on both Goodreads and Amazon. Then I shared the author’s book on some of my social media accounts to help her sell more books. The biggest compliment a reader can make to an author is reviewing their book since many readers are influenced by the reviews they read before making their purchase.
I belong to Kindle Unlimited on Amazon, which lets me read as many books as I have time for. I also regularly down books on KU to study. Another place I get books is via the Libby app on my phone. I use Libby to check books out from the Denver Public Library and the Front Range University Library, which has a good selection of audiobooks.
I sometimes pick out a first-person POV book to study that form of writing and see how the talented authors choose their words, structure their paragraphs, and write with fluid ease. I’ll get the book in both Kindle and audio, and that way I can study the beats of their writing. I especially enjoy listening to and studying the prose of Stephen King.
For 2022 I’m making more time for reading and plan to read a minimum of 25 books. One way to read more books is via audio on your phone. Although when I’m reading in my genre, I prefer to have the book on my phone in Kindle or hold a physical copy. That way, I can take notes when a passage strikes me as unique.
What genres of books do you like to read?
Have you read anything lately that you’d recommend?
Who is your favorite author?
Do you read books out of multiple genres? If so, which ones are your favorite?
Please comment below if you’d like to answer.
Bryan - this is probably one of the central recommendations I give to the writers I coach, for all the reasons you've mentioned! I read constantly, and almost always with a yellow highlighter pen and fingers itching to dog-ear pages. I've been on an Edna Ferber kick recently...I'm reading Giant now, which (and I have no idea how) I have never read before. I read all kinds of contemporary fiction also (also on an historical fiction wave). I loved Ken Powers' new book Bewilderment. I loved it so much...can you win more than one Pulitzer Prize for fiction?? :) If so, this one qualifies as much as his 2019 winner, The Overstory. I could hang out and talk about great books all day long...:) Here's an example of what I do with my yellow highlighting; this one is in honor of Maggie Shipstead's great use of metaphor and simile in Great Circle...https://medium.com/@suzanne_fresh_voice/crafting-metaphor-simile-5740b6c9aa01