Some facts about fiction

Do you re-read books?

I assumed that re-reading books was normal, but I’ve learned that there are many people who only read a book once.  After that, they never check it out again from the library or, if they own the book, it goes to the used bookstore, to the library sale, or is passed on to a friend or relative.  I’d like to think that few books are so awful that they deserve to be thrown away, but I’ve sadly learned that’s a false hope.

So yes, I re-read books.  Not just once, but often.  And I collect books by my favorite authors, which is part of the reason I need a room filled with shelves that functions as a library, although I don’t have one yet.  But I digress.  What I really want to talk about are authors I enjoy that you might enjoy.  First, a few caveats.  I don’t like books filled with foul language, although I can sometime tolerate it if necessary to make the characters real or if the story is good enough.  My beliefs about foul language are (in no particular order), a) it’s often used just to be edgy or make people think the author is cool, b) it shows lack of vocabulary skills (or lack of desire to use them), c) it shows lack of imagination and d) if you use it all the time, what do you use when something is really horrible?  (There are excellent writers who love to use “language.”  That’s fine.  I just don’t like to read them.)

Secondly, I tend to like stories that aren’t morbid and that have people I like.  There’s not much worse than reading a book, even a good one, about people you detest.  Thirdly, I think most sex scenes are thrown in just to attract readers, which doesn’t really work in my case.  Again, have a good story, hint at what’s happening and let the adults imagine what they want.  Many English authors use this technique well.  They know that if they say two people are having an affair or the action moves into the bedroom, we can all imagine what we like and if we want more, we can read a sex manual or the Kama Sutra.  As in real life, less overt is often more tantalizing.  Finally, I’m not a big fan of horror, although some Stephen King books have made me wary of going into the dark, even when I in no way believe his premises.

So what DO I like?

Almost 2 1/2 years ago, when almost no one was reading my blog, I shared my love for the books of Helen MacInnes.  Her books are a great way to learn about the  Cold War and WWII by reading about the impact of real events on imaginary people.  MacInnes had the background to write authoritatively about these issues and her books are being reprinted.  She throws in mystery, suspense and a healthy dose of romance, although it’s not all happy times and endings.  Her books take place in Europe and the US and are the type of stories you know actually happened somewhere and at some time.

How about an author of Regency Romance whose fictional book about Waterloo was (don’t know that it still is) required reading at Sandhurst, England’s Royal Military Academy?  That would be Georgette Heyer, the queen of Regency romance and the Regency period of history.  Let me hasten to say that although I like romance, I don’t read “romance” novels, the kind that made my girls ask when they were little and we were at the library, “Mom, why don’t those people have many clothes on?”   Heyer’s romances are in a completely different category and even my husband loves them.  The history and mores of the time are spot-on and the dialogue sparkles. There are strong, sassy female characters who often are at odds, at least for a good part of the book, with the strong males.   Humor abounds and we’ve found ourselves literally laughing 0utloud while reading.  Start with “The Grand Sophy” and move on from there.  Heyer also wrote mysteries which are also enjoyable, very English mystery.

When we went to France earlier this year, I took along as many books in English as I could fit into my suitcase.  After all, my s-i-l would love reading them and I’d have space for wine or other souvenirs on the way home.  One of the books I took along was a duplicate of one I already owned of the mysteries written by Patricia Moyes (English, again), about Scotland Yard’s Henry Tibbett.  As with many authors of that age, she has an interesting background that she brings to her books.  These are mysteries of the cozy English type and I hope you’ll like the Tibbetts as much as I and my s-i-l do.  Henry’s “nose” helps him solve crimes and skiing and sailing feature in many of the novels.  Henry’s unassuming, but too many make the mistake of underestimating him.

Finally, lest you think I only like dead, female, English authors, let me recommend a dead, male, American author, Tony Hillerman.  Hillerman wrote about the American Southwest and the Navajos who live there with love and the spare prose of a former newspaper writer, which he was.  His protagonists, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, started out as the main characters in an every-other-book format until he finally answered my prayers and started writing about them both each time.  Hillerman was probably as much of an expert in the Dineh (Navajo) as any white man and beloved of them as well.  Read the linked bio for a look at the makings of a writer.  Start his novels with the first, The Blessing Way, and don’t look back.

That’s it for this time.  I hope you pick up a book by one of these authors and if you do, let me know how you like it.  They may not be pushing every envelope to the limit in order to get your attention, but then again, they don’t have to.  Plot, characters, and action more than suffice.  Hillerman’s books are easy to find as are Heyer’s and MacInnes’s.  Moyes’ may be a bit more difficult.  It depends on your library.  But among the four authors, you should have plenty reading material to keep you occupied for many weeks or months.  Happy reading!