I am aware of the infrequent posts here on Devoted To Books. Fortunately my writing is going far better than my blogging. Yay for me! Every day I'm getting closer to completing the major over-haul on my novel and it's turning out better than I could've thought. There is one reason for this: reading. Reading copious amounts of literature. Good and bad.
Books. For some reason reading places me in the correct headspace to write. Books are why I started this blog in the first place. Admittedly I'm not a critic. Nor is it my desire to be. I once told Steven Hall (Raw Shark Texts) that I bought his book because it received rave reviews, which I don't usually do - I liked to purchase books with crappy reviews because I felt bad for them and because I thought it built up decent karma. I digest what I'm reading, sure, and I'm able to (on the most part) recognise literary nuances. But write about them? And I have one of the worst memories on the planet (what was that song again?) so I'm not going to regurgitate my undergraduate knowledge here. I'm going to tell you bluntly why I enjoyed the book, and what I didn't. Think of it more like talking to your book club (without the stuffy members and unsatisfied married women).
One thing that keeps my writing on track is a deadline. Thus, a deadline is needed for this blog. I pledge from now on to review a book weekly for one year. That's 52 books. It's an easy target. However to write about them will be interesting. I hope you think so too.
The first book up is Through The Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden. Besides his white straight-as teeth and dashing good looks, this 38 year-old writer is Canadian. And Canadian literature is something I'm embarrassingly starved for. Review to come next Saturday folks. That's Sunday for all you Australians.
