Booking Through Thursday & Fall Into Reading 2010 Update

I really like the question today over at Booking Through Thursday.  They asked..."I’ve seen many bloggers say that what draws them to certain books or authors is good writing, and what causes them to stop reading a certain book or author is bad writing. What constitutes good writing and bad writing to you?"

For me good writing constitutes developing characters and or the plot, but also characters and plots that I can imagine myself in.  I like to put myself into the stories that I'm reading.

What constitutes bad writing to me is when the author is overly descriptive.  I like my imagination to make up some of what is being told to me.  That can also go the other way...not descriptive enough makes me not very interested in what I'm reading and I'd probably put it down faster than one that is overly descriptive.  At least with the overly descriptive ones I can skip ahead.

Another big factor for me as far as what makes me stay with an author is if the characters are continually evolving.  I can't stand a series where book 5 is starting to read just like book 1 did.  I've even read some authors where their books are not series but all of their characters are just the same.  When they do that it just doesn't pull me into the book and I'll probably put it down. 

These are just some of the writing characteristics in authors that I find either good or bad.  There are many more but these are the main ones for me and what makes me read more of a particular author.  What about you?





Back on September 27, I posted that I was joining in again with Fall Into Reading 2010.  I had a short but managable list of books.  I've finished two on my list and added one.  Today is close to being the halfway mark (it ends on December 20) and I'm not feeling like I've done much reading.  Especially if you consider how many books I usually get read during these reading challenges. You can click here, here and here to see my past lists.  See?  My lists were not only longer but I read much more.  Guess I better get on the bandwagon and start reading more and more often.  Now the book that I am currently reading, and the one that I have added to my list, is one that I found in Sam's library.  It's a book that he had ordered last year from Scholastic and I honestly am having a hard time putting it down.  It's called The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French. As one reviewer put it, "This book was an absolute riot. While it is a super-fast read, you will find yourself enthralled with the quirkiness of the characters and loving the story. The illustrations are very comical, too!" I have to say that so far it's a fantastic read and I can't wait to read the other books in this series!  Who cares if I'm not the target audience!

I may conquer this list yet and add to it.  It's gotten cooler here and really is starting to feel like Fall.  Not to mention that I think we're finally getting settled into our new schedule of how our days go.  I think that was the biggest obstacle to getting some reading time.  So...have you gotten any reading done lately?  If so, what have you read?  What are you currently reading or what do you want to read?  Let me know!  I should have my review of The Nativity Collection up either later today or tomorrow so don't forget to come back and check it out. 

Here is my "Books to Read" list and my progress:

A Deadly Yarn by Maggie Sefton ~ I'm over half way through. ~ DONE!
The Nativity Collection by Robert J Morgan ~ Book Review coming up! ~ DONE!
The Robe of Skulls: The First Tale from the Five Kingdoms by Vivian French ~ Almost Finished!
I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali
Uncommon Faith by Trudy Krisher
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini

And as promised before I'm finally getting you Sam's list.  I'm hoping that we'll add to it as we go along and considering that next week is National Young Readers Week we should do more reading then!

The Last Mission (Laurel-Leaf Historical Fiction) by Harry Mazer
On the Move (Minipedia)