Booking Through Thursday

If you’re anything like me, one of your favorite reasons to read is for the story. Not for the character development and interaction. Not because of the descriptive, emotive powers of the writer. Not because of deep, literary meaning hidden beneath layers of metaphor. (Even though those are all good things.) No … it’s because you want to know what happens next?

Or, um, is it just me?

Ok, well this is an interesting one – what do we read for? I agree that the story is one of my favorite reasons to read, but it’s not the only one. I would say I read different books for different reasons. One of my favorites series is The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. At this point, I don’t read these books for the storyline anymore, though I know that they’re always going to be good. I read to discover what is going to happen to my favorite characters and to witness their development. Same thing with Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series – at this point, I almost don’t care about the mysteries. I just want her to pick Morelli and be done with it!

I have other reasons for reading, too. For example, with authors like Marisa de los Santos, I read more for her beautiful style of writing than the story of the book. Same with Salman Rushdie and Ayn Rand (can’t stand her philosophy but God, she knew how to write). So yes, while the story is a huge part of why I read, it’s not the only part.

What about you?