I’ve been having a hard time with books this week, with wanting to tell you everything about them and holding back.
For instance, in the spirit of Sunday catch-up, though it is in fact Monday now, I got the chance to read The Comeback Season by Jennifer E. Smith earlier in the week. It’s a fantastic novel, really heartbreaking stuff. And I want to tell you all about it, but I don’t want to give anything away. I want to tell you everything and nothing at the same time.
So before I say anything about the book, let me explain my personal YA reading philosophy. Or just reading style, in general. I tend to go into a bookstore with a list of recommended authors in my head. When I find a book with a nice cover — yes, I do judge books by their covers — I’ll pick it up and read the first few pages.
Note that I didn’t say anything about reading the jacket. I do not read cover copy. Ever. Which is why you need to tell me if you ever blurb anything I say, because I generally believe that cover copy is evil. Yes, it’s written by someone competent, but it’s almost never as good as the book itself. And it’s often too informative, the way some movie trailers are. I don’t want to know the whole plot, or really any of it, before I start a new novel.
Which I why I’m loathe to talk too much about The Comeback Season. Although it did come out in January. Which means there’s a fair chance you’ve already heard a bit about it.
Instead of telling you anything meaningful about the book, though, I’ll just say this: It’s a tearjerker. It’s also extremely well-written. You can tell that Jennifer has a great love of words, and a really fantastic time of playing with them. A few quotes:
Twelve days into it, Ryan’s summer has already assumed an alarmingly depressing shape, each unhurried day opening into the next like rooms in a railroad apartment.
First of all, I love that Jennifer writes in the present tense. No one uses the present tense enough. I also love the way she carries her metaphor out as far as it should go — not too far, but just the right distance.
Here’s one more:
She’s become a master loafer, a brilliant loiterer, a rambler of the first order.
Words. Jennifer E. Smith likes them, and she knows how to play with them, and as for me, I like the way she does it.
So, no. I won’t tell you anything about the plot of The Comeback Season. And I recommend you stay away from cover copy and extended theatrical trailers, as a general rule. Just try it my way once. Go into a store, pick up a book — perhaps this one, and read the first three pages. If it captures you there, take it home. (You might want to pay first, but you know what I mean.)
Coming up tomorrow, or really, later today: A review of Evernight by Claudia Gray.
Buy The Comeback Season
I never read the covers of my books before I buy them. I read the summary on amazon then add it to my to read list. Before I go to borders, I look over that list and then when I get there I look for ones that were on there. I always forget why I wanted them but that way I know it’ll be something I’m interested in without knowing what will happen.
Whenever I bring my sister to the bookstore I make her read the backs of half the books in the store because she doesn’t know what she wants so I give her a bunch of options and she rejects them all.
I haven’t read that yet but it sounds awesome! I’ll be sure to look for it when I go to Borders this weekend!
It’s definitely going to be on lots of display tables. And for good reason.
But I’m so glad you don’t read cover copy either. It’s not that it’s a crime, and I know a lot of folks put some very hard work into their cover copy. But it’s definitely better to have some ideas of books you think you might like, and to just read the first few pages. You’ll know, most of the time, that you won’t like a book if you aren’t at all interested by the third page. (There are, of course, many many exceptions to this rule.)
Later, I’ll give you my tips on how to judge a book by its cover.
Let me know what you think of Evernight, yes? And how did you feel about Airhead?