When you just HAVE to talk about it

Tip of the day: I'm thrilled that CHASING BROOKLYN made the 2011 Texas Tayshas high school reading list! So many great books on the list - I'm truly honored to have my book amongst them. Thank you Texas librarians!!


One evening this week, my husband came downstairs and said something along the lines of, I just read the saddest article in National Geographic, about how badly women in Afghanistan are treated. (This woman was one of the ones featured in the article.) Estimates are that 90% of women in Afghanistan face some kind of domestic violence. It's bad. Really, really bad. And the details this article gives about the horrible abuse many women face really, really upset him. I think a part of him wanted me to read it so we could talk about it, but another part of him knew if it upset him, it'd REALLY upset me. I haven't read it yet. I might. We'll see.

His reaction got me thinking about why we reach out to someone after we read a book. Some books I turn the last page and it's over, and that's enough. I'm glad I read it (or sometimes not) but it's nothing life changing and I move on to the next thing.

Other times, after I read a book, I *have* to talk about it. Like if I don't, it feels like something may explode inside of me or something.

What *is* that? Because whatever it is, I want my books to have it. I want a reader to close the last page and tweet about it, or e-mail a friend, or look me up on the internet to find out if I have more books.

I actually think the "need to share" can come about from a variety of things. Here's a list I came up with:

1) A surprise ending. Maybe even something really shocking. Something you don't see coming.

2) Something that touches you on a deep, emotional level. It might be something tragic you can't imagine happening, and you watch a character go through hell and back. Not only that, she does it all with a kind of grace you admire and hope you'd have if you were faced with similar circumstances.

3) A book that makes you laugh and laugh.

4) Characters that are so rich, so well-developed, so real with unique likes and dislikes that it feels as if these people are your friends.

5) The author takes you places you've never been in a book before. He/she pushes the envelope and it's risky, but it's done with skill and it totally works.

6) A setting that comes alive for you, and makes you feel as if you've just went on a fantastic vacation.

I'm sure there's more, but that's what I came up with off the top of my head. What would you add to the list?

~Lisa, Miss Crafting a Career