Hello, my name is Linda Aragoni, and I’ll be your book reviewer today.
By day, I deal with non-fiction prose in my work as webmaster, editor, and writing teacher. When night falls, I curl up with a novel.
I like a good story. I suspect you do, too.
But good stories aren’t easy to find. Today’s top read stays on top just about as long as it takes me to find a parking place near the bookstore. By the time I actually get in the bookstore, the novel I wanted has been remaindered and all copies sent to a warehouse in Kansas.
To find good reading, I usually comb the shelves of my public library. Even there, formula fiction, trashy romances, implausible plots, and plastic characters seem to dominate. Invariably, I find myself going down to the basement stacks to find great reading from years gone by.
What do I look for in a novel?
I want a good story. I think novels should entertain me. I’d like them to do more than that, but entertainment is basic.
Plausible characters are essential. They don’t have to be real people—Bilbo Baggins and Eeyore are plausible—but they need to be three-dimensional. Heroes must have flaws and foibles. Villains cannot be more than 99% evil.
Plots should be plausible, too. The story’s ending should fit the rest of the book. No sick-bed conversions or villains hit by a bus, please. Cinderella endings should be confined to fairy tales. The ending of a good novel should arise from character.
If a novel can provide entertainment, plausible characters, and plausible plot, I’m satisfied.
Icing on the cake
A good novel goes beyond the basics. It sneaks in some information or insight that is valuable today. Perhaps it sheds light on a particular period of history, or shows how individuals can overcome a particular challenge. Even just making me chuckle is a dab of icing.
A really good novel not only goes beyond the basics but also transcends its origins. It has a universal theme that is true in any time and place.
What I could do without
When the hero and heroine close their bedroom door, I don’t need to look through the keyhole, let alone be in the bedroom with them.I don’t need to read pages of obscenities to grasp the idea that Victor Valet is a scum bag.
I can also do without gratuitous moral platitudes. Concluding a lurid story by tut-tutting “people who do such wicked things are punished in the end” strikes me as immoral.
What you can expect
In Great Penformances, I’ll review bestsellers baby boomers like myself remember from our parents’ and grandparent’s bookshelves—the titles that turn up at the annual library book sale. I’ll give you my picks of the best of a year’s bestsellers. Occasionally I’ll throw in reviews of books I like that didn’t make the bestseller list.
My reviews are quirky, opinionated, and annoying, just like me, but at least they are short. I keep reviews to about 200 words—half the length of this posting—so you won’t have to be annoyed for very long.
Without further ado, let’s grab a novel and start reading.
