Can I Surprise You With A Book?

Probably not. Here we are, one week into the New Year and Saturday SFF7 (me) has to be contrary on the assigned topic already. We're supposed to share what book that we  love, that would surprise you because it would seem an odd choice for us to make.

Hey, I believe life is short, too short to read things I'm not naturally drawn to. If someone I respect gives me a good recommendation for a book outside my usual reads, I'll try it but I'm not hesitant to do the Did Not Finish (DNF) pivot and abandon anything fairly quickly that isn't lighting my fire.

I could give you a book or two that I read and enjoyed, to my own surprise, but LOVED? Uh, no. Read once, said "huh, that was good," and moved on. Not a candidate for rereading. Burn Down the Night by M. O'Keefe is a motorcycle club romance and I never read those, but someone recommended it to me. I gave it a try, found myself drawn in by the characters and indeed read the entire book with enjoyment. Once. It's not something I'll ever reread, nor did I go on to buy more in the series. (Sorry!).

I could perhaps mention some of the hard core, gritty military nonfiction that I've read, memoirs of snipers and medical corpsmen and Special Forces guys...but they wouldn't surprise you, if you know the heroes in my scifi romances are Special Forces soldiers of the future. Do I love any of the books and reread them? Not usually. I appreciate the glimpses into what it takes to defend our country and the sacrifices made by good men and women, and their families. Reading true accounts helps me get the tone and atmosphere right in my own novels. But I'm not curling up with those books on a cold rainy night when I want a comfort read with all the feels I'm craving.

It would be easier to tell you about movies that I've watched that wouldn't seem like 'me' but I loved and rewatch periodically. (Hmm, I'd better make sure that isn't a topic of the future before I share any juicy details here.)

Happy Reading!