Quick Read

Today I’m making an observation that reads like a hodgepodge or (to coin my own word) a “Gobsmack” of thoughts.

More and more you will see a book described as a “quick read.”  For my book club that definition means a book that can be completed in a few hours or that its words flow along quickly. That description is a long way from Google’s that states “Quick Reads” is the name of a 129-page book written about celebrities or readers for whom reading is difficult.  

Then there is the 700-page book that you hardly find any more. Some books for economic reasons have become a trilogy such as J.K.K.Tolkiens’ The Lord of the Rings. Goodreads lists 169 trilogies. Steven King wrote two of them: Sleeping Beauties and Dog of Bones. Decades ago I read The Brothers Karamazov and concluded I  was well-read. Gobsmacked into this ranking is “chronicles” such as Chronicles of Narnia which I also read (making me even more well read?)

So how does this explanation affect today’s authors who go about passionately telling their stories? Today a 700-page book can be broken into trilogies or chronicles and counts as three books if you are striving to reach a goal to read 100 books listed as your “Goodreads’ challenge.”

Another genre that has been changing is the mystery. This group is rapidly being invaded by true crime stories. Another slice within mysteries is the Cozy (taking its name from the English cozy teapot cover) and means no horror cutting of the throat, blood dripping or bang-bang descriptions. I’m not well-versed in that genre but my author-friend, Millie Mack, writes them, and has built a good following for Charles and Carrie Faraday who have kept busy in Take the Bite Out of Murder, and four other romps around a make believe city similar to Baltimore.   

All of this maneuvering leads to the retail price of books.  Higher indeed than in yesteryear. Treasure the hardcovers you may have collected. They are today’s version of antiques from the book industry, Before publication of Destiny’s Daughter, four of my earlier (1970) biographies (Eisenhower, Gershwin, Prochnow, MacArthur) were hardcovers. Then they were described as “washable covers” to target elementary schools where books took a beating. 

Change is good someone once said. When applied to today, I guess that means that popular books can have fewer pages enabling them to meet particular reading  goals. That imagination can be stretched. That genres have become more flexible. In the end I see it all gravitating to that one word we all seek—money.  

Catch that trailer for Destiny’s Daughter – Facebook.com/frances.altman.77/

fealtman@yahoo.com or Altman8Altman