The Book Nook

Welcome to the Book Nook!  This is the weekly thread for Avocados to discuss books we’re currently reading, recommendations, genre, and serious literary criticism. 

This week’s recommended discussion:  when good gimmicks go bad.  It’s happened to all of us – you read one book by a new author or in a niche genre, you fall in love, you read more … then realize the thing you loved has diminished returns.  Maybe the formula only worked once, maybe different writers have varying skill at executing a formula or working in a genre, maybe the thrill of discovery was the best part.  Does freshness inevitably turn into something that feels forced?

Because we’re here to use our words, this is a NO GIF/YouTube/social media embed zone.  The OTs are full of clutter, and I want to keep that out of this thread. Images related to a post are fine, though.

upcoming topics:
4/14:  waiting is the hardest part – author and publisher delays
4/21:  celebrities who write
4/28:  better read at a different age (h/t to Pliny the Millennial)
5/5:  world lit every 80 days
5/12:  innovators – fiction and non-fiction that transformed the possibilities of the form
5/19:  authors whose books you’ll read, no matter what
5/26:  knowing culture or history to understand a book’s references (h/t Mongo Only Pawn)
6/2:  the dream cast for an adaptation (h/t Antononymous)
6/9:  read in order to avoid spoilers (h/t MisterSplendiferous)
6/16:  the definition of insanity
6/23:  deal breakers

Book Nook posts every Wednesday at 8:15 AM Eastern.