As I noted some time ago I had given up on finding good fiction; same old stuff was being churned out, active voice and all.
But Stephen King keeps recommending books, and I take him as a fairly good critic - so when he says something is good I am usually tempted to read it.
Anyway, putting King aside for the moment, I had picked up The Book Thief, found the beginning to be slow and ethereal, and put it aside wanting to get back to it later. That evening I got a call from my sister who had just returned from Cuba; she had some goodies for me - among the goodies a bottle of Cuban sand from the beach - err, Cuba, you are losing your beach. She said she bought it - was on sale as a souvenir.
In the course of our conversation she tosses The Kite Runner at me - 'Read this', she says. 'He writes like you.'
A bit miffed at that - since I don't want to write like anyone else, never mind the fact that I'm always challenged to develop different styles - I took the book home and started it.
Couldn't stop till I had put the book down. What an eye-opener.
But all that has really nothing to do with what I'm trying to say - that's all just 'book' stuff.
Because, a few days later, a lady colleague tossed Justin Cronin's The Passage at me. Yes, people keep tossing books at me. I'm a sure target. In any case, I get home, open the book and the very first page blows me away.
Why?
Because in the past week I had been talking about Bill Reynolds and Harper Lee - and both are mentioned in the very first page. A bit creeped out - and remembering what I had read in Frank Joseph's Synchronicity & You, I kept reading and was enthralled. Good book. I'm looking forward to the sequels.
As for the synchronicity . . . I'm keeping my eyes open. I've set a watchman.
