By Josslyn Caskey
Staff writer
Sometimes you just can’t get into a book, or the writing doesn’t flow, or even the story could have been better. So sometimes you just have to drop books. No, not literally. On multiple occasions, I’ve had to drop books because I couldn’t connect to a story. Sometimes I pick the book back and sometimes I just let it go. But how can you tell if you should drop the book or if it’s just a book slump?
It all goes back to what makes a good book a topic I previously covered. For me, it comes down to three things: dialogue, story, and atmosphere.
First and foremost dialogue if the sounds forced or unnatural can make reading the book difficult. For me, in most cases, I can look past it but for others, it’s hard to continue. Dialogue makes up 50% of the overall story. It’s what gives characters personality making them seem like a real person, therefore, their dialogue and what they say has to be believable.
The second is the story, simple as that. If the story doesn’t make sense if there are holes it can make reading challenging. For me I find myself rereading pages just to understand what’s going on.
Lastly is the atmosphere, when I read I’m able to picture everything that’s happening in the story almost like a mini-movie. Description of scenery and paying close attention to detail pay off in a story. Everything has to mean something if it is not adding to the story or the character then it’s useless information. Nothing is worse than when you begin reading a book it describes an event or a person and then continues to never mention the person again. Small details like that can make a story confusing or boring to read.
There is no shame in dropping books, especially when you first start getting into books. You’re not gonna like every book you read. Sometimes you just have to move on from the bad to find the better.