Maron Anrow's Blog

Happy New Year! Hoping for an auspicious year in writing, yesterday–January 1, 2016–I published a short story called Letter from a Desperate Father. It’s currently free on Smashwords (available in all ebook formats). It’s 99 cents on Amazon, and I’m the process of persuading Amazon to make it permanently free.

I’m pretty proud of the story. It’s only 20 pages long, so please consider reading it (click here to read for free) and leaving a review.

In other news, I finished writing two books in 2015. Two! So 2015 was successful in that way, but not as successful as I would have liked. I’m trying to publish both books traditionally, and so far I haven’t been able to get a literary agent. Rejections mean the work needs to be better, so I recently revised both books considerably. Here’s hoping 2016 will be the year an agent (and then publisher) picks them up.

The first book is fiction (it’s the WIP I referred to in earlier blog entries). I adore it so damn much… Ahhh, I just want to get it into the hands of readers! The second book is a memoir. I began college when I was eleven years old, and my unusual situation led to some interesting experiences that I think will entertain readers.

I hope 2016 is off to a great start for you!

I climbed Mount St. Helens!

 

My husband and I first visited Portland, OR (and the surrounding area) in 2007 and fell in love with the Pacific Northwest. We returned in 2009 and 2010, and during those first three trips it was always overcast so we couldn’t see any of the volcanoes of the Cascade Range. On our next trip in May 2013, we had a stretch of gorgeous sunny days, allowing us to finally see–and be blown away by–Mount Hood, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams. (Mount Rainier joined the list later, once we got high enough and close enough to see it.)

 

Here is our first close view of Mount St. Helens from that May 2013 trip:

 

 

We returned exactly one year later with the goal of getting closer to Mount St. Helens. We decided to hike a trail that would take us to the north side of the volcano. The north side is where the mountain collapsed during the eruption, creating a crater. When we got our first glimpse of it (below), our jaws literally dropped. No joke.

 

 

Halfway through that hike we reached Norway Pass, which offers a stunning view of the north side of the mountain. The lake is Spirit Lake, and those white objects are logs that were thrown into the lake during the eruption thirty years ago. The log mat shifts on the water, so its location changes over the course of the day.

 

 

That day we hiked Norway Pass in May 2014, I fell in love with Mount St. Helens.

 

 

Us with Mount St. Helens (whose summit is in the clouds). Don’t worry, we still love each other more than Mount St. Helens.

 

On our hike we could see steam venting from the crater, a humble reminder that this majestic beast is still an active volcano.

 

 

I admit I’m also in love with Mount Hood, but my feelings for the two peaks are very different. Let me explain my anthropomorphic impressions of them. Mount Hood is a friendly mountain. When it peeks out from the clouds, it’s like it’s saying hello in a super-excited, glad-to-see-you kind of way. It’s like a dog or buddy. I feel affection toward Mount Hood (below).

 

 

But Mount St. Helens? Mount St. Helens is a GOD. A fucking deity. When I see her, I’m awed. I’m reminded of her power. Her eruption caused tremendous devastation, yet she’s absolutely gorgeous. In that way, she reminds me of a big cat (e.g., jaguar, cheetah) who is lithe and graceful but can and will destroy you in a heartbeat.

 

 

In 2014, my husband I set the goal to climb Mount St. Helens. It’s the shortest and easiest volcanic summit to reach in the greater Portland area, but we knew we’d have to train for it. (The elevation gain is the equivalent of climbing ~480 flights of stairs.) In August 2014, on the first day of the semester, I told my students that my goal was to climb Mount St. Helens sometime within the next five years. (I asked each of my students to tell me something about them, and I reciprocated by sharing that fact about me.) Well, just 14 months later, I reached that goal.

 

We climbed Mount St. Helens on October 17, 2015. It rained off and on that day, and the summit was in the clouds when we reached it. I was disappointed that we couldn’t see anything more than a few yards in front of us (I was really looking forward to peering into the crater), but I still felt very satisfied just to have reached the summit. We trained for it over the summer by going on increasingly intense hikes and by building our leg muscles through regular exercise. My photos from the summit hike are on this page, but here’s a single photo of me at the summit:

 

 

I’m definitely bummed that we couldn’t see much, but that just means we’ll have to go back! In the meantime, we’re setting our sights on climbing other volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest. South Sister (outside of Bend, OR) might be our next one. If we make a habit out of this, who knows–maybe someday we’ll climb Mount Hood!

It’s been over a month since I returned from my two-week trip to New Zealand and I’ve finally organized and uploaded the photos. You can see them here. There are quite a few pages of photos. If you only have time for one, go to this page for truly stunning photos of our flight over the Southern Alps. That flight is currently one of my all-time top life experiences, and it left me with an awe-hangover for the rest of the day. (If you have time for only four more pages, these have the next most gorgeous photos: Two, Three, Four, and Five). It was an awesome trip.

In writing news, I’ve been revising the book I finished in February. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about opening scenes and pace, and I wanted to share my thoughts here. Many books, movies, and TV shows start with an action-packed scene to capture your interest. Is this necessary? As a viewer and reader, I feel somewhat insulted by the assumption that action is necessary to engage me and make me want to continue. However, that could just reflect my tastes, as most of the fiction I enjoy is “slow burn.” My favorite TV shows, like Breaking Bad and The Wire, gradually build tension. The payoff is completely worth it (in my opinion). Of course, many of these same shows start with an action-packed scene and then move backward in time, with Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire being two examples. I’m pretty sure I would’ve continued watching those shows without a thrilling opening scene (after all, most of the episodes in those series could be described as slow), but is that true of most viewers? Is the initial scene necessary to make them stay? If so, do those same viewers leave when they realize the rest of the show moves at a a slow pace?

I’m definitely a fan of the slow burn, and I like when writers and directors don’t think they need to trick me into staying. So, unsurprisingly, I wrote what might be called a “slow burn” book. When this is done well, like it was in Breaking Bad, the final climactic payoff is so much more impactful and emotional than what you get in “fast paced” stories. Of course, tastes differ wildly (e.g., you won’t find me at an action movie), and that alone is a fascinating subject. The psychology of taste (interest, not flavors!) is something I’ve thought about studying but have yet to do. I’m wrapping up some lines of research right now, so maybe I’ll make that a project for next year. Hmm…

Laika in Lisan was published on Amazon Kindle on April 27, 2014. (The paperback version became available the following month.) So, one year later… What are my thoughts?

The good: What I love about self-publishing is the control and immediacy. I wrote the book I wanted to write, and it was made available to readers in an extremely short period of time. It was challenging to get reviews (in case you’re wondering, I never let family or friends review the book), but with persistent promotion I did get it into readers’ hands. And that was AWESOME, because the feedback I got from readers was generally positive. Right now, the book has a 4.12 rating on Goodreads (based on 42 user ratings) and a 4.2 rating on Amazon (based on 24 reviews). Of over 50 unique people who read and rated the book, only one person gave it less than 3-stars. Reader tastes vary greatly (even my own book tastes can be quite different from that of my friends, who are quite similar to me overall), but there were some readers who really seemed to love the book. How rewarding! I’m very fond of the characters and story, and it’s a pleasure to know some people feel the same. Also, unrelated to Laika in Lisan itself, I’ve met a few really incredible people via Goodreads in the process of promoting the book. That’s been awesome.

The bad: Man, distinguishing yourself through self-publishing is tough. The market is saturated with self-published books. The only time I made sales was when I actively promoted the book online, which was my main activity June-August 2014. I did receive multiple word-of-mouth purchases (e.g., someone who received the book for free and enjoyed it a lot told a friend about it, and the friend then purchased it), but active promotion was necessary for sales… and that took so much time! Between June and August 2014, I spent hours a day at the computer engaging in some form of promotion or networking (or reading about how to do that). Those are hours I didn’t spend writing another book. Marketing a published book is a lot easier than writing a new one… But when the summer ended, I regretted how I’d spent my time. I’m a university professor, so I have a bit more free time in the summer (in the summer I only do research, whereas I do research, teaching, and service during the academic year). Starting in September, I decided to dedicate the little free time I had to writing a new book instead of promoting Laika in Lisan. Sure enough, sales dropped precipitously. But, I was happier with how I spent my time. Ahhh, I just love my current book. I love it so much! It was worth it. I need to remember that: write write write! Writing has to come first.

The verdict: I’m not the type of person who does well self-publishing. That doesn’t mean Laika in Lisan isn’t too blame at all. It needs a more appealing cover, the title is terrible (why am I so bad at creating titles?), and my own writing could certainly use improvement. (The good news is I think it has improved. My latest book is much better written, in my opinion.) But the time necessary for promotion and marketing is a real challenge for me. In addition, I think the biggest markets for self-published books are romance and mystery/thrillers, and my weird fantasy-politics-morality-romance novel doesn’t fit. (Multiple readers–ones who enjoyed the book, I should add–said they had no idea which genre it really belongs to, and I agree! AHH!) So, I need help. As much as I like to think I’m a competent and self-sufficient person who can learn anything, I really can’t do this on my own.

The future: I want my recently-finished book to be published traditionally. I need the assistance of an agent and publisher. Plus, I think the audience for this novel is people who tend to read traditionally published books. (I think NPR listeners will enjoy it…) But what happens if I can’t find an agent and publisher? I started querying agents less than two weeks ago, so it’s early yet, but I know there’s a low probability I’ll be able to publish this book traditionally. Do I give up after X amount of time and self-publish instead? (After considerable revisions, of course.) I don’t know. This past year I’ve learned self-publishing is a struggle, and I’m not very good at it. But I also want to share my books with readers. For my latest novel, I’ll persist with the traditional route. That doesn’t mean I have no intention to self-publish again. If I finish the sequel to Laika in Lisan while still trying to find an agent and publisher for this one, I’ll self-publish that. I know probability is against me, but I’m persistent and I’m willing to wait this time. We’ll see how it goes.

Long time no talk! It’s been over three months since I last updated, but I promise it’s for a good reason. I’ve spent nearly every spare moment working on my new book, and it’s almost done!

I finished the first draft on February 15, and since then it’s gone through three revisions after feedback from three successive beta readers. Right now I’m doing a second post-revision reading to catch errors and inconsistencies, and to make sure the revisions I made work. As soon as I finish this current round, I plan to begin querying agents. Please cross your fingers for me!

In other exciting news, the first anniversary of Laika in Lisan‘s publication is in two weeks. I’ll post my one-year-later thoughts to mark the occasion. This past year has definitely been a learning experience. For example, I self-published Laika in Lisan without querying agents first, which I regret. I didn’t even try! That won’t be the case with this next book.

I’m so in love with my new book. I’m incredibly invested in the story and characters. Even if no one else likes it, writing it has been a wonderful experience for me. While I can’t wait to finish it and send it to agents, I’ll be sad the day the book is finished for good. (That’s probably a very long way off, of course.) The characters have been close to my heart for a long time now, and I don’t want to let them go. But don’t worry–I will. Once I begin querying agents for this book, I plan to turn my attention to writing the sequel to Laika in Lisan.

I have one more thing to share. Last month was my work trip to Seoul, South Korea. It was an amazing experience! Most of the pictures I took are of the students I traveled with, so I don’t have many scenic photos to share. (It was also smoggy and overcast, so my landscape photos are on the dull side.) However, if you’re interested, you can see some of my better photos here.

The trip was exhausting, especially the return. I got home on a Sunday evening, and I had to be back at work the next morning. That’s after 24 hours of traveling (from hostel to home) during which I was awake the whole time. (I did play some awesome games of Texas Hold ‘Em on the plane, though.) I got really sick two days later. Thank you, travel and exhaustion, for destroying my immune system. But aside from the rough return, the trip was great. Prior to this trip, the only place I’ve ever missed after visiting it is the Pacific Northwest. But I missed Seoul before I even got home. The intensity of my own emotion shocked me. Or maybe it was just travel fatigue… Regardless, Seoul is a pretty cool city, and I’d like to spend more time there.

I’m very happy to say that I rang in the New Year with my second best writing day of my life to date! On December 31st I wrote over 6,000 words for my in-progress novel. In fact, I was writing when midnight struck (I’m obviously not a socialite). My best writing day so far was a year ago (January 2014) when I wrote over 7,000 words for Laika in Lisan in one day. Usually I’m satisfied if I can manage 1,000 words in a single day, so 6,000 on New Year’s Eve is a huge deal for me. I’m loving my time off from work right now–my writing pace has been great this past week! (The novel is currently at ~80,000 words.)

I’m also excited to announce that Laika in Lisan was selected as a finalist for the fantasy-romance genre in the 2014 Readers’ Choice Awards at Moonrise Book Blog! If you’ve read and enjoyed Laika in Lisan, please consider voting for it at this page. (Voting closes January 13.) I contacted Moonrise the day after Laika in Lisan was published on Amazon to request an honest review of the book on her blog, and she agreed to take a chance on it–despite the fact that I’m an unknown author and the book had 0 prior reviews. (Her lovely and thoughtful review can be read here.) I’m honored that Laika was selected as a finalist, especially given the significance of Moonrise Book Blog in Laika‘s history.

And on that note, here is my own Best Books of 2014 list! (These are books I read in 2014. Many were published earlier.)

 

Best Book Overall

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

This is the second novel in the Farseer Trilogy (you should read Assassin’s Apprentice first). Holy shit. I laughed, I cried, I had a moment of complete reader ecstasy. As the kids are saying these days, OMG THE FEELS. I could spend years inside Fitz’s first-person narrative.

 Best Indie (Self-published) Book

House of Secrets: A Bletchley Park Novella by W. Len

House of Secrets is a fast-paced novella about a man working alongside Alan Turing as a codebreaker in WWII. I read it in one sitting and I highly recommend it.

Most Clever Storytelling

Absolutely by Melissa Veracruz

Absolutely is a romance that addresses both partners’ points of view. The reader learns about events as they unfold from both Ashlyn’s perspective and Kiel’s perspective in a way that is never dull. It’s a heartwarming story, and I was always impressed by the transitions between perspectives.

Best Book Judged By Its Cover

The Ghost Bride by Yangsze Choo

The cover of The Ghost Bride caught my eye in a monthly Goodreads newsletter. I immediately thought, “What is this beautiful book?!?!” Fortunately the blurb was just as appealing as the cover, and the story inside didn’t disappoint. I’m so glad I judged this book by its cover.

Best Nonfiction

Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader by Bradley Martin

This is a really tough category because I read a lot of great nonfiction books this year. In terms of the overall impact a book had on me, the award has to go to Under the Loving Care of the Fatherly Leader. It actually took me over a year to read this massive book, but I finished it in 2014 so I’m counting it this year. This book covers North Korea from many angles (history, politics, economy, journalism, human rights violations). I’m very frustrated by how North Korea is in the news for nearly everything but human rights violations. It’s a big fucking deal (excuse my language), yet instead we just laugh at the Kims and North Korea’s puny missiles. Those are important, too, but why aren’t more people talking about the human rights situation? A detailed report came out this year on the topic, and it was in the news for about five minutes and then poof — no more mention, no countries doing anything about it. Anyway, as a side note, this book was a source of inspiration for certain parts of Laika in Lisan (Lisan is modeled after North Korea).

Best Audiobook

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan

I’ve been listening to audiobooks slightly more regularly now that I spend two hours a day in the car. Botany of Desire made my commute more than bearable–I was eager to return to my car to continue the book! I learned all sorts of interesting things about plants. That might sound boring, but it’s not. Trust me.

Fun & Funniest Book

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

What a romp! That’s the best way to describe Bridge of Birds: A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was. Incredible mythology, humor, wit, epic adventure, and just AHH! So much fun.

Best Villain

Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb

Kennit, the villain in Robin Hobb’s Liveship Traders trilogy, is superbly written. What I love about him is that he is cruel, sadistic, and undoubtedly evil in his motives… yet everything he does actually ends up improving the lives of the people around him. Wow! Robin Hobb, I will love you forever. (Kennit aside, this is an awesome trilogy. Five stars is not enough to describe how good Ship of Magic is.)

Finally, after many months of both procrastination and laborious work, all of my nice travel photos are in one spot: Here! I hope you enjoy them. (I think my photography skills have improved slightly with time. I also got a great new camera this time last year.) Obviously, I love the pacific northwest. The next set of photos I’ll be adding will be from Seoul, South Korea, which I’m visiting for work in March. After that… NEW ZEALAND! (That one is pure vacation fun. We’re going late May/early June 2015 for two weeks.)

I began 2014 with a modest goal to read about 30 books. The year was off to a great start, so during the summer I increased it to 40 and later to 50. I met my goal! Whoo! Here are my books of 2014. I beta-read three novels (currently unpublished) that aren’t counted on that reading list (and I read my own novel over a dozen times), so I feel like it’s an underestimate of my reading time. But that’s okay–this is only the second year I’ve made it to 50 books, so I’m pleased. For 2015 I’ll start with a conservative goal of 30 again.

Happy New Year!

These past four months were extremely busy for me at work (in my one update since that time, I mentioned I’d taken on the workload of a colleague on medical leave). For the first two months I managed to make consistent, albeit slow, progress on my fiction writing. However, in late October/early November, my workload destroyed me as I took on one more time-consuming responsibility that lasted for three weeks. It was an ugly time and I felt on the verge of a breakdown. I went from practicing Korean studiously every night–I was up to 200 words learned–to not touching my flashcards at all for over a month, and I stopped writing on the weekends as well.

Everything calmed down the week of Thanksgiving, thanks to a combination of my workload returning to normal and a few work-free days with my family in California. Unfortunately, the recent stress had totally compromised my immune system and I caught a bad virus on the return flight. (My husband never got sick, despite much saliva swapping, so I definitely blame my immune system.) It left me functionless for over a week, plus I developed laryngitis and couldn’t speak for four days. Blech!

This week was both the end of my crazy overload schedule at work (YAY!) and the beginning of three weeks off. I’ll still be working from home for some of it, but I’m pretty pleased about the increase in free time. I jumped back into fiction writing this weekend, accomplishing a total of 4,400 words! YAY again! During my hectic four-month overload stretch, I only wrote about 20,000 words total (and I only wrote on weekends), so it’s very satisfying to have written this much in two days. Unfortunately, for the next two days I need to prioritize regular work (and then family holiday obligations will keep me busy for another two), but I’m really excited to get back into writing. Importantly, unlike these past four months, my workload should be manageable when I return in January, so I expect make decent writing progress from now on.

My work-in-progress is currently at ~56,000 words, and I estimate it will take about ~100,000 to bring the tale to its conclusion. I hope to finish it by mid-May. Fingers crossed!

In other news, here are some things I’ve really enjoyed recently:

MOVIE: Departures

I watched this for the second time recently and it’s hands-down one of the best movies I’ve seen. It was touching in a genuinely meaningful way (not in saccharine or Lifetime movie way), and it made me cry more than once.

TV SHOWS: Family Tree and Boardwalk Empire

Family Tree is unfortunately only one season long, but I enjoyed every episode. If you like Christopher Guest’s mockumentaries (like Best in Show), you’ll probably like Family Tree. It had me laughing out loud with tears at one point.

Boardwalk Empire is a high-quality HBO serial drama, which is the category nearly all of my favorite TV shows fall under. I just wish there wasn’t so much female nudity. The feminist in me (which is all of me) is incredibly tired of the dramatically skewed distribution of male and female nudity on television. Therefore, I’ve decided to create a TV show called Dicks and Balls, which will be about male athletes who are all jerks, and it will have a bunch of male full-frontal nudity (and absolutely no female nudity). Who’s with me?

BOOKS: Daughter of the Forest and The Lost City of Z

I thought the romantic in me had died, but Daughter of the Forest proved me wrong. I haven’t been so emotionally invested in a love story in a very long time. Better yet, the love story wasn’t the main focus of the novel. Sorcha, the protagonist, endures pain and exerts fierce self-control to save her brothers, and she just so happens to find love along the way.

The Lost City of Z is a nonfiction account of the disappearance of a British explorer in the Amazon. It’s a captivating tale, although after reading it I definitely have absolutely no desire to visit the Amazon ever.

MUSIC: LCD Soundsystem, “Dance Yrself Clean”

I haven’t discovered any new great bands in over seven months, but this particular song was an awesome mood-booster for me during recent stressful times. At 3:08 into the song, I have an uncontrollable urge to dance for the next five minutes. The song is best enjoyed as loud as possible.

For many years I devoted myself to pursuing singular goals. For six years my goal was to finish graduate school with a strong CV, and achieving that goal left little time for anything else. I loved my first job after graduate school, but it meant my husband I lived in different parts of the country. For three years, we were driven by a single goal: Get desirable jobs close to each other. This meant working tirelessly to have strong CVs so we would be competitive applicants for the extremely few jobs within easy driving distance of my stepdaughter. Achieving this consumed us. There was little in our lives beyond work.

Finally, in 2012 I left a great job in St. Louis for a good job in Pennsylvania, which allowed my husband, stepdaughter, and I to live together in New Jersey. The price was a long commute for all of us. The first year in my new job was stressful, as I had to adjust to a different schedule, a long commute, and a heavier workload.

Once I’d finally met the goals that drove me for years and adjusted to my new job and lifestyle, certain long-forgotten goals and desires of mine returned. The first was to write fiction. I began two books in 2013, one of which became Laika in Lisan. This awoke in me a desire to write more (I have four unfinished books at the moment, all of which weigh on me!). My second desire was to learn another language. I’d failed to learn Japanese twice before (first around 2001-2002, again in 2008-2009), although I plan to return to it someday. Next March I’m traveling to South Korea for a week for work, and even though it’s not essential for me to know the Korean language, I want to!

It feels so wonderful to have personal goals beyond my career. For over 10 years, there was little room for anything in my life beyond being a successful researcher (i.e., having a strong CV). But while I do have a bit more free time than I used to, it’s not enough time for the many goals, hobbies, and activities I want to pursue. My career will always need to come first (it’s my livelihood, after all), and I happen to have a career that can be more of a lifestyle than a job.

But I refuse to give up my new goals and hobbies, and this has left me incredibly protective of my free time. Right now (from August to December) my regular workload is about 40% greater than normal because one of my colleagues is on medical leave, and I’ve taken on some of her usual responsibilities. Fortunately her prognosis is great (yay!) and I’m compensated for the overload work (extra $$ = much needed).

My commute kills me the most. Oh, if only I could use those 2 to 2.5 hours productively! I’ve tried audiobooks and language learning while driving, but neither worked well. Unfortunately, most days I have to take some work home with me, so I only have a few hours each evening to spend freely. These are the things I would like to do with that time, and on any given weeknight I usually only have enough time to do two of them:

Hang out with my husband and cats
Read books
Write books
Learn Korean
Exercise (not because I enjoy it, but because I want to be in shape for another goal: Hiking!)

I love how it feels to want—to have goals that excite me and motivate me. (Write books! Learn languages! Hike mountains!) I can’t believe I spent over 10 years devoted to a single goal, and I don’t want to do that again. But at the same time, having so many goals and being unable to meet them can be very disheartening. I’m making progress toward all of them: My books are slowly getting written, I’m steadily expanding my knowledge of Korean vocabulary, and my hiking muscles aren’t atrophying too much (that’s about the best I can do with that last one :)).

Sometimes I wonder if it would be better to abandon one or more goals to increase the likelihood that I’ll achieve others. Do I really need to learn Korean? Are these books really worth finishing? Maybe I would be better off relinquishing one goal for the sake of another, but I just don’t want to. Slow progress toward goals elicits negative affect (this is a well-established research finding!), and at least once a week I have a mini-existential crisis about my goals and how I’m using my time. For example, tonight I questioned (for about the fiftieth time…) whether I should persist at studying Korean. Learning another language is probably a hopeless cause, and I’ll only be in Korea for one week anyway. But… Argh! I like these goals, and I want to achieve them!

In January I set my 2014 reading challenge to 32 books. The year was off to a great start, and as I neared 30 books I decided to up it to 40. Well, I just finished #39, so I'm increasing it again... to 50! I've only reached 50 once (in 2010 I read 61 books), but this has been a great year for reading and I'm optimistic that I can reach 50.

Falling in love with Robin Hobb has definitely helped, as I've been flying through her books this year (I just finished my 8th Robin Hobb book.) Thanks, Tiz, for recommending Assassin's Apprentice! I enjoyed that first book, but the second one in the series (Royal Assassin) sealed the deal. There was no going back; I am now a major fan of everything Robin Hobb, especially her Fitz books.

I also began reading quite a few indie/self-published books this year, which has helped with my read count. I don't have Kindle Unlimited, but I occasionally consider signing up.

Of course, with free time being so limited, time spent reading is time I don't spend writing. But I'm a reader before a writer, and dammit, I've read some amazing books this year that just keep me going back for more. :)