And We're Here

 Currently Reading: Moonbound , by Robin Sloane When I first started trying to write fiction (I was twenty-two, just out of college), I had this idea that authors always choose the extraordinary people to write about, and how unfair is that? Harry Potter gets a series because he's the chosen one, marked by his scar, and rises to become the hero to face off with the Dark Lord. Percy Jackson is the son of Zeus. What about the rest of us, who don't have divine parentage and aren't special? Do we get a story too? I tried, with my first attempt at a novel, to write about an "ordinary" girl, and I quickly discovered how boring that is, to have a character so like myself in real life, with few desires, a mousy adherence to schedule, and a generally happy life.  Reading Moonbound , I think I can finally see something I couldn't understand at that age. Robin Sloane chooses the extraordinary characters to write about - the city-smashers, the technological revolutionarie...

I've never read such a peaceful book. I'm not saying it's not a page-turner--it is. The reviews said readers could finish it in a day, and that held true for me. It was after my workout last Thursday morning, and I thought I would read a few sentences before I started all the work I was supposed to be doing, so I sat halfway up the steps (because I didn't want to get any of the furniture sweaty) and opened the book on my phone. Two and a half hours later, I wondered if I was bruising my tailbone on the stairs, and I told myself I really should be getting along now, but then I was almost done--glued in until the end. But even though the mystery is enticing and the pace of the reveals keeps you flipping (or in my case swiping), the book as a whole radiates deep contentment and joy. Reading is fun for me largely because I get to experience the mind of the narrator of the book. Like an Airbnb for your brain--come in, see the furniture, peek through the kitchen cupboards, fe...