It's a question we're often asked.
Turnrow mainstays know Billie. They've shared the couch with her at the front of the store and swapped plots, characters, and authors. They know her to be an obsessive reader, both shrewd and particular. She appears faithfully each Tuesday when new books are released, and again on Friday. Sometimes Monday, Wednesday and Thursday too. On Saturdays and Sundays she watches baseball or, reluctantly, basketball. Rare is the day she leaves without a book.
Billie arrives in search of suspense novels and chastises us when there are no new arrivals. She demands of a book these things:
- A hook at the beginning, preferably involving a death or kidnapping. No torture.
- Not too much description. She knows what the sky and the trees look like.
- Lots of dialogue and short chapters are preferred but not essential.
Lest you think these are the hallmarks of a narrow-minded reader, you should know that, despite her demands for suspense novels, her favorite book is Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons, and the best book she's read in the past year is Jodi Picoult's Nineteen Minutes. Suspense is relative, not just a genre. She takes few of our literary recommendations, but it's a great triumph when we send her home with a book she doubts and she returns with praise. One such memorable book was Mary by Janis Cooke-Newman, which we begged her to buy, and she loved it despite the fact that it was 650 pages and historical (two other Billie no-nos).
So what's Billie reading now? Hold Tight by Harlen Coben, a thriller, to be sure, and may we say, she has not been this animated about a book in some time. "This one lives up to its title," she told us. "You better hold on tight." We spoke with her yesterday, and she confesses that she had to downshift her reading so as to prolong the enjoyment. Billie has bought all of Coben's books, to mixed reviews, but judging by her response, this is one of his best. We have signed copies, by the way, but Billie doesn't care much about that.
She recently finished Patrick McGrath's Trauma, and though it was a little slower and more character-driven than she prefers, she ended up liking it, especially the twisty ending. (Another point for us!) What's next in the reading pile? She can't say. Like Stephen King, with whom she shares several reading affinities, she doesn't like to start a new book because "the characters are not your friends yet."
When we find out what Billie's reading next, we'll let you know.
