BUZZ WORDS and FIRST WORDS by Karla Stover

 

BUZZ WORDS and FIRST WORDS

I tried to put a reserve on a book, today. It didn't take because, apparently, I'd put a reserve on it already and had just forgotten. That was a surprise--not that I'd forgotten--but because it's not the kind of book I usually read. That got me to thinking about the buzz words that caught my eye. In this case it was the word, 'gothic' in the title, and 'distant mansion' and 'family secrets hidden' seemed to leap off the page and grab me. 

Every week the library sends me a list of recent releases. Today's list said two books were charming. Not my cup of tea--ha ha--"charming" smacks of being a cozy. 

Then there was this: ". . . just returned to England after a row with her husband, the British consul to Smyrna; Meacan Barlow, Cecily's childhood friend, now working as an illustrator. 1703 London: Cecily and Meacan are two of renowned collector Sir Barnaby Mayne's house guests when he is fatally stabbed. After a confession that can't possibly be true, the ladies hunt for the real killer.  Cecily and Meacan are two of renowned collector Sir Barnaby Mayne's house guests when he is fatally stabbed. After a confession that can't possibly be true, the ladies hunt for the real killer."

I don't think Meacan is the husband, but this description is so confusing I had to wonder about the book, no matter how "richly textured" it was.

I was recently trapped because the psychological mystery (not much of one) was supposed to be set in Cornwall from where my family hails. The author, in her twenties, looked to be about 16 and perhaps that was the trouble, not her youthful looks, it's just that she was too young to capably dip into the psychology pool. About page 3  Munchhausen by Proxy had raised its head and after that it was pretty obvious where the story was headed.

Is the following a turnoff for anyone but me--"seeks her true reflection in two kindred cities" ? I'm not even sure what that means.

Of course, all this sounds very opiniated, but there are so many books and so little time to read the best of the best, and our descriptions, the words we choose, have to work hard to capture the eye of a reader. Never mind the comments on the back of the cover. I once saw a really good recommendation signed "the author's mother." According to an east coast newspaper women I interviewed back in the mists of  time, publishers there think we'll buy a book because some well-known person recommends it.

Does anyone?

The first page of most books is generally a half page. On a reserve that just came in, the elderly men (I could have written 'old men' but 'elderly' is kinder) drinking coffee were variously described as: "a trio of geezers" "withered fools" with "flabby pink old-man lips" having heads that were "flaky bald" and who laughed like "agitated horses."

Yowsa! Too cruel for me to even want to turn the page. Which I didn't, I returned the book unread.

Picky. Picky. Picky, you say? Maybe, but those words made a first, bad impression on me.

The more I read, the more I write, the more I ponder. Such is the world of words.