Interesting questions, Rhonda! I can answer only for myself and will say that do I enjoy many books. I DID enjoy the writing in this one. I think she can construct a sentence really well AND she has interesting ideas. I don’t think she’s good at plotting, however. (Or at least she wasn’t in this book. Based on her writing skill, I’m willing to give her another chance.)

This has NOTHING to do with my coaching! In fact, I don’t even coach fiction writers. I just dislike certain predictable, plot gambits. That’s a question of taste.

I appreciate many fine pieces of writing and don’t think I’ve become jaded by my work. Here are some of the books I can unreservedly recommend (I keep a journal listing all the books I read each year): The Paris Wife, by Paula McLain, The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes, Just Kids by Patti Smith, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova Bailey & Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson.

That said, don’t assume that just because *I* like these books that you will, too. Taste in reading is very personal.

I am disappointed at the post though:

“I was dazzled by her writing” followed by “…appalled by her apparent inability to produce an interesting plot. This book is so tedious and the characters so uninteresting!”

Has coaching taken you to a place where you are unable to enjoy a book? That may sound harsh, but I have noticed a pattern in your reviews.

I worry about this as I teach middle school students to recognize literary elements and devices. Do I ask my students to focus so much on author style that they are unable to enjoy books as they are written?

I’d like to think that my teaching helps them to recognize and enjoy MORE what good authors do, but is it possible I set them up for disappointment?

Can I still recognize and appreciate a piece of writing, or has writing become something I only evaluate?