Over the last 25 years, I’ve slipped in and out of reading hiatuses more times than I’d probably admit in these pages.

They almost always arrive during periods of change – those moments when life feels overwhelming, whether because of circumstances within my control or far beyond it. I’ve found myself in one of those stretches again over the past few months, and this one has lasted a little longer than usual.

Whenever it happens, I tend to reach for something immediate and compulsive. Usually, a thriller. The kind that hooks you from page one and doesn’t loosen its grip until the final sentence. Finding the right one can take a few false starts – sometimes I’ll abandon one, try another, then another, until I finally hit the book that pulls me back into reading properly. Because reading is so much about mood, isn’t it?

What I’ve noticed, though, is that when I’m trying to rediscover my reading mojo, my tolerance for thrillers with foolish characters drops dramatically. Recently, I picked up a thriller where the characters were obviously in danger yet kept making decisions that practically invited more of it. I found the same thing in a YA thriller, where the protagonist repeatedly wandered into situations that screamed TERRIBLE IDEA! I have wondered: are we as readers simply more forgiving of characters with no survival instincts because the action and premise of the plot is more compelling than the characters? If I was feeling more open to just getting on with the story, would I forgive these characters for being so silly because I wanted to know the outcome? I think not, to be honest.

I’m just even less tolerant when trying to get back into reading. But maybe I am completely wrong and some people actually behave this way in real life and I just haven’t met one yet?

These moments always remind me of crime shows where someone suspects a killer is inside a dark apartment … yet walks in anyway without turning on a light. Why does nobody ever turn on the light? Is it just me?

Suspending disbelief is part of the reading contract, of course. I’ve spent much of my reading life happily immersed in fantasy and science fiction, so I’m hardly opposed to improbable worlds or extraordinary events. I can believe (but not really) that you can fly on a dragon’s back or have unique skills that can enable you to create fireballs or transverse time and place. But stories grounded in recognisable reality – whether contemporary or historical – still need characters who behave in ways that feel emotionally believable. If they don’t, it’s up to the writer to convince us why. And don’t get me wrong – so many authors do this so very well and the number who don’t are very small.

And I’m not talking about the occasional bad decision. I mean a steady stream of them – the kind that slowly chips away at the credibility of the character, until eventually the story itself begins to crack.

I know some readers of historical fiction based on fact struggle with a story that diverts from language used or the behaviour of people in that time. It has to be true to its time. Other readers don’t seem to mind the diversion. For me language is tricky. The use of modern words outside of modern times? Not so good. It can spoil a story for me as it stops the flow of reading while I ponder the author’s thoughts of including them.
These are all the tricky things authors have to navigate. That’s why it takes so long to write a novel. So many elements have to come together to align. And it takes the support of a good editor to help them achieve their goal. We’re the lucky ones who then reap the benefits.

I love a good Gothic style suspense novel that creeps me out. Has me looking over my shoulder when I realise that I have been sucked right down into the story blocking the world around me out. Suddenly I can stop to realise the house is so very quiet. You could hear a pin drop. I look around nervously but at the same time feel a bit silly for it. It’s about possibilities in the story. Edge of your seat stuff.

Now I’m reading a middle grade book which is simply a fun fantastical adventure. It’s a great relief. I’m lucky enough to have an early reading copy of the third book in the ‘Impossible Creatures’ series by Katherine Rundell. An easy, very enjoyable fantasy for kids that fires the imagination. And even though it’s totally implausible, it still feels completely plausible to be in a land where sphinxes, krakens, centaurs and dragons live! After I stop reading for the evening, I can close my eyes and imagine myself in that wonderous world. No need to turn a light on there. •

Meet Dottie. Her dad is our advertising manager, David Thompson.

She is a gentle giant who has a perpetual smile on her face, loves a cuddle and is always up for some chaseys around the desks. Perfect for work/life balance supervision.

Welcome to Good Reading Dottie.

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