re-discovering reading

as an english major, i didn't think there would ever come a day where i wouldn't be able to find a book to read. but when i moved to philadelphia two years ago, i signed up for a library card to the Free Library (i love how rather than being just public, it's free) and yesterday was my first time using it. i have to admit, i was a little scared that i wouldn't remember the right library etiquette as it had been so long but i went to the independence branch and it was crawling with after-school kids talking in what they must have thought were soft voices. it's a rather small branch, not really unexpected since the main library isn't too too far away but i was still paralyzed with my inability to select a book. i read blurb after blurb after blurb and scanned every fiction title in the joint (i'm not a particular fan of non-fiction so unless i'm researching something, i stick with the made-up stuff). it took me almost an hour to decide on a book and even then, i only picked one because i felt too lame to finally go and not check anything out. i ended up with connie wilis's "blackout" mostly because she's a nebula and hugo award winning author (it says so right on the cover!) and i figure those awards really only go to people who can tell good stories. and nowhere on the jacket does it claim that this book was "beautifully written." let me state here that that phrase has got to be grossly overused; every other book that i picked up (maybe 30 or so) would make this claim. maybe everyone does write beautifully but i think this was probably the equivalent of saying that someone is "nice" while actually meaning they are boring. i have a few rules that i choose books by and unless i know for sure through a strong personal recommendation (best sellers lists are not really my friends), i don't break them for good reason:

-if the author's name is bigger than the title, it's a no-go. titles are important and an author's celebrity is not. i do read books based on authors but they tend not to be so caught up in their own importance that they feel that their name alone can sell a book. unless your name is shakespeare, you still have to prove to me that the book alone is proof of your skills.

-if the synopsis tells me too much about the character and his/her sad traumatic background. i like stories. stories require good characters but it's plot that makes it move. if i feel that the author was more concerned with creating an entire person as opposed to an entire story, i lose interest. i don't want just an in-depth character profile, i want to know what they are doing. it's self-indulgent to keep creating characters and not give them an actual lives to live.

-if says it was "beautifully written."