Because I'm officially #107 on the wait list at my library.
I keep going back and forth on whether I should just go buy the book, because, you know, all the potential for being the best (at least bestselling) novel of the year. But I just can't bring myself to pay hard cash for something I haven't read yet.
After all, #107's not too bad. If everyone maxes out their three week checkout limit I should get it by...
August 2021.
Ugh.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, you must not read the news. And I'm not even talking about the dorky book nerd news from book bloggers and Goodreads reviewers who stalk authors and publishing websites. This has been all over the real news too, because it's kind of that big of a deal that after decades of silence, the author that people thought had written only a one-hit-wonder has released a second novel, and it officially comes out today (although the entire first chapter was released last week).
A companion book for To Kill a Mockingbird? How could you not be excited?
Well, actually, finding out that the hero lawyer of American fiction, the upstanding Atticus Finch, might actually be a bigoted racist (technically not a spoiler, since it's already in the news) might be devastating. I mean, Atticus really was a national literary hero. I know a family that named their son Atticus (and I think they may have named a daughter Scout, but I might be making that part up). How are they going to feel about this change in the character's narrative arc?
But then again, characters are always better when they're complex. I am definitely intrigued.
Dang it, I want to read this thing.
Is it poor form to just hang out in a bookstore for hours on end while reading a book cover to cover? (Confession, I have done that before, but it was a short YA novel and only took me thirty minutes or so.) There's a chance I'd buy it, if I like it enough, but heavens, what would I do with the children while I read? Just let them run loose through the store?
To all my other bookish friends out there who get their hands on this book before me, I'm totally excited to hear your thoughts on this. Does it live up to the immortal To Kill A Mockingbird? Does it disappoint? Do you love it? Do you hate it?
And most importantly, can I borrow it?
The more I hear about it, the less I'm excited to read it. :-( I haven't bought it either because I don't want to spend the money on something I might just decide to donate after I'm done.
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