Reading With Hope

What do you hope for when you turn to read the first page of a new book?

Your first thought in response to that question might be that it depends on the book. You may hope that the book will interest you, entertain you, inform you, make you laugh, make you cry, shock you, scare you, excite you, surprise you, keep you in suspense. You may hope that it will offer you an escape from your real life for a while, or that you will learn new things about storytelling and the art of writing. Maybe you hope that the characters will be real enough for you to care passionately about them, or that the story will be so gripping that you will be up reading till the small hours, unable to put it down. Perhaps you simply hope that you will be able to understand it and keep up with the plot. If it’s a best seller, you will probably hope that it lives up to the hype. Maybe you hope that it will sweep you along on the breathtaking magical journey that was promised on the back cover. Perhaps you hope that it will give you something to think about, and talk about with friends. Perhaps you hope that it will inspire you to get back to writing your own novel.