The Terrill family tradition of summer vacations in St. George are not understood by all - or even any - of those who did not happen to go on said vacations! Not everyone loves ice cream, early morning tennis, renting movies, playing Scrabble, swimming in covered pools, treks to the Shakespeare Festival or the Grand Canyon, and reading Jack Weyland novels!
But the Terrills did - and probably still do - love those various and sundry activities!!
The Jack Weyland novels probably wouldn't have much appeal anymore. I haven't read one - or even heard about one - for several years. But there is something about compelling, light-weight fiction that has a certain pull, or draw.
That's how some Terrills still feel about John Grisham. At least Harry and I still feel that way! I recall the first Grisham novel that I essentially rejected out of hand after reading the first chapter - The Firm - and I'm not even sure when I started reading them and getting hooked! (I eventually did finish The Firm and consider it one of his best.)
But hooked I am!! And with Amazon in general and Kindle in particular, I can have the latest Grisham almost the moment it's made available. I love that particular feature!
Not every Grisham book has delivered on its promises. There was one I didn't finish - just could not plow through it. And they are all so similar, I cannot keep most of the titles straight!
But that's not why I read them. I read them because I love a good story. I love a page-turner. I love sitting up reading a book late into the night - and then the letdown when it's over!
The latest Grisham - which I just finished - Sycamore Row - was not disappointing. Harry said it may be the best yet. It revisits the locale and characters from A Time to Kill - a novel that many consider Grisham's best writing. The story goes that he wrote A Time to Kill and it was not very successful, but he continued writing. The Firm was a success and others followed. A Time to Kill was re-issued, and it too became a best-seller.
I consider A Time to Kill his best writing. Some have said that after his work started being successful financially, his publishers started dictating his style, and he started "cranking them out" instead of the more careful, deliberate style of A Time to Kill.
Not sure if that's true or not, but his latest might just be something you'd like to curl up with one night soon!
