by Linore Rose Burkard

The Funniest Review: Thoughts on Reading and Readers

All writers know that book reviews can be wonderful, maddening, or anything in between.

One day, early in my writing career, I received an unexpectedly comical “review” for my first book, Before the Season Ends. A young lady came to me at church gushing about how she loved it and had lent it to a friend before school began earlier that week. She went on to relate how her friend had started it in homeroom, instantly loved it, and proceeded to read all day—all 310 pages—so that she’d finished it by the time school was out! 

The idea of this student furtively reading away and missing an entire day of high school classes sent me into helpless laughter. I wondered if I should be horrified to be the cause of virtual truancy, but I could not help being amused—and flattered. She missed her lessons, but it was one of the best “reviews” an author could ask for.  

It comforted me that reading my work was, at least, better than zoning out using a cell phone.  

I was normally an attentive student myself, but once, in sixth grade, I suddenly realized my teacher was trying to get my attention. Startled, I looked up (and probably muttered something brilliant such as “huh?”) and the whole class enjoyed a good laugh while I turned crimson. I’d been so engrossed in a book I hadn’t heard my name repeatedly being called. (Wish I could recall which book that was. Very likely, Tom Sawyer. Very likely, the cave chapter. Oh, what fun!)

I like to think that young lady was enlarging her vocabulary that day—that counts as education, doesn’t it?

The book is set in the early 19th century British Regency, and I adore stuffing my Regencies with period vernacular.  A glossary is included, so here’s hoping she was enlightened on some new words and phrases.  

Discovering such an avid reader was encouraging.

There seem to be fewer of them around lately. Recently, I did a book signing during the busy Christmas shopping season, the only time I like to do signings these days. For the first half hour, it seemed every person I reached out to told me quite firmly, though with an apology and an acknowledgment that they ought to be a reader, that they were not. My spirits sank as I realized how many people were failing to enrich their lives with literature. I began to think I’d never sell a book that day, despite it being smack in the middle of the shopping season.  

To my relief, eventually, readers appeared, including avid ones. That was reassuring (and I sold a good number of books—nearly $400 worth—that was also reassuring!)

Available at Amazon – https://a.co/d/4mWCeQZ

With any luck, I’ll get reviews from some of those readers. Perhaps one will even say, “I missed an entire day of school because of you!”    


Linore Burkhard

Linore Rose Burkard is a multi-published, multi-genre hybrid author of “Romance to Warm the Soul, Fiction to Stir the Heart.” For a free eBook copy of Before the Season Ends, (the book guilty of making that girl a virtual truant!) please sign up for her newsletter at https://www.LinoreBurkard.com/Newsletter.

Linore is currently at work on books two and three of An Aspen Creek Christmas 6-volume novella series.

For more information, visit https://www.linoreburkard.com/

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