Willing to Take a Chance on a Book?

So I'm a voracious reader, I always have been. Having my NookColor has been a blessing because I can carry hundreds of books with me at any time and read them either on my Nook or on my phone or...sometimes...on both. But I'm throwing a question out to those of my friends who also read at every opportunity. You know who you are. You're the one who always has a book in hand when you go to the restroom, or when you're standing in line to check out at the grocer or convenience store. You're the one who is just as happy curling up in a corner than being in the middle of a group of people. You're the one who would carry a book to the top of a mountain hike and, while everyone else was throwing stones into the tarn at the top, you'd read while experiencing the sun, sounds and grandeur.

I love this reading burro in a rocking chair.

So...have you ever been pulled into reading a book that you almost put down many, many times but was drawn back to again and again? I'm talking about a book that drives you crazy to read it but that you can't leave behind and have to keep reading? I'm in the midst of one of these now and I'm grinding my teeth about it. The author had a really distinctive way of writing. Short, choppy sentences or fragments of sentences. Lots of descriptive allegory going on and on and on. Lots of times when I would have sighed deeply but killed my darlings, leaving long passages edited out if it was my book.

A good book will not only light your imagination
but will make the shadows just as interesting as the bright places.

But it's not my book and it's not my vision. And even though in some ways it is driving me crazy to read this book, in other ways it is like balm to my soul and a view into the story line as well as the author's thoughts that is spotlighted in interesting, ever changing ways. The author's words illuminate not with a bright light that shines out like a beacon, lighting all of the dark corners. No, this light is pulsing, showing different portions of the room of the author's mind each time and even the shadows are interesting.

I know you're wondering what book this could be, and I'll warn you right now that this is not going to be the book for everyone. This is, in the middle of everything else, still gay literature, and some might even consider it pornographic. I guess my own definitions don't encompass that word often, especially relating to writings, but I'm finding this book is pulling me in and if you're willing to step out of your own comfort zone, it might do the same for you. So...I'm introducing you to "Into This River I Drown" by TJ Klune. You may love it, you may hate it, but I don't think you'll forget it.