How Do I Know What I Think Until I See What I Say?

I'm afraid that, since I spend so much time talking about what's wrong with This Book or That Book, I'm going to come across as one of those ceaseless critics who never likes anything and thinks no one can live up to her ideals. This is sooo not true. So, to counteract that impression, from time to time, I'll write an entry about a book I love. For my inaugural entry, I want to talk about one of my most favorite books ever -- The Changeover by Margaret Mahy. I read this book for the first time when I was a sophomore in high school. It was given to me by my friend Ginger, and I initially thought that she was on crack, because the cover of this book was Super Cheesy. The version that she gave me, which can still be found in used book stores, has a girl on the cover gazing up into the eyes of a guy who is glowing with what I suppose should be an ethereal light, but really just seems sort of faded out. To make things worse, the book is subtitled "A Supernatural ...

It will come as no surprise, I hope, to learn that I am a huge fan of E.M. Forster. His writing is excellent, his understanding of motive is divine, and he's a sappy romantic - what's not to like? So when I came across plot problems in my reading of late, I immediately thought of Forster's simple parable of plot. It goes something like this: The King died and then the Queen died. This is not a plot; it is a story, a mere recitation of events over time. The King died and then the Queen died of grief. This is a plot. The key is causality - one event caused the other. Lately, in my reading, I've come across two different plot problems that have been bothering me. These are those: 1. All story, no plot. I recently read a book that, when I started, I was totally psyched about. "Finally!" I thought to myself, "I will get to talk about a book in my blog, because I love this book! It's so insightful and well-written and fresh and I heart it!...