Verity

Is there anything better than a book about another writer?

I typically read about 20 books per year. My New Year’s resolution always starts with my ‘To Be Read’ list and then I document it in my reading challenge on Goodreads. I won’t add the dot com, because I do not wish to push out another website on what I hope will become my future virtual home. Besides, I am confident that every person who visits Medium has some sort of electronic journal or repository for their reading lists.

In 2015, I started documenting what I read. It dawned on me that I read so much and recalled so little about of my readings, wouldn’t it be neat if there was a place where I could write reviews about a book I had just spent the last month reading? Yes, I am a slow reader.

That’s how I happened upon Goodreads. Then, I learned about the Reading Challenges. Each year, readers get to create a self-imposed challenge of how many books he or she might want to finish in a year’s time. At the end of the year, there’s a fantastic reward the site provides for finishing the challenge, regardless if you successfully meet the number of books you challenged yourself to read. It collates, racks and stacks and provides metrics of the past year’s reading. It truly is awe inspiring.

So Where Does Verity Come In?

I am always on the lookout for my next great read. Not just a good read, but a great read. When I happened upon a social media group (you know the one), I joined it with high expectations. And to make a long story short, it was in this group that someone recommended that I read Verity.

I finished reading Verity this past Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2021. As I read it, I felt the story picked up nicely. The opening scene was pretty interesting and certainly grabbed my attention. The premise of the story is about a down-on-her-luck, unsuccessful and failing writing who is on her way to a meeting that, unbeknownst to her, will have a lasting impact on the rest of her life. On the way to this very important meeting, her shirt is soiled and she has to find a way to change before the meeting takes place in less than an hour. Those of you who have read the book know the incredible details of how her shirt was soiled.

Earlier, I mentioned there’s nothing better than reading about other writers. So I expected a good ride. A couple of years ago, I read Stephen King’s On Writing, a memoir about his journey and life as a writer. Now, if you have ever read anything by Stephen King, you know that he is a master story teller. He is one of the great writers that can entrance you with his stories. So Verity had some tall shoes to fill, even though this isn’t an autobiography or a memoir.

So I was excited to continue reading, because it started out as a good story. And please don’t allow that phraseology to taint your ideas about the book. Most of the people in the group raved about Verity. As I read, the story had me trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

Nevertheless, I felt the ending was anti-climatic. This book had so much potential, but for me, it fell a little short. In the group I wrote, “Remember, the last book I read was about a Navy SEAL and I gave it five stars!” By the way, the name of that book is Damn Few by Rorke Denver. The book I read just before that one is entitled, Civilian Warriors: The Inside Story of Blackwater and the Unsung Heroes of the War on Terror by Erik Prince (Betsy DeVos’ brother). I gave that one five stars also.

So it’s easy to see why I scored Verity the way I did. (Star rating revealed at the end). Nevertheless, I do not feel like reading Verity was a waste of my time. I went into it never having previously read anything by the author before, not knowing what type of story it was or what to expect. I read this based purely on two factors: 1. It was recommended in the book club group and 2. It was a free Amazon Prime Kindle download. An added bonus was I could listen to it on audio through Alexa! (Man, what free advertising is Amazon Prime Kindle getting from me). But it did get me a free books so I guess we could call it even.

At one point, I thought it was going to turn out one way when it went in another direction completely. I guess I anticipated the shock value and that really isn’t what this book is all about. Again though, because it was a page-turner for me, (yes, even though I listened to a portion of it on Alexa), I don’t feel like my time was wasted by reading it. By the way, I did read along with Alexa (at 1.5 times the speed). And the biggest factor in rating a book, for me, is if I feel like I wasted my time — the most precious commodity that we can never get back.

So while every person who has recommended this book give it very high ratings, for me I rate Verity at a 3.5. Colleen Hoover, I will be reading your next book.

About the author

Julius Evans has a Master of Arts degree in National Security and Strategic Studies from the U.S. Naval War College, Newport, RI; a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communication and Leadership from Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ; a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from City University, Bellevue, WA and an Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Studies from Central Texas College, Killeen, Texas.

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