Barnes & Noble announces all pre-orders of the hardcover edition* of Go Set a Watchman placed on BN.com on or before 12pm Eastern time July 13 will be delivered on July 14**, the on-sale date.
Harper Lee’s new book is being released this week. I am due to get my copy in the mail around mid-week according to the nice customer service rep I spoke with at Barnes and Noble. I had pre-ordered the book and then I lost my email record of it.
I am very excited to read this book. If you have been following the story, Harper Lee wrote Go Set A Watchman before she wrote To Kill A Mockingbird but her publisher wanted her to write a book about a younger Scout. So no one ever heard of Go Set A Watchman until recently. Harper Lee won the Pulitzer Prize for To Kill A Mockingbird and then never wrote another book that we knew of.
I am very excited to read this “new” book. And I really don’t want to hear a lot about what the book is about before I read it. I hate spoilers. When I do a review I don’t like to give away the whole story either and spoil it for other people. When I saw a recent headline in the Huffington Post about Atticus Finch, and what his character is like in the new book, I saw red. Every time I see that post I scroll quickly past it. Now that element of surprise has been taken from me. But I am blocking it out until I read the book for myself.
I am the same way about films. I don’t like to read a review that tells the about the entire film before I get a chance to see it. A big part of the pleasure for me is the mystery. Do you like to read reviews that give away the whole story?
Notes Tied On The Sagebrush 
Actually, I usually don’t read reviews of books I want to read. I’m even skidish about reading product reviews of stuff I’ve decided that I want to buy. I do read reviews of books I may not otherwise read. I don’t like getting the full story, the lighter-weight the better.
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Exactly, I feel the same way. I don’t even like reading the fly cover of the book because they usually contain a brief summary. The headline I was talking about was impossible to avoid on the Front Page of the Huffington Post. Spoiler alert, don’t look for it.
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Yah, spoliers are horrid…. imagine our news channel in Singapore mentioned about the ‘controversy’ of the new book! There goes…
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I know that kind of news has popped up here too. It has not been convincing to me but I don’t like tabloid type stories. I think some people aren’t happy unless they can put out negative information.
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Agree… the wiles of mass media 😂
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Yep 🙂
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While I will heavily research some purchases and look at endless customer reviews, I’m choosy about book and movie reviews. If someone gives me a verbal- “I liked it.” Or ” Don’t waste your time.” I’ll take it into consideration, I would rather not know the entire story before I get to it.
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I’m with you. I do research other purchases but books and movies are different because I find it more exciting not to know everything or to know just a tiny bit.
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I would rather make up my mind about a film or book instead of reading a review. Often I find that I may enjoy films or books despite the review.
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I agree. If I really like the actors I will usually want to see the film to see them and make up my own mind about whether or not it was good. With books I might read the back cover notes if there are any just to get a very brief idea of what the book is about. If it appeals to me I will take a chance and read it. My country library staff will recommend books on the library website and they will give a brief intro into what the book is about and then I am able to decide if I want to read it. Usually I have been happy with my choices.
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These sound like good strategies. I’m with you–would not want to miss out on something because of a negative review.
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While I generally don’t read reviews, I love to get hold of quotes from and of the book. But for this one, I am going to walk in with zero feedback and just tons of anticipation. I even read To Kill A Mockingbird again 🙂
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That is great about reading To Kill A Mockingbird again. I was looking all over the house because I swore I had a copy here. I may run to the bookstore today just to get a paperback of it. I like to read brief descriptions of what a book is about but that is about it. I have been trying to avoid anything about Go Set A Watchman. I want to be surprised and have lots of anticipation as well. 🙂
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I’m the same way. I don’t like knowing what’s going to happen until I read or watch a story. May be one of the problems I’m having writing the synopsis for my novel.
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I know exactly what you are talking about. Although I don’t have a novel to synopse 😦 But I do participate in a summer reading challenge with my county library where we are asked to write a blurb about the books after we read them and how we rate them. I have trouble writing a few things and trying not to give away the whole story. 🙂
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