John Grisham

As I'm writing this, I just came back from the store. I went to get myself something sweet as I had a craving, but ended up getting something better. The fun thing about this store is that there are books too. I've been avoiding that area for the last few trips because I tend to buy a book (or three) when I roam around, but this time I really felt like going and having a look.

I told myself I won't be buying any books so off I went. There was a book that caught my attention for the whole of five seconds until I saw "The Guardians" by John Grisham. The thing with me and John Grisham is that I see the book and I buy it. Nothing matters, I see John Grisham and I go in a trance of some sort.

You probably know about John Grisham, maybe you even watched some of the films or mini-series inspired by his books, he is a well known author so I'm not going to bore you with details you can easily find on wikipedia. I'm going to resume at my impression of his novels.

Here is how it started:

I must have been around 13 years old (I'm not sure, but around that age, it was definitely before I went to high school) when I read my first John Grisham book. At the library there was an age limit for what books I could borrow, so I don't think they would lend me this book at the time, but at home I had free access to our small library and that is how I read "A Time To Kill". Instantly the title sounded very interesting to me, I was intrigued so I went ahead and read it.

I liked "A Time To Kill" so, so much I even now remember parts of it, partial quotes, especially towards the end of the book. I was a kid, it's not surprising it made such a lasting impression on me. Since then I had this admiration for John Grisham.

Later I read "The Pelican Brief"; the book kept me on edge and I am surprised, thinking back on it, how well I can remember the plot. I usually need some sort of reminder, sometimes I forget ever reading something, but that's not the case here.

I followed with "The Firm" which was available in our small library at the time I read "A Time To Kill", but for some reason I didn't read it then. I think it was a little stuffier and it intimidated me, but a few years later, when I came across it again, I couldn't wait to see what it all is about. I am happy to say I enjoyed it a lot, qualifying as my second favourite John Grisham book after "A Time To Kill".

Then I moved away and, to my delight and fear for when I'd eventually have to move out, I discovered the books here are pretty affordable. I could buy a book every week and be perfectly fine whereas back at home I'd have to think and then think again if I can afford that one book I really want. Thinking about it, it's no wonder I used to read less, considering that I also couldn't borrow books from the library (shitty management).

I discovered that books are affordable when I entered an antique store and left with a few books, and then later when I entered the supermarket I mentioned at the beginning and left with other books, one of them being "The Rooster Bar" by John Grisham. Another success, I liked it. This one was not as intense as I remembered the others, but it still kept me glued to it until the last page.

And that leaves us to today (29/06/20) when I went to the supermarket for some shopping. It's like something was calling me, and sure enough there was, lower on the shelf, "The Guardians". I remembered I saw it on Goodreads when I added John Grisham as one of my favourite authors, and was delighted at the long list of books written. However I didn't click on it then as I already had a long list of books awaiting for me to read.

Needless to say I am looking forward on reading this one, it sounds interesting enough and depending on how much I like it I might or might not write about it. Meanwhile I recommend all the books I mentioned, if you are into the legal thriller genre (and even if you are not necessarily), John Grisham is the go to.