“Tom Sawyer” is making me realize that writing can be beautiful outside of Speculative Fiction.

Hello all.

I’m about halfway through “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and I’m absolutely adoring it. I just recently finished The Liveship Traders Trilogy by Robin Hobb and it left me with a severe case of post-book depression; online it said that in order to alleviate this feeling I should read something completely different.

Enter Mark Twain.

I thought it was witty and charming throughout the first few chapters but what really started to grow on me was the atmosphere of the book. Twain has a way of putting you right in Missouri to the point where I feel as if I’ve been there before. I’ve met Tom and Huck; Aunt Polly and Sid. I’ve been to that church or schoolhouse. I can practically smell the air wafting off the Mississippi.

The characters are simple and charming. Tom is a dramatic and mischievous kid, prone to curiosity and trouble. Sid is exactly like my own little brother — a little tattle-telling goody-two-shoes. Becky Thatcher is the girl that we all had a crush on simply cause she was pretty. It’s a very nostalgic book.

I was under the impression that only speculative fiction — specifically fantasy — could leave this much of an impression on me. I’ve only read speculative fiction…for years now. I feel like my eyes are being opened to whole new walks of reading

Have you ever had a similar experience with reading ???