I have an excellent memory - for books and authors, that is. I remember all the books I've read.
I honestly don't remember the book well enough to register any surprise about anything. I don't remember anything being shocking to me.
I have no memory for what happens in what books. I don't know when I might remember a scene, but beats me what book it's in because there are 14 of them now.
You want people to be eager for your book; the downside is when the people forget the series even exists.
I read a book a week, man. And I don't have a great memory, but I have a good memory about what I read.
I do recall loving 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' and I know I read it in a schoolroom, but I think I was in the sixth grade at the time, so it probably wasn't assigned reading.
Most people remember the ending of the book more than the beginning and the middle.
With contemporary writers, I often buy books and then realise I've bought them before.
Sometimes readers are telling me about what they read of my books and I don't remember at all.
The thing I'm always trying to do when I write is hit that sweet spot where the book both keeps you up late at night, and yet a week after you've finished, it still pops back into your head.
After you've read a novel, you only retain a vague memory of its contents. You remember the atmosphere, the odd image or phrase or vivid cameo.
When I think about a book like 'A Clockwork Orange,' which I really loved, the weird hybrid language is what I remember most.
I read it in college as an assignment. I didn't think about it at the time. But when I heard there was a 'The Handmaid's Tale' pilot, I freaked out.
In the university library, we know when a book has been used in a class or put on reserve... or while it was out, did somebody call it back in. It turns out to be a pretty good indicator of how relevant the work is at that time.
