MUST READ - WOOL!!!

One of my favorite things in life is hearing about something, dismissing it, finding it again, and having it blow my mind.

This book did exactly that.

I first heard about WOOL from Entertainment Weekly (I subscribe and read religiously--mostly on the toilet LOL). There was a short article about how Hugh Howey, the author of WOOL, uploaded this little ebook (it's only 50 pages long! So no excuses for you "non-readers") to sell on Amazon.com, and without ANY marketing whatsoever, somehow managed to become a huge bestseller. So much so that the film rights have been sold to 20th Century Fox with Ridley Scott attached to direct (he has tons of known projects, Alien and Gladiator, just to name a few. Look him up on IMDB--yes, he's the big time, folks).

Soon, readers were begging Mr. Probably-Butt-Rich-Now-Howey for more and he expanded WOOL into a series (I believe there are 5 books in total, and a related 6th book set in the same world). And I'd have to say, after reading it last night, Hugh Howey deserves every drop of recognition he's been getting. 

So, how did I find this book again and eventually have it blow my mind?

After reading the Entertainment Weekly article sometime last year, I made a mental note to look up the book/author. I'm always intrigued to learn about how authors blow up by selling ebooks instead of going the traditional publishing route. I, myself, have been rejected year after year and am also now planning to go the ebook route. (Sometimes, you just want your book to be freaking read--by anyone!) But somehow I forgot about it and it just drifted into some far-off corner in the back of my mind. I'd like to say life got in the way, but really it was just TV, video games, and a few doctor-prescribed bong loads that got in the way.

Fast forward to yesterday night--I couldn't sleep because of a huge pounding headache. The boyfriend was sleeping next to me and I didn't want to wake him, so like an awesome girlfriend I just chose to read with my Kindle Paperwhite in the dark.

I started shopping for samples of books, wanting to actually read Wild by Cheryl Strayed since I heard about all the good reviews. I typed "W" in the search box and what do you know... WOOL popped up as a suggestion. Suddenly, my sober brain played connect-the-dots and I remembered the EW article. I clicked on it, still debating whether it was worth my time (after all, a few good books were in the running--World War Z, Wild, and Reconstructing Amelia) until I found out it was free. FREE, peoples, FREE! As in you get something for NOTHING. As in even if it's the crappiest thing ever written, you can still keep that last penny you were saving to throw into that fountain at the mall you always see (you know, the normal fountain turned wishing fountain because people saw running water contained inside some kind of stone and decided it was magical) and join the rest of the people who beg the spirits above to PLEASE LET ME AT LEAST BE SMARTER THAN RYAN LOCHTE. And even though I was well aware that authors reel you in by giving the first in the series away for free, and then having you pay for the rest, at some point you gotta ask yourself--what the heck is free these days? So I downloaded it. For FREE.

And as soon as I read the very first line, I was hooked: "The children were playing while Holston climbed to his death; he could hear them squealing as only happy children do."

How can you not be hooked with an opening line like that? And the rest of the book is written as well as the first line, if not better. Hugh Howey is not some stay-at-home mom who just happened to pop a book out of his ass. He's legit. Like 2 legit 2 quit. 

Well, I won't give any more away because I think this is one of those the-less-you-know-the-better-type stories. Just be prepared to blow through the 50 pages super quick, and believe me, you'll be thinking about the story long after you're done. Don't you love stories that do that to you?

Of course, I immediately downloaded 2-5 in the series (not free this time, but not bad at all--$5.99 for all of them). I haven't dug in yet, but I'm hoping once I do, sleeping, eating, and bathing will all become secondary to finishing this incredible story. That's when I know it's damn good.

So hurry and read it and join the cool club! :)