I read a lot of books. Okay, I take that back. I start a lot of books. As a writer, I like to keep up with what other writers are creating and the books that are resonating with audiences. With some books I start, I’ll wince and groan until my wife (who reads next to me) gets annoyed and tells me to find a new book. With other books I start, I have to force myself to keep going because they are universally hailed as *great books*. I try to understand what makes them so even if they don’t resonate with me.

But sometimes I’ll start a book that has such impact and beauty that I’m stunned. It will be a book with an opening that pulls me so deeply into the story and connects me so strongly with the characters that I’m no longer in my room, next to my wife, with a book in my hands. “Gather” by Kenneth M. Cadow is one such book. I started it last night, but I cannot remember how many chapters I’ve read. What I can remember is that I spent time with a boy and his dog as they carefully cracked beechnuts which weren’t really beechnuts and the boy had to figure out how to keep the dog without arguing with his mother. I spent an hour (a day?) at a small house in rural Vermont observing this boy and his newfound friend. And sitting here, writing this, I can’t wait to get back to them. Some books I force myself through; others are a temporary portal into another world, a gift that lasts until I finish the last page. Although I have not gone far into “Gather,” I can confidently say that it is a profound work of art. I can’t wait to read more and, after I’m finished, study the book to try to figure out how Mr. Cadow pulled it off.

Update 2/28/24: I’ve finished “Gather,” and it was every bit the masterpiece I expected, wonderful for YA and adult readers. My only (very minor) criticisms are that I felt the protagonist seemed at times a bit older than 16 based on his thoughts and observations and I would have liked one part of the story, a significant event in the protagonists life, to have been treated with the level of emotion I thought the event deserved. But overall, a great book.