On reading: When a book clicks

Haven't been reading much lately, but yesterday I finally dug into The Sojourn. I started it last week and read about 15 pages. It didn't capture me, so I wasn't expecting much when I read again yesterday...but then, on about page 23, I was hooked. The whole book clicked for me, and I read for an hour straight.  I
 can't wait to find out what happens, but I don't want it to end either.

And that's the point. I try to never give up on a book, because who knows when it's going to pull you in and own you. How many people give up on a book [that they might have loved] too soon?

I'm incapable of telling where [or even if] in Into The Middle Distance that the reader connects. I wrote it and still spend two hours a day with it, so there's no way for me to be objective. A lot happens in the first pages that hopefully pulls the reader in, but I think until the reader builds empathy for the protagonist...in this case Billy....there is no real connection. As a writer, I can only hope they stick with it until they do.