Growing up, I loved reading. I remember reading books over and over like The Summer I Shrank My Grandmother, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Ramona Quimby Age 8, Nothing But the Truth and countless others. Judy Blume was my favorite author. I actually may or may not have read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing a couple of years ago because I found my old copy and wanted a trip down memory lane. I'm a sucker for repetition, whether in movies, music or books, I don't mind putting the song on repeat or occasionally rereading an old favorite.
When I was in 6th grade, our school adopted a new reading program called Accelerated Reader aka AR. AR was designed to get kids to love reading. Books were divided by reading levels, and we were tested to see our base reading level. You could only read books in your reading level and once read, you would take a test over the book and if you passed the test, you'd get points. The higher the reading level, the higher the point value. You could then redeem your points for items in the AR store--mostly the kind of thing you'd see at an arcade, but a little classier, but we had a couple of really special things. I remember for 250 points, (which seemed like 15million) you could be "principal for the day" and you'd get to miss class and although you were at school, it was like the ultimate free day.
It sounds cool, right? In theory, it was a great idea. In reality, it made students like myself hate reading, because it was no longer something you did for pleasure. Your scores on your AR tests were reflected in your six weeks grade for reading, and although I always had an 'A' in reading, I just hated that it became an assignment. I know it was to get us to expand our reading horizons, but I just got to the point where I really hated reading.
I was no longer required to participate in AR once I was in high school, but I still hated reading. The only assigned books I remember reading and enjoying when I was in high school were To Kill a Mockingbird, Julius Caesar, Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes and Montana 1948. I probably only liked those because those were the only ones I actually read in their entirety. At the time, I didn't love The Crucible, but I will say it's one of my favorites now.
By college, reading for pleasure was a thing of the past---I had to read so much as it was, so the idea of picking up a book voluntarily and reading it was a joke. There were very few books for pleasure during that time, but I will say, all were books that I couldn't put down that I quickly became enthralled with.
In case you haven't heard, Borders, the bookstore, is closing the entire chain of stores, which means that they've got everything on sale. So far, the sale prices aren't AMAZING, except for with Blu-Rays, (they're 40% off!) but you have to be mindful that Borders prices are higher than what you'd see on Amazon or at Walmart or Target, so compare prices! Anyway, in my typical pattern, I mostly bought books that I've already read that I wanted to have, because I don't like wasting money on books I haven't read. I officially own the entire Jen Lancaster collection, (Bitter is the New Black; Bright Lights, Big Ass; Such a Pretty Fat; Pretty in Plaid; My Fair Lazy; If You Were Here) all are books that I literally didn't want to put down at any point while reading them. I find her to be smart and funny, and I often have actual LOL moments when reading.
I've bragged about these books before, but it's mostly because I just love them and I want everyone to love it too! Now that I've read all of her books so far, I'm onto a new series. Considering Jen Lancaster talks about what a wonderful writer Candace Bushnell is, I've started the Sex and the City series. It's good so far. :)
What are some of your favorite things to read? What's your favorite genre? Author?
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