I own Golden books that have little stars on the inside of the front cover to indicate that the book has been read. I have a bunch of Berenstein Bears books with the little star too. Did you know that they have an official website? I loved the Pokey Little Puppy. I had the Mercer Mayer books (any relation to John Mayer? ha ha.) I loved those little critters! Shel Silverstein was a god to all the little elementary school kids that I knew. I loved Miss Nelson is Missing and Sideways Stories from Wayside School (although I don't remember the cover looking like THAT) and Bread and Jam for Frances. There was never a time when my mom didn't buy me atleast a couple of books from the Scholastic book club (and it didn't hurt that I got a sheet of free stickers with each order!)
When I got older, I loved Ann M. Martin's Baby-Sitters Club books. I even watched the television program. Although I wasn't too into Francine Pascal's Sweet Valley books, I think I probably own several of them. I loved Beverly Cleary and her Ramona Quimby books. I loved Judy Blume.
And in high school, I really got into reading some spectacular and memorable pieces of literature. Some of my favorites include Thomas Hardy's Mayor of Casterbridge (despite how depressing it is), E.L. Doctorow's Ragtime, and of course, To Kill a Mockingbird (or as my friend from high school would say, Tequila Mockingbird). And even though Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad freaked me out, I now understand the meaning of "The horror! The horror!" in Apocalypse Now. AP English and all those Advanced English classes were necessary. I became a much better writer as a result of how much I read. I passed my AP English exam and I am one of the few and proud to receive an A in Mrs. Thonert's Advanced English class. I love that woman and her bananas!
In college, I studied Communication. I did a lot of research on Ethnic Studies and Theatre as well. A lot of my reading between the years of 1997 and 2001 was dedicated to research, learning, and theory. Lots and lots of writing in those years. Not a lot of "reading for pleasure," which is sad, now that I think about it. Lots and lots of reading. I even took a class called "How to Read" which wasn't really a class that taught people how to read but instead was a class that intended to teach students the culture of reading and how reading has become what it is now, from the history of the printing press to the electronic age and e-books (none of us in the class liked the e-books. I still don't and I definitely prefer the feel of a new or aged book in my hand. I like the sound of a crisp page and I love the satisfaction of closing a book when you're done reading it).
I now have time to read for pleasure again. :) My reading preferences range from guilty pleasure-books like Bergdorf Blondes and Everyone Worth Knowing to Why-the-hell-am-I-reading-college-books?-type books like The Culture of Narcissism, Critical Mass, and Why Memory Speeds Up As You Get Older: How Memory Shapes Our Past. I'm reading so much that sometimes I'm reading 3-4 books at a time.
Here is a short list of my favorite books that I've found incredibly hard to put down (in no particular order):
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
Angels and Demons by Dan Brown
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
The short story City of Glass found in The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster
Kissing in Manhattan by David Schickler
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
And books that, even though they aren't on my "TOP favorites" list, you should still check these books out because they are memorable and close to being on my TOP favorite list:
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks
Martin Dressler by Steven Millhauser
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (I know, it's not deep reading but hey, I like it)
I have also added a new list to the left...because I love to read...
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends;
they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors,
and the most patient of teachers.”
~ Charles W. Eliot ~
Go out there and buy this book, authored by the folks over at WorldChanging.
Recent Comments