Monday, January 12, 2009

Musing Monday

This week’s Musing Monday question asks:

How did you react to assigned reading when you were in school/university/college/etc? How do you think on these books now? What book were you ‘forced’ to read when you where in school that you’ve since reread and loved?

I have been an avid reader since the 2nd grade, so I enjoy reading a wide range of books. I honestly don't remember how I felt about assigned readings in school, but since I graduated number 4 at the top of a senior class with 176 students, I must have done okay.

I do remember having to read "Lord of the Flies" in high school and I really didn't enjoy it. I have since reread this book because my daughter was assigned to read it - I still didn't enjoy the book!

Currently, my youngest daughter is a junior in high school and I find myself reading the books she is assigned to read. It is not only fun to be reading the same books, but because of the conversations we have about the books, I feel my daughter is a better student.

My daughter is a member of the high school book club, but she is never happy with the selections chosen to read. For some reason, all the books so far have been teenage "fluff" pieces, which my daughter hates to read. She likes books with more substance: "Trainspotting" and "Buffalo Soldiers" are two of her favorite books, not to mention "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

I am a member of the public library book club and in recent months we have been reading books by Kentucky authors. For the most part I've enjoyed these books.

My current book obsession is the young adult genre - I have been reading every young adult book I can get my hands on. I'm sure this obsession will pass and I'll move on to something else.

2 comments:

Crafty Green Poet said...

This is an interesting question, there are certainl books that i had to read at school that were either introduced to us too soon (eg Of Mice and Men) or that were never going to engage the girls in the class (The Siege of Krishnapur) even if some of those girls grew up to be women who would appreciate historical fiction, even historical fiction with war in it. They seemed odd choices ....

paisley said...

personally lord of the flies is one of my all time favorites... school or no school i still love reading that book....

i also read all the judy blume and beatrice cleaver books many times over....