So I have read
Raven has
completed her goal of reading 30 books in 2013!
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I love my Goodreads site – I keep track of all the books I have read on it. I do not know why really, but it helps my brain for some reason.
I had a goal to read 30 books in 2013 – I’ve actually read 38 books. This seems to be on par with my average of reading 30 to 40 novels a year. That does include re-reading some, usually books I teach because I want to be able to remind myself of key ideas or passages for when my student ask me quetions.
Almost all of the books I read this year were based off of my student’s recommendations – and in some aspects that is terrifying. I ended up reading a lot of young adult fiction / science-fiction, and I am pretty okay with that. Some of the stories are quite interesting, and in turn I can recommend them to more of my students. With this I have found my students love to talk with me about books we have read, and they love that I will use their recommendations.
What scares me is based off of student questions, I read the 50 Shades of Grey series. I have had a few of my young ladies ask me about the books, and all I have been able to say is I have not read them. So I added them to my list for the break.
I had no idea what they were about going into them (yes, apparently I live under a rock) and I only kept reading past the first book because I bought the whole trilogy as a complete download for my Kindle.
After the experience all I can think is “What the FUCK?”
My STUDENTS were reading these and asking my opinions of the books… After having read them I want to go to their parents and ask them “WTF mate?” Why the HELL would a PARENT get this book for their TEENAGE DAUGHTER? That aside, this is NOT a subject I wish to speak to my students about. I mean, what the living hell is wrong with these parents?
The issue of appropriateness for teenagers aside, these books are so poorly written it is pathetic. I know a lot of people have enjoyed these books, and I suppose I should just shut up as an English Literature major, but hell I teach reading and writing – and I would not accept anything so poorly written from my students. Dear God, if I received a story like this from one of them I might actually die of a heart attack!
What put me off is the writing style (well, an entire lack of style really) and the fact my students were asking about them. Again, I know people have enjoyed these, and I suppose as mindless romance novels they might be tolerable to someone. All I can say is I want my money and my time back. The only other book that made me feel this way was Twilight, which I also cannot stand because of the writing style; reading that one I actually kept a pen with me and edited as I read.
I will set the same goal for 2014 – to read at least 30 books. I think this upcoming year I will try my best to post book reviews here. We’ll see how that goes.