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Obsession
>> Monday, September 22, 2008
I have become obsessed with GoodReads lately, especially since I now have ten friends. That is a whopping 80% more than I had just a few months ago. I spent, admittedly, a good part of the weekend going through friends' lists and random lists, and those sparked memories of books I've read. I'm sure it's still just a fraction.
GoodReads has brough back memories from high school. I remember having to read and dissect such uninteresting drivel in those English classes. The summer leading to ninth grade, we had to read Treasure Island. Yo ho ho and a bottle of crap-you-will-not-enjoy. That same year, the only treat we got was to read Great Expectations. A lot of kids in class with me didn't like it, but I felt so rewarded when we got to the section where *spoiler alert* Miss Havisham catches on fire. It felt like a treat after being stuck in the Great Expectations unit for months.
Each year, of course, we had to read Shakespeare. Now, I am all for good literature and for keeping it alive and all that, but truth be told, I am not a big fan of Shakespeare. Every year it was another ghastly long unit on a Shakespeare history or tragedy. Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, MacBeth ... and others my mind has blocked out to protect itself. For some reason, the English department didn't seem too keen on his comedies. Maybe a comedy would have kept me from feeling like bashing my head into the desk, but I somehow doubt it.
I am convinced that if someone can get through high school and still like to read, she will be a reader for life. There are too many amazing books out there to let English class take that away, but it can certainly make reading seem like a chore from hell.
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Yes, there have been a significant blog layout change around here! I like it and hope you do, too.
6 comments:
First of all...LOVE the new blog layout! Did you do it yourself? (and if so, can I hire you to do mine?? Haha)
I was JUST talking to Seth last night about Treasure Island...I had to read that too and totally gave up half way through and watched the movie.
I feel like if I read Great Expectations now...I might like it better. But WOW...in 9th grade it was torture.
And I have you to thank for my obsession with GoodReads, too...I'm hooked!
love the new layout! i'm playing around with a new one too...but i'm sure it'll be a while before i take the plunge.
ah - high school english. weren't we in most of the same classes? who would have guessed back then that we would still be chatting like crazy 8 years later?
i'm visiting the good ol' fort this weekend - i'll say hi for you :)
beautiful new layout :)
@karen Treasure Island was the reason I bought my first cliff notes! Great Expectations would have been a lot worse if it wasn't for the burning. And the rotting cake with beetles.
@jen I think we did have a lot of classes together. but you were smart and took french the last year while I was stupid and took AP English, leading to a lot more useless reading that still wasn't enough to be helpful for the exam. are you going to see teachers or what?
@daisies thanks lady. :)
The new layout looks FANTASTIC! I love it! Seriously gorgeous. You did a great job.
And I can totally tell when you were looking at my goodreads list from the email updates I got about you. :) I was thinking, oh! I've read that one!...and that one!..and that one!...oh, that one, too! :D
i don't know how smart it was...it only moderately useful when i visited france. i got better at it though, when a then-boyfriend spoke fluently.
i'm contemplating making hubby go to the football game. we'll be in town anyways, and i thought it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane :)
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