A Bit of Light Reading

I don't know if anyone noticed, but when I changed my blog template, I deleted the "Books I've Read This Year." I got too embarrassed to have that up when I noticed that many of my friends and family have much longer lists with books with more pages (you could probably call them more sophisticated books). I'm a light reader. I love to read when I get a book that keeps me moving through it, but it's one that I don't have to stumble across big vocabulary or concepts that are out of my league. For example, it took me two years to read Les Miserables because of all of the French history, and I won't tell you how many times I pulled out a dictionary to read that thing or how many times I had to reread a page because I got lost in it all. There are many books that I've read the beginning of but never finished.

I much prefer children's literature or young adult fiction. Even if they are skinnier books, they usually have something to think about in them, and they usually leave out all of the garbage (swearing, sex, and violence). I'm such a visual person that I can't read that stuff and get it out of my head very easily. Images seem to stay forever.

Since being a school teacher, I've collected many "chapter" books that I haven't even read, but that I had on my bookshelf in my classroom. When we moved here, I boxed them all and put them under our stairs. Well, this weekend, I realized I was bored watching TV, and I had nothing to do, so I pulled out a stack of books to read. I know I can read them quickly and get into them. The book I read first was Loser by Jerry Spinelli.

I originally started this book when I was a teacher, but I couldn't finish it. I was too depressed to read it. I found a good synopsis, better than I can write, here. I've had a hard time reading Jerry Spinelli in the past, but I've learned that he likes to write to make you think, and he usually writes about the underdog, so that you get his/her perspective. Another book of his that I like is Stargirl.
Anyway, I'm trying to broaden my mind by reading, but I think I'll stick with the easier stuff (at least in my mind).