The world I tell ya!! {insert evil Czar laugh} Ha..ha..ha...ha...haaaaaa
Oh my, what has come over MizB at
Should Be Reading this week?! She has posted eight questions, all of which were ones offered awhile back when she asked us for suggestions, and has left to us what we choose to answer. Answer one...answer them all...whatever we like.
Personally, I think that is just too many choices for a very early Monday morning. But what is a blogger to do?
Well, I will start with the very best of all the questions.
I truly wonderful question.
OK, I might feel that way because it is mine...lol
If you were Book Czar of the world, is there one book you would like to require every kid to read? Or actually, every adult for that matter.
Well, contrary to what that question might imply, my answer is no.
Maybe once I would have said yes. I am not actually sure what the book would have been but I would have made a few suggestions. But...
Take a book like Island of the World by Michael D. O'Brien, a truly excellent book that I assume the vast majority have never heard of and never read. Part of me would like to force you all to read it..but I realize it is not going to work. Not going to work in the sense of forcing you to read it because I think it is excellent and want you to love it as much as I do. Because while I will argue it is a great book, I also realize many readers would not love it. Some might hate it.
People will like what they like.
And I want them to read what they like...so that they will like reading...and will read more books.
It might depend on their age, or their life experiences, or what sort of things they have read before..or all sorts of factors. Regardless of why, I think especially for new readers or people who are not big readers, the book has to be one that meets them where they are..and them hopefully takes them just a little bit further, a little bit out of themselves. Reading anything is better than reading nothing.
It is kind of strange to think about it (but it is the wee hours of the morning when strange thoughts might come to one's mind) but perhaps over time, if you could force a hypothetical reader to follow a reading plan, maybe you could shape their likes and dislikes and get then to agree with you, to like what are consider Great Books....but that just sounds creepy.
No, as much as I would like everyone to think the books I love are great and that the books I hate are awful, it is not going to happen. Taste differs and ever our own taste in books might change over time. Not even for Book Czar of the World, which, by the way, sounds like a really cool job.
Prime example...The Da Vinci Code..awful book, huge best seller.
And for heavens sake, his name was NOT DA VINCI!
Which I think ties into my second choice in questions, this one from Dr.Pepper Diva.
Do you read outside your preferred genre? Has your preferred genre changed?
I have written about it before, but I love mysteries, have always loved mysteries, will most likely always love mysteries. They are my comfort read. But I really do try to dip into the wide world of books outside that genre. And it is why I think it is important to take up the suggestions of others who love books about something I should read. I read reviews seeing if they can make the case. Maybe I will like it, maybe not, but I think we have to be open to the idea that there are great books out there we might not pick up on our own. But we do, and we like it, and we are maybe just a slightly different person for having read it.
Don't you believe books can do that?
f i was the book czar i would insist every kid reads as many books as possible and they would have to try different genres .. see my fav used to be just mysteries .. somewhere back as a kid I discovered Robert Heinlein and became a scifi fan .. then at some point i discovered post apocalypse books .. then fantasy ... now i rotate them ... yes i do believe a book can change us and how we see things so be open ... and open a book
ReplyDeletegood point...bottom line, I just want kids...and adults..to read!
DeleteI loved your book czar question even though I did not choose it to answer. Here is my musing:
ReplyDeleteMM
oh, so you 'loved' it but not just enough..ok... ;-)
Delete"Da Vinci Code"!!! One of my pet peeves. As you indicate, it's not Leonardo's name, it's the place he was from. I just could never read a book written by someone either so sloppy or so direspectful of basic facts and that's without even getting into the rediculous and truely offensive premise and storyline of the book itself. If I was Book Czar of the World, yes, I would ban certain books for the public's own good, to protect them from such drivel and from their own imbecility. Of course, I would not trust anyone else with undertaking such a difficult task, but if asked, I'm ready, willing and able.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you are...can I at least be your assistant? lol
DeleteWhat a great answer, to both questions. I answered all of the questions.
ReplyDeleteI was too sleepy for that...
DeleteMe, a book czar, Never!! I'll leave that job to you. I have read outside my preferred genre, but not often, I like the cozy mysteries with a bit of romance, and humor thrown in. And I esp. like my Cinderella stories that always have a happily ever after endings.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you … as much as I'd love to forcefeed my favorite books to the world, it would kill me a little each time if someone didn't like it. It is why I am treading lightly with my son as far as his reading.
ReplyDelete