What I've Been Reading Lately

One of the greatest benefits of working in a bookstore is that I get free books and discounts on others. I've been reading a lot of classics lately. Mainly because I feel like I should, not because they seem any more interesting than other books (because they don't). I've had mixed results. Some classics I've read lately:

The Scarlet Letter: Really enjoyed this one. Lots of people told me that it was depressing. I found it to be genuine, but also heart-breaking. It shouldn't take something like being shunned to make a person love others the way that she did. The lesson I learned: don't hide your sin away because it will eat you from the inside out.

Pride and Prejudice: Hated it. Okay, I only read the first fifteen pages or so, but it was so full of giddy girls that I couldn't handle it. So many people say that this is a great book, but I don't feel the need to love it just because it's a classic. I might come back to it later.

Frankenstein: It's interesting thus far. I'm about a quarter of the way through it and it is nothing like what I expected. The movies are always about the monster, but the book is about Dr. Frankenstein's struggle with his humanity. Or, rather, with his desire to cure humanity of its most incurable affliction: death. Frankenstein had no belief in the afterlife, so it makes sense that he would want to prolong life.

Next up: Dracula, Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. We'll see what else. I want to pick up Don Quixote, but haven't yet.

I have read some books lately that I have really loved that are not classics, though. Here's a taste:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, by Mark Haddon. What an awesome book. Kind of disturbing at times, but very real. It's written from the perspective of a 12 year old boy with autism, which means that it is very logical and there is a lot of math in it. The chapters are numbered with prime numbers. Very cool book, but not, I would say, for everybody.

Night of the Avenging Blowfish, by John Welter. I read this book for the first time about seven years ago (I'm getting old) and I pick it up every once in a while to remind myself of how funny it is. It's about a Secret Service agent, a secret baseball game, SPAM, and forbidden love. I had forgotten how much bad language it had and it does have about three sex scenes that disturbed me more this time than any of the previous times I read it. Great book that is laugh out loud funny at the same time that it breaks your heart. Again, not for everybody.

The entire Harry Potter series, by J.K. Rowling. I'm not sure what possessed me to pick up these books. Probably I wanted to see what the hype was about. They ended up being good stories, but poorly written. I liked that they were kind of like mysteries with a magical twist. Fun reads, but definitely not for kids. There were things in those books that scared me and I'm 26.

A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L'Engle (spelling?). Excellent book (I suppose it could be considered a children's classic). I especially liked that the point of the story was that love can beat out evil in the end (also one of the underlying themes in Harry Potter). Fun sci-fi stuff, too. A great read for pretty much anybody I would say.

I really like children's books. For some reason they seem better written than a lot of adult fiction. Also, they tend to be less depressing and more wholesome (far fewer sex scenes). I'm thinking about picking up Freak the Mighty, by Rodman Philbrick. I saw the movie based on the book (just called The Mighty) and liked it. Sometimes reading the book of a movie you like can be a mistake, but other times it's worth it.

My favorite books of all time are the Chronicles of Narnia books by C.S. Lewis. They've become more popular now that the movie is out, but I have been reading them several times a year for a few years now. They are so allegorical that it amazes me that every person who reads them isn't led to Jesus. They just make me ache for heaven. I love them.