Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Aislinn's Book Club

It probably won't come as a shock to you that, as a writer/journalist/daughter of an English major, I like to read. But I always seem to have a problem coming up with what book to read next. When I was in college, it was easy. Sign up for a class that sounds interesting, like Contemporary Literature, and by the end of four months I would have read a handful of new and interesting prose recommended to me by a PhD. But now, like everything else in my post-college life, it has become a lot more difficult.

I tend to go straight for what everybody else is reading or what the New York Times says I should be reading. For a person who can pick out a hit off iTunes before anyone has ever heard of it, it is a little frustrating that I do not have the same knack for seeking out great novels. For example, I read all of those Twilight books just because someone told me they were good. Now this may offend some people, but I hated every word of those books. But I kept on reading because I couldn't come up with anything else at the time. Weeks of my life gone just because I am the least knowledgeable book person in the world.

For a while I was rereading some old favorites. All the President's Men (I know, big surprise), To Kill A Mockingbird, and The Lovely Bones are a few that made the cut. But then I started branching out to new material and consequently found a new obsession. Malcolm Gladwell.

Gladwell is a writer for the New Yorker and the book I am reading now is called What the Dog Saw, which is a collection of some of his articles from that publication. I liked his writing in this book so much that I started snooping through the archives on his website and low and behold, Greensboro got a shout out! In the article Small Change, Gladwell commends the students who started the 1960s sit-in movement right here in Greensboro, NC. And if that article doesn't interest you, there are many more to choose from on his website written about basically every topic you can think of. It is definitely worth checking out, as is the book!

The sad thing now, though, is that I am almost done with that book and am in need of something new to read. Especially since Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl are about to end for the summer. So I am turning to you for suggestions. It can be your all time favorite, or a classic that you think everyone should read once, or a new book you heard was good. I can almost guarantee that I haven't read any of them. Then maybe by the end of the summer I can have a better literary vocabulary thanks to all of you. Comments here and emails here: administration@grassrootsproductionsltd.org are always appreciated.

2 comments:

  1. I love mysteries...modern american female authors....but then this weekend i was in an antique store and saw a childhood favorite. Can you guess...Nancy Drew of course!! I might have to go to the Library and check out a few for old times sake!!

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  2. Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. It's brilliant, different, and exhibits a sophisticated use of language the likes of which are rarely seen.

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