I don't just mean fancy books of literary merit, but best selling YA novels and long books that may or may not have merit but had good commercials and I always try to read the book before the movie. I look at my hodgepodge of books here in Maine (though, let's be honest, there are a few piles elsewhere in the apartment), and it made me happy.
My novel taste is as broad as my music taste. My poetry taste doesn't often edge past the Romantics, but that's perfectly all right.
Two things have really firmly reminded me that I come alive because of books are my Adult Ed English class and The Infernal Devices series.
My Adult Ed boys mostly make me laugh. They cling to odd details, come up with raucus theories, and appreciate the weird humor and time period that makes Catch-22 so popular. Class always gets interesting when you have to talk about prostitution, faking illness, and bombing Mussolini all in the same class period!
The Infernal Devices series by Cassadra Clare does one thing that endeared me to it instantly: begins each chapter with a piece of poetry (a clip) that was popular in Victorian London. My heart and soul is that poetry and to see how it links to the plot makes my inner English nerd twitch. What really made me realize - hey, stupid, you wicked love books! - was when I encountered a character that did something I didn't expect: continuously flipped out about Sydney Carton as much as me. Teaching and reading A Tale of Two Cities was the most difficult and most rewarding book I have ever taught and my adoration of Sydney Carton is practically unfounded. His presence in the series makes me constantly think of my students as they finished the novel and how our reaction let us accept the seemingly endless and boring (shhhh!) beginning because it is what made the end MATTER and endure. And also cry. A lot. No shame.
I am greatful today for books for reminding me I love them and why I do what I do.
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