Read This, Not That

I do a lot of reading these days. It's one of the great joys of my life now that I have the time to read for pleasure, and I have been taking full advantage of it, plowing through my subscription to The New Yorker in addition to such diverse titles as Atonement, A Tale of Two Cities, Barrel Fever (David Sedaris' short stories and essays), The Anglo Files (exactly what it sounds like), Absalom, Absalom! (Faukner....forever.....and ever....) and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, amongst others.

Intermixed with all this print (and Kindle) media has been a lively assortment of online offerings, notably from Cracked.com, the Washington Post (shout-out to Melissa, who's been interning there and wrote some FANTASTIC pieces for them!), the New York Times, various friends' blogs, and MSNBC. So, a bit of diversity there, too.

Then there is my other reading. The stuff I'm slightly, but not terribly, ashamed of: I'm currently reading The Hunger Games.

Yes, it's young adult fiction. Yes, it has a fairly predictable plot revolving around some very teenage characters and ideas. Yes, it has a massive endorsement by Stephenie Meyer on the front.

But. It is entirely unlike Meyer's infamous Twilight saga.

The Hunger Games is currently being made into a movie; seeing the trailer inspired me at last to take up this series which has spread like wildfire amongst not just YA readers but those of my generation, too.

And with good reason. Author Suzanne Collins effectively side-steps every pitfall into which Meyers falls, providing compelling, multidimensional characters (unlike Meyers' cardboard ones); a strong female character with actual goals (other than, you know, get a boyfriend and avoid dying); and an actually coherent usage of both the English language and basic storytelling principals (as opposed to pages full of gratuitous adverbs and useless description).

In short, I would recommend it to anyone with a day to spare--because you will read it in one day. Even with work, sleep, and trying everything I could to slow myself down (reading other stuff, watching TV, etc), it took me less than 24 hours from the time I borrowed the first book from Emily until the time I put it down and went in search of the second book.

It has rekindled, to some extent, my faith in the genre, able to provide an easy break from reality into a fascinating world populated by teenagers--and that faith definitely needed the boost. Now, I compare notes with Emily for other well-written YA novels, and find myself remembering the amazingness of those I read in breaks before rehearsals in high school. I expect to revisit them soon.

Because that's the point of reading for pleasure: it's supposed to be pleasurable. And if that means that, on occasion, you reach for The Hunger Games over the newest Booker Prize winner, I don't see a problem with that--as long as you leave Twilight to gather dust.