Please, Keep Reading!

When I taught third grade, one of my goals every year was to get my kids to read more. To this end, I scheduled 20 minutes every day for the class to read. I had a classroom library where kids could find a good book to read. As homework, I also required that they read for one hour over the week-end. The parents loved this. Some of the kids loved this.

Some kids did not love this. They weren't big readers, so sitting for 20 whole minutes with nothing to do but read was torture. They'd squirm. They'd fidget. There was sighing. There was eye rolling. I told them they had to find something to read, something they'd enjoy reading. They could get a book from the classroom library, they could read a comic book or a magazine. But they had to be reading for those 20 minutes.

I had the philosophy that getting kids to read anything, even if it wouldn't be my first choice of reading material for them, was a good thing. They could get into the practice of reading and later we could work on the quality of their reading material.

As the year progressed, even these reluctant readers would settle in and read. They even started liking it.

When Harry Potter came out, even though I was no longer teaching, I was thrilled. This series got kids reading, and reading a lot. Talking about the books and the characters. But mostly it got kids wanting to read more. Rowling did an excellent job in creating a magical world, and kids devoured it.

And then there was Twilight. Yes, people (often young girls) were reading, and reading and rereading these books, so I should have been happy, right? Kids were reading.

But Bella is such a poor protagonist. She broods. She pines. She puts her life on hold to wait for Edward. "I love him. I know he's dangerous and loving him could hurt me, but I love him." bleah.

And now there is the 50 Shades of Grey craze. People are reading. Lots of people are reading.

People come into the bookstore for the first time ever (they tell us this) looking for this book. People for whom this will be the first book they've purchased (they tell us this too) and the only book they purchase - unless, of course, they buy the rest of the series.

Is this a good thing?

Here again, people are reading. So many people are reading this series. This poorly written, unhealthy portrayal of women and relationships is taking the country by storm. (see this article for a great explanation of why I do not like this series: http://screencrush.com/50-shades-of-grey-movie/)

What bothers me is that so many of the people reading 50 Shades of Grey are not readers. And they are adults. This is their only idea of a literary romance. This is their idea of a good book.

My previous philosophy would hope that people might get started reading, even if they are reading books I think are rather less than good quality.

I really hope that people reading 50 Shades of Grey keep reading. I sincerely hope that this series is not their only vision of a literary relationship.

I hope that they get other ideas of what a relationship is. How about David Levithan's LOVER'S DICTIONARY? Or John Green's THE FAULT IN OUR STARS? Or THE TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE by Audrey Niffenegger? Or WUTHERING HEIGHTS? Or LOVE STORY by Erich Segal? Or STARDUST by Neil Gaiman? Or even, though his books are pretty sweet for me, Nicholas Sparks?

What other literary romances do you hope that people read?

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The Magicians by Lev Grossman

I just finished reading The Magicians. The premise of the book was appealing, touted as Harry Potter for adults, it borrowed (heavily sometimes) from Harry Potter as well as Narnia, to create another world of magic.

Quentin, a high school senior, finds himself taking a test to see if he is worthy to be admitted to a school for magicians. Of course he is, and this book covers his entire five years (well, four, he skips a year) at Brakebills (this would be the Harry Potter part), as well as some time in Fillory (this would be the Narnia part).

Quentin is not a particularly likable character. Throughout the book he is waiting for good things to happen, for life to start. At first he thinks everything will be great because magic is real! He's going to a school for magicians!

"And then a vast stony weight suddenly lifted off Quentin's chest. It felt like it had been there his entire life, an invisible albatross, a granite millstone holding him down, and all at once it just dropped away and disappeared without a splash. His chest expanded. He was going to bob up to the ceiling like a balloon. They were going to make him a magician, and all he had to do was sign. Jesus, what the hell was he thinking? Of course he was going to sign. This was everything he'd always wanted, the break he'd given up on years ago. It was right in front of him. He was finally on the other side, down the rabbit hole, through the looking glass. He was going to sign the papers and he was going to be a motherfucking magician. Or what the hell else was he going to do with his life?"

This isn't Hogwarts, and going to a school for magicians does not solve Quentin's problems. Throughout the book, throughout the rigorous years of learning magic (including being transformed into different animals, which, at one point, introduces him to some wild sex and no, this book is not rated G or even PG), Quentin is depressed and dissatisfied.

Sometimes I liked seeing how Grossman's magical world differed (and was the same) as Harry Potter's or Narnia's. However, the author borrowed SO heavily from Harry Potter and Narnia, sometimes I found myself rolling my eyes. Really? Four empty thrones in Fillory? Four??? And a wood between worlds? Grossman had enough imagination, it didn't seem to me that he should have had to rely so heavily on other books.

I didn't particularly care for Quentin and, frankly, most of the characters. (Okay, I liked Alice). I did like that this was a more grown-up magical world, with sex and alcohol and drugs, though sometimes the overuse of those things made the characters rather tiresome.

There is a sequel coming out in the summer of 2011, The Magician King. I'm not sure I care enough about Quentin or anybody else in the story to read it.