Reading Against Your Will

August 26, 2011

If you’re like me, you like to read, but don’t like to be told what to read. Yeah, that line of thinking can get you into trouble when it comes to English classes (believe me: I know!). I’ve skipped some books over the years that I really would have enjoyed if I had only given them a chance...but then, I’ve discovered some of my favorite books when a teacher made me read them. And yes, okay, I’ve been assigned some books that I absolutely hated.

Case in point: in a Women’s Literature class, I first read Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (which I loved!) and The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler (which I thought stunk). In a British Literature class, I skipped Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, and it has been sitting on my bookshelf ever since, just waiting to be read.

So what about you? Have you ever been assigned a book you dreaded that turned out to be pretty good? Or have you found a favorite in class? Use the comments field to tell me what you’ve read against your will and what you thought. I’ll bet you’ve found some gems, but I know you’ve got a story.

Peyton J.