Surprise: English Major Suggests Reading!

Reading has plenty of benefits. The usual list includes the expansion of your vocabulary, spelling and grammar; improved fluency, comprehension, and communication; broadening your knowledge of content areas; and of course providing you with opportunities to discuss literature!

My favorite part about reading is the reputation I've gained for it. No, I don't mean people call me a nerd (that I know of). I'm talking about people knowing that I love to read anything and everything. Therefore, friends and family are constantly recommending new books and authors to me.

Over the weekend, a fifteen-year old friend of the family suggested a new series of books to me. She's not your normal fifteen year old when it comes to her reading list, which includes everything from Dante's Inferno to Portuguese poetry to the trendy Twilight saga. Nonetheless, the books she offered were of the young adult genre. While some haughty college students - especially us English majors - would think, "Um, that's below me" with our noses stuck in the air, I know her taste is usually good and gave her suggestions a try.

I read both books in the series on Saturday. (That's something I love about young adult novels: quick and easy.) I actually liked them which opened my eyes; I shouldn't just work off of the college professors' list of suggested reading.

I've branched out to experience genres I'd never dreamed about reading: vampires, ghost hunting, poetry (ugh!), and mystery. None of these genres interested me in the past, but this attitude towards reading everything recommended to me has really opened my eyes. I have to admit that I got swept up in the Twilight craze, but at the same time I could read Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in Middle English all night!

What have you read lately that isn't a clunky textbook or a novel on your syllabus?
Side note: I was asked this question during an interview for my internship last summer. It's a good thing my leisure time is dedicated to reading or I would have been stumped!