schools ruins the fun of reading, kind of. Options

[jennyjenny]

I bet half of you reading this are all "i don't like to read", or "me? books?"

but i bet you do like books.

I think it's school that's making you read boring books, book that aren't of your interest, so therefore that's "hating reading".

i loathe the books we read in school. it's nothing that i like. nothing that interests me. but i love to read, don't get me wrong. i have a bookshelf full of books. but yeah, i hate the books at school.

so what books have you read (recently-- last year/this year) in school that you HATED-- fell asleep on that boring. and what books did you LIKE reading?



i'm currently reading the odyssey and we just finished this mythology book. i hate mythology, or anything ancient. it's so boring that it took me two hours to read a chapter (they're book I, II, III, etc. instead of chpaters) and take notes. we read huckleberry finn last year and it was so boring.

I read the Giver last year, and that was the only book I probably liked.

[yummy_delight]

Oy. Where do I begin?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It's highly overrated, in my opinion. I think the only reason why Mark Twain made such an anticlimactic ending was so poor helpless students like me would have to read it in schools and discuss it to death, thus ensuring his literary immortality.

A Separate Peace Words can not describe how incredibly boring this book was. I feel it can best be described with smilies:

The Old Man and the Sea Another painfully overrated piece. Whenever I can't sleep, I just pull out this book, read a few pages, and I sleep like a baby for the rest of the night.

[Retrogressive]

Woah. I love all those books. I can't think of any that a school as asked me to read that I didn't like...

[EXPLO5ION]

The only book that the school forced me to read and that i liked, is the "To Kill a Mockingbird"

[Gigi]

In 6th grade I was forced to read books about survival like The Hatchet. OMG. snoozefest.

From that point onwards, the books teachers made us read were actually quite interesting.

[jambaJUICE]

To me, I like reading. However, when reading mandatory books for school, I don't exactly loathe it. I just became too lazy to read it. We've just finished covering Lord of the Flies, if I read it on my own time, I think I would've enjoyed it. But since it's for school, I only read the chapters when I had to.

BUTTT in 6th grade there was one book I really didn't like, Esperanza Rising? or something like that. Eck eck eck. My teacher hacked at that book with analyzations, essays, webs, and whatnot.

[uLoVeMikeRoch]

ha, the odyssey, what about the illiad, you read that yet?

Also,what about things like, Antigone and Gilgamesh?


The stupidest book I've ever had to read was Gone with the wind.

[magnificentmike]

Yeah. I have to admit that some of the stories I read in my class are kind of interesting, but when we have to analyze and write essay about it, that's when I lose interest.

[Midnight Faerie]

We had to read The True Confessions Of Charlotte Doyle this year. So dull. But the one book I did enjoy was The Giver last year.

[b0st0ngrl]

OMG

Le Morte D'Arthur needs to DIE. The book should be renamed Le Morte De My Brain!!!! That book was horrible.
And so was MYTHOLOGY. I hated that book with a passion. I remember one day I was actually reading it because we had a quiz the next day and there was one guy who pretended he was Zeus. That was probably the best part of the whole book.
OOOOH, and I HATED the Cay. I had to read that in 5th, 6th, and 7th grade. I just did not like it at all.

I did, however, like To Kill A Mockingbird and A Separate Peace. :)

[5ayuri]

Yeah..I like reading, but not the books/stories they make us read in school.
Well I read "The most dangerous game" I hate it.
This school yeah I haven't read any books that the teachers didn't assign to me.

[shortiiex]

hmm..in school
romeo and juliet
the only book i have read this year in summer classes that i liked

[*tweeak*]

Yeah, that's what I thought the past two years. I'm better now, though

[underworld457]

i now hate all shakespeare plays and crap like that, espically Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. They suck for me now.

[o0olaalaa]

ugh my skool is making me read romeo and juliet >.< and i hate the language its just so confusing, and inorder for me to actually understand it i bought the spark notes book its like a whole translation thingy lol and the teacher doesn't even know cuz we're supposed tuh use the skool books. =) i look horror books though

[silver-rain]

Yeah, I know what you mean. The book we read so far this year was Beowulf, and it wasn't too bad once you understood the scheme of the poem. We're reading "The Canterbury Tales" next, so I'll see how that goes.
I absolutely hated reading:
Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies.
I enjoyed reading Catcher in the Rye.

[angelrevelation]

probably the only books i've HATED from school would be 'the autobiography of miss jane pittman' and 'shane'. but just because school makes you read books doesnt mean they're the ONLY books you can read. you can read other books out of school, and read the assigned ones to get credit

[lovescream]

Yeah.. Now that you say it, I guess it's true.

.. hi jenny!

The Great Gilly Hopkins, Julie and the wolves, Chitty chitty Bang Bang, were all incredibly BORING books. I think I got some of the title wrongs. The only book I seemed to enjoy reading last year was Shiloh.

[sprezzatura]

Animal Farm, I am just too lazy to figure out the whole meaning behind this allegory.
Odyssey, it is so damn long and boring, epics are hard to understand.

[AngryBaby]

Oy. Where do I begin?
The Old Man and the Sea Another painfully overrated piece. Whenever I can't sleep, I just pull out this book, read a few pages, and I sleep like a baby for the rest of the night.

oh god yes, i read that book back in Freshman year. my teacher Mr. Reed made it sound all interesting so im like "hmm well, erm thats seems like a um enjoyable peice" so i check it out, start readin' it 3 chapters later..... "Mr. Reed you tell a web of LIES!"

hemingway probably shot himself because he read his own books too much

[hi-C]

Moved to Books

[maryissa]

I agree school does ruin reading. Cuz reading can be really fun.

HATED:
To Kill a Mocking Bird - I didnt get the book so therefore it was boring.

This one book about Anne Frank - Really boring. I think everyone in my class was falling asleep.
LIKED:
The Outsiders - I finish the book b4 the class finished it. It was a awesome book. I love the action. The book was better then the movie thought. This book made me want 2 read more. I felt like i wasnt reading a lot and i was missing something. So now i been reading more.

[sprezzatura]

I agree school does ruin reading. Cuz reading can be really fun.

HATED:
To Kill a Mocking Bird - I didnt get the book so therefore it was boring.

This one book about Anne Frank - Really boring. I think everyone in my class was falling asleep.
LIKED:
The Outsiders - I finish the book b4 the class finished it. It was a awesome book. I love the action. The book was better then the movie thought. This book made me want 2 read more. I felt like i wasnt reading a lot and i was missing something. So now i been reading more.

Ditto everything except for Anne Frank. I loved that...well I guess my class is doing a play adaption instead of the book.

I have to agree 200% with To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't get it at all.

The Outsiders is awesome! I absolutely loved that.

[gelionie]

I like reading a lot, it's just that answering questions on it is a pain in the ass. <_<

Hmm... I can't think of any school-recommended books that I don't like but read it again afterwards...

[*disco infiltrator*]

THE ODYSSEY. What the hell. I freaking hated the Odyssey. I couldn't even read it. I read (skimmed) the first four books of it and then just stopped.

[insanityislaughi...]

Frankly, I'm amazed so many of you said you hated To Kill a Mockinbird. I'm in love with that book. It's one of the best books I've ever read.

But ok, the only books that I didn't like to read in school were:
Of Mice and Men - I just didn't get the point of this book.
Romeo and Juliet - Awful play. I'm not into romance/love at all, and it was just so...not interesting. It's not like I couldn't understand the language or anything, because I did, I just...Not my type of book.

[xoxo_proud]

Oh god... where to begin?

Romeo and Juliet - Hated it (not as bad as the Odyssey). It's just a bunch of crap about romance and the whiny Romeo and pathetic Juliet.

Odyssey - We just started reading this and I already want to stab myself. And you have to pay attention, the teacher walks around the room and taps you if you arent. Then you stop every two seconds and she asks, "OK what's happening NOW?".. Uh... who cares?

I loved I Have Lived a Thousand Years, Fahrenheit 451, The Outsiders, The Giver was OK and the same with The Catcher in the Rye. Most books are actually alot better (like Esperanza Rising was actually a very good book) when you're reading them outside of school. When you;re in school its all about "Now what do you think the GROCERY STORE symbolized class?" Which I know helps us become better readers (atleast that's what my teacher says ) but it does get boring.

[loopylandscapes4...]

I agree, most books that schools make you read are boring, but when you get to choose for lit circles it's a lot better

[misoshiru]

Not necessarily, I've always loved to read, and I think that the books our school assigns aren't too bad actually.

[demolished]

school books are terribly boring.

i pick books that i like to read, no one else.

[*jooleeah*]

Actually, the only books I didn't like much that I had to read for school were Animal Farm and The Odyssey. Otherwise, the rest weren't that bad.

That's probably because I read most of them before we started reading them in class, though.

<--- Reading nerd.

[scenekidsgo__raw...]

Hatchet was the death of me.

[julianaaa]

For school? i HATED reading anything by Ray Bradbury. i also hated reading The Glory Field by Walter Dean Myers. it was SO boring.
i dont really recall reading any book i liked for school.

[radhikaeatsraman]

^Are you joking? Ray Bradbury is an amazing writer. So is Walter Dean Myers. How can you not like them!?!

[ecargnmyst]

i ussed to lovee reading until i started highschool. i used to be one of those kids thatd sneak a book under my math hw and finish 300 pgs in a day. but since frshmn yr..i havent finished or cracked open the books we were assigned..and i feel pretty bad b/c ppl actually said they were good books =\

but there were a few books that i heard were bad.. the scarlet letter..and..hmm..the awakening i think? otherwise all the other assigned books were good - like catcher in the rye, catch 22, the stranger, how to tell a true war story, sula, rule of the bones, etc

[Teesa]

This year, I really really liked East of Eden. I actually loved it. What a good book.
The one I disliked was Beloved. Maybe I'll appreciate it later, but I didn't like it when I finished it.

I'm reading Love Medicine right now. Although I finished just two chapters, I kind of like it so far. We'll see.

[eccentricity]

I love To Kill a Mockingbird. And I thought Great Expectations was so boring. -__-

[robynleigh626]

The worst I've ever had to read for school was Dandelion Wine in 8th grade. That book made no sense at all.
Bud, Not Buddy was good. (7th grade)
This year, we've read Ethan Frome (confusing), Mythology (loved it), and Romeo and Juliet (awesome). We're about to start reading Animal Farm.

[x__rilind]

Of what we read this year, I hated The Stranger. Lord of the Flies and Wurthering Heights were alright, but I didn't really read either because they were boring. I liked 1984, Hamlet, and Pygmalion though.

Previous years, I disliked The Scarlet Letter, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and The Crucible. I did adore Catcher in the Rye, A Seperate Peace, and Jurassic Park though. Those are just my kinds of books.

[SarahxJoy]

I really disliked Lord of the Flies. I don't know, a bunch of boys stranded on an island and pretty much killing each other off isn't my type of thing.


But some of the books you guys have mentioned, like The Odyssey, Romeo & Juliet, and The Outsiders---I loved them all.

[*stephinika*]

There's some books I liked..some I didn't like.
Liked:
War Between the Classes
Romeo & Juliet
Of Mice & Men
The Outsiders

Disliked:
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Macbeth
Hamlet

I don't mind reading them usually though...its just the work that comes with it I don't like.

[sarcastic biscui...]

Hmm.

Absolutely hated:
The Good Earth
The Once and Future King
Watership Down
Animal Farm
The Moon is Down

Okay ones, but beaten to death so much that I didn't want to ever read them again:
The Giver
Fahrenheit 451
Gathering Blue
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Red Scarf Girl
All Quiet on the Western Front

And that's all I remember. But there are a lot more XD

[eccentricity]

I really like Inherit the Wind.

[emazing]

Not at all, I'm very attached to reading even when it's a reading assignment. We started reading The Giver earlier this year, and it was very in-depth, and I finished the whole book within a day. We were supposed to read a chapter everyday and then stop after we finished, but it started getting really intriguing in .. the 5th chapter, I believe? Anyway, reading.

[much2muse]

I really like to kill a mockingbird, tuesdays with morrie, and i am the cheese. i think the only reason why i understood to kill a mockingbird though was because my teacher explained it. the movie sucks though. nothing like i'd imagined.

i really hate: the scarlet letter

however, i hate everything we have to read in the lit books practically. -_- school does take the fun out of reading. for me its because i have to answer stupid questions and do essays on the stuff. i had to put down a really good book (morrie) in between chapters to answer stuff when i wanted to keep going. i only want to read for a good time! not have to over-analyze everything!

And why is it that every english teacher, it seems, adores mark twain?! i don't have anything against the man or his writings (since i've never read any), but still, i just want to know. They also all seem to hate Hp.

^Are you joking? Ray Bradbury is an amazing writer.

An amazingly freaky writer who idolizes Poe. I've read Usher II and.. I think Ray is quite a disturbing man.

In 6th grade I was forced to read books about survival like The Hatchet. OMG. snoozefest.

I really like the hatchet

[deadgiveaway]

I love nearly all of the books that I had to read this year. Some of the titles from the list:
Beloved - Amazing novel, although some parts were hard to analyze.
Ethan Frome - Seems kind of a simple book to me.
The Scarlet Letter - Enjoyed it.
The Great Gatsby - Became one of my favorite novels.
Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf - Very amusing.
A Streetcar Named Desire - Insightful.
The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn - It's okay.

I'm still in middle of reading For Whom The Bell Tolls, as my secondary reading war novel. It is not something I would voluntarily read.

[GlecieC]

Frankenstein was the worst book I read this past year. I hated it. For summer reading I have to read Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Nectar In a Sieve, Jasmine or In The Time of Butterflies, and Speak (already read that tho). School reading does take out the fun of reading. There are so many other books I would rather read than the ones that are required.

[PrincessAda]

My teacher last year was pretty fair..he let the class vote on a novel..it was a good book to.

[pedophile]

Hm, I remember reading The Scarlet Letter for school.
It was boring, but alright. Some parts were good, while the rest bored me.

& at first when I started reading The Scarlet Pimpernel, I loathed it. I thought it was the boringest piece of crap ever. But once it almost reached the end, it got rather interesting, making me wish I had read it through the boring parts in the beginning first.
& To Kill a Mockingbird was alright. It wasn't as boring as The Scarlet Letter, some parts were still pretty boring, although some parts were interesting.

I guess I'm just more into books that have more going on in it.

[mz sneaky]

Great Expectations- Charles Dickens. -_-

[jue]

We had a whole study on Ray Bradbury which bored me to death. His novels were like a pain in the butt to read. But on the other hand, his short stories weren't so bad.

[timeflies51]

I hate it when you have to read it chapter by chapter, especially if it's a good book. I remember in sixth grade, I read the book "Hatchet" in one night when I was only supposed to read the first chapter. I went by memory for all of the quizzes and did fine.

[*Teenage Mutant Ninja Meg*]

i totally agree!
i hate being forced to read anything, even if i really enjoy it.
i prefer reading on my own terms and when there are time limits involved, i get so stressed out that it gets to the point where it's not enjoyable anymore.

however, i *loved* to kill a mockingbird and lord of the flies and stargirl... and romeo and juliet... and some others.

[BonneVache]

I'd have to agree.

I enjoy reading, but I want to read what I want to read.
I WAS reading War & Peace which I was loving, but now I'm stuck reading these random, and less than appealing, choices made by the school board.

All the books I was told to read for next year don't even add up to the number of pages in War & Peace.