I read Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown for a high school minority lit class & reread it for a summer reading Bingo Square. It was life changing in 1970. My reaction in rereading - how did I not remember the language, etc and how did the teacher get that approved for class study?! Great book.
In my case it was a short story by Junot Diaz - I'm sorry I don't recall the name of it. Twenty five plus years ago, when I read it on a plane, the story made me realize I needed to break up with my then-boyfriend. A few years ago, after seeing Junot Diaz at an event at SAL, I decided to read it again. Huh. It was still a good story, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how I got relationship advice from it! A good reminder of how much of ourselves we bring to everything we read.
I have to say that one of my favorite books to reread is This Is How it Always Is. And I say that not to get extra credit points from the author but because it is excellent. But I didn't read it with my eyes, I read it by listening because Gabra Zackman is a talented narrator and brought that book alive for me in ways I couldn't have by reading the pages. This makes sense because so much of the book is Penn telling stories to his children. How much better to have the same exact stories told to me? So I wonder, if I preorder Enormous Wings as an audiobook, can I also get the cool sticker? Or is that only for book preorders?
I read The Catcher in the Rye at the exact wrong age (25) and disliked it, but then several years later taught it in a class of surly teen boys and saw it in a totally different light. So sometimes even rereading something you didn't like can end up being a valuable experience.
Love this post, loved SH5 in HS too so I may rise to your challenge. Did an Indie Next nom for Enormous Wings, which I also love!!, hoping some at MPS passed it along to you. -Jen, Beagle and Wolf xoxo (been a big fan of yours since slinging your books at Wine & Words in Nisswa, MN)
I read Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown for a high school minority lit class & reread it for a summer reading Bingo Square. It was life changing in 1970. My reaction in rereading - how did I not remember the language, etc and how did the teacher get that approved for class study?! Great book.
In my case it was a short story by Junot Diaz - I'm sorry I don't recall the name of it. Twenty five plus years ago, when I read it on a plane, the story made me realize I needed to break up with my then-boyfriend. A few years ago, after seeing Junot Diaz at an event at SAL, I decided to read it again. Huh. It was still a good story, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how I got relationship advice from it! A good reminder of how much of ourselves we bring to everything we read.
I have to say that one of my favorite books to reread is This Is How it Always Is. And I say that not to get extra credit points from the author but because it is excellent. But I didn't read it with my eyes, I read it by listening because Gabra Zackman is a talented narrator and brought that book alive for me in ways I couldn't have by reading the pages. This makes sense because so much of the book is Penn telling stories to his children. How much better to have the same exact stories told to me? So I wonder, if I preorder Enormous Wings as an audiobook, can I also get the cool sticker? Or is that only for book preorders?
I read The Catcher in the Rye at the exact wrong age (25) and disliked it, but then several years later taught it in a class of surly teen boys and saw it in a totally different light. So sometimes even rereading something you didn't like can end up being a valuable experience.
Love this post, loved SH5 in HS too so I may rise to your challenge. Did an Indie Next nom for Enormous Wings, which I also love!!, hoping some at MPS passed it along to you. -Jen, Beagle and Wolf xoxo (been a big fan of yours since slinging your books at Wine & Words in Nisswa, MN)