Thursday, January 6, 2011

Literary Book Blog Hop: How did I get into literature?

Literary Blog Hop
Every week the Literary Book Blog Hop, hosted by the Blue Bookcase, asks participants to answer a question, then read other participants' responses. Here's this week's question:

How did you find your way to reading literary fiction and nonfiction?

You may have noticed that many of the books I tend to review are classics. This is mainly due to the fact that I'm limited to free audiobooks for this blog, and most of the free audiobooks are novels that have fallen into the public domain and then recorded by LibriVox or other organisations. But  I wouldn't be reviewing these classics at all if I didn't enjoy reading them.

I suppose my love of literary fiction originates with my lists. If I see a list of book suggestions, be it an assigned reading list for a class or a list of best books of 2011 posted at the library, I want to be able to check them off. The other big influence on my love of literature comes from the classes I've taken in high school and college. My teachers in these classes taught me how to investigate a book, rather than just be a passive observer. This approach appeals to my inquisitive nature and helps me to cut through difficult language to get to the author's intent.

7 comments:

Mel u said...

It is interesting how your fondness for lists was part of the reason you began to read classic literature-very interesting

Anonymous said...

I understand your love for 'investigating' books and not being a 'passive observer'. It's something I learned when I was in college - to delve deep into the matter, chew and ponder over it, and thereby relish it. I love doing that no matter what I'm reading!

Risa

Deb Nance at Readerbuzz said...

How nice that you are sharing your thoughts on free audiobooks here. I think we forget how lovely it is to have these available for free.

I'm a new follower!

Here's my post for the Literary Blog Hop.

Anonymous said...

I read a lot of classics because I can find them as free e-books, so I understand that aspect of your reviewing as well. :) I like the idea of investigating a book instead of just observing it ... I agree with that and that was what I was taught in my english classes too :)

@parridhlantern said...

my journey through books is a story of investigation. You find an author you like, they mention a writer, you read them, they mention a writer etc. then there's countries you love Anatole france, what about Proust, camus, voltaire etc.

Elizabeth said...

Interesting answer....lists are good, and now we can see they are quite valuable.

What wonderful answers and stories from everyone.

My story is at: http://silversolara.blogspot.com

Em said...

Lists always tempt me, but they can get a bit overwhelming...