Summer Reading

From a young age, I’ve always been reading. I was one of those kids who could read for literal hours. I remember pulling out a flashlight and reading long after my parents thought I went to bed.

Now, it’s a little different. While I still enjoy a good book and reading, it’s become less frequent. It’s like the hours I used to spend reading have been taken up by less enjoyable things such as homework and sleeping.

Quarantine has helped me get back into reading. Right now, I’m crushing my siblings in a reading competition. The time away from social activity meant I could pick up a book without thinking about the things I might be missing.

But there’s one thing about reading that I have to touch upon. Summer Reading Books.

Ok, so I don’t hate them. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of them, but I think summer reading has the right idea. Curling up outside and reading a few pages of a book is quite relaxing.

The problem is not with the idea of summer reading, but rather the books and book choices.

This year, I had 3 required books (one for English and 2 for History) and I got to chose 1 more book for English from a list given to us. The book I chose happens to be the longest of my 4 books. The font is tiny and fills up the majority of the page. And, unsurprisingly, it’s the easiest to read and the most enjoyable. I’m on page 22.

Out of the 4 books, this was the one I was the most looking forward to reading. I did my research on the books on the list and I chose the one I was the most interested in. I had a choice and I took advantage of it.

That’s my problem with summer reading. The books I’m forced to read aren’t enjoyable, for the most part (I’ve had 1 really good book chosen for me). Yet, the ones I picked from a list are far easier to read and harder to put down.

It’s different with school. I understand there is a curriculum and that there is a reason we read each book. We have essays or projects we make about the book. That, I get. This, I don’t.

Most of the time, we don’t do much with the summer reading books. I’ve analyzed one passage or written one paragraph, but nothing more than that. Nothing that gives a solid reason for why a certain book was assigned.

I’d much rather be given a list and asked to chose 2 or so books from it. I’d chose books I’m actually interested in reading and do the small summer reading activity on those books. That way, I’m being productive but not forcing myself to actually read the page instead of skim it over.

So yeah. That’s my opinion on summer reading. I was going to do another Covid update (I recently had to take a test), but I thought I’d give you guys a more lighthearted update. Especially since school’s likely going back online. I’ll do my Covid update next week, maybe. I don’t know. Maybe something super exciting will happen this week and I’ll write about it. But, until then, I’ll get back to my summer reading.