I am the Invisible Man!!

I am the Invisible Man!!

Monday, December 21, 2009

Tween Book Obsession

I've spent the last week rereading the Harry Potter series, and even though I'm 26, it's quite possibly one of the greatest book series I've ever read. It has a great storyline, and great character development, and J.K. Rowling does a phenomenal job of taking the series from a kids series in the first 3 1/2 books and turning it into an for-everybody series over the past 3 1/2 books. I haven't been reading a wide range of books lately, but Deathly Hollows could be the best book I've read in the past few years. A few weeks before that I reread the Twilight series, and was in the same situation of not being able to put the books down.



Which brings me to my next point. I'm slightly worried that at my age, maybe I should be reading slightly more advanced books. I'm not completely worried, because I have at least 2 more friends who have immensely enjoyed the Harry Potter series and another one who loved the Twilight series and they're all in my age range. I guess the thing that really scares me is that I've reread both the Harry Potter series and the Twilight series in the past few weeks and they were the only books I couldn't put down. I literally stayed up all day to read a few of these getting no sleep between work shifts. None of the books outside of these 2 series have captured my mind like these.

Maybe my immaturity has slowly dug in and stayed longer in my reading selections than in any other part of my personality. I wish I could say I've been pulled in my Hemingway and Thoreau, but alas I've been allured most by Meyer and Rowling.

I guess the only thing that makes me not worry about this is that none of the Harry Potter or Twilight books are in my top 3 books of all time. My top 3 is still On the Road by Jack Kerouac, The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams.

Right now I've moved on to one of the many books in my need to read box, The King of Torts by John Grisham. After 40 some odd pages it seems like a standard Grisham novel, so it should be enjoyed. But not in any similar sense that I have enjoyed either Harry Potter or Twilight. Hopefully one day I will grow up and enjoy reading books like A Tale of Two Cities and War and Peace as much as I like reading Harry Potter, but until that day comes, I will have to make due with Potter and Vampires.

3 comments:

  1. OKay just so you know, It's 8 something am and I just squealed "DAN BLOGGED ABOUT HARRY POTTER!!"-granted there is nobody else in here, they could hear me all the way in the warehouse and are now all avoiding the office. This is why I love you. :)

    *PS My Fiction instructer at OU is love with the Princess Diaries. Tween novles are great!

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  2. I don't think it's a maturity thing, per se. Tween stuff is accessible to a wide audience. Sometimes I want to be depressed and broody and read something deep and beautifully put together--The Hours, last time I was in that mood. Sometimes it's all about something that's easy to get into, and is also deep in beautifully put together in it's different way, and then I have to work right through the entire Harry Potter series :)
    Right now, I'm reading The Dark is Rising because it takes place over the holidays and this time of year always makes me think of it. And because the author worked old Celtic myths and British traditions through the story. It's also a tween thing and also rocks.
    So yeah, I think you're fine ;) But we've all got that thing bugging us. Mine lately has been, "Can I read a book that DOESN'T have a movie/show made from it for a change???" So far the answer to that question is no.

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  3. Granted I'm only 18, but I find that The Harry Potter Series & The Twilight Saga are the only books I can say I would re-read at the drop of a hat... I also feel like I should get into more 'mature' books, I'm trying to extend myself a little this year... but I think I know why the HP & Twilight books have captured my heart & undivided attentions (I finished Deathly Hallows in 7 1/2 straight)

    They are easy to read, they create whole worlds with alot of description - you feel like you are really there AND there is more than one of them. I find that after I have finished a really good stand-alone book, I feel a little dissappointed that the whole story was written in one novel... and although I enjoyed it, there is nothing after.

    With HP I was always excited at the prospect of another book... I read the first 2 before any talk of making them into movies was mentioned. At the end of the 7th I cried. I'd spent years 6 years of my life reading that series, it was like saying goodbye to an old friend...

    Anyway, I'm rambling. Don't worry too much about your like of 'tween' books. A good story is a good story, no matter who it's intended audience is :)

    Great post.

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Thanks for your 2 cents!!

The Dingo's Bookshelf reserved for his favorites

  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
  • The Twilight series
  • The Harry Potter series
  • Fight Club
  • On the Road