Year 12 Reading Log
While cleaning out my room, I found my year 12 (sixth form – I was 16) reading log. To earn some extra credits for NCEA, students at our school had to read nine full-length adult books which I had not read before. At least five books had to be chosen from list A, and all nine books had to be from list A and list B. There had to be a gender balance of sorts – five of one, four of the other.
So here is what I read that year:
- Jane Eyre – Charlotte Bronte (Required Category: Pre-20th Century Writer)
- Long Walk To Freedom – Nelson Mandela (Required Category: Auto/Biography)
- The House Of The Spirits – Isabel Allende (Required Category: Contemporary Author)
- Once Were Warriors – Alan Duff (Required Category: New Zealand Author)
- Falling Leaves – Adeline Yen Mah (Required Category: Book Dealing With Another Culture)
- I, Claudius – Robert Graves
- The Shelters of Stone – Jean M. Auel
- The Origins of Humankind -Richard Leakey
- Voyage To Atlantis – James W. Mavor
Some notes I have gathered from re-reading the reviews:
- My review of Jane Eyre was a very polite “WTF?!” That book put me off classics for a good while.
- I read Long Walk To Freedom in about five hours, using a technique that would later be used on the days of Harry Potter releases – I locked myself in my room and didn’t come out until I was done.
- I read House of the Spirits during mock exam week. I made notes on language and the use of third vs first perspective, and the evolution of the narrator’s voice.
- I didn’t like Once Were Warriors‘ use of coarse language – “maybe I am overly sensitive to the language” I see there.
- I may have been sensitive to coarse language, but from my memories of Shelters of Stone I didn’t seem bothered by all the sex scenes. I remember sitting and giggling over the naughty bits with friends.
- I was very clearly in a major archaeology/history mode that year.
I don’t read as much adult fiction as I used to, partially because I am no longer required to and partially because since that time there has been major booms in YA and I have discovered the YA book blogging community (and so I am introduced to YA books that I otherwise wouldn’t have been).
Interesting though what you find when cleaning.
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What about Jane Eyre put you off classics? And I, too, employ the ‘lock myself in a room and read’ technique whenever I can.
@Tiger: The writing style and the “he did what? And she did what?” constant reactions. Also, romance wasn’t exactly my thing then, even in this format. It just made me less than keen to read them by choice. When I finally did I’d matured enough to enjoy classics.
I’m still not mature enough to read classics. But I’m getting deeper and deeper into sci-fi and fantasy. I’m currently unpacking my books I packed away 2 years ago so my parents could move house while I was in Japan – I’m finding all sorts of treasures!
I actually have to Read House of The Spirits part of my International Baccaleaurate for WOrld Literature Course. It is a fantastic book, and it was a bit more than just narrative point of view. LOL BUT I love adult fiction