I both totally agree that Tale of Two Cities isn’t really a freshman book but also haha I read it as a freshman and absolutely loved it it was my favorite school read that year

As always, you give the viewer something to think about concerning our own reading journey. Thanks, Valerie!

Not having been immersed in books since childhood,not that I hadn't such an appetite,I have what can only be described as a very patchy reading history.I did grow up watching a lot of TV and listening to a lot of music.My father loved the actor Humphrey Bogart so needless to say I was exposed to the movie adaptation of The Maltese Falcon.In this sense over the years the world of literature has come to my doorstep in another guise.While I can engage with the style in which a book is written I am forever trying to connect with its emotional content and the personality of the author.💝

We are apt to fall into traps of our own making. I was on an Ayn Rand jag for several years. Reading her changed my life and helped me out, really. But all I wanted to read was Ayn Rand books, but there is more to read than that. I think we should read as wide a variety of literature as we can, as long as we can appreciate those books we read. There will always be some books that we can't enjoy or get through for one reason or another, but there will be plenty that will expand our horizons. American literature of the 19th century...I feel that Henry James was America's answer to the Victorians. I am a Henry James enthusiast; I would recommend some his earlier novels for you to start with. If you enjoy Dashiell Hammett then I would also suggest 3 other American crime fiction writers: James M. Cain, Raymond Chandler, and Mickey Spillane.

I think it's more common than not to be unaware of our own evolution as readers, people until someone else points it out to us. I know that is very true for myself. Some of my fist independent reading was of the 1980's Sweet Valley High series... while I'm tempted to be embarrassed about that now, it pushed me to where I am... hopefully a more mature, eclectic reader.

In 6th grade we had to read Wuthering Heights. I was one of the best readers in class and struggled so much with it. I can relate!

reading a tale of two cities for school and not understanding it to classic literature booktuber pipline