Reading Tastes

Thoughts on tastes in reading:

1) When discussing with a Borders co-worker whether I would want to actually read our latest "Key Item", Home by Marilynne Robinson, I noted that the very-common Women's Lit theme of family relationships just doesn't spark my interest. There seem to be endless piles of books about "woman returns to the small town she grew up in and revisits her relationship with her mother"(ugh) or "Celebrating the bond of sisterly love" (double ugh).

2) Lelac Almagor notes in a Horn Book article that "we used to laugh that all the children's books we knew prepared our students for waking up one morning to find that they were required to save the world...Even the texts that didn't feature the vanquishing of grave magical threats were about leaving behind home and family to...return (or emerge) as heroes."

This prompted me to acknowledge that I'm not particularly interested in the One-Person-Must-Save-the-World premise, either. Too simplistic. One person can make a difference, yes. But single-handedly fix everything? Nah.