September reading notes - in which I ramble about: reading & stress relief; guilty (or not) pleasures & series marathons; and letting children read what they want

In my August reading notes, I wrote that about the "heaviness" of my various selections that month.  In September, my reading was less heavy and more escapist.  I finished reading the Divergent series by Veronica Roth.  This is a series of three young adult novels in the now-popular dystopian fiction genre.  The first book was exciting and compulsively readable, but as I predicted it went somewhat downhill from there.  My daughter read the books at about the same time, and we both thought the second book was okay and the third book was a bit disappointing.  I also read two more books from the Murdoch mysteries series by Maureen Jennings.  The fourth book, Let Loose the Dogs, is my favorite in that series so far.  Mixed in with those books, I reread Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  Here's the official list:

Divergent by Veronica Roth
Insurgent by Veronica Roth
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Poor Tom is Cold (Murdoch Mysteries #3) by Maureen Jennings
Let Loose the Dogs (Murdoch Mysteries #4) by Maureen Jennings
Allegiant by Veronica Roth

My varied reading habits had me thinking about the different reasons for which we read.  Recently, I've spotted various Facebook posts about the stress-relieving benefits of reading.  I've always known that reading helped me with my own stress.  The claims of reading as a stress-reliever seem to be mostly attributed to a research study done at the University of Sussex.  In an article in The Telegraph, researcher and cognitive neuropsychologist Dr. David Lewis explains that he found reading was a more effective stress-reliever when compared with a variety of relaxation methods.  In the article, Dr. Lewis is quoted as saying:

It really doesn't matter what book you read, by losing yourself in a thoroughly engrossing book you can escape from the worries and stresses of the everyday world and spend a while exploring the domain of the author's imagination.

This is more than merely a distraction but an active engaging of the imagination as the words on the printed page stimulate your creativity and cause you to enter what is essentially an altered state of consciousness.

So then:

It makes sense to me.  It also got me thinking about the idea of guilty pleasures.  I remember reading an article not long ago that said - essentially - there's really no such thing as guilty pleasures when applied to our tastes in reading, music, theater and other forms of creative expression.  I couldn't locate the article itself, but the author's point was: if you enjoy a particular genre, embrace it and don't feel guilty.  Author Austin Kleon also writes about this in his book Show Your Work.  The excerpt from his book, No More Guilty Pleasures, is posted on his blog.  He makes several good points, including:

When you find things you genuinely enjoy, don’t let anyone else make you feel bad about it. Don’t feel guilty about the pleasure you take in the things you enjoy. Celebrate them.

Being open and honest about what you like is the best way to connect with people who like those things, too.    

I was reminded of this when a friend joked on Facebook about her forays into historical chick lit as her own addiction, akin to alcohol, drugs or gambling.  I'm a fan of historical chick lit myself.  I even admit to an affection for regency romance mysteries, namely The Pink Carnation Series by Lauren Willig.  Actually, I count as a pleasure (guilty or not), any series in which I can immerse myself.  Many of us have jumped on the bandwagon to read popular children's or young adult series.  I will admit that I once (maybe twice?) pre-ordered and had a newly-released Harry Potter book sent to a cottage in the north woods of Wisconsin, so that I would not have to wait until after vacation to read it.  Talk about an addiction!  But I've gotten caught up in all sorts of series.  Once I zipped through the twenty books in the Aubrey-Maturin series of nautical historical novels by Patrick O'Brian in the space of several months.  A couple of years ago, I read through the twenty or so novels in The Cadfael Chronicles, a series of historical murder mysteries by Ellis Peters.  My obsessions tend to run toward to genres that contain historical elements. 

We read for all different purposes.  When I choose to delve into a series, I may be looking more toward entertainment and escape.  When I choose a so-called classic or literary fiction, I may be looking more to challenge myself.  And yet in both cases, there is a ton of crossover.  A compelling and entertaining series of historical fiction, like the Aubrey-Maturin series, challenged me to learn a lot about the history of the British Royal Navy and the Napoleonic Wars.  And of course, a book that is considered literary fiction or a classic can be as entertaining and addicting as a bestseller.  This will all depend on the individual reader's tastes and inclinations as well.

What I discourage is the idea that we only read one type of book or another.  I really believe that when this idea is imposed upon people or somehow accepted subconsciously, it may cause them to dislike reading.  I wrote about this a bit in one of my articles for Home Education Magazine.  In that article, I mentioned how some educational philosophies or theories maintain that children should be required to only read "quality" children's literature and be steered away from things like graphic novels and popular series books.  With my own children, I have seen no evidence that it's one or the other.  It doesn't have to be "either/or" - it can be "both/and."  If, as an adult, I read different genres and for different purposes, why would I not respect my children's ability to do the same?   

And so, everyone, go forth and read!

Ideally, I'll have both my coffee and a book!