Literary Blog Hop: March 8-11

Welcome to the Literary Blog Hop hosted by The Blue Bookcase!

This monthly blog hop is open to blogs that primarily feature book reviews of literary fiction, classic literature, and general literary discussion.

How do I know if my blog qualifies as "literary"? Literature has many definitions, but for our purposes your blog qualifies as "literary" if it focuses primarily on texts with aesthetic merit. In other words, texts that show quality not only in narrative but also in the effect of their language and structure. YA literature may fit into this category, but if your blog focuses primarily on non-literary YA, fantasy, romance, paranormal romance, or chick lit, you may prefer to join the blog hop at Crazy-for-books that is open to book blogs of all kinds.

Instructions for entering the Literary Blog Hop:

1. Grab the code for the Button.



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2. Answer the following prompt on your blog.
(Suggestions for future prompts? Email to them us at thebluebookcase@gmail.com)

Here's our question this week:

How do you find time to read, what's your reading style and where do you think reading literature should rank in society's priorities? 

Our answer comes from Christine-Chioma aka C-C:

This question (okay questions) comes because I recently exasperatedly asked how the other girls have time to read so much. I then jokingly offered that it's because they are all married and everyone knows finding a husband is a full-time job. But in all non-sexist seriousness, it's really quite difficult to find the time to read literature. I was also inspired to come up with this by a too-true Onion article.

Typically, I try to sneak in pages while waiting in line for things (thanks to the iPhone kindle app it's pretty easy) and on my breaks and lunches at work. This kind of disjointed reading works well for young-adult books and fluff, but I've found I prefer to read literature in huge chunks usually late at night.

My reading style has definitely been influenced by studying literature. I can't read any book without a pen in my hand to make annotations, cross-references and to mark my favorite lines and themes. This is why it's really hard for me to read library books. I've always said that I read really quickly, but when a book isn't very good it goes pretty slowly (I am hesitant to pick it up). On the other hand, when I really enjoy the book I drag it out because I never want it to end.

I don't just love to read, I have to read. One of my friends put it perfectly the other day: nobody says they love to breath but it's something you have to do in order to survive--that's how I feel about reading. Between working full time, church responsibilities and social obligations there's not very much leisure time. However, I am a firmly believe that if something is important to you than you can make time for it in your life.

I do not count blogs, magazines, or the Washington Post Social Reader as "reading". I strongly believe that people should go out of their way to make sure they are reading things of literary merit at least every so often. There's a lot of media and activities vying for our attention and I think reading for pleasure is often at the bottom of the list of priorities. As a rule I typically pick spending time with live human beings over reading. (Although my favorite is being in a room with other people while reading. I feel like I am being social because there are other people around, but I also get to read!) But when by myself I always try to pick reading over movies and television.

What about you? How do you prefer to read? What are your standards on reading and how do you think society compares?

3. Add your link to the Linky List below.


Happy Hopping!