Monday, July 18, 2011

Charlie Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading by Tommy Greenwald

I haven't written in this blog for a while, life has happened. Lot has changed and much more to come! I haven't found the same pleasure in reading that I used to :( and I am determined to get that same rush again!

I moved to a new library system (that's always wierd) and am getting used to the way they operate. I suppose I have been nostalgic about the days when I was a kid, which inspired me to pick up this book. I am a huuuge fan of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and picked this one up by chance to see if it fell in the same category.

It wasn't that bad. The main character's only fault is that he doesn't like to read and will do anything to get out of doing it. I suppose I couldn't relate on a personal level because the protagonist seems to be pretty good at everything else! His friends never isolate him and everyone is so normal in his life. I wanted a character with more depth and slight angst and who makes mistakes, whose family is not normal, etc. Because seriously in whose life are people "normal" or "average"? I think it would have been nice if the author had linked not reading to meaning Charlie was not doing well at school either. How else would he know those big words and give awesome presentations? It just didn't fit exactly.

Maybe younger kids might find this book a fun read, but it definitely doesn't cross over to the adult reader.