Recommendations/Recomendaciones
What’s one book you’d recommend and why?
Candide! It’s insanely sarcastic and hilarious.
Any non-school books you’d recommend?
Oh. I am the Messenger. It’s about a dude who receives a card in the mail from this random person and he follows the instructions on the cards and starts doing like, well, really nice things to help out people and their problems like a lonely old lady or like a wife and kids getting abused by her husband. And it’s pretty cool.
What was the first book you read?
The dictionary! Hahaha! Just kidding.
Did you ever have trouble reading when you were younger?
No, reading wasn’t a problem for me. Analysis in English class with uninteresting books was.
How are books like songs?
They are?! I never looked at it that way.
Do you enjoy reading?
I used to, when I had the time but now, with all my other work, procrastination and just the drama of college/teenage life I just don’t have the time.
What’s your favorite book?
I honestly don’t have one. I guess it b/c the books i like, I read them too fast and then when I want to remember them months later, I can’t really. But now, I’d like to say Twilight. I read that in August. Still fresh, sort of.
How do you pick out books?
Their covers, reputation (is it a classic vs. trashy airport book), recommendations, if i find an author i like, I’ll go with that, in that order, and sometimes, its level of personal apparent relevance to my own life also adds an appeal.
Like Twilight?
Not initially. I didn’t think my life had anything to do with vampires. that one came strictly off of cover appeal and recommendation. Personal relevance became maybe more of a factor as I continued to read the series as I was more familiar with the characters and could recognize similar situations in my own life, minus the vampires. I wish.
Twilight is bad?
No. Twilight is great.
Did you ever steal a book?
Yes. Once when I was like in second grade I took out a book from the library and I thought it was so great. But then the return date was coming up so I decided to copy the book word for word, picture for picture. It took awhile and I thought it was all worth it but now I don’t even know what happened.
What about a real book?
Yes. I stole The House of the Scorpion or something like that in like the sixth grade for the same reason. I’m trying to get my brother to read it, actually.
Do you ever judge a book by its cover?
Of course; I think that’s why covers exist. They advertise the books and it’s up to the book makers to make it look appealing to the eye first, then the mind. A single banana on a black background will catch my attention more than a garble of browns and blues.
How often do you go to the library?
I used to go a lot when I was twelve but not so much anymore. I don’t have the time nor do I have the drive to go to the library to take out a new book to read.
What changed that?
I don’t know, I guess high school happened to me. And so did the analyses of boring books. Really, that’s no excuse; it’s just that I think that I have better things to do than read books.
What was the last book you read for fun?
Korean picture books cuz I’m learning Korean right now. I feel like I’m in kindergarten again. It’s mad fun.
What other books could you recommend?
Okay let me tell you about the other books. Um, classics? Like The Three Musketeers? With Porthos and them.
Why the classics? Why not contemporary stuff?
Cuz the classics have a reputation for being good. They didn’t become classics because they were bad. Well maybe they were but they were at least interesting. And maybe good. You can’t go wrong with classics. Most of the time.
What would you recommend to read?
Recently, I have been reading The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas. It kicks ass. I loved the Count of Monte Cristo, so I thought that I should read Dumas’ other works. I was right. It kicks ass.
What’s your relationship with libraries?
I owe them money. I also go to the library once a month. I don’t have the time to frequent the bookshelves of my local library.
Do you not like Stephanie Meyer?
LOL. STEPHANIE MEYER IS PHAIL.
Do you like Stephanie Meyer?
I wish I could’ve read more books by Stephenie Meyer but I haven’t have time to read the sequels and etc but i really wanna read them because I wanna see how each character goes through different changes. I recommend the book to anyone who wants a page turner and an easy read and anyone whos a “sucker” for a vampire. Haha get it?
Book recommendations by Stuyvesant students for Stuyvesant students and readers around the world. Also known as Stuy Bookshelf/Book Box. Submissions are open—click on register below!