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Call Me What You WIll
By Annie Hicks

As of late, I have been reading left and right, where it’s on the bus or walking on my way to my volunteer position, I try to squeeze in as much time as I am able to do so. While finding this time throughout my day to read all that I can and while I do read more, I have noticed that I am becoming very choosy in what I will pick up and what I don’t. For example, I can’t for the life of me understand why people want to spend their time or money reading the “50 Shades of Grey” series or “Twilight.” I was at Target the other day in the book section and noticed that they had the 50 shades series. A female shopper who was standing to my left picked it up, read the back and quietly without drawing attention to herself or be embarrassed about it, put it in her cart and headed off. Throughout this, she didn’t notice me and my look of disdain or judgment.

I get that each book responds to each of us differently and that’s why there is such wide variety to read out there, especially when there is both better writing and stories to tell out there. This piece isn’t a rant, but ok I guess it is becoming one. I know that “to each to his own,’ as Cicero {Roman author, orator, & politician (106 BC – 43 BC) } said and it can apply to many areas in life. I am not putting down these other works that I don’t care for but I don’t want to spend the my precious reading time reading crap and yes there is crap out there see my above mentioned choices.

However, on this same note, I do have a confession to share with my fellow readers and reviewers. Take this as you may and judge me or don’t, I am going to leave that up to you. Here goes: on long drives mainly and the only time when I am driving home (home is Baker City – 12 hour drive round trip is what I am looking at) I allow myself to check out Danielle Steel books on cd. This is the only time that I allow this and yes, before the book is halfway over, I can usually guess the ending and am fairly spot on or close to it. The last Danielle Steel book I listened to, I couldn’t even bring myself to finish it, I wanted so bad to reach through my cd player and ring the main character’s father’s neck. This is not my first or second reaction to most books that I read or listen to, but one that was fitting to the story. I couldn’t finish it and almost ran it back to the library.

After sharing this confession of my own less than stellar reading picks, one could fairly say that I have read my own fair share of crap and therefore call me a hypocrite. I am going to leave that up to you, the reader.


AnnieAnnie Hicks – is a native Oregonian, originally from Baker City, who left for college and earned a BA in Political Science degree from Saint Martin’s University, in Lacey, WA. GO SAINTS!! After college, I became a CNA and worked various jobs but found my calling in community behavior mental health. While not at work, I volunteer my time with both SMART (Start Making A Reader Today) and Wordstock, enjoying a local book club, and helping out with my local church. Also, I’m a card carrying member of three different libraries. I usually have my nose in at least two different books at a time with many more awaiting my eyes. I mostly enjoy fiction, but do enjoy non-fiction and biographies. I love checking out the local book scene. And now I call Forest Grove home.