Read Everything, And I Mean Everything Ever (Reading List)

Ever since I first started reading writing blogs, I read hyper critically. That was the day everything changed. *cue dramatic music* 

The more problems to find, the better it was the criticise. It made me able to stand even the worst books. Any book I touched, I read and finished. 

It's because of critical reading that has made me editing my own works so much better. I can go on and on about the benefits, but that's not the aim of today's post. When I read in this mindset, no matter what book it was, I read it.

A lot of this happened:

Me: *reads badly written book*

Friend: So, how's that book?

Me: Oh, this? It's trash. 

Friend: So why are you reading it?
Me: *Jafar grin* I'm an author. Crazy is my middle name.

I read everything. And I mean everything. (Except the books which contained content I'm not chill with.)

Some people thought I was a little weird for doing that. Okay, a lot weird. But I found this quote that totally got me.

"Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll find out. If it's not, throw it out of the window." -William Faulkner

The original plan was to make a list of books under each heading, but since "trash, good and bad" are all a matter of perception, I'm going to simplify it into "classics" and everything else.

Classics

• Little Women and Little Men, Louisa May Alcott
• Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, JRR Tolkien
• Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë
• The Chronicles of Narnia, CS Lewis
• To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
• The Count Of Monte Cristo, Alexander Dumas
• The Secret Garden and A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett
• Les Miserable and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Victor Hugo
• A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens

Everything Else

• The Freja Peachtree series, Katrina Nannestad
• Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband, John Flanagan
• The Medoran Chronicles, Lynette Noni
• Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, Brandon Sanderson
• Redwall and series, Brian Jacques
• A Series of Unfortunate Events, Lemony Snicket
• The Book Thief, Markus Zusak
• Pax, Sara Pennypacker
• Keeper of the Lost Cities, Shannon Messenger
• Dreamtreaders, Wayne Thomas Batson

~ 

There you have it. A list of books you can use to criticise! 

Have you read any of these books before? What were some observations you have about them? What are your favourites? Leave a comment below. If you liked this post, be sure to share, follow and eat chocolate for more content! (Eat chocolate anyway.)