Who says Harry Potter is just for kids?!

I came across this via Amazon: Read Roger, written by a book editor, takes adults who read children’s books to task. It reminded me a little bit of Gawker’s relentless mocking of adults who read/ were crazy about Harry Potter.

From Read Roger:

“Whatever whoever chooses to read is their business, of course, but adults whose taste in recreational reading ends with the YA novel need to grow up.”

Okay, I’ll try to give Read Roger the benefit of the doubt by focusing on the “reading ends with.” That said, oh boy, here we go again! I wish people were a little less judgmental about other’s reading choices. Also, let’s not get obsessed with labels – young adult, fantasy, etc.

A few examples: I thought Golden Compass was a complex work with a very imaginative world. Every person has a dæmon that is physical representation of their soul. When they’re children, their daemons can change shape from cats to mice. Philip Pullman’s books also came under fire for being anti-Christian or preaching atheistic values.

In my ‘to read’ pile is The Book Thief, a tale about a girl living in Nazi Germany who steals books.

Yes, both books are technically considered Young Adult Fiction. That shouldn’t put adults off from reading them. I’ve enjoyed lots of young adult/ children's books. I loved the Harry Potter series. I thought it was a fun read. One again, it featured a richly imagined world, the battle of good versus evil, and compelling characters. It was also incredibly suspenseful.

I say read what makes you happy.

http://www.hbook.com/blog/2008/03/yet-another-g-word.html

http://www.omnivoracious.com/2008/03/who-needs-to-gr.html