GIGO

GIGO

 I used to say this to my kids all the time. Garbage In, Garbage Out. 

 A steady diet of SpongeBob can turn your brain to mush.

My brain, somedays....

But somewhere along the way, the kids grew up and I've pretty much given up on trying to monitor what they watch/read/etc. I mean, 2 out of 3 of them are legally adults and the third one certainly thinks she  is an adult.  There is just so much  monitoring I can do. 

And maybe I've let my own habits slide.   Seems recently I have been overdosing on Hallmark movies. First a solid month of Christmas movies, followed by another month of Valentine's movies. Mindless nirvana! 

And my reading habits, while being voracious, have centered around "cozy mysteries" and basic "chick lit". 

What I'm getting at is none of this challenges me.

So one of my favorite bloggers, Hollywood Housewife, has challenged herself  and her readers to read some classics this year. I've made a deal with myself. For every cozy mystery I read, I get to read a classic. 

Here's HH's list of classics that she will be reading and discussing this year.

(1813) PRIDE & PREJUDICE by Jane Austen (279 pages)
(1818) FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley (273 pages)
(1847) JANE EYRE by Charlotte Bronte (500 pages)
(1864) NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND by Fyodor Dostoevsky (138 pages)
(1899) THE AWAKENING by Kate Chopin (195 pages)
(1937) THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD by Zora Neale Hurston (256 pages)
(1939) THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck (496 pages)
(1954) LORD OF THE FLIES by William Golding (182 pages)
(1957) ON THE ROAD by Jack Kerouac (307 pages)
(1960) TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD by Harper Lee (324 pages)


I just read Pride and Prejudice a couple of years ago along with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so I felt like I had covered that classic sufficiently. Skip.

Many of these books are available on your Kindle for free or at least less than $5.00.  I downloaded the entire list.

And I've started on Frankenstein, the second book on her reading list.

I read it when I was much younger (a teenager!?). When I started it today I was surprised. I don't remember it starting this way. And yes, it challenges me. I can't just zip along. I have to actually read and think. And that's the point. 

 A little less garbage in. 

Join me?