Hi, I’m Ann!
Who am I?
I’m a high school senior with a lot to say and too little time to say it. I enjoy promoting political awareness, and I really love learning new things, but most of all, I love reading books.
Fast facts about myself:
- I’m the oldest child in my family.
- I can’t whistle or roll my Rs.
- I use the Oxford comma.
- I get unusually frustrated when I spill a cup of water.
- I’m a tea person, but I won’t turn down a latte.
- I still don’t know exactly what I want to be when I grow up, and I’m pretty close to being grown up.
- I don’t own any college t-shirts.
- Harry Potter was my favorite book series as a kid, but I pronounced Hermione’s name “herm-oin” the first two times I read the series.
- My favorite TV show is The Good Place.
What is this blog for?
A lot of things. Books I like, news that happens, random things I think about during my 20 minute drive home, and a couple AP Lit assignments.
Why do I love reading?
Back in middle school, my peers all read for fun; we were encouraged to by our teachers, able to choose any books we wanted to read regardless of the genre, difficulty level, or content. My seventh grade teacher had an entire wall of bookshelves, floor to ceiling, filled with YA books waiting to be devoured by tweens hungry for entertainment.
Now, we entertain ourselves with Netflix, YouTube, and Instagram. What happened?
I think we live in a time where books are at once becoming more and less accessible to teens. On the one hand, writing and publishing have seen a massive increase in authors from or writing about marginalized backgrounds, which in turn means we have more access to books about people who look or act like us. On the other hand, we have many other forms of entertainment that are more easily accessible than ever, most of which can be consumed more passively than books can.
People that I know read books for school, and only when told to do so by our English teachers with our grades on the line.
I want to bring back a passion for reading, and I think the best way to do that is by talking about what books we enjoy. Reading doesn’t always have to be purely intellectual, nor do books have to have fifteen layers of complexity.
Why does the news matter?
Sometimes it doesn’t. Other times, it affects you, either now or in the long run. The world is messy and complicated, and I’d like to break it down in ways that are easily digestible.
Whether you’re liberal, conservative, or independent, we can probably all agree that these days, there’s a lot of news, and it’s hard to juggle what’s going on at any moment.
And because of the internet, the quality and quantity of our news has changed a lot. Hoax sites spread false stories; breaking news happens on social media in real time.
I won’t be contributing to the spread of news, but I will share ways you can keep yourself informed without being overwhelmed.
What’s this blog about, anyway?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We’ll see, won’t we! It could be about anything. For now, expect a few posts about some books I’ve read recently.