Happy January! It’s the beginning of a new year and a new semester. Here’s to saying goodbye to Winter Break, a glorious time of rest, relaxation and stuffing myself with home-cooked food. It was good while it lasted. Does anyone else feel decidedly underprepared for this semester? Coming to school in the fall often feels exciting and full of promise, but the (semi) cold, dreary air of spring has a habit of sucking the enthusiasm for school right out of me. Luckily, there are ways to stay positive about rolling out of bed and trundling to class this week.
For me, that means a new stack of books to read, or at least arrange becomingly next to my bed in an appropriately hipster-like fashion. Every time I go home for Winter Break, I find myself buying something at my favorite bookstore at least three times a week. This is perfect as far as aesthetics are concerned and never fails to brighten my mood. However, this is less convenient for my wallet, and this is downright detrimental when it comes to productivity. It’s hard to focus on preparing for your 8:30 a.m. class when you have a brand new novel sitting temptingly on your desk. But I digress. Welcome to Spring 2016, Gators!
In my time as a columnist at the Alligator, I’ve written on bookish subjects. This semester, however, I’ll be focusing my weekly column on a subject every college student is familiar with, whether they like it or not: books!
Whether you are the kind of person who reads recreationally like a fiend, or someone who doesn’t go near a book unless it’s a required textbook for class, the fact is we all have read or will read at some point in the future. And whether you think so or not, that’s awesome. I’ll be here this semester to discuss any and all book-related topics. This could mean encouraging you to pick up a work, dissect a genre or talk about a cool literary event Gainesville is hosting.
This is an opinions column, not a review section, so specific book evaluations will be few and far between. Instead, I want to talk to all of YOU about the subject of books. How do we relate to books? What does reading a specific book do for us? How can we make reading a dry, complicated chemistry textbook slightly less awful? What are the best ways to read and the best places to read? Which one is better, the book or the movie? (The answer is ALWAYS the book.)
To do this, I really want to hear more from you, the fine people who read this column. Starting next week, feel free to email me your favorite books, your favorite bookstores or different literary subjects you want me to talk about. Do you have an opinion about the degeneration of young adult literature? Do you want to chat about strong female characters? Do you wish more people realized Shakespeare is the root of all modern-day literature, or is Shakespeare is overrated?
Whatever you think, I’d love to hear it. Books have been around for ages, and for just about as long as they’ve been around, humans have been talking about them. Let’s join that conversation.
Through living and working in a college town, we are especially lucky to be in an environment full of people who dig books. We have one of the biggest library systems in the state of Florida, and we have a treasure trove of independent bookstores and coffee shops. I’m excited to start this chapter (pun intended) with all of you.
Sally Grieder is a UF English and public relations junior. Her column appears on Wednesdays.
