Us and them

Picking my books
For prize giving
I just wanted to
Go In the
Shop and get back
Out again!
The first book
I bought from
An actual bookshop
Was James Pattersons:
The lake house.
I only did so because
I had watched
A random stranger
Pick it up
When I was
Getting a dictionary.

I had to ask the librarian
What books she
Recommended as my
Parents didn't give a hoot
When it came to homework.
I read Lord of the Rings
Only because I had a flu
And couldn't go out
On bike or micro scooter.

My grandfather gave
Me the supplementary
Magazines from the Telegraph
Every week without fail
Even when I moved
In with Fred.
I said to him
That I might
Study English Literature
Through open university

We had to do
A book review
And I hadn't
Read a book
For over a year
So I asked if
They could get
A copy of
A ghost story
That I didn't pick
The year before
And they said
I would probably
Find it not advanced enough
And it was true.
It was nothing like
Junk or good night Mister Tom
I took a risk
By doing Danny Champion
Of the world
In first year
Some authors can
Reach all ages.
Like JK Rowling with Harry Potter.
And The Twilight Saga
Would probably fit
That category too.

But the book
That got me
Back into reading
In my fifth year
Of High School
Was The Catcher in the Rye.
To this day
Its still my favourite book
And I haven't found
Any Classic that
Struck such a chord
With me as much
As this one
Maybe it was
The timing that
The teacher spoke about it
And being in mid teens
Not knowing where
I was fitting in
In the world.
I did read Stephen Chboski's:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
It was amazing
In its own right
And had to have been inspired
By JD Salinger.
Freds sister spoke
About it and I
Ordered it online.
The teacher set us
All a challenge for summer
To read at least one book
Every week for six weeks.
I had taekwondo
Summer camp and
Met my pals
I bumped into
Them going up town
And I had all ready
Been to gym and shopping
And had no money left
They thought I was odd
For going home
And not joining them.
From that summer on
I began to read.
I never stuck to one
Genre. I got restless
Far too easy.
How I have always been.

I skim read Tess of the Durbervilles
I confess I couldn't
Get into Thomas Hardy
And I picked
Good old faithful
Romeo and Juliet
For my Shakespeare study
And I said to
One of my sport colleagues
That I was finished
Reading about classic
Female "heroines" because
How could they
Be called hero's
When they always
Topped themselves?
I was only 15
It was just a joke
Madame Bovary is
The same ending too

I chose another
Book for my review
None the less
A proper Novel.
I didn't think
A high school
English department
Would give young adults
The choice of
Such a cop out.
Why not a story
By Lovecraft or Poe?
My gran bought
Me books all the time.
I never had time
Or could find mood
To read them.
PollyAnna, Black Beauty
I would read
My brothers comics
On the train
That he only
Glanced at.