The thing is that I sometimes just don't have any new books. My uncle has a book store so I can't just walk into any store and get a book. Small book stores don't do so well so I support him of course. But, the book store is on the other side of Berlin and now it's even more difficult. I have to order the books I want and my dad has to pick them up for me which is a bit complicated. I hate not being able to buy books spontaneously even though it's awesome to have a book store in the family...
I think a 6-years-old would be able to read Harry Potter, not every 6-year-old though. But I doubt that most would understand what they were reading and I probably wouldn't give the books to my child at that age. I read the first one when I was 9 or 10 (it was a Christmas gift from my uncle and I was like 'ugh, I don't like magic' and then I read it in two days and couldn't think about anything else, I had all the words racing through my mind. Muggles, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Voldemort,...). I do think that most kids should decide what they want to read for themselves. My parents probably thought that I was reading some books too early but I was never really scared or confused, I kind of always knew what was good for me.
It's funny that I often feel more comfortable reading an English book even though I sometimes don't understand every last detail. People in Germany just don't grow up with English like people in Scandinavian countries or The Netherlands do so some of my friends are often surprised when they see me reading English books. I just don't really want to read translations from English books anymore if I can help it because the originals just feel more...original. If I knew any other language fluently I'd do the same.
I wish I could get more into classics. I've read some German ones, probably some British or American ones as well but I mostly remember reading a few of Jane Austen's works. It always make me a bit sad to discuss classics with the internet community because to most people that means only British or American novels even though Europe is like the birthplace for literature... This list keeps on going around the internet, and sure, it's a BBC list but it still bothers me that "War and Peace" is pretty much the only non-American/British book on there and even European people treat it as if it's the list to consider. I often find though that classics can't entertain me as much as a Jodi Picoult novel. I wish it was different but in the end I think you can learn something from almost every book there is and as long as it makes you happy why not read mainly chick-lit like my friend Janine does?
Anyway, there are many more things I could have discussed but I've run dry for now. ;) And my comments are almost longer than your entry which is bit weird.
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I think a 6-years-old would be able to read Harry Potter, not every 6-year-old though. But I doubt that most would understand what they were reading and I probably wouldn't give the books to my child at that age. I read the first one when I was 9 or 10 (it was a Christmas gift from my uncle and I was like 'ugh, I don't like magic' and then I read it in two days and couldn't think about anything else, I had all the words racing through my mind. Muggles, Slytherin, Gryffindor, Voldemort,...). I do think that most kids should decide what they want to read for themselves. My parents probably thought that I was reading some books too early but I was never really scared or confused, I kind of always knew what was good for me.
It's funny that I often feel more comfortable reading an English book even though I sometimes don't understand every last detail. People in Germany just don't grow up with English like people in Scandinavian countries or The Netherlands do so some of my friends are often surprised when they see me reading English books. I just don't really want to read translations from English books anymore if I can help it because the originals just feel more...original. If I knew any other language fluently I'd do the same.
I wish I could get more into classics. I've read some German ones, probably some British or American ones as well but I mostly remember reading a few of Jane Austen's works. It always make me a bit sad to discuss classics with the internet community because to most people that means only British or American novels even though Europe is like the birthplace for literature... This list keeps on going around the internet, and sure, it's a BBC list but it still bothers me that "War and Peace" is pretty much the only non-American/British book on there and even European people treat it as if it's the list to consider.
I often find though that classics can't entertain me as much as a Jodi Picoult novel. I wish it was different but in the end I think you can learn something from almost every book there is and as long as it makes you happy why not read mainly chick-lit like my friend Janine does?
Anyway, there are many more things I could have discussed but I've run dry for now. ;) And my comments are almost longer than your entry which is bit weird.