Writing challenge, Day 8: a book I love, and one I didn't

First, let me say this: shame on me. You read that right—shame on me. Why? For not reading very much. I can come up with all kinds of excuses as to why I don't read very much. These days at home, I don't have a place where I can sit and be comfortable reading. (There's a long story about that, but I'll save it for another time.) Back when I had a place, any time I tried to read, I was interrupted or distracted (a story about that, too). And it's still like that. I need to plan an escape to a place where I can be alone and get caught up on the dozens of books that I would like to read or should read.

Of the books that I have accidentally been able to finish and enjoy, one that stands out is Farewell to Manzanar. Manzanar was one of the so called "internment camps" where Japanese people—many of them loyal U.S. citizens—were detained during World War II so that they wouldn't commit any acts against the United States. This camp was located in a remote area of Inyo County between the towns of Independence and Lone Pine, just off of what is now U.S. 395. A restoration of Manzanar is in progress so that visitors can see this camp as it was in the 1940s when people were living there. These camps were not as horrible as the concentration camps in Europe, being that their purpose was to simply keep these people locked up, rather than to flat out kill them as was done to the Jews in Europe. But that doesn't mean that life in the camp was enjoyable. This story was about one family's time in this camp. Author Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston provides a look at what her family endured after being moved to the camp from their home in Long Beach, as well as the difficulties of returning to "civilian" life once released. I read this book for an assignment in my creative writing class in 12th grade.

A book that I didn't particularly enjoy was "The Amityville Horror." The story itself wasn't bad, but I don't really like stories of this nature. Fortunately, I had no nightmares nor disruptions in my life as some people do after reading something like this. I saw this movie in the theater and, while well done, again, it is a genre that I don't like so much. So why did I even read this book? Just curious, I guess. Next time I'll stick to something humorous, interesting, or educational in nature.

Tomorrow's post will be one for the ages. Stay tuned...