Hi everyone! I hope you’re all well. Today is Wednesday, and it’s time for another post in the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews. If you would like to participate in the challenge, you can find the list of topics for 2025 here. If you’d like to read other people’s responses to this week’s topic, you can do so here.

Books I Had to Read in School but Didn’t Like

There is only one book I remember not liking in school, and that was:

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
In the middle of the Great Depression, George and Lennie head across California looking for work, which they find on a farm. Both men share a dream of buying their own farm and working the land, and this dream gives them something to look forward to every day.

George is not only Lennie’s friend—he is also his caretaker in a sense and tries to keep him out of trouble; Lennie has mental difficulties and doesn’t know his own strength, which causes problems for them.

This is probably the saddest book I read as a child (at least that I can think of right now).

There are parts where Lennie accidentally kills things (animals and then the farm owner’s daughter-in-law), which are a little distressing to read because you know he didn’t mean to. There is also the whole situation with the old man, Candy’s dog, who is old, crippled, and so very loved by Candy. He is “euthanised” with little sympathy by a fellow ranch hand.

I remember wondering why they would have us read such a harrowing story.

However, now, as an adult, I can fully appreciate Of Mice and Men for the masterpiece that it is; the emotional storytelling is simply brilliant.

And that’s me for today. I wonder which books you all didn’t like to read at school.

Thanks, as ever, for stopping by to read today’s post.
Until next time,

George

© 2025 GLT

Categories: life, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge

Tags: challenge, George, Lennie, Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck, Wednesday, Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge