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Post by murderedmymuse on May 5, 2008 0:16:04 GMT -5
Hello, newbie here, first post, hi everyone. I'm not sure of the etiquette on this forum, is it okay for newbies to post...well, I've started so I may as well go on. Also, if this thread subject exists elsewhere on this board, please direct me there (I'm slowly making my way through all the threads but haven't seen everything.
Okay. Now for the subject question:
When did you stop reading the BSC first time 'round (what book was it? what age were you?) and why? Also, as an adult, why did you start reading the series again?
For me, I stopped reading the BSC around book #44, and I think I was in the eighth grade. The two things that killed the BSC for me (the first time around) was I was starting to get into Stephen King and Virginia Andrews (so the BSC seemed at bit to simplistic compared to those authors), and I read the first book of the BSC mystery series which I wasn't too impressed with. R.I.P BSC
I got into reading the BSC again when I was around 25 years old. I was stuck visiting a tiny(!) farming town with no library or book shops. There was one thrift shop, with about 5 books on its shelves. The only book that was appealing was Claudia and Mean Janine. Despite the book missing its first five pages, once I started reading I was overrun by so many wonderful BSC memories (much like Homer Simpson having the yummy food flashback when he ate the baking soda someone had left in the fridge for years; Mmmm baking soda) and now reread the entire series every couple of years.
Mmmm, BSC
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Post by greer on May 5, 2008 4:13:01 GMT -5
I never stopped reading it.
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Post by murderedmymuse on May 5, 2008 6:06:49 GMT -5
That's cool that you never stopped reading it. I remember myself and all my friends stopped reading the BSC around grade 7/8, and were more interested in Christopher Pike and the Point Horror books.
I have this theory that some people absolutely loved the BSC until they were in high school, then they moved onto adult books, but once they were in their twenties and got over the 'uncool' factor of the BSC, they realised how great the books were and had to replenish their collection again.
I'm so disappointed at my 13 year old self for selling all my YA fiction. I've spent the past ten years hunting down all the YA titles and buying them again. I would kill for a copy of No Place For Me by Barthe Declements.
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Post by baseballchica03 on May 5, 2008 6:59:09 GMT -5
By about fifth grade, I was really into Michael Crichton and the like, and I just sort of drifted away from the BSC. I could get through one in less than an hour. I had read the old ones a million times, but I didn't enjoy the new ones as much. (It was right around when Dawn left for good, but her annoying back and forth antics started to get on my nerves even back then.) I got back into them a few summers ago when I picked one up at a used book store right around the time I was about to have surgery. When I was recovering, it was hard to concentrate on grown up books because of medicine fuzzyhead, but BSC books were totally doable.
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Post by greer on May 5, 2008 7:33:01 GMT -5
I don't think that not giving up BSC books implies that one never moves on to adult material; my degree is in Russian Literature. ;D I just always really loved reading everything I could. I kind of skipped the Christopher Pike stage and segued from a BSC obsession into a Truman Capote obsession and so on. That's cool that you never stopped reading it. I remember myself and all my friends stopped reading the BSC around grade 7/8, and were more interested in Christopher Pike and the Point Horror books. I have this theory that some people absolutely loved the BSC until they were in high school, then they moved onto adult books, but once they were in their twenties and got over the 'uncool' factor of the BSC, they realised how great the books were and had to replenish their collection again. I'm so disappointed at my 13 year old self for selling all my YA fiction. I've spent the past ten years hunting down all the YA titles and buying them again. I would kill for a copy of No Place For Me by Barthe Declements.
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Post by murderedmymuse on May 5, 2008 9:09:45 GMT -5
I don't think that not giving up BSC books implies that one never moves on to adult material; my degree is in Russian Literature. ;D I just always really loved reading everything I could. I kind of skipped the Christopher Pike stage and segued from a BSC obsession into a Truman Capote obsession and so on. I apologise if I gave the impression the continued reading of the BSC means that people don't read adult material. I love the BSC. I've found myself and my friends read the BSC up to a point, and then we began to read different stuff. Out of all of us I'm the only one who now reads the BSC as an adult. That was why I was so happy to find this forum. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot here because it seems this is the only place I can intelligently discuss my BSC love. With my orginal post/question I'm trying to explore my curiousity about why people stopped reading the BSC as a teen (if they ever did) and what brought them back to the series as an adult. I thought there would be interesting stories to be heard.
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Post by greer on May 5, 2008 9:28:01 GMT -5
oh, ok. i did a survey about this on the bsc lj community as research for a blog piece that's on my to-do list. you may want to read the responses there.
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Post by murderedmymuse on May 5, 2008 9:39:20 GMT -5
oh, ok. i did a survey about this on the bsc lj community as research for a blog piece that's on my to-do list. you may want to read the responses there. Do you have a link for this? Thanks.
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Penny Lane
Sitting For The Arnolds
The Girl With Colitis Goes By
Posts: 2,888
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Post by Penny Lane on May 5, 2008 9:58:15 GMT -5
I stopped reading BSC around 4th grade. My parents kept pointing out that I needed to read more challenging literature, and my grandmother agreed so no one was feeding the addiction. I also was starting to get embarrassed about still reading them, so I would either quickly scan the new ones at the store or library; but I wouldn't check them out or buy them. My school curriculum was also very challenging so I didn't really have time for leisure reading. In fact, I remember our school librarian telling us that the library was not for leisure reading and to stop wasting our time on things that weren't progressive to our education. I hated her a lot.
I guess it's just that I didn't read that much outside of school from 6th grade through my sophomore year of college is the main reason I didn't read my bsc books anymore. I found some in basement when my parents were moving and I was talking to someone about them online and on a whim I looked up babysitters club and I found all these people still discussing them and I figured "why not"? I alway swanted to get around to reading all of them. Now, at 25, it's as good of a time as any.
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Post by Sweet City Girl on May 5, 2008 10:14:52 GMT -5
When did I STOP reading the BSC as a teen? I didn't start reading them UNTIL then! ;D I know that's got to be a rarity, but I just wasn't interested in them when I was younger. Plus, the girls on the covers looked so old to me. I was more into other books, and didn't really decide to give the whole series a decent try until I was fifteen. The whole reason I started reading the BSC then was because of Stacey McGill, since I had an especially huge obsession with NYC, and liked the idea of reading about it from her books. Then my interest in the series in general just expanded from there. Now I have tons of the books on my shelf. Go figure.
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Post by wenonah4th on May 5, 2008 10:27:09 GMT -5
I guess I stopped reading them actively around the beginning of 9th grade, when I was a little embarrassed to be carrying one around school (I have always carried a book with me wherever I go, school or anywhere else). But I never stopped reading children's books in general.
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sarish
Sitting For The Papadakis's
Posts: 1,618
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Post by sarish on May 5, 2008 10:31:52 GMT -5
I read the books from when I was 9 to about 12, maybe even 13. My mom actually made me get rid of all of my books because she thought I should be out of that stage. I continued to think about the BSC though-I could always tell you about all the characters and clients. When I was 18 and visiting my family in California. I was at a Goodwill with my grandma and I saw a huge stack of BSC books. I bought as many as I could with the cash I had on hand (which was not even half of the books there, they didn't take debit/credit cards at that one!) and was hooked. I have been slowly collecting ever since.
Welcome to the boards, murderedmymuse! We are glad to have you here!
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Post by supernatural babe on May 5, 2008 10:38:59 GMT -5
I was a teen when I started reading them!
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Post by murderedmymuse on May 5, 2008 10:52:11 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome. I also remembered tons about the BSC, even through the years I wasn't reading them. I get funny looks, though, when people see me reading them now. I even had a counter lady at a thrift shop ask me 'are you REALLY going to read those?' when I bought a bunch of BSC books. I've noticed the people who make snarky comments about the books you read are usually the people who don't read at all. There's one guy at a second hand bookshop near me who's really nice about my different book interests. He's a big Enid Blyton fan
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Post by wenonah4th on May 5, 2008 11:00:12 GMT -5
Yes, that would be the pot calling the kettle black if he pi8cked on you!
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