Information for Adult Learners

Conversation Circle Summary

 

Women in the conversation circles talked about many things they enjoy reading. They talked about books and authors and topics. They also talked about what fiction genres* they like to read. (*Genre means category or kind.) Women talked about many different genres -- romance, novels, poetry, stories, drama, horror, mystery, and suspense. This summary reports what kind of fiction genres women learners like to read.

The genres women liked the best are fiction, mystery, and horror. Women seemed to like these equally well. Another genre mentioned often was romance and love stories.

To read English I would like to read novels, esp. love stories because it is more fun and it's more entertaining.

 

Fiction

Mystery & Horror

Romance

Others

Fiction

When women talked about fiction books, sometimes they would just say "I like fiction." Mostly, however, participants named titles or authors they liked. (For a complete list, go to AUTHORS.)

I like all types of books as long as it interests me but I love reading books by black authors.

Generally, African American women named books by African American women authors.

A group of Spanish-speaking immigrant women said they like to read literature by Mexican and Latin American authors. They wanted to learn English better. They hoped to read novels in English.

A few women wanted to be able to read chapter books. These are sometimes too long. One woman suggested that reading chapters books in a group would make it easier. Two of the conversation circles talked about the books suggested on the Oprah show. In one group, many of the women did not like Oprah. The other group thought her books were okay but sometimes too hard.

-- from a conversation about Oprah's book club selections K. - "...well some of them books are alright but a lot of them are like, I don't know..." J. - "...like really advanced." Mev asks - "So, you want something simpler?" T. - (strongly) "NO, we can do it!" J. - "...but they're all about stuff, hard family things. But she (Oprah) says, 'Oh you have to go pick this one up.' And I'll pick it up and I'll start readin it and the words are like this big in half the sentences!"

 

Mysteries and Horror
Almost all of the conversation circles talked about mysteries and horror stories. Many women said their favorites were Stephen King books. (For a complete list, go to AUTHORS.) Some women said they liked books with murder and mayhem or scary stories, like suspense and thrillers. Some women, though, did not like horror books at all. Also, none of the immigrant women talked about mystery or horror.

Many women talked about why they like horror stories. One woman suggested in horror stories at least the thing that's most horrifying is under control. You can tell when it's going to happen and you know it will go away or be over. One woman said that the books with characters like Freddie Kruger are so unbelievable that even if it's scary you can still remember that it's not real. In one group, women kept saying "It's fake. It's fake."

It's harder to read some of the ones with characters like stalkers. They are more believable. There are real people like that and they might be out there. It's more difficult because it's too real and might possibly happen. I have to keep the doors locked if I read them.

 

It always intrigues me to find out if I'm right or wrong. I have to find out if I'm correct. So I keep going - I can't put it down because I have to finish. Even if it's a bad book I have to finish. It's just the way I am. I can't leave things undone.

Women also talked about why they liked mysteries. Many women liked them because of the clues. They like to see if they can figure it out before the end. Several women said they were good at solving the murders. They had to finish the book to see if they were right. One woman said she like them because something good comes of it. The bad person gets caught. Also, they move fast. Even if you don't understand all the words you can usually know what's happening.

 

Romances

Women in the groups also liked love stories and romances. Some women also said they like to read about relationships in general. One woman wrote that she likes reading about "love life." This might be either real or fiction. An immigrant woman thought reading love stories might help her to learn English better.

Women disagreed, though, about how "trashy" romance novels are. In one group, two of the women thought they were more pornographic than pornography. One woman said it was not interesting reading the sex parts. The descriptions are boring and all the same. Sometimes they are unbelievable. ("Yeah, like no guy in his right mind would actually do that!") The other woman thought historical romances were the worst.

Another group of women thought that romances aren't so bad at all.

 

J. - "My boyfriend saw me reading this book and said it was a trashy book. You know you have a book with that picture on it and everyone thinks it's a trashy book. But a lot of the books I read that are romance novels, they're so dry it's not funny." T. - "Oh, they'll be on the cover all hugged up and stuff." J. - "But you get into reading the book and there's one section in the whole entire book and it's right at the end!"

 

They also decided that the historical romances are sometimes interesting because of the history in them.

 

And other genres…

• A few women said they like to read poetry, especially the poems of Maya Angelou. This depended on the poem, though. The shorter poems are better than the long poems.
  
• One woman says she likes to read drama because of the dialog.
  
• A few women listed children's books that they have enjoyed.
  
• One woman said she likes action stories.
  
• Another woman likes to read comedy.
  
• NO one mentioned that she likes fantasy or science fiction.

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WOMEN

SCHOOL

FICTION

AUTHORS

REAL LIFE

CONCERNS

FORMATS

ADVICE