These days, it seems like every time you go to a movie theater, there are always a couple posters for films that have been adapted from books. [Editorial note: No one’s surprised that Emily {enthusiastically!} keeps track of stuff like that. Check out 20SomethingReads special monthly Books on Screen feature here.]

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Let’s be honest: There are far too many classics for anyone to realistically read them all. Many of them are long and depressing, or about subject matter that isn’t the most appealing (like miserable people making each other miserable. Or Puritans. Or miserable Puritans making each other miserable).

However, the status of classic lends a books a certain gravity that makes it awkward to admit you haven’t read it --- much more awkward than it is for other books.

If you haven’t read that one book everyone is talking about this year, there may be raised eyebrows in some circles, but generally that can be forgiven. But admitting that you haven’t read a classic may threaten to destroy your credibility.

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Why should we care about zombies?

They eat brains. They aren’t very socially aware. They don’t contribute much to a conversation --- if you talk to one, you have to do all the work. So why are they worth talking about at all?

In the land of pop culture, most films or TV shows with monsters in them are not held up as high art. No zombie movie has ever won any Oscars. If you suggest seeing one as a first date, your date might think your taste is a bit questionable (not that I know from experience…).

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And you thought your family was dysfunctional?

We are right at the height of the holiday season, which means one thing: lots of family time. There is no such thing as a family that isn’t dysfunctional. Some families are dysfunctional in a pleasantly chaotic way; some are in a rip-your-hair-out and run-away-screaming-way. Regardless, unless you are the sort of person who watches the Hallmark channel, nobody wants to read about a pleasant family where everyone gets along and there is no conflict. Watching paint dry is far more interesting.

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Whether you read fairy tales as a child or whether you’re simply aware of them because you are a person who is alive and does not live under a rock, fairy tales have played a role in your reading experience.

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“Romeo and Juliet” is now playing on Broadway, starring Orlando Bloom. It seems like an excellent casting choice, considering the fact that Orlando always seems to play the Handsome, Bland Leading Man --- and what else is Romeo, if not the original Bland Leading Man?

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