Sour Grapes: My High School Remembrances of Steinbeck

I am going into this Grapes of Wrath readalong with trepidation. Because I have read Grapes before. And I did not like it.

OK to be fair, I read it my sophomore year in high school. And I didn't read it because I WANTED to. I read it because class made me. And I wasn't a big fan of that teacher. (For reasons that have less to do with him and more to do with the fact that teenagers are idiots.) If you ask me what I remember about the book I will tell you....nothing. I don't remember a thing. Anything I know about the book comes from references in culture and not because I read it. So this all seems like a perfect reason to tell teenage me to shut up and just read the book.

I've only read two Steinbeck: The Pearl and Grapes. I've wanted to read Of Mice and Men and East of Eden, but I haven't, mostly because of bad memories of the other two. Well, maybe not bad memories. I was scarred by the other books. Just sort of "I could read more Steinbeck. Or I could read something I know I'll like. So..."

I'm hoping my reading will go like this

And not like this (which is how 15 year old me remembers it)
But I have faith that this will be good. Some faith. I at least don't think I'll be wasting my time. Because I mean, even if it's awful, the gifs will make it worth it. The more depressing the book gets, the more ridiculous I expect the gifs to be.  Now, to START THE READING!