What Will You Admit To? Bushwick Seattle’s Guiltiest Pleasures
It’s time to confess. We all have our secrets—but what haunts your playlists and bookshelves? What book do you stick on the shelf making sure the spine faces in? What songs are you embarrassed to listen to on repeat when no one else is home?
What are your guiltiest pleasures?
I’ll admit to one of mine: “All My Life” by K-Ci and JoJo. It started 15 years ago when my sister’s high school boyfriend was responsible for driving us where we needed to go. It was one of two CDs he always had playing in his car. I sat in the backseat–eighteen years old and boyfriendless–and practically wept at how romantic it was. I still love this song, even though the lyrics are the worst (e.g.,”Girl you are close to me you’re like my mother / Close to me you’re like my father”).
Here’s what a few of our Bushwick Bookclub Seattle volunteers admitted to:
Kate
I totally scoffed when you first asked this, even though I wanted to help. I thought, “Pssh. You can’t embarrass me. I own it.” And this is largely true. I still own a copy of Tiffany’s album and I don’t care who knows. Call Me Maybe… ? Love it. I was making this list in my head of all the bands I love to NOT feel guilty about, when it happened. It went like this: “There’s Glenn Medeiros, the Facts of Life theme song, Vanilla Ice, all that 90s lesbo-folk, and Debbie Gib-…oh. Fuck.” This is when I remembered that a friend had recently forced me to listen to Justin Bieber’s acoustic album…and I liked it. A lot. I feel so vulnerable right now.
Geoff
Eagle Eye Cherry – “Save Tonight”
Kerry
I have lots of guilty pleasures in books and music. I will share with you my biggest one: Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series. Never in my life have I been so hopelessly addicted to something I knew was so terrible. Like my love of diet Dr. Pepper, the four Twilight books were a habit I just couldn’t quit despite knowing they were poisoning me from the inside out. I read page after page of nauseating descriptions of Bella’s love for Edward’s “sweet” breath even though it disgusted me. I found Edward’s stalking of Bella to be a bad example of a healthy relationship to present to tween readers and yet I read them with gusto. I digested them at a desperate pace, bringing the first on a trip with me, then buying the second and third at airport bookstores as I continued my travels. My guilt grew as I watched all five terrible movies even though viewing them made me both bored and sad. When friends started buying me movie merchandise including a horrific fleece blanket adorned with Jacob’s handsome but age-inappropriate face and I secretly liked it, I started to wonder if I could be a candidate for “My Strange Addictions.” It’s power over me was a force that I could not fight. Luckily for me, the series ended and there are no more books to co-opt my valuable reading time.
Jessica
Okay… Here’s goes mine.
I secretly LOVE ridiculous/semi-trashy novels. My reigning guilty pleasures are The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and The Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger. Both series completely consume me when I read them (and I don’t really want to admit how many times that has been) and let me escape!
Now for the music- again two songs since I can’t really choose. I absolutely love “Truly, Madly, Deeply” by Savage Garden. I also have an incredible fondness for “Hanging By a Moment” by Lifehouse. I used to sit upstairs and IM my high school boyfriend while listening to it blaring. Sigh.
Now it’s your turn: tell us about your secret playlists and bookshelves. Tweet us at @iReadandSing or add your comment below!
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