I, too, found that classroom reading inevitably took away any pleasure or real engagement I may have otherwise had with a book.

The stumbling, jerky, mispronunciation and broken recitation of passages was torturous to me. I still feel it is the reason that I cannot find any pleasure in reading other than quotes and minimal extracts from Shakespeare.

Just for the record, the other students in your class were almost certainly 'uninterested', not 'disinterested' as you have written. - The misuse of the word is a common one, even by professional authors, journalists and academics who, in my view ought to know better.

As for the Da Vinci Code, the less said the better. If its success represents anything, it is that fondness for a particular book is not dependent on its literary merit and, perhaps, that those with dislike are more likely to be motivated to say so than the opposite.

The other three titles you mention are, in my view, as mediocre as the one you enjoyed but will also have the appreciation of many.

My main point is thus that creative writing is to be welcomed, and valued, regardless of whether it is to one's taste or not and the practice of reading is a virtue even when what's read perhaps has little value.