Perhaps I would not have been so thoroughly bored by Fitzgerald and Hemingway had our classroom conversations explored less about male angst and more about what made these men so angsty. Maybe it’s not about putting these “boring” classics back on the shelf, but seeing what other books we can brush some dust off of.

From the time I started reading seriously, about three years ago, I've been exploring different genres. Interestingly enough, it seems that the lengthy classics are the books I enjoy the most — and I...