Thursday, May 31, 2012

I wish reading was cool...

I wish reading was cool. Back in my day, it was. Or maybe it's always been cool to me. Now every day I go to work and I'm surrounded by teenagers who would rather watch Jersey Shore than get lost in a good book as I so often spend my nights. 


My sisters and I were the kids that got in trouble for bringing books to the dinner table. I've had a library card for as long as I can remember. At this moment, I have 3 different library cards in my wallet. I'm an avid patron of the library. Last time I was on vacation in the Outer Banks, my sister and I convinced the library down there to let us borrow books while on vacation.


Library books!
Recently I've been sitting in on an 8th grade English class. These students don't know the meaning of words like distinctive. Their teacher urges them to read because that is a way they can expand their vocabulary. These students complain about having to read a novel, a whole novel, in two weeks. Some nights I read for a couple of hours at one time. 


These students live in a world where books are pop culture. They turn books into movies all the time and then these books become popular. They'd rather pay 10 dollars to see the film rather than read the book, then see the film. If they both read the book and watched the film, they can discuss the process of changing a book into a movie and the elements that sometimes get left out. 


Don't get me wrong, I've had several students, mostly high school boys, who will pull books out of their backpacks when they are done with their work. I always tell them I'm glad they like to read. 


I think we should work on bringing reading back. There's nothing I like to do more than escape into a really good book after a long day. I just forget about everything going on in my life and I'm absorbed into the words on the pages. 


My Kindle, Kendall.


So if you haven't lately, pick up a good book. Recommend one to a friend (or to me!). 


The last book I read was Reinventing Mike Lake, which was actually published by a friend of mine I know from my college town. If you need something to read and you have a KIndle or a Kindle app, try it out. It's only 2.99! 


What have you been reading lately? What kind of books do you like to read? 

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