One of my goals for 2012 is to read 40 books. My favorite, favorite part of my job is teaching kids to read. I love reading myself and I want my kids to love reading just as much. Here are some random thoughts I have on books and reading... Please chime in with your thoughts in the comments.
On love for books: Most who know me know that I am not a big movie person. I enjoy TV shows, but movies are often too long for my attention span. I like some, but I am definitely more of a book person. What I love about books is how much is left up to my own imagination. There have been so many times I have pictured a character looking 100% different than someone else has. I also love how much more you learn about a character by reading about their inner thoughts, which often cannot be portrayed in movies as well. Usually how much I like the characters = how much I like the book.
On love for talking about books: I love getting book recommendations from friends, and then discussing what we liked/didn't like about the book. This is why I love participating in our Blogger Book Club, and also why I'm obsessed with good reads. A lot of my friends enjoy reading books as much as I do. Last year two of my friends and I read The Help and Water for Elephants and then saw the movies together.
On e-readers: Since I first wrote my post on the Kindle Pros and Cons I now own a Kindle and am pretty much in love. The cons I wrote about, particularly about having yet another cord/thing I need to charge are still a problem, but for the most part I would say the Pros of the Kindle far outweigh the cons for me. Still, although I love my Kindle I really, really fear what e-readers will do to books. I am particularly nervous about children's books being taken over by the e-reader. I can't imagine in 10-15 years only reading books to kids on a big projector! I don't even want to imagine...
On classics: While I have come pretty far from my days of Babysitter's Club, Sweet Valley High and chick lit after chick lit title, I am still not a fan of "the classics." I have often wondered if this was because I was forced to read many of these so-called classics at a time in my life (middle school/high school) when I simply was not ready to understand or appreciate them. I know I should give them another chance now, but so far my small attempts have been unsuccessful. In some ways I blame these books for wasting precious time in high school that I could've been reading some of the great young adult books that I now realize are out there. All that work I do in kindergarten getting kids to love reading and bam... high school English teachers go and ruin it.
On bookstores: Yet another fear about e-readers and Amazon in general is how quickly they seem to be putting bookstores out of business. Noooo! I love bookstores. Seriously, Eric and I can easily spend an hour or two in a bookstore without any effort. I love looking through travel books, teaching books, kids books and books for me. Plus, what is better than the feel of a brand new book? The only way to make bookstores better for me would be if they happened to open a frozen yogurt shop inside instead of a coffee shop.
On book recommendations: The past few weeks I've read some good, mostly quick read books. I highly recommend The Midwive's Confession and Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. I also really liked Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas and State of Wonder.
What are your thoughts on books? Have you read any good ones lately?
Sunday, January 15, 2012
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I am currently reading the first paper book I've read in a long time (thanks to kindle and nook apps on the iPhone which is always with me) it's by Jennifer chiaverini and I seriously recommend any of her books she's great!
ReplyDeleteI love reading and I agree I LOVE my e-reader but I'm also worried about what it will do to books and bookstores. I LOVE the bookstore!!!
ReplyDeleteI think you instill a love of reading in children by reading TO them. My parents read to me and encouraged me to read ALL the time and I've absolutely loved to read for as long as I can remember!
I used to be SUCH a book HATER, but now I am addicted. If I could go back in time I would start reading at a much younger age, and I'd read as many books as possible! Now the only time I really have to read is while I'm working out, and before bed. I do take advantage of those times!
ReplyDeleteI love the video, by the way.
I am totally obsessed with good reads! I'm going to read some of your recommendations after I finish The Witch of Portobello (which is awesome so far!)
ReplyDeleteFave recent reads: The Hunger Games Series, The Alchemist, Little Bee, Sarah's Key... and lots of mindless chick lit over the summer!
I read and enjoyed this one:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.lulu.com/content/4678609
Even Red Sox fans will dig it.
What a great post! And that video!! How neat! I wonder how they did that? That had to have taken forever!
ReplyDeleteYou know I'm a big reader. I love reading and I know it comes from my dad. I know it's because I grew up surrounded by books, so I will constantly push books on kids and cannot imagine a classroom without reading - especially fiction.
I just finished Loving Frank today and absolutely LOVED it! Have you read that one yet? It was really good!
I will have to check out The Midwive's Confession - I haven't heard of that!
ReplyDeleteI love, love books, as you know. I love my e-reader, but still love physical books, too. I won't be buying any this year (except with gift cards if I receive any...), but I will in the future, of course!
I hope that children's books don't go away. I don't think you can teach a child to fall in love with books without them holding the actual book and seeing the illustrations.
Hi Kelly,
ReplyDeleteJust stopping by to say thanks so much for reading my novel "Saving CeeCee Honeycutt" ... I really appreciate your kind words!