Blog #60 – What kind of reader are you?
March is reading month at Groves and so I’m trying to gauge what kind of reader you think you are. Your job is to tell us what kind of reader you think you are (see the criteria below) and what you have been reading lately.
Levels of reading comfort:
1. Very strong reader – You seek out a variety of sources to read (magazines, blogs, books, newspapers) and / or different genres. You rarely go any place without something to read.
2. Strong reader – you are a regular reader of books, primarily of one or two genres, in addition to school reading (textbooks, articles, novels). You know what you like and you read those kinds of stories.
3. Average reader – you read work for school and occasionally read a book outside of class, maybe 1 -3 per year. You don’t have time or haven’t found something that interests you.
4. Reluctant reader – don’t regularly or even occasionally read a book outside of school, and you are barely interested in the stuff you have to read for school.
I consider myself a very strong reader. I average about a book a week during the school year and last summer I read over 25 books. I get daily email updates from my favorite political / social websites and occasionally read the most interesting articles. If I know that I am going to be waiting somewhere for a while, I always have my Kindle with me.
I’m currently reading the unedited version of Stephen King’s The Stand, his epic apocalyptic novel that examines the forces of good and evil after a 
super flu wipes out 95% of the world. I read the shorter version (700+ pages) when I was in middle school oh so long ago, and I find that by rereading some of King’s oldest novels that I had read 30 years ago, I tend to identify with different characters or get new insights from the book that I didn’t when I was a teenager.
I also finished three books on dogs in the past few weeks by an author named Jon Katz. He’s famous for his book, Izzy and Lenore, which I read a couple of years ago. These three books that I just finished are about his life on a farm in upstate New York and his animals and his dogs, two border collies (Rose and Orson) and a yellow lab, Clementine. Rose loves to herd sheep and is a very focused border collie. Orson was adopted after two years by Katz and he has struggled to fit into the human world. Orson is tense and psychotic in ways that confound his owner. Clementine is a typical Lab who loves peace and quiet and food. The books are A Dog Year, Katz on Dogs, and A Good Dog.
So, tell me what kind of reader you are and what you’ve been reading lately (it can be school stuff, including One Summer or Killer Angels). If you need to go back to last summer to pick a book, or choose one that you want to read, include that.
Due Friday, March 7 by class. 200 words minimum.
I would consider myself a strong reader, because I do like to read, and of different genres. The most recent book I read was The House of Hades by Rick Riordan. It’s the fourth installment in The Last Hero series, a follow up series to Percy Jackson. My main genre is science fiction/mythical types of books. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed The Mortal Instruments and The Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I haven’t read as much as I would’ve liked in the past couple months and I’m hoping to get back into reading. The next book I have planned to read is The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, which is the story of Arthur, Merlin, and Camelot, but from the perspective of the female characters. I also like to read realistic fiction books by authors like John Green and Ellen Hopkins. One realistic fiction book I really enjoyed was Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. It’s the story of a girl who suffers a traumatic experience, and how she comes to terms with it while battling her first year of high school. I also enjoy mystery novels. During the summer, I read the entire collection of Sherlock Holmes in a week. I adored reading each story and trying to figure out the ending before the revealed it. I hope to continue to read in the future and increase how much I read.
I would consider myself a strong reader. I don’t read anywhere near as much as I used to, mainly because of my lack of time between school and extracurricular activities, but when I do pick up a book I tend to get addicted very quickly. My reading selections are limited to a few genres, mainly because I can’t stand boring or disinteresting books and I’m incredibly cynical about books before I read them and my range of interesting topics is not very diverse. My personal favorite genre is fantasy/adventure, books such as Harry Potter, The Kane Chronicles, The Percy Jackson Series and The Nicolas Flamel Series are all notable favorites. I also have lately taken interest in horror, such as The Shining and The Exorcist. I am also a huge fan of wartime nonfiction stories, like Helmet For My Pillow and With The Old Breed. I am not a huge fan of sci-fi, but occasionally I enjoy a book along those lines. While I like reading, I detest being assigned a certain book, mostly because I find a lot of the assigned books quite disinteresting and boring, such as The Great Gatsby, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Leaves of Grass.
I would consider myself to be a very strong to a strong reader because during the school year I don’t read as much because I am more focused on school and sports and just can’t find the time to read, but when the summer comes around if I’m not swimming or playing outside then my head is stuck in a book. Last summer I read about 50 books because I was not doing anything and read some of my favorite books five times or so much that the book is falling apart. Especially on Christmas Eve because I would need a distraction from the holiday. I think I am a strong reader because when I read any boom I can always put myself in the situation that the character is given and when I do that I can learn from the mistakes of the character(s) and apply it to my life so I can become a better person. One of my favorite genres is horror and I’ve just complete the dark secret series for the fourth time, I’ve also read the Harry potter series and the great gastby, the adventures of huckleberry Finn, one summer and killer angles for school. I am about to start the 39 clues series and team of rivals: the political genius of Abraham Lincoln.
I would say that I am a very strong reader. With no exaggeration added, I spend all of my time reading. This can get me into trouble, bc without any second thought, I’ll choose reading over homework. Obviously, this is problematic. Quite often, I’ll find myself reading the night before a huge test, which, of course..is horrible. I think I defy the definition of strong reader bc it’s not “rarely” that I go somewhere without a book, it’s always. I’ve went and downloaded a reading app onto my phone, so I always have a book. And I even get emails literally like five times a day saying some of my favorite authors have added a chapter to their story, completed their story, or uploaded a new one altogether. My mom actually thinks I’m always texting, when in reality, ½ of the time I’m reading (awkward). When I’m not reading a book, I’ll be reading an article online about some cool fact I heard on the radio or something completely random. There (almost) isn’t anything I won’t read. Lately, I’ve become obsessed with Sarah Dessen books and Madeline L’Engle books. Too, after reading Crank by Ellie Hopkins I’ve become an Ellie Hopkins fanatic and have been reading her books. Most recently, as in three hours ago, I checked out Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist from the library.
I would consider myself an average reader. I’m not a big reader of books at all. I might read one book a year for my own entertainment. I find it especially hard to read fantasy/adventure books, the stories never seem to interest me. This does not mean I hate reading however. Even though I absolutely hate “story books”, I love reading non-fiction and articles on the internet, newspapers, magazines, etc. I will sometimes find myself reading for hours on end about different articles that I will find, and when I start reading the articles I can’t stop. Usually, these articles have something to do with some current event including: policy debates, foreign affairs, new laws, sports new, business journals, and even job descriptions. Aside from articles there are two types of books that I will occasionally find myself reading: law text books, or autobiographies. The two main types of law books I like to read are books on street law, and ones on criminal justice. I like reading autobiographical books, because I love to learn about people, where they come from, their story, and how they do what they do. Also, reading autobiographies helps me to understand how people think, and why people act/behave the way that they do. Overall, I only read to make myself more aware of the world around me
I used to be a strong reader, just this year I probably dropped to average reader and maybe even dipped into reluctant reader. Currently and thankfully I’m on my way back up to the top part of average reader and hopefully soon I’ll reach strong reader again. In middle school I never stopped reading. I always had a few books with me and followed series. I started reading less when I got older, partly because I couldn’t find something interesting, partly because I didn’t have as much patience for it, and maybe mostly because I got busy with new things.
I think my lack of patience may come a little bit from having so much access to electronics. I read a book called The Shallows (irony in top form here) and it talked about how the speed of the internet is training our brains to quickly scan and find information as opposed to a deep comprehensive sit down session with a book. That idea made sense to me. When I was in middle school I could sit with a book for hours on end and just read it through. One of my favorite books, Blackbringer by Laine Taylor, was like this. I went on to read it another ten times or so. My friend knew the author and told her I’d read it so many times, I got the honor and privilege of reading its sequel in manuscript form before it was published. In the acknowledgements at the end of the second book she mentioned me, it was really cool and I’ve read the first another 5 times since. I stopped being able to sit down and focus to read for so long though. I’d try and than twenty or so minutes later I’d get distracted and stop.
When I stopped reading books so much I thought my days as a “strong reader” were done, but the funny thing is I realized I started reading blogs. When I sit and read a book, in my head I’m saying the lines about as fast as a narrator would, maybe even slower, and I feel like I can’t skip a single word. With the blogs I didn’t feel the same commitment to them I feel to books, so I skipped around and went to the parts that were interesting. Even if it’s not the same kind of reading, it’s what kept me reading. Some of them I really got into and did read really thoroughly. When I noticed that I still had the patience and the desire to read some of those, I thought about trying to get back into reading books again.
Currently I’m reading two books. One is Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler. It’s non-fiction about a very religious family, and their son questioning how they live and what they believe as he grows up. It is very interesting to me, there are a lot of realistic parallels to any parent child relationship. In the book Aarons parents tell him they’ll always love him, and yet when he does things like listen to music with prominent drum beats or goes to a movie, they hit him with enough disapproval to shake that promise. I often am not into non-fiction books, so liking this and recently Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is kind of new to me, but I think it’s a good thing. I am also reading a fiction book right now, and it’s the most interesting book I think I ever have or ever will read. I’m following the series religiously, the second and third book haven’t been disappointing follow ups to the first which almost never happens. I’d love to describe it here but I’m afraid I won’t do it justice without giving parts away, so I’ll just put the title, Thieves Covenant by Ari Marmell.
I have one other reading tradition that I’ll do for as long as I can, and it makes it so technically I’m always reading a book. My dad has always read to me, he has one of those voices that’s just really good for reading books. It’s one of the ways we spend time together and I love it because I don’t see him too often and we don’t have many other overlapping interests, so every time I see him we read a few pages. At our rate, we maybe finish 1-3 books a year. Lately we’ve been doing more and we are about to finish our third in about 6 months. One of my times reading Blackbringer was with him, I knew it so well that when he sometimes missed or skipped a word I knew what it was. Anyways, with this tradition, even if I’m a reluctant reader at any point I still go though a few books a year.
I’ll give myself the strong reader title. I’ve been reading books like a champ ever since I moved to the U.S. When I first moved to the States, in third grade, I couldn’t read or write in English, only Italian. I was put in the “challenged reader” class and ever sense then I read all the time to stay on my game. It’s hard for me to read books of my choice outside of school so right now I read about a book every two-three weeks. In the summer I can read a book in a couple days. I really like nonfiction-type books. The book I most recently finished was the Red Queen by Philippa Gregory, which is about the queen of England way back when. I really like Philippa’s books, not only because they are real events that took place in history, but it’s actually interesting (believe it or not). However, right now I am reading Coraline, which is what “coraline” the movie, by Tim Burton, is based on. Just those two books really show the contrast in the type of things I enjoy reading. Although I like a nice non-fiction here and there, realistic fiction or adventure books are entertaining. However, to a certain extent. Believe it or not, I’m not a fan of the books like Harry Potter, with magic and whatnot involved. I know, weird.
I wish I had more time to read outside of school but I always make sure over break to harass the library and find a good book or two to finish to make up for the time I wasn’t reading.
I would consider myself a strong reader. I love reading and read avidly during the summer, however I do not read as much during the school year, but will often cozy up in my bed for a late night read during the week. During the summer, I would bike for miles then stop at a park or restaurant to rest and read. I loved the independence that came with biking, then the escape from reality that came with reading, enjoying a sense of mental freedom that helps me relax from the tensions of the bygone school year. In the spring and fall during the school year, I also bike then read, but only on weekends, delving into another world within the text. For this reason I love fantasy and especially sci-fi novels. The worlds in these books transcend reality and allow my mind to relax, like a kind of retreat from my daily stresses. I also love to write and draw to free my mind. Without reading, drawing, and writing, I would probably undergo a serious mental breakdown that could leave me hopelessly unconscious, or worse, a vegetable for life. Some of my favorite reads are The Hunger Games series, the Percy Jackson series, I,Coriander, and Across the Universe. I did enjoy The Great Gatsby out if the school assigned books, and it helped me understand the movie better than had I not read the book. My current late night read is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I started that book earlier, paused to read Huck Finn, then never got around to reading it again until yesterday. In the future, I intend on buying or renting the rest of the Across the Universe series to read on my biking trips from this spring through summer.
I would find myself as an average to a reluctant reader. When I was growing up, I used to try to get my hands on everything I could read, I would read the back of cereal boxes and National Geographic Kids magazines during meals. However, as time has gone on and school has gotten more intense and time-consuming, I don’t have the time to do as much pleasure reading as I used to. I’ve probably only read a 2-3 books for pleasure in the past 2-3 years. I read the Walking Dead compendiums because I got them for Christmas and my family and I are really interested and addicted to the series, but that’s not really even reading because they are graphic novels. For my birthday and for Christmas, I got a few novels about zombies which seemed interesting to me but I have never gotten the chance to read any of them except for a little section of one while on an airplane flight. For school I usually am not too interested in the books that I read, however recently I really liked when my lit class read The Great Gatsby, that’s probably the favorite book that I’ve ever read in school.
I would consider myself a strong reader. I do enjoy reading when I have the time to sit down and read something that I like but that doesn’t happen as much as it should. My favorite kind of books to read are mystery and fiction, other then those I don’t really read any other type of book. One of my favorite authors is Agatha Christie, I like the whole mystery and a little scary books. One of her books that I just finished was And then there were none which I could not put down when I had time to start reading it. I love reading books that I choose, so when I get an assigned book or textbook its hard for me to find the attention to sit down and read it. I used to read a lot more, probably reading two books a month but since my workload in school and extracurriculars have gotten more intense I don’t as often. Now I end up reading a book every month in a half which is not enough in my opinion at all.
Continuation did not see the 200 word minimum. Sorry.
The books that we read in school I don’t believe are boring, I just think its a mental thing of me being forced to read it than for pleasure which is what I usually read for.
I would consider myself to be an average reader. If asked this question a couple of years ago, my answer would definitely have been a strong reader. I still enjoy reading very much, but now I have little time to sit down a read. I read very frequently during the summer when I have more time, but during the school year I mainly read the books that I am assigned for school. My favorite genres of books to read are fantasy and fiction. I enjoy series like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and the Hunger Games because I like to imagine what it would be like to live like a character from the book. Normally, I do not like that we are assigned books to read for English class, even if they don’t interest us at all, but I am surprisingly enjoying the book that I am currently reading for school, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, due to the fact that it is written in the less-formal language of a boy living in the nineteenth century. When I have time, I am looking forward to reading The House of Hades, the latest installment in the Heroes of Olympus series, the spinoff series from Percy Jackson.
I would consider myself an average reader, because I do not regularly read outside of the classroom. When I was younger I believe I was a strong reader, I would frequently read outside of the classroom. After entering high school I find myself lacking the want or need to read novels. I don’t know whether to attribute it to lack of time or the lack of interest but I decreased my reading substantially. When I do read I try to find a series of books that I enjoy thoroughly and I don’t stop reading until I finish the series. The type of books I enjoy are epic adventures, sometimes fantasy, and always books with historical relevance. For example I’ve read all the books in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin. Finding a good series that interests me is tough and part of the reason that I do not read as frequently as I would have liked. On the up side George R.R. Martin is releasing another novel, hopefully before the TV show catches up.
I would mostly consider my self an average reader. I say this because it is not that I have trouble reading, but often I find it difficult to find books that interest me. My favorite genres are mystery and action, but I often find it hard to find time for me to sit down and read a book due to school and other events in my life. Often most of the reading I do is school reading, but I have a difficult time focusing because most of the time I do not find the reading material interesting. If I do find a book that is interesting, however, I start reading and I find it very difficult to stop. Books that I enjoy, such as the hunger games trilogy, I can often knock down in one or two plane rides because I am very interested. I only read a few books each year because they are often long and take time to read, but I read magazines and articles everyday. I have multiple sports magazine subscriptions, which I read few times a week because I have a high interest level. I know that I used to read more books a few years ago then I do now, which is probably due to the increased homework load/other assigned reading the high school has. Overall, I read a lot because school requires a lot of reading, but I am only an average reader because I have a tough time opening up a book and making a commitment to read the whole thing without getting distracted.
I would consider myself just a little below a strong reader. I do enjoy reading but it is hard for me to get into reading some times. When I find something I really enjoy for example: Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and Divergent I cannot put it down. I know that I like sci-fi/ fantasy. I read to escape real life and my life (and I’m pretty sure most peoples) doesn’t include super powers and supernatural occurrences. So I think I gravitate towards those subjects because they can get me the farthest away from real life as possible. I believe I’m above an average reader because I do read more than 2-3 books a year. I read probably one book a month and sometimes I will put a book down for more than a week before continuing to read it. Although I know the type of genre I’m interested in I don’t like everything in that genre. I will often start a book and not finish it. I simply get bored with a book and don’t see a point in finishing it. This is why I don’t consider myself a strong reader because although I do like reading I am not able to always power through to the end of a book. I do really like reading but if there’s a movie I think I would prefer to watch it.
I consider myself to be a very strong reader. Ever since I was a little kid I have loved reading, my entire family is pretty big on it. Even with school and sports and extracurricular activities, I still make time to read because it is something that I really enjoy. I haven’t really read many new books lately, I’ve mostly been rereading books right before their movies come out, but I’ve read a lot of new books too. I’ve read The Fault In Our Stars, the Vampire Academy series, the Bloodlines series, Enders Game, the Mortal instruments series, Divergent series, etc. I have also read new books like Now Ill Tell You Everything and House of Hades. I like all genres and will give any a shot if it peaks my interest enough. I like romance novels and fantasy, but right now I really like dystopian novels and have read a lot of books about the future. I like to watch out for new books, but don’t really keep track of authors. I have subscriptions to magazines too, but those are mostly gossip or tabloid magazines with Seventeen and Vogue thrown in there too. I read a lot more over the summer, I’m constantly checking out books from the library to read while I’m outside or at the beach. Some books I’m planning on reading are The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. I have lots of other books I’ve been meaning to read, but have put off for now.
I would probably say that I am (based on these criteria) somewhere between an average and strong reader. Although I love to read, and find myself to be a pretty good reader that can quickly and retain information well, I often find that I do not have the time to sit down and read a book, and unfortunately do not get around to reading many books per year. But I also find that I can quickly decide whether or not I will like a book, and generally know what topics I’m interested in. Rocket Boys was a recent book I found interesting. Written by Homer Hickam Jr., it inspired a great movie called October Sky. It’s about a small, coal-mining town in West Virginia who’s culture is primarily based on the local coal mine, and some high-school students who decide they wanted something different. I especially enjoyed this book, not only because it was what the movie was based on (I saw the movie first), but it has a lot to do with history (1960s culture) and science, as they make rockets throughout the book. Another book I’ve enjoyed reading was The Hogfather, by Terry Pratchett. I enjoyed this book a lot, not only because it has a neat fantasy world that Pratchett created (all his stories occur in the same fantasy universe) but he also takes on a silly, satirical, and tongue in cheek attitude towards many common fantasy subjects, such as witches, death, and Christmas.
I would like to consider myself a strong reader, mainly because while I do have a genre (young adult fiction, feminist media or statistics, and children’s fiction) I do tend to branch out from time to time and read something completely not my style. Usually when I’m not reading the largest piece of literature in the world (it’s a Super Smash Bros Brawl fanfiction and it’s over 3 million words long) or a webcomic (Homestuck, Ava’s Demon, Monster Pop) it’s a suggestion from my mom that gets me to read something different. My mom’s suggestions usually consist of something sort of religious, or at least “spiritual” like OSHO, but from time to time she suggests something I really enjoy although nothing comes to mind right now…
I do reread the Series of Unfortunate Events every few months because it’s hilarious and well written and Lemony Snicket is one of my favourite authors.
I’d say I read maybe a book every month which is a lot less than I used to but I have a job so I don’t really have that much free time and a lot of my free time is spent researching feminism or media representation or racism or any number of social issues. I could probably write 10 research papers on feminism alone with all different sources because I have so much saved up from the loads of research I do.
I don’t really know why I do it I just do.
I am a fairly strong reader, my favorite book is The Maze Runner. I haven’t had much time to read though due to sports and acedemics during the school year however reading is very important to me and I enjoy doing it during the summer. I read a lot more when I was younger but that’s possibly due to the difficulty of the books then verses now. I usually only read book about Sci-fi and adventure rather then biographies and fiction books. I read a lot more in the summer usually due to the free time I have to read what I want rather then school assigned books. I wish we had more variety to chose books during the school year since in my opinion it would boost more people to become strong readers. Reading is essential to bring a good student. I am a strong reader overall and I enjoy reading when it comes to my own subject or theme of choice.
I would consider myself a reluctant reader. I have not always been this way though, I would use to have considered myself a strong reader, but in the past couple years I have really lost my interests in recreational reading. Now I literally only read books for school. I dont think I’ve read a book outside of school on my own in more then 2 years. The last books I remember reading were the series Dragon Fire, The Blind Side, The Harry Potter Series, and Occassionally I would read Marvel Comics. Now, with most of my time being taken up by extracorricular activities and school work, including a dis-interest for reading, I reallly dont find any time to read books. Most of the books I read for school I really dont like to read. Huck Finn was okay, and the Great Gatsby, not one of the best books ever. I did although like the book we read in Apush, killer angels. Im starting to realize that I enjoy reading about war novels as we are covering WW1 in class. I have read some war books, usually reccomended by my older brother. In a way, I feel like school may have been what pushed me away from reading books. Because I got and stilll do get reading as “homework”, I do not see it as something fun to do but as a chore that has to be done. This may be why in my free time it is not something that I would enjoy.
I would consider myself an average reader. I never really enjoyed reading even when I was younger and had more time. I usually get bored really fast from stories and stuff and I prefer to read like true stories or historical stuff. The books that I usually read are more history based or travel books. I guess I like learning something from the books I read because they have a point rather than books that are just like pointless stories. This year so far for english we didnt really read that many books. We read the Great Gatsby which I actually really liked and I dont remember what else we read. I think it was a couple of short stories or something I dont know I guess none of them were really that interesting. My favorite book that I read for school slash the favorite book I have ever read was probably to kill a mockingbird. I read it in 8th and ninth grade.
I would consider myself an average reader. I am easily fascinated by text books and enjoy reading recreationally but i have so many other interests that I don’t very frequently find myself picking up a book for fun. Earlier this year I began to read a compilation of Walt Whitman poems, including “Leaves of Grass”. I found it very enticing but I rarely got around to it. Other than that I’ve read the Civil War book and the one about the summer of 1927 for APUSH. I quite liked the Civil War book because I thought it was nice to give a more personal side to all of the factual and logistical elements of the Civil War I have already learned about. One Summer was fun because it really went into detail about every minor story that was involved in the big picture which I really appreciated. I don’t have any real plans for future readings, probably the next extra credit APUSH book. To be honest, the reading I do most frequently and that which interests me most is isolated and small bits in magazines, museums or online, that are more factually based. I can really get wrapped up in a good science textbook :), better than I might a contemporary piece by the latest and greatest.
I would call myself an average reader or even close to a reluctant reader. I don’t enjoy reading as much as I used to and I often find it hard to read with the schedule that I have. I find it extremely hard to read books for school, because I’m not only uninterested in the books we read in school, but I also am not the best reader overall. The types of books I like to read are more fiction type books. Occasionally I’ll read articles online or in magazines that seem interesting and I’ll spend quite a lot of time doing that but it is not often. I probably only read 1 to 3 books a year and the only way I usually ever finish a book is if it’s really interesting and I get really into it because I can’t keep focused on something I’m not into. I like to read books like the Harry Potter series, and I enjoyed the Twilight series. I like books that are very dramatic and fast with a lot of different events occurring. If the book starts slow I usually won’t finish it because I get bored easily and won’t have the determination to finish because I think that it won’t get any better.
I would definitely consider myself a reluctant reader due to the fact that I don’t like reading that much nor have I ever. When I was in elementary school I used to go to an in-school reading tutor, and I was always reading a grade level behind normal. I think I have found such a dislike for reading because I was never any good at it, or at least not as good as the other kids. However although I don’t like reading I love to hear the stories. I love to get in to a book on tape or have people read to me. Connecting with the characters and hearing their adventures, I find a lot more stimulating and interesting rather than having to read it of a boring page, when I listen to the books on tape I find it a lot easier to use my imagination to get into their world and with reading I just don’t. When I am assigned reading for school I will usually read a summary, or spark notes (except APUSH of course). I can honestly say that I have never found any interest in reading outside of school so I could not even remember the last book I read that wasn’t assigned. The most resent piece of fine literature that I have read was our very own, lovely APUSH text book.
I would consider myself a mix of a strong-average reader. I say this because I am a strong reader when it comes to the verb itself, but finding the time, patience, and attention span to sit down and read a book with hundreds of things going on in high school life pulls me down closer to an “Average reader”. As more events take up the open time that I once had as a kid, able to venture and do whatever, whenever; there is less time for reading than there was due to these, mainly sports. I have found my taste to be closer to the science fiction novels, ones where the events are related to people that could actually be real, but in a setting or time that is unrealistic. Some of my favorite series are Game of Thrones, Rangers Apprentice, and other series related to those genres. I do not only venture into these type of books though, I enjoy reading school mandatory books like Huckleberry Finn, The Odyssey, Catcher in the Rye, etc.. Although reading has never been hard for me, the main objective in order to read more frequently, is to put away time where I know I can/should read and use it so. For these reasons, I consider myself a mix of a strong and average reader.
I would consider myself in the strong to very strong reader. Through the whole year I always have a book to read. Even in my super busy day I always try to find a little time to read. During the school year I read a book every 3 weeks, but in the summer it usually takes me about one week for a good book. Usually I like to read books in the sci-fi of fantasy variety. Due to school my reading tends to dip a bit, but I am never without a book. According to the list I am not a very strong reader because the books I usually read don’t usually differ in genre, but I disagree with that because I still read a lot. I like this genre because anything can happen; this is why I find non-fiction or some, not all, realistic fiction boring. I have read all the Harry Potter books multiple times (so good!) and many others like The Eragon series, The Leviathan trilogy, The Hunger Games, and both Percy Jackson series. Currently I am reading The House of Hades by Rick Riordan, which is the fourth book of the second Percy Jackson series the Heroes of Olympus series. I look forward to reading Redwall and finishing the Lord of the Rings series later this year.
I would consider myself a strong reader but close to average reader, because I have very little time for reading anymore. When I was in middle school, I read all of the time, I always had a book with me. I kept a book in many rooms in my house so that I could always have the option wherever I was, but now most of my time is spent on schoolwork and my extra-curricular activities. I do try to read when I have the time like on vacations and over the summer I try to fit in as many books as possible. I do love to read any genre, I will really read anything, but my favorite is probably science fiction. It blows my mind, the kind of worlds and disasters authors can think up. I also love reading magazines. My grandma gives me her copies of The New Yorker when she finished reading them, and I occasionally get the Rolling Stone. I rarely read articles that I don’t find interesting though, so I usually don’t finish the entire magazine. Currently, I’m reading a memoir by Luis Rodriguez about his time growing up in gang infested East Los Angeles. I love it but at the same time it disgusts me because it truly exposes the horrors of gang life and gives real accounts of violence and young children growing up amidst the violence. I wish I had more time for reading now; it’s sad that a person can go from doing something everyday to not being able to fit it in at all.
Emma G.
i’m somewhere in between reluctant reader and average i like books but i have a hard time actually like setting and making time for reading…this is late and it’s 10:10 so in hopes that Mr. Wickersham has stopped reading down to this point so I’m going to describe the concert experience i had last night to fill all the space i need to fill, so last night i went to the wonder years, citizen, Modern baseball, real friends, fireworks concert with timmy hannah anya Jake cody pierce rachel bridget and ali it was the concert of my life it was mega hype, if you are familiar with those bands that’s a dream line up and only happens like once every 3 years it was amazing. so in the middle of the real friends set i was jammin away screaming all the words the people all are flailing like crazy teens in a giant mosh of angst and pizza when out of know where theres this girl crowd surfing i see her and I’m like oh better keep her pushing to the front when all of sudden someone pushes extra hard and she goes flying in the air i see this and go “wait shes about to hit the ground” so instinctually i throw my arms out im like ” ow god i’m gonna get flopped on and we ll both end on the floor and be seriously hurt and then… and don’t know how she ends up in my arms, im like a pop punk prince carrying his damsel in distress, i have no clue what I’ve just done, I’ve gained the strength of 10 men or 3 bears i don’t know i’m in utter shocked i look down and shes just as surprised not to be on the ground, we make 2 second i contact and i look up to see if anyone else saw what just happened. i finally gain a little sense and push her back to the top of the crowd where she safely rides the crowd like a west cali wave, i look up again still confused at what just happened and i turn and see cody and anya laughing and saying somthing like “wow that was dkjjnaf” “hahah i just saw thksksf” it was pretty loud i couldn’t really hear and that’s how i saved a life, or at least a couple bruises at a punk rock concert, oh and some dude grabbed this girls butt so i switced spots with her and pushed them away and made sure they stayed away cuz they were mega douche bags and if they did it again i woulda had to start swinging and beat the living sh*t outta them. i was on point that day. thank you goodnight i hope u enjoyed sorry for not writing about reading