Monday, December 3, 2012

Tell Me: Have You Ever Stopped Reading?

I'm presenting a workshop at the Mississippi Reading Association conference tomorrow. It's called Books Are Ice Cream Not Broccoli, and I'll be talking about how to get reluctant readers to read. I'm something of an expert.

Because I'm a reluctant reader myself. I like my books to be fast-paced, if not, I tune out. Although I read a lot as a kid, once I became a teen and had a list of required reading, I stopped reading for fun, and didn't start back up again until my mid-twenties. Now I can't imagine not reading...

How about you, YA Sleutheri? Have you ever stopped reading?



7 comments:

  1. What's funny is that I read a ton before high school and my pace - while it never stopped - slowed waaaaaay down during high school. And, yeah, I think a great deal of it had to do with the required reading list. Then I hit college and the reading train hasn't stopped since.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nope. I have always read. The pace speeds up and slows down but is pretty steady. So too my kids and husband. My grandson seems like a reluctant reader though. Have a book to recommend for a six year old, just learning to read?

    ReplyDelete
  3. High school is such a drag, reading wise. You're trying to have a social life, and there's already so much reading for school.

    Patti: Try SKIPPYJON JONES (pretty funny) and the BAD KITTY series--not sure if they're too hard, but you can read together, maybe. BIG NATE and CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS are good too.

    Funny is king with reluctant readers (gross too, sometimes :-) Reading together is a great way to make it more of a social thing, thus enjoyable. Shel Silverstein is fun too and holds up well for today's kids, and it's short.

    ReplyDelete
  4. During the time I was going to college full time and working full time, I only read fiction during breaks. But, for the most part, I enjoyed the reading for my classes so I was still reading a lot.

    If I ever stop reading altogether, have me checked out because something is drastically wrong. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Fleur, like many others I read a lot in my teens, as many as three paperbacks a week that I borrowed from the local circulating library. I used to read books at random. It was a while before I rediscovered the joys of reading, with discpline, and I now make it a point to read a minimum of three books by each author unless it's a Christie or a Wodehouse. My problem is I read across all genres, except romance, so I miss out on reading more books by the same author or reading new fiction in the market. Besides, I also hop from one writer to another who have absolutely nothing in common. For instance, I read a couple of westers recently and right now I am reading READING LIKE A WRITER by Francine Prose and THE PEARL by John Steinbeck. There is no straight path to reading books.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love how eclectic your reading is, Prashant. One of my new year resolutions is to read more outside my 'box.' I bet you never get bored :-)

    ReplyDelete

April 2022 News (or: on reading slumps and lots of editing...)

  April snuck up on me like a thief in the night! I’ve been so busy writing, editing, and coming up with ideas for  Daybreak on Raven Island...