Hello, everyone! So what do you think about reading books? How often do you read books? What kindof books do you read? or u just watch movies and that's enough for u =).

P.S.: Its just so strange for me that lots of people dont read at all. They look down at you when see you reading.
P.S.: Sorry again for my english im trying to get better so I'd really appreciate if you point at my mistakes...

I discovered the pleasure of reading when i finished school. In some way, the teachers weren't able to boost my curiosity towards books, they assigned some readings, and i rarely read them. I don't know why, maybe it's just because at that time i wasn't interested.

Now i read quite often. I started with some fantasy stuff, (that i hated immediately due to the ignorance and incompetence of the writters) then i started with more serious things, and i don't have a specific genre of book that i like. I discovered a very deep interest towards american literature, from '800 to contemporary.

My favorites? many. some titles: Memories of Adriano by Marguerite Yourcenar, Moby %&$! by Melville, Heart of darkness by Conrad, Manhattan transfer by Dos Passos and American psycho by Brett Easton Elis. Now i'm reading Gomorra, by Roberto Saviano. you must read this one: i saw many times that outside italy there's a very distorted knowledge about criminal organization like mafia and camorra. This guy has described exactly what these organizations are, and now he lives under permanent escort because the camorra system has sworn to eliminate him.

Well... I love reading since I was a little girl. With three years old my mother teached me how to read and I loved it till today. I read everyday before going to bed, but every little moment of my free time is good for reading (while I'm on the bus, for example...)
I love reading historical books but my favourite genres are science-fiction and fantastic literature (in the line of The Lord of the Rings). Since I'm student I must read books about some subjects: some of them are boring, but really, I've read interesting books at high school. It's a pity that these books aren't of universal literature, they're only from spanish or catalan writers (the only universal book that I've read in my spanish literature classes is Don Quixote).

Usually I noticed while I'm reading in a public place (a bank in the park, the bus, doctor's waiting room...) the "adults" are watching me and sometimes, a curious one asks me what I'm reading at the moment and he/she says to me that I am a strange girl because for them the youth of today are always in front of our pc's or writing sms.

Books rock. They are superior to movies or television, in my opinion. I read anything and everything.

Even Terry Brooks?

Books are great, not as good as video games, but much better than movies and much, much better than tv. I read mostly high fantasy, horror, and science fiction.

Thou Shalt Not Not Read Books.
Bob's first commandmant. And therefore mine. I like any book that has anything to do with fantasy.
Yay!
((Yay!))
What the?!

No, no, no, no. The first commandment is "Thou Shalt not Divide by Zero." Books don't fit in there anywhere.

Terry Brooks? I have it on good authority those books are bad for your health.

And yeah, Newt, Ninja is right. Dividing by zero is verrrrrrrry bad. Your commandment is a close second, though.

The parts dealing with the shapeshifting gargoyles are especially bad.


My friend and I once had a debate about dividing by zero. We surmised that successfully dividing by zero produces another universe...Don't even ask how we reached that...

Ninja... I thought you knew me better than that. I MUST know!

And I am also unsure of what we are actually supposed to debate here. Is it whether books are better than other forms of communication?

Well, we figured, first, that dividing by zero creates a black hole, as it would seem logical that an impossibility causes a mysterious unexplained phenomenon, right? However, I pointed out that, by dividing, one looks to see how many times x goes into y, and zero can go into y infinite times. No matter how many times you add zero t o zero, you'll never get y (assuming, of course, that y is not zero). So, dividing by zero creates an infinite, and the only possible infinite is a universe. So, we figured, that, since the universe is based on mathematics (I don't remember who said that), dividing by zero creates a universe. We even went so far as to say that's how our universe was created; someone in a different universe successfully divided by zero.
I know there was a lot more to the discussion, but, unfortunately, I don't remember most of it.

Books are the root of all evil. Afterall the written word can be distorted and used against a person, or improperly, later, without the writers consent. If things have to be written down, they should either be written down on a whiteboard, or with letter-shaped refridgerator magnets (so that any words or parts of words can be removed without a trace later). All information should be passed on by word of mouth so that any inaccuracies cannot be sorted out. It worked for thousands of years before an alphabet was developed, or atleast that's what I was told.

Ok, in all seriousness, it's no suprise that teachers have a hard time making students interested in reading. Many of the "good" books which might be interesting to young adults have been banned in most schools. And even though there are plenty of good books out there that aren't banned, the stuff they use between 6th grade and senior year of highschool tends to be rather static, and repetative. I could have sworn that I had to read A Raisin in the Sun atleast 3-4 times between those years, Of Mice and Men twice (before it was banned), and atleast a dozen other titles (which fail to come to me now) more than once. Trying to preserve a cannon of contemporary writings is one thing, but by repeating books (just to make sure people read them) you only ruin people's interest in reading (since they didn't enjoy it the first time around). And sadly, I see even college literature classes (not even the remedial ones) dealing with those same books. Whatever happened to expecting people to already have that basis beforehand, or catching up on their own time if they hadn't?

Really, the only times when I actually saw anyone interested in what they were reading in class was when the teacher was feeling crazy and let us actually select books (on an individual or small group basis) that we were to read.

If you're out of school, and still have the interest/time to read, more power to you.

Well, i dont' agree very much in letting students select their readings. With no knowledge about literature the kids would choose the dumbest books around. Still, you must have the wisdom to propose them something intersting, possibly different from Federico Moccia's books (the most idiot writer in italy and probably in the world, that everyone under 20years old reads) informing them that there is a wide choice of books in the world's literature, and not only their restricted selection.

Well, obviously they would be picking from a list of pre-approved books. But no, it's best to have books from a wider range of authors and periods of time. Afterall, grades 1-5 (probably closer to 3-5 now adays since 1st grade seems to be dealing with shapes and numbers now, and 2nd grade is basic math and reading) filled with Judy Blume is bad enough to stamp out most of a child's natural interest in reading. The purpose shouldn't be to instill some sort of cannon, but to make people capable, and interested readers who might be more inclined to seek out those works on their own.

No, this is the source of all evil:




Seriously, though, I agree with you. School nearly killed my joy of reading. It was a pure miracle that I actually enjoyed Of Mice and Men. I also agree that children should be able to pick their books from a list. However, I doubt teachers will ever do that, since tests would then become rather hard to standardise.

I have to say that English class just stamps out creativity, at least in my school. Some of the stuff we've read and some of the things we do are interesting, but then we get graded on them and we get assignments and by the time we're done with a book I hate it more often than not.

And this is from a person that finds most of the things English classes supposedly do fascinating! I love reading. But English class? Hell.

It can be easily argued that reading just for the sake of passing a test is really doing more harm than good. Especially since such tests end up asking questions that the casual reader won't just pick up without actually looking for them... Or just skipping ahead and using cheatbooks. And since teachers want to discourage the use of cheatbooks, they ask even more unusual questions. It's a vicious cycle.

Really, if there is to be any sort of grading involved with reading, something along the lines of a bookreport style can be a bit more effective. This way you're forcing the students to talk about the book, but not in any way which would discourage interest. And the teacher can still ask specific questions about the book to the group, to make sure that it was read. Using such a format, you're rewarding people who show an interest in what they're reading, and allow them to pass on that interest to their classmates. It just requires a bit more effort than just handing out a test, and requires establishing an environment of trust and understanding beforehand. Both of which few are willing to do.

School in general is a real mess. Half the time assignments are made without any reason other than having a grade to record. There's no personal interest involved, there's no explaination as to what the point of the assignment is, but they expect it to be done how they want it to be done. Thankfully this seems to be less common once you get to college and can just drop classes if you end up with those sorts of teachers. While yes, you do run into this sort of thing in the real world, especially if you're working in an office somwhere, all it really does is make students dulled to learning, and not personally invested in their work.

The problem, though, is that most teachers feel that book reports are a stupid waste of time and prefer tests, especially now with ScanTron tests where the teacher doesn't even need to grade them anymore. I agree that, in reading, tests aren't the best, but I'm being realistic in saying that teachers will continue using tests until something easier comes around. So, teachers will continue using the same books to make those tests easier. You're right, teachers don't actually care about the children. They care about having an easy, high-benefits, guaranteed vacation, high-paying job.

Wait you're talking about teachers right? I don't think easy, high-benefit, and high-pay come into the picture. And the vacation time they get... I don't think they're even paid for it, or if they are, it isn't much. And it's actually a bad thing since you can only plan trips when school isn't in session, which generally makes any sort of travel more expensive.

I'm not out to badmouth teachers. Most genuinely go into it wanting to reach out to students, however most either get a reality check a few years in, or end up reaching out too much, and serving jail time. But this is mostly because by the time they've gotten to the students, most of that innate will to learn has been choked out of the students by other teachers. The real tragedy is that by the time those students go to college, their interest is practically nill. Go and sit in on any 100 level gen. ed. course, it's downright frightening how little many students care about what it being taught unless they are paying for it themselves.

So yeah, easier isn't always better, and with education, you only get back what you put in.

The only real silver lining to this is that there have been a few books, which have atleast momentatily kept that bit of interest alive in young readers. But once you've read through Harry Potter and The Lord of The Rings, there really isn't a whole lot out there within that genre that isn't completely mindless drivel. So there needs to be something that will force that branching out into other genres so that that spark can stay alight.

It's not just the schools that should be trying to interest children in reading. The parents should have been educating their children from the moment they are born. I cannot speak for myself, as I was too young to remember, but, I can remember that my brother, as an infant, was read to, and classical music and opera was played during these reading times. Parents allow their children too much freedom today, and tend to sit them down in front of a television rather than spend time with them and encourage reading, relying upon an overtaxed education system to teach their children to read, write, and add and subtract.

All through my childhood, I've enjoyed reading. Schools have changed, or I was extremely fortunate in the schools I went to. (3 different elementary schools, 1 jr. high, 3 different high schools) In all these schools the teachers didn't use some standardized curriculum. We had to read the standards (Tom Sawyer, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Grapes of Wrath etc.), but, we didn't take actual tests on the books. Every literature teacher I had would discuss the book and if you actually read the book your participation in the discussion was enough to earn you a good grade. In the final high school I attended, rather than given books to read, we were split into groups and given authors to research.(My group got stuck with Joseph Conrad. ) The idea was to allow the students variety, but, at the same time, remain within the school system's guide. I guess, I was also fortunate, in that, most of my literature teachers allowed for debate. Many of the standard reading materials were open to interpretation, especially in high school. None of my teachers forced their own interpretations on us. They stated their point of view and gave us the opportunity to argue a different point of view or interpretation of the works involved.

Over the years, my tastes have changed. I used to read fantasy my favorite of course, The Lord of the Rings series and the Dragonbone Chair series, science fiction, my favorite authors bing Frank Herbert and yeah, H.G. Wells, and horror or rather Stephen King until he got silly. Then there was a period, in which, I read espionage novels.(If your a fan of spy novels, a must read is an oldie but goody: 39 Steps. Now, I've pretty much stopped reading fiction and read history and true crime books. There are some authors I have an affinity for and will always enjoy their works, be it poetry or literature, i.e. Edgar Allen Poe and Shakespeare.

I started learning to read when I was about 3 months old, by the way. I truly believe it is the reason for my academic success.

Good for you, but sadly i think sometimes (and especially in contemporary times) personal culture and success donìt go together well. The world today asks for specific knowledge, while it's always best to have a general culture. Culture fills you up and make you a better human being. I study architecture and i work 90% with computer graphics, modelling and stuff, and i'm just disappointed to see many of my colleagues be stratospheric with computers and ignorant about history, literature, art and so on. Fortunately there are also many of them who have many other interests and a wider culture, but i think we will be a "race in extinction" in the few next years.

Reading and learning are not necessarily connected these days. So much can be learned in other ways. And one can read to relax, to 'escape' and to pass time - all valid reasons as well as learn.

I have read a good few 'classics' in my time - The Lord of the Rings, Dune, The Earthsea Trilogy - or more seriously, the complete works of Shakespeare and the author of Oliver Twist (which I cannot type in as it objects to the first four letters), most of Conrad, Henry James etc. etc. Now I prefer far lighter fare - the last book I read was 'Last Tango in Aberystwyth' and no I am not making it up.

But of course now I spend a lot of time writing and so there isn't much time for reading. When there is, the last thing I need is to have to THINK! For that, I play super fiendish sudoku and deadly killer sudoku.

Anyhow authors I'd recommend include in no particular order:- Terry Pratchett, William Shakespeare, Raymond Chandler, Graham Greene and Anthony Price. Some of them are a little 'dated' but they are all fun to read which is what counts for me.

BTW that's not a complete list by any means just a few 'different' authors off the top of my bookcase.

Reading will always be fundamental to opening doors you never knew existed. However, the focus these days is on preparing youth for enterprise through contemporary knowledge i.e. computers, technology, science. Education is really just adults preparing kids to carry the weight of the world so... bye bye culture. =/

I too began reading at an early age, and I think it helped prepare me to absorb greater amounts of information. Of course the flip side was being branded as a "nerd".

As for titles, I appreciate few genres: sci fi and thriller/horror mostly. Not much drawn to "classic" titles aka the crap they force feed us in organized education esp. Shakespeare. Some authors include Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen King, Philip K. D!ck, Asimov, Neil Gaiman, Steinbeck, Robert Frost, and others.

Anything one is forced to read may leave a bad impression - in my case I was out of school five years before I could actually look at a novel by Thomas Hardy - but I can assure you anyone who has seen a good production of a Shakespeare play (i.e one in which the actors illuminate the text so the audience understands it) would never regard it as crap.

I love Shakespeare, actually. I have never been able to see a production, good or bad, but I have read many of his plays.

Romeo and Juliet- 3rd grade. Boy, did I take some flack for that!

Othello-5th grade.

Macbeth-6th grade

and two others. I can't remember which, though.


Wish I could go to Britain and see a good production.

As an actor/writer/director I have regularly come into contact with Shakespeare's work and indeed I specialise in Shakespearian language and performance. Strangely though I have only ever acted in A Midsummernight's Dream. I directed a modern dress version of Measure for Measure in London a couple of years ago. I help aspiring actors with their Shakesperian audition speeches (have one student doing Claudio's speech in M4M atm) so I add it as an example.

Claudio is a youth, no more than eighteen, and he is to be executed for getting his fiance pregnant before they were formerly married. His sister, who is to become a nun, could save him by prostituting herself to the guy who authorised her brother's execution. Being wedded to God this she is unwilling to do.

He starts to plead with her but gets lost in a vision of what will happen to his soul if he dies for the sin of fornication. (To understand it properly it helps to know Dante's Inferno.)

CLAUDIO

Ay, but to die, and go we know not where;
To lie in cold obstruction, and to rot;
This sensible warm motion to become
A kneaded clod; and the delighted spirit
To bathe in fiery floods or to reside
In thrilling region of thick-ribbed ice;
To be imprison'd in the viewless winds,
And blown with restless violence round about
The pendent world; or to be worse than worst
Of those that lawless and incertain thought
Imagine howling - 'tis too horrible.

The weariest and most loathed worldly life
That age, ache, penury and imprisonment
Can lay on nature is a paradise
To what we fear of death.

If I could write so well....!!!!!!!!!

Wait...so she gets pregnant, and, therefore, he's going to be killed? Wouldn't the worse sin be making the child grow up without a father?

In my view it isn't a sin as they were already contractually affianced but things looked different to some in the early seventeenth century. And yes, it would. As it is terribly wrong for people to be allowed to give birth to kids when they don't want them. But we'll not go there or it'll turn into a banned subject.

I'm not saying that I think it's a sin; I was stepping in the shoes of them. They liked wholesome, complete families which requires a father. I won't say my perception of right/wrong as that's not appropriate to the topic; I'm just discussing the play.

I'm sorry for you doomjockey, that you dislike Shakespeare. I can only blame incompetent overbearing teachers for not instilling a love of his works in you. I often hear people say they dislike his works, and without fail, when I inquire as to the 'why?' the answer is invariably. their teachers force fed them the same old, and in MY opinion, wrong interpretation of the works. A prime example, I feel, is Hamlet. How many professors tell their students that Hamlet was insane, and absolutely refuse to accept another interpretation of Hamlet's actions. If you don't want to read it, check out the movie Hamlet with Mel Gibson as Hamlet. I feel that he portrays Hamlet as it should be, not insane, not crazy, but merely ACTING as if he were insane to fool his peers. Case in point: Hamlet: "But come: Here, as before, never, so help you mercy. How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, as I perchance hereafter shall think meet to put an antic disposition on." (Language interpretation: don't tell anyone, but I think it's necessary to play crazy)


As for seeing enactments of Shakespeare's plays....I had the opportunity to see A Midsummernight's Dream, King Lear and one of my favorites Twelfth Night or What You Will.

*sigh* I've had this discussion numerous times and it's starting to sound condescending through mere repetition. I should start adding a small disclaimer every time I voice that particular opinion.

Here we go: Please don't feel sorry for me, I've read every one of Shakespeare's plays (more than once) and most of his sonnets; I've seen most ably performed; I'm, dare I say, intelligent enough to grasp his rather obvious attempts to be clever, humorous, and sometimes downright nasty to his audience. I still hold no particular love for his plays and I'm about sick of everyone assuming some thing's wrong with me for having a different opinion. I wouldn't blame my thoughts on my teachers. On the contrary, many helped me understand the words and, eventually, why I still didn't like them. "...instilling a love of his works..."? Why in the world should I love his works simply because I've read and understand them? Don't get me wrong: I appreciate him in the framework of classic literature, but there's no divine order that says I must like his work. Similarly, no edict which proclaims I don't like it because I don't understand it. I think it's plain hubris to assume as much.
And I still wouldn't recommend Shakespeare's plays precisely because they are plays meant to be viewed. Likewise, I wouldn't prescribe the script of Citizen Kane or Planescape: Torment. Both are well written, but not at all meant to be experienced through a bland read.

For reading, more people should do it for enjoyment. Maybe it won't make you an overnight genius but it might cut down on the people who somehow forget they have a spell check button.

I read anything. Right now I'm reading a book called "The Mastery Of Love". It's based on Toltec Religion, and you would find it in self help section. It's about the fear-based beliefs and assumptions we have that lead to suffering, and the loss of love in our relationships. Another book that goes with the previous mentioned is "The Four Agreements". If your a person who has difficulty coping with the real world, addictions, or dealing with people. This is a book to look into. The next book I want to read is called "The Eagle", and it takes place back to the Arthurian era. If I'm not mistaken it's more history based then fiction.

Also, there is nothing sexier than a guy reading a book.

Carah-----I completely agree with you. Guys that read are super sexy!!



I love to read. My Mother taught me early and due to health issues that kept me out of school a great deal when young, books became my first and best friends.
I will read just about anything but of course have gavitated to fantasy. I read the Hobbit in 2nd grade. I love the Dragonriders of Pern series by Anne MacCaffery to this day! Every major fantasy author probably. Though of course we all have our favorites. I also loved Marion Zimmer Bradley very much. I identified with strong-willed women.

I will read all the time. I read in bed, when I eat, in the bath....ha gotta be careful there!
I read so fast that I usually can put away 1-2 books a week depending on the topic. I will read everything from cheesy romance to bios to history.

My last few books include:

latest Harry Dresden book Small Favor by Jim Butcher
Anne Bishop's latest called Tangled Webs
a compilation book called Physics, Astronomy and Mathmatics which is articles from Einstein to Hawkins.
I also recently read a book about linguistics called The Power of Babel

I think books are a wonderful way to learn. To me they were (and are still also) a means of escape. I love them more than tv or movies (though I would have killed for Harry Potter like movies when I was a child)
and I will give up any other luxury and a few necessities to buy them. I have them strung all over the house as I can not bear to give some of them up.

Books were also a way for me to experience places, people and ideas that I could not have otherwise living where I do. With being so sick as a child they really got me through rough times and I hope to be able to instill my love of reading to my daughter.

I feel sad for people who can not read well and those people usually hate to read. They do not know what they are missing.

I read books all kinds of books, Comic books, magazines, Novels, novellas, short storie collections, and just about anything else with words.
i also like reading penthouse forums.

Seriously books are the bomb kiddies, i like reading books because my imagination is normally way better than the movie. I fricken hate anything that was like shakespere though because it was all "Hereth uponeth thy crestedeth breastes i giveth thee my swordeth". I didnt learn how to read 17th century english literature, so i would rather enjoy it in a more free style form, perhaps a movie.

I read a book once called the way of the warrior, it was a what if, type book, about if the vikings had invaded northumbria ( northern UK, back then ), it was pretty graphic. And then i have read all of steven kings horror, and some are ifie, some i like better as a book some as a movie some as both and some i would like to see a movie, like Rose Madder, About a women being abused by her husband and leaves him and then well she gets really mad, anyway.................read the book.

With reference to a couple of the above posts... i read books.

Careful Chesto.......we may not be able to control ourselves for long!
Wouldn't want you to have a heart attack or something! ha ha

I have to say, I like me a good book every now and then.
Of course, by "now and then" I mean just a bit under 2/3rds of every waking moment.
Fantasy and Science Fiction tend to populate my bookshelves, like a small country filled to the borders with a teeming mass of space-monsters and dragons. And humorous things seeping from the humor books. Perhaps one day the various sects will be separated, with Terry Pratchett books acting as a sort of blending-point between the two.
Of course, the Lovecraft books are in their own little section. This goes without saying.

I haven't read a book in a while actually, the last book i read was Salem's Lot by Stephen King.

My fav books of all time are the lotr trillogy by J. R. R. Tolkien and the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. I was thinking about trying to find the Stargate book (original Stargate film not the books based on the series, although i might look into those aswell) and the dune series as that was recommended to me by a friend.

I used to read alot,now my time is spent writeing...go figure!

Normally I chose to read more historical a counts, on battle, subject from long ago. Lately I have been interested in more fantasy like the Eragon series,The Last Wish, which is what the Witcher RPG is based off of. I am pleases with both, hardly ever you find that. Baudolino,very interesting book, start out historical fiction, then goes into catholic dogma mix in mythical creatures, the sacking of Constantinople "3rd Crusade" ends up some where in India, its one heck of wild read.

Normal reading
Born Fighting: How Scot-Irish shaped America
The Teutonic Order, a military history
Byzantine Empire
Holy Roman Empire
Conquest: Cortes, Montezuma, and the Fall of Old Mexico
The Order of the Death's Head: The Story of Hitler's SS
The Kalmar Union is an interest, really have not found a book on it.

Then there is Jimmy Buffet ...