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Showing posts with the label reader

As a Reader, I'm Tired

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Tired of what, you might ask? (Even if you didn't ask, I'm going to tell you.) I'm tired of "must-read" books that depress the heck out of me. Families that are breaking apart. Teenagers who are going through hell. People in crisis who don't deal with it well. I know books have to have such characters to create tension, but in many recent bestsellers these are the protagonists; the people I'm supposed to keep reading on for. Last night I started one of the current must-reads. It's really well-written, and the hook was excellent. I read on, chapter after chapter. Things got worse for the main character, and as a result, he got worse, acting out, making his family suffer, cutting ties with those who might have helped him get through it. As page after page of humiliation and despair crawled by, I began to feel that I was wallowing in misery, the main character's and that of everyone around him. Now, I worked with teenagers for decades, and I

Why Do You Read?

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Heaven knows you've got other things to do, and some people growl if you "sit around with your nose in a book" (or in modern times "staring at a screen"). My dad, usually a patient man, would get irritated with me when I  (a) brought a book to the dinner table ("But it was at a really good part, Dad!"), (b) failed to get dressed until noon on a weekend because I was reading, or (c) sat upside down in a chair with my legs up the back and the book on my chest. (What can I say? At thirteen, it really was comfy.) Here are some reasons that reading is an important part of my day, every day. Reading connects me with other places, other people. I learn from books, even fictional books, about how the world works, how people live, feel, and think. Reading takes my mind off other things. Reading helps me relax and get ready to sleep . Conversely, reading helps me wake up and serves as a step toward action in the morning. Reading gives me lots to talk