I love my google reader as it means I don’t have to spend too much time surfing for the things I like. One of my favorite subscriptions is to A Year of Reading which I think my friend Tara in Bangkok got me onto a couple of years ago, she is a librarian at I.S.B. and we have similar taste in books. Half of my class already have their own google reader and it really is a great idea, especially if you have your own computer. I have it set as my home page and am always going to links from there and also appreciate that I don’t have to leave that page to read things if I don’t need to. I am happy to help parents set one up if they want, or, ask your child!

A Year of Reading always has something interesting; sometimes it suits me as a teacher or parent, and often it is useful for my students. A few days ago this post came in and I have really enjoyed thinking about it and discussing it with my class, what a great way to reflect about your reading practice. Today in class 5KP and I are working on starting our own lists. At first the students were not sure about how to start but once they looked at Franki’s list they were encouraged by the broad range of ideas that she had about her own reading.

We wonder if we will ever make it to 100 things about us as a reader, but know that it is a goal worth pursuing.

Here we go…

100 things about me as a reader

1. I don’t like to read the back cover, the blurb, on any book before I begin it or while I am reading it, I am always suspicious it will give away too much, the same goes for d.v.d.’s, the blurb spoils it for me.
2. I often choose to read a book based on the recommendation of a friend.
3. What should I read next is one of my favourite databases and I use it to find out what I should read next, especially when I have just finished reading something special.
4. The Elegance of the Hedgehog is the last GREAT book I read.
5. Reading is, and always has been, one of my favourite ways to pass the time.
6. When I am reading a good book, I take it everywhere me, I even sit in the car places and just read it, I arrive early at the doctors to read it, and shhhh, I even take it with me to the toilet!
7. I really hope my daughters love to read as much as I do.
8. Having the love of reading in my heart is a gift.
9. I thank my parents for encouraging me to read as a child, and for reading to me as I grew up.
10. Bridge to Terabithia is one of my all time best books as I read it in grade 5, with my best friend Monika, and it was so special to both of us. We then made a secret hideaway which we called Terabithia, we had a theme-song, a secret handshake, passwords and lots and lots of fun.
11. When I read, if the book is good, I skip some of the details about scenery and things like that to get to the dialogue and the action.
12. I try really really hard to hide what is happening on the next page when I am at an exciting bit, like at the end of a chapter. Sometimes I even physically hide the parts ahead of where I am reading with my hand as I am just so tempted to sneak a peak.
13. I don’t like listening to any music when I read, or really hear anything at all, I like silence when I read.
14. I love reading to my daughters
15. I bought a kindle in June
16. So far I still prefer paper books to kindle books
17. The best thing about the kindle is the wireless shopping for books, that is super exciting
18. I read more online now than I ever have, I really read a lot online…mmmm, a great deal…. mmmm too much?
19. Most of the non-fiction I read is read online, I’d say 90% of it at least
20. I prefer to read lying down in bed
21. I still get confused about the difference between fiction and non-fiction, I nearly always have to say “fact is stranger than fiction” whenever I am trying to think of which one is which, crazy huh!
22. I am going to bed to read my book right now!
23. I am half way through several books right now and that is driving me crazy!
24. Reading one book from start to finish is certainly a preference for me. When it is a book I really enjoy, I can finish it very quickly, that is my favourite type of reading.
25. I love book lists such as top ten non fiction of 2010 or best books for teenage girls etc.
26. My most recent favourite booklist was about the top 100 books for elementary students
27. I also really enjoyed this list of books for men on one of my husband’s favourite sites, the art of manliness. Although the titles are geared towards men, there were plenty of books on there that I have read, or want to read.
28. I read The Prince by Machiaveli as a 12th grader and didn’t understand it much at all. I would love to go back to it now I am a ‘grown up’…what is that saying “youth is wasted on the young?”
29. J.D. Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye” is one of my favourite books, so wonderful.
30. I was impressed earlier this year when two of my boys, Jonathan and Kevin read and enjoyed this classic, “Call of the Wild” by Jack London.
31. The last book I started and finished was The Stranger by Albert Camus. My babysitter, Alicia, was reading it for school and so I borrowed it from her. Chatting with her about it made me miss teaching high school English as discussing books is one of my all time favourite pastimes.
32. Did I mention chatting about books is one of my all time favourite pastimes?
33. Reading about my children is interesting to me; I have really enjoyed this parenting series since my good friend Jen Munnerlyn introduced it to me years ago… I was not convinced when I picked up the first book “My four year old” but just checked “My ten to fourteen year old” from the library today so they must be doing something right! Although dated, there are still so many aspects that are spot on!
34. Australian author Mem Fox is one of the most wonderful advocates for reading aloud to your child and for reading in general; if you have not read her fiction DO IT. If you have not read her non-fiction DO SO! She is my literary hero.
35. Reading about travel is probably my favourite non-fiction area after reading about my children, actually, I think it may be a tie. I used to love the Lonely Planet Guide Books and we now have quite a collection, however, with so many great sites out there now, our book collection has sort of fallen by the wayside.
36. I have never owned a cook book. I don’t like cooking. I don’t like reading about cooking although looking at the pictures can have me salivating. I eat…but I don’t cook!
37. Following the newberry awards is one of my favourite (mmmm, have to find another word for favourite, so sick of the red line underneath it screaming “you are an Australian, you are an Australian) ways to keep in touch with the best in young people’s literature.