The time spent with a book is time well spent, that's what my parents and other people in my life always told me growing up. I'm not sure that I always saw it that way. I mean I've always been a reader, but my reasons for reading have grown and changed as I've grown and changed. The books I've read have changed. Some books I read once, and whether I liked them or didn't, I just didn't get the urge to read them again. Some books I have chosen to read again and again and again. Some books I now want to go back and read because I remember the stories so vividly, and I wonder if I would still like them even today.
I feel very lucky because when I'm not teaching reading and writing, I'm either reading or writing (ok, there are other things thrown in, but it always goes back to those two activities). So why do I read? I don't have to answer any test questions or write any essays, that's for sure, but those have never been my reasons for reading...this is my growing list of the reasons for why I read.
I read...
* to answer the questions I still have about myself and the world
* to see things from other points of view
* to gather stories and experiences
* because I need a good laugh
* when I feel alone because I feel like I'm with the characters in the book
* when I'm bored because I escape into the story
* to learn more about what it means to learn
* to try and become a better teacher and person
* to find new books to share with my family and friends
* because my friends recommend a book, and I want to talk to them about it
* to understand what's going on in the news
* to solve problems I can't seem to solve on my own
* to try and create new solutions and imagine new possibilities
* to learn about new activities and hobbies
* to feel certain emotions: happiness, fear, sadness, excitement
* to understand why people act the way they do sometimes
* to remember how things once were
* to see how things may be in the future
Like I said, the list just keeps growing. My Shelfari shelf contains mostly the books I've read in the past six years or so. Some of the books I read in college and reread, others I love too much to not include in this list even if the last time I read them was in Junior High.
Why do you read?
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