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Sunday, January 15, 2017

My Reading Profile - A Reader's Awakening

As much as it pains me to admit to a class of future librarians -- I have a confession -- I'm not really a big reader. I don't really know why that is, but I think it was a combination of being forced to read books I didn't enjoy in middle/high school, coupled with my love of comic books and graphic novels. I can remember being an avid reader when I was a child. I started reading on my own when I was 5 years old and have a very vivid memory of sitting on my rocking horse, reading a book and pouting because my mother wouldn't let me watch She-Ra because the Challenger had just exploded and she was watching the news coverage. Ah, those barbaric times when homes only had one television and no DVR!

I'm not exactly sure when it happened, but I fell out of love with reading. In high school, I was an Honors English student and remember plodding through Charles Dickens and crying because I just couldn't manage to get through Moby Dick because I hated it. When I graduated high school, my reading habits continued to revolve around what I was required to read for my college classes and little else. When I was 19 years old, I picked up my first comic book Promethea by Alan Moore. I was completely mesmerized and soon thereafter discovered the Sandman series by Neil Gaiman, Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore. I was hooked and have been primarily reading comics and graphic novels ever since. I do read books without pictures. It just doesn't happen as often as it probably should. I am kind of a master of adding books to my To-Read list and never actually getting around to reading them. 

Neil Gaiman is my favorite author and I can't think of anything of his that I haven't been crazy about. Neverwhere is my favorite, but American Gods is a close second. Like most good nerds, I love the Harry Potter series too. Since beginning my MLS, I've taken a couple of courses (mostly in the YA/Children's area) that have forced me to read a LOT more than I'm used to. I feel like it's reawakened my interest in reading and I've come to love a lot of books that I probably wouldn't have given a chance otherwise. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson was a complete game changer for me. It opened me up to reading outside my standard genres. I read The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-ExupĂ©ry for the first time last year, and cried so much because it was important and perfect and made me feel all the feelings. 

My recent reading experiences are awakening something in me - something I lost touch with a long time ago. I feel like I'm a real-life example of what can happen when the right books are put in the hands of a patron. Good reading experiences create passion for reading and excitement to read more. I'm seeing that firsthand in myself and for that reason, I decided to take this Readers' Advisory course.

13 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your falling-in-love-with-comics story; what a joy to read. I think you're spot on about what a huge difference the right book in the right hands can make, and I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on some of the other genres you'll end up reviewing: I feel like it'll be really useful to hear your perspective on the genres we read this semester, giving us all a better sense of what passionate comic/graphic novel readers might like!

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    1. I feel like I get pulled into the Young Adult genre quite a bit because they have some of the fantastical and adventurous elements I like, but they aren't quite so... well, adult. So I'm curious to see if I can find books that give me the same feeling I get when I read a graphic novel.

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  2. I also think that Brown Girl Dreaming was a game changer. It was the first time I had read anything by her, and I was blown away. Since then I have read several juvenile chapter books in verse and it always amazes me how wonderful they are! I like to recommend those to reluctant readers because they seem daunting, but aren't horrible once you actually open them up!

    Also, in Neil Gaiman works, "Fortunately, The Milk" is really fun!

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    1. I'm so happy I'm not the only one who thought Brown Girl Dreaming was so incredible. Proof that you don't have to use a ton of words to be a phenomenal writer. I purchased her new book Another Brooklyn without hesitation when it first came out, but I haven't had a chance to read it yet.

      I agree about Fortunately, The Milk. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Skottie Young who did the illustrations.

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  3. Hi Laura! Graphic novels are pretty great, aren't they? I enjoy them as well, but I didn't include them on my reader's profile because I incorrectly (I guess) thought we were supposed to focus on our traditional fiction reading. That's what the examples we were given looked like, but now that I'm looking at everyone else's, I might have to go back and revise mine.

    I agree with you that forcing children and teens to trudge through the "classics" in school sadly turns so many students off from reading. They need to encourage students to read what they want to read, not just these "good-for-you" books thrust upon them. I guess this is our job as librarians-- to show people that reading is fun, no matter the genre or format!

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    1. I took a seminar in YA a couple of semesters back and the whole point of it was to create young "wild readers." And you do that by letting children and young adults choose what they want to read. I read 7000 pages in one semester for that course which is insane for someone like me because I actually got to pick what I read.

      This just reminded me that I DESPISED The Scarlet Letter when I read it in high school. However, when I re-read it as an adult in my late 20's an American Literature course, I loved it. I had a greater understanding of the world and more life experience, so it was easier for me to understand it. When you're a teenager, you just can't grasp the seriousness of adultery in a Puritan society, and frankly, you probably wouldn't even care. I know I didn't the first time around.

      Anyway, I'm rambling at this point. Hahaha! :)

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  4. The point about freedom to read what you choose is one of the reasons I'm so passionate about public libraries. No one can insist that you must read (and interpret) and book that you hate, nor can they refuse to let you read something that interests you. I've even checked out Fifty Shades of Grey to teens. As a parent that bothers me, but as a librarian I'm glad to uphold individual freedom of thought and choice.

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    1. It seems silly, but I guess that I hadn't ever given much thought about reading whatever you wanted. I was so brainwashed, so to speak, about reading books that are good for you, books that have literary merit, etc. It became kind of a struggle, so I'm definitely becoming passionate about letting kids read what they want. Books like Fifty Shades of Grey are difficult though...but yay for the freedom to choose!

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  5. Laura, you have inspired me with your story to get back into reading. I had a youth class that we had to read a lot, which really forced me to open those books. I think we might have been in the same class. Of course, those were youth books, which I love to read. Reading adult books is such a struggle for me. Thanks for motivating me so I can read more to share books with adult patrons. That is one of the main reasons I am taking this class. I want to assist patrons in the best way possible.

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    1. Hi Anne! Your name sounds really familiar, so I bet we were in the same class. Kim Kramer's Seminar on Young Adult Literature? I love to read youth books so much, that I'm definitely intimidated my this course. But of course, that's one of the biggest reason that I wanted to take this course. In our economic climate, you have to be as marketable as you can if you want to get (or keep) a library job, so I'm trying to learn everything. :)

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  6. Laura,

    I also posted about how I wasn't really a huge reader in the recent past. It's definitely something that has made me a little insecure in my professional life many a time. I also have been reading lately more than I ever have before, which is great! You are right about the right book being in the right hands. I would also add: the right time.

    Here's to a new year full of fantastic books!

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    1. I agree 100%. The right time is a huge factor. I have a feeling that once I finish my degree and I'm not so starved for time, I'll be able to read more. It'll be fun to take what I've learned in this class to find things that really work for me.

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  7. Fantastic reading profile!I'm glad that working on an MLS is breaking down some of the reading barriers or walls that went up. Also, comics always count! I have two bookshelves in my house dedicated to them!

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