Thursday, June 26, 2008

Booking Through Thursday


A reader is someone who reads... anything (including audiobooks in my opinion, but let's not go there again!). Once you learn to read you can't help but read printed matter, whether you want to or not, or at least that's what I've noticed. But that doesn't mean you have no choice in reading for leisure, work, study, whatever. An author (or blogger) might use the term to refer to someone who reads his or her work, or someone who reads books in general. Librarians and booksellers use the term to refer to their customers or patrons. There are probably even more ways to define a reader. What do you think?


thekoolaidmom said...

I don't think you have to read the printed matter to be a "reader". I have a special needs daughter who isn't really able to read beyond a second grade level, and I've been reading the Warrior Cats series to her.

My 9-year-old, on the other hand, can read but lacks confidence and would rather listen to me read to her (of course I do voices and sound effects, so that's not helping her reading independence!). Her 2nd grade teacher quit teaching to take over her father's store, so Maggie (my 9yo) walks to the shop almost every Saturday to read aloud to her former teacher for about 20 minutes.

Smilingsal said...

I always think of reading print, but my mind is being stretched today.


Hmmm... I guess I would say a reader interprets the world around them, mixes in their own experience and tells themselves stories.

This could mean reading illustrations only, or reading a situation; picking up information from a newspaper, street sign, or instruction manual and giving that information meaning for one's life.

I notice that (because they've been read to ad-nauseam) my 6 and 8 year old daughters are able to understand, take an interest or get a kick out of situations in the world around them or that are described to them in school because they recognize and appreciate the stories. This, to me, is what reading is all about.

moazzam sheikh said...

awesome conversation! for my personal taste i like how barthes divide readers into two kinds: readerly and writerly. readerly are those who don't contest what's written whereas writerly become the writer in the process of reading. but of course, barthes is talking about texts as opposed to the readers :) - but a similar paradigm could apply.

- moazzam

Diana Raabe said...

Sounds very good! Can you think of another book that was similar in style or readability? You haven't, by any chance, read The Exception by Christian Jungerson, have you?

moazzam sheikh said...

with due respect, I am not sure who you are responding to in your post, dear diana raabe?

- moazzam