I read what I want

Mona cut my hair today. Not that we're on a first name basis--I never offered my name. I just read her Sport Clips name tag while we talked about books. Mona's friend gave her a book over a year ago for Christmas, and she still hasn't read it. In fact, it still has the bow on it.

I do the same thing. My 2008 Secret Santa gave me a mystery book called Down River. It sounded promising, but I have yet to read it. I always found other books I wanted to read first. Now that I'm in the midst of my reading resolution 2010 (see previous post), I may have time for Down River after all.

At work, I'm reading a book about differentiating instruction called Fair Isn't Always Equal. I plowed through a few chapters this evening, but it was hard, especially when a David Sedaris memoir was nearby. I knew I would enjoy the memoir, but I was just reading the educational book for information.

I think it's human nature to be selfish in reading choice. If someone forces me to read a book, I usually find another book to read instead. This somewhat applies to the classroom. If I gave total freedom to read whatever book, some students would eat it up. Others would be at a loss at what to read. Still others would not read at all. Thus, I assign a common novel for all my students. But why? What skills are they learning from it? Aren't a lot of them just Sparknoting it anyway? Couldn't I teach literary and reading skills with lots of different books?

Reading Resolution: 2010

For the past couple of years, I have spent countless dollars on books that I have yet to read. This year, 2010, I resolve that I will not buy any books for myself until I read the ones that I already have--a number at the moment that hovers somewhere around 30.

This does not mean I can't check out books from the local library. I most recently finished reading The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance (a terrific memoir), and today I checked out Nurtureshock, which I have had on reserve for about a month.

Some of the books on my shelf I have begun and have never finished, like Reif Larsen's The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet. Others, like Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge, I have never even started.

So here's to a year of reading books that I already own or can borrow from a library. Sorry, Barnes & Noble.