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Friday, January 20, 2017

What Kind of Reader Am I?

I would describe myself as an eclectic reader.  I read a LOT of young adult/teen fiction and non-fiction since I'm a teen librarian, and I usually really love it.  I also get into non-fiction - a variety of topics from Amy Stewart's "Wicked Bugs" to "Freakonomics" by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner to Charles Mann's "1491", "We Band of Angels" (a WWII book) by Elizabeth Norman, and anything by Suze Orman or Mary Roach (she doesn't know it, but she's my best friend!).  When I'm in the mood for something lighthearted, I go for quirky fun mysteries like the Mrs. Pollifax series by Dorothy Gilman and the Southern Sisters mysteries by Anne George. I grew up an avid fan of Madeleine L'Engle, Anne McCaffrey, Piers Anthony, and my current and forever-all-time favorite fantasy writer is now Robert Jordan (R.I.P) with his Eye of the World series.  Ooh, I love David Eddings too - I could read the Belgariad series at least 6 more times!  I can't stand many classics (hated "Anna Karenina" and "Little Carrie"), but I love "Little Women", "Eight Cousins", "The Secret Garden", "The Little Princess", "Stuart Little", "The Trumpet of the Swan"....  too many awesome books - this lovefest could go on and on...

I've also recently gotten into audio books.  I'm finding the reader is CRITICAL and the book needs to be engaging, but not terribly complex since it's hard to go back and re-read in this format.  Young Adult books are super in this format.  I just finished "Looking for Alaska" by John Green and my favorite so far is "Kissing in America" by Margo Rabb.

This was extremely rambling, but I hope it conveys the enthusiasm and fun I have when thinking about, and sharing with you, my favorite books and authors.  I've left out so many others (how many favorites can we have?), but I think you get the idea that I have a variety of interests and moods which are
reflected in my reading.  I've read, and enjoyed, books from nearly every genre through my life and will try reading almost anything.

Some of the few book types I dislike/don't connect with are books in verse, very gritty urban realism, most graphic novels, and Star Trek spinoffs.

4 comments:

  1. Deidre, I love how you use the term eclectic to describe yourself as a reader. I used the same term as well. I need to read "Looking for Alaska". I loved reading "An Abundance of Katherines" by Green. I loved it for its humor and quirkiness. I had to read some graphic novels for a previous class and I actually found that I really liked them. Of course, the books were children's and young adults. I don't think there would be many adult graphic novels that I would connect with though.

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  2. Deirdre, comment about how the reader makes such a difference for audio books really hit home. If you haven't listened to The Book Thief, I highly recommend it and Meg Wiviott's Paper Hearts is a book in verse that I couldn't put down. It's based on a true story and perfect for teens that can't get enough of stories about the Holocaust.

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  3. Great reading profile! You really hit the nail on the head when you talked about audiobooks, the narrator can make or break a book.

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  4. Thank you for the suggestions on audiobooks! I have been looking to listen to one, but have not found any where the narrator hasn't made me fall asleep. I will have to check out "Looking for Alaska" (even though I really am over John Green, haha) If you come across any other "good" audiobooks, please share about it!!

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