09-20-2009, 06:21 AM | #16 | |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 7,452
Karma: 7185064
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Linköpng, Sweden
Device: Kindle Voyage, Nexus 5, Kindle PW
|
Quote:
I do not choose books because they are good for me. I think I mostly read for the same reason I eat good dinners. It is an entertaining activity. And since I mostly read genre books it increases my knowledge of the genre and that leads to more enjoyment in other non-reading activities related to this genre (e.g. going to science fiction conventions). |
|
09-20-2009, 07:28 AM | #17 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 9,707
Karma: 32763414
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Krewerd
Device: Pocketbook Inkpad 4 Color; Samsung Galaxy Tab S6
|
I read mostly as escapism. It's a way to dive into a completely different world and forget my troubles.
I've also read plenty of books that caused me to find out more about what the books was talking about. So, my knowledge got expanded in those areas (like I'm currently reading a book about the Knight Templars). But in all books, you need to know the overal picture. If I take the example from FlorenceArt, let's see you read Mein Kampf and didn't know anything about Hitler (I've not read that book, so I've no idea how it is written). You are interrested, so you will start looking for other sources (and hopefully find out that Hitler was evil). It would be bad if you took the book on facevalue. But that goes for TV as well. So, I think, all reading is good, but always believing what an author writes, isn't. |
Advert | |
|
09-20-2009, 09:48 AM | #18 |
Guru
Posts: 763
Karma: 4837659
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: San Angelo Texas
Device: Samsung Galaxy tab
|
Having worked in a library, and as a reading teacher, there is no such thing as 'bad reading'. If a student reads a manga, a comic, a below level chapter book, or even an epic novel, its all good. They are reading.
Forcing a student to read is counter productive. I've seen it happen. The school librarian was of the 'lead a horse to water and hold its head in until it drinks' philosophy. She forced the students to read a certain amount, of appropriate material, each grading period, and was astonished when very few actually tried to do so. Five years down the road and most of those students STILL do not read. Tried telling her that a horse won't drink just because it's forced in the water, it will drown. I found the Illustrated Classics to be a good way to introduce the stories, and some students became hooked enough to try the original. |
09-20-2009, 10:37 AM | #19 |
Home Guard
Posts: 4,729
Karma: 86721650
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Alpha Ralpha Boulevard
Device: Kindle Oasis 3G, iPhone 6
|
Nothing wrong with reading for escapism, though I would not say that it was good for you except for relaxation.
But reading the same type of thing over and over and not exposing yourself to new ideas and ways of thinking is no better for you than watching "Big Brother" on TV. On the other hand, much of the sci-fi that I read for entertainment as a teenager exposed me to some concepts new to someone growing up in the rural South. Especially the better writers like Heinlein, Delany, Leiber, Ellison, Clarke, et al. Still, I know educators and librarians are all for any method to get kids to read, but Stephanie Meyers is more likely to lead to Barbara Cartland rather than James Baldwin. |
09-20-2009, 10:54 AM | #20 |
OpenInkpot co-founder
Posts: 407
Karma: 845
Join Date: Dec 2007
Device: Kindle Oasis
|
I use "personalized recomendations" system on (russian) site http://fantlab.ru/ - it has a system of predicting your rating for the books you did not read based on your current ratings for books and others' ratings.
Plus I read several blogs of people who are known to be able to find good books to read somehow. |
Advert | |
|
09-20-2009, 11:12 AM | #21 |
Blue Captain
Posts: 1,595
Karma: 5000236
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Australia
Device: Kindle Keyboard 3G,Huawei Ideos X3,Kobo Mini
|
Even a crappy book can increase your vocab.
|
09-20-2009, 11:55 AM | #22 | |
Wizard
Posts: 2,627
Karma: 406616
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Northern Virginia
Device: SurfacePro, SurfaceBook 2
|
Quote:
Personally, I read for pleasure or as an escape. The books I choose are not considered intellectual, I read a lot of romance. They may not be on the level that some consider "worthy" by my brain is engaged much more than if I were watching some inane sitcom or reality show on television. |
|
09-20-2009, 12:07 PM | #23 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 19,832
Karma: 11844413
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Tampa, FL USA
Device: Kindle Touch
|
Ok, here's my two cents:
Yes, all reading is good... 'nuff said. BOb |
09-20-2009, 12:23 PM | #24 | |
High Priestess
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
|
Quote:
A few months ago I was visiting Librarything to add a book that I had just finished (and found rather interesting). I noticed the "will you like it?" button and tried it, and Librarything told me that I would absolutely, definitely and without a doubt hate that book. Just because it was different from what I had been adding to my library on that site |
|
09-20-2009, 12:25 PM | #25 |
High Priestess
Posts: 5,761
Karma: 5042529
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Montreuil sous bois, France
Device: iPad Pro 9.7, iPhone 6 Plus
|
I can confirm that reading books is great for your vocabulary. I learned most of my English reading books. I remember that the first word I learned this way was "sword". Very useful when you arrive at the airport
|
09-20-2009, 12:41 PM | #26 |
Grand Sorcerer
Posts: 8,478
Karma: 5171130
Join Date: Jan 2006
Device: none
|
I read for three reasons: To learn something; to share in an intellectual or emotional experience; and just to escape. Any of these things can be enough reason to read. However, it's the things you don't set out to do... for instance, to find a description for a place you've never been to, that you might now want to visit for yourself... or to learn new words and phrases, or discover the histories behind words and phrases... or to be presented with points of view that you have never imagined before... these are the real gems you get from reading, and often the most lasting memories you can get from a book.
|
09-20-2009, 12:55 PM | #27 |
Guru
Posts: 970
Karma: 4999999
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Rosario, Argentina
Device: SONY PRS-505, PRS-T2
|
Not all reading is good - but you have to determine what's good and what's bad by yourself.
When I was a child I liked UFO and Bermuda Triangle "books", and it took some time to realise that I was losing my time reading lies. |
09-20-2009, 12:59 PM | #28 |
eBook Reader Junkie
Posts: 136
Karma: 19205
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Dallas
Device: Kindle Oasis 3
|
I read because I'm an ex-English department grad student and I can't help myself But seriously, I read to learn, to stretch my mind and to escape.
Perhaps the most important for me is seeing the world through another person's eyes. |
09-20-2009, 01:01 PM | #29 | ||
WWHALD
Posts: 7,879
Karma: 337114
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK
Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here
|
Quote:
Quote:
Personally, I think all reading is good - be it the latest Dan Brown (I can't stand his writing, but I'd sooner hear people talk about that than what was on Brother's Got Strictly X-Factor or whatever) or one of the "classics" of literature. But I can also see situations where some people would think that some reading is bad - because it gives people the wrong ideas, gives them ambition, gives them information about the world at large, out of fear that once they've read something they'll become corrupted by it and go on to enact what they've read etc. None of these are viewpoints I support (in fact they're viewpoints I try to challenge), but I understand that others might have them. As for choosing my reading material, I choose it based on how interesting it sounds to me. As simple, or as complex, as that. That does mean at times I've bought pbooks in enough of a range of subjects and/or genres that the cashier has assumed I'm buying for multiple people |
||
09-20-2009, 01:01 PM | #30 |
WWHALD
Posts: 7,879
Karma: 337114
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Mitcham, Surrey, UK
Device: iPad. Selling my silver 505 here
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Good iPad case for reading in bed?? | Victoria | Apple Devices | 22 | 07-20-2011 11:25 AM |
Good font for reading | jesjimher | HanLin eBook | 12 | 08-02-2010 10:57 AM |
A good cellphone for ebook reading from Verizon? | Yalborap | Alternative Devices | 13 | 09-12-2009 03:51 AM |
Please Help: Good format for reading? | Aukel | HanLin eBook | 20 | 12-17-2008 08:33 AM |
Good reading to all | lucianoassirelli | Introduce Yourself | 4 | 03-27-2008 01:12 PM |