Book Tag: 5 Questions

(den) Made by Karen's Dad

I thought this was a pretty interesting meme that I saw by BeautyBooksEtc on YouTube so both Gerard and I decided to do it.  If you are reading this and like it, then consider yourself tagged.

What is your all-time favorite book ever?



Made by Karen's dad



Karen: Other than the Bible which I believe is God’s Word and has had the hugest impact on my life, I think I’d have to go with Beautiful Child by Torey Hayden. I love stories about teaching and this one has the dynamic of tension between two different teacher’s as well as a touching story about a special needs class with a physically abused girl (the beautiful child) who broke my heart. I gleaned several teaching tips from this and laughed out loud at certain parts but cried at the end. This was a WOW book for me—an emotional page-turner with teaching strategies!

Gerard: This is really hard but I'd say it's Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I thought it was fantastic because it had everything I look for in a book: twists and turns, believable characters, hard to put down, interesting subject and a great ending! In my opinion, this is her best book!

What is your least favorite book:

(basement) Made by Karen's Dad

Karen: I’m not sure if this means my least favorite being the least of the books I like the most which would take too long to figure out or a book I absolutely hated which is what I will answer. Not counting ones I didn’t finish, I’d have to say it’s a tie between Much Ado About Jessie Kaplan by Paula Cohen about an old lady believing she was Shakespeare’s mistress and At Home In Mitford by Jan Karon about the daily business of a priest in a small town. It just dragged along but I finished it because my sister-in-law recommended it.

Gerard: My worst was The Tower, the Zoo And The Tortoise because I just never could get into it even though I wanted to like it because of all the hpye it got. I did not "get" it at all.

Journey to Reading For Pleasure (Blog Hop)

<em><a href="http://www.ourstack.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh290/kzemek/ourstack_EC.jpg" ></a></em>

To get your children reading, make sure they can see.   I say this because when I was in first grade learning to read, I had a very difficult time.  My teacher kept a group of us who were not getting it after school for some additional help and she discovered my problem was that I just could not see the board.  Once she moved me to the front of the room and I got eyeglasses, I picked it up much quicker.


Naturally any mother who loves to read also tries to encourage her children to read too.  My mother was an avid reader and I remember her reading four or five thick books in just a week.  She took us to the library as kids in an effort to get us interested in books too, but it didn't really work.  I would rather go outside and play than sit around and read.  I did the required reading for school, some of which I just skimmed through and that was it. 


In school, whenever I had to do a book report, I would just choose the book by width.  Seriously, if it was a fat book, it would not be one I picked.  Consequently, I missed out on some really good books.  I first learned that a bigger novel is generally better than those little skinny books when I read Jane Eyre for a book report on my mother's recommendation.


In high school I was put into an advanced English class which I really did not want to be in.  To me, it seemed a waste of my time to have to do more homework including 12 book reports when I could get an easy "A" in the regular English class with less homework and only three book reports.  Now, for someone who does not like to read, guess which class I chose.  I got out of that advanced English class as fast as I could! 


Even in college, I read very little of the textbooks.  Mostly, I just took good notes in class, then typed them up and studied from that.  I maintained good enough grades that way to keep my scholarship for all four years.  I only actually read the books for courses I was interested in.  


It wasn't until I was married that I started to enjoy reading for pleasure.  My husband was a reader ever since elementary school.  It's funny though, he didn't go to college.  I think if he had gone, he would have learned more than I did.  He used to buy books but once we were married, I took him to the library and showed him how he could actually go online and order popular books that he wanted to read and they would send him an email when they came in.  When he read a book he thought I would too, suggested I read it.  I don't recall what the first book I read was that he recommended.


Mostly I still read when I'm bored, like while I ride the bus to and from work, or while waiting at a doctor's office, or during a lunch hour.  I seldom read at home unless I have a book that really is gripping and I can't wait to see what happens next or if I'm in a hurry to finish a book. 


We invite you to post about your journey to becoming an avid reader with a link back here and link up.  Copy the badge if you like. 


Related post:  Mary the Kay the Blog shares tricks she uses to teach her kids to read.

Check out Mrs4444 Saturday Samplings for more good posts.