Not-so-random q...

[Seagull Fred]

I’m taking an English course this semester, and my lecturer is posing “discussion questions” each week, which we think about, and discuss in a later class. This week’s is actually quite relevant to this kind of community, so I figured I’d put it here and ask wot all of you thought:

"What matters to you as a reader?"

The examples she gave were things like “Having books easy and accessible to read” or “Having a choice of possible texts to read” or “Is reading to you just based on study, or is it something more?”<br>
My dot-point-discussion answers have been:

• ]Having a time and a place to read (ie, away from the TV)
  
• Having a choice of both hard and easy texts, and alternating between the two (ie, reading Tolkien or textbooks for three months, then relaxing into an Agatha Christie)
  
• Having access to recommendations of books and authors.
  
• Talking about the books with other people.
  
• Ability to re-read (either for enjoyment of good bits, or to glean a bit more understanding)
  
• Diagrams and maps to ease the strain on the ole imagination (esp when it comes to intricate details)

I'm truly interested to know how other people think. Might post another q in a week's time

Cheerio,

Lauren

[Lauren Hedgehog]

hmmmm........ what matters to me? probably the authors ability to keep me interested. I know it's terrible, but I can't concentrate on a book that hasn't got me hooked. Availablilty is also a big one with my puny library (they've only got the second one of the legendsong series ).
don't know if this helps.

[Squarmi]

I don't know really. But yeah, the author has to keep me interested like lauren hedgehog said. I've got to be in a mood to read, but authors can't really affect my mood. And what lauren hedgehog said about availability is true too. If libraries are only going to stock part of a series then they can't begin part of the way through. That really annoys me when they do that. But I mostly agree with what you guys have already said.

Squarmi

[Min]

I read to escape, and I read to be challenged. I like to connect with the characters on an emotional level. In fantasy, I still like to read about characters who react like real people / animals would.

If I can't connect with it, or have everything explained to me in the last detail or if it's full of totally off the wall ideas that would never be possible (even in a fantasy world!) I can't enjoy it...make sense? Nup?

[Emerald]

all of the above, but mainly...

I love books that inspire the immagination

Most of the time when I read a book it's like a movie is going on in my mind... I can see it all happening and sometimes after i've read it i even get confused and actually think that i have seen it in a movie, then i have think "hang on a sec... was that a book or a movie "

A few time's i've read books and they are so boring that it's just words, and nothing else is going on in my head. I usually can't finish those ones... actually I think thats what happened with robert jordan's wheel of time series - i just lost interest halfway through book 9 and couldn't read it anymore...

[Lucy]

I think having somewhere to read is really important. My conservatory is a godsend; you close the door and wouldn't know the rest of the house was there. It's all part of escaping and becoming enveloped in the book. I love reading and when I put the book down realising three hours have gone by. A book that doesn't engross you isn't really worth it, in my opinion.

Also, I think seeing other peoples views through books is great. Jill Paton Walsh is great at this; exploring all side of the story from many characters perspective. In this way I think a book/story which can live past the pages and stays in your mind after you have finished reading - so I guess having people to talk about books with helps in that respect.

[Ceirwan]

Seeing as we're part of a community that loves fantasy-type books, I'm not surprised that we say we love books that capture the imagination.

But I know many people who can't stand fantasy books! They prefer books that are very real, down-to-earth and would rather read biographies and non-fiction books than imaginative ones.

[Seagull Fred]

*frowns* Oookay, I'm certain I replied to this a few days back, but it hasn't appeared for some random reason...anyway, cheers for sharing your ideas, coz our lecturer told us a few days after our lecture that what matters to us-as-readers will also matter to students-as-readers So hopefully I can take all your ideas on board and make a few classes of Super Readers in my time

Cheerio,

Lauren who should perhaps become Lauren Seagull? You have a very cute alias, lauren hedgehog!!

[Lauren Hedgehog]

thanks lauren/ lauren seagull , maybe we'll start a trend ;D