Reader Profile Series: Too Busy for Books?
By Liz Overberg - FF/S
This is the second in a series of interviews with Middle School readers. I took on this interview project because I wanted to showcase some of the different reader profiles that I encounter every day in the Middle School library. I will post a new interview in a blog post each week. Some of the interviewees will be self-identified "readers," but others will be non-readers. I won't identify the interviewees here by name. Instead, I'll offer a profile that describes them.
These interviews are intended to offer a small glimpse into the way that kids think about reading.
(Click here to access the first post in this series, “Interview with an Avid Reader,” and to read more about the nature of this project.)
READER PROFILE:
- GENDER: Male
- GRADE LEVEL: 8
- READER STATUS: Too busy for books; likes to read online articles when he has the time
Do you consider yourself to be a “reader”?
I think that I used to be a reader, but I don’t really know now. If you’re talking about books, then not really, but I still read a lot of online articles, and I read various stuff on my phone.
When did you stop identifying as a reader of books?
I go in and out, but probably in the fall of my 7th grade year. I just started to get really busy with homework and school and sports.
How often do you read?
Anything? I read a lot of articles and stuff on my phone whenever I’m just lying in bed at night and I can’t sleep—in terms of like 10-minute articles, or like in the morning on the ride to school. But I almost never read books because I find it hard to go 10 minutes here and 10 minutes there with a book. It’s hard to keep everything together.
Do you read when it’s not assigned for school?
Yes.
What types of books do you like to read, when you do read books?
I like to read a lot of different books. I like crime books occasionally. Not really gritty novellas, but just interesting, almost Dirty Harry-type crime books. Fiction—A Song of Ice and Fire stuff. Lord of the Rings. Some science fiction, some post-apocalyptic.
How do you find new books to read?
I go to the library. And sometimes if I’m bored I’ll go to Barnes and Noble on the weekend and just look around.
What is your favorite book you’ve read recently?
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It’s set in 2077. It’s a dystopian book. It reads extremely well. It’s not goofy or light or anything, but it’s not like The Lord of the Rings where you’re slugging through. It’s just got a very interesting plot.
Where is your favorite place to read?
In the car.
Paper, or e-reading?
Both.
Is there anything else you'd like to say?
I have a bunch of books I have written down on my phone that I need to read, but I haven’t gotten around to them yet. I read books before I watch movies. I guess that’s it.
Image credit:
"Man Avatar Head Body Circle Sketch Drawing." Pixabay. Pixabay, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013. <https://pixabay.com/en/man-avatar-head-body-circle-39087/>.
