I'm an Omnivore Enjoying a Smorgasbord . . .

What type of reader are you?

{Note -- I have a reference for this (it's not mine -- scarfed it from a workshop I attended last week -- but left the info at school. Will add the citation tomorrow!}

1) Anorexic reader: “I can’t even pick up a book.”

2) Perpetual Diet reader: “I read only what I am assigned; I’d like to read some other things, but I have to stay on my diet to pass my courses.”

3) Fast Food reader: “I read Cliff Notes and the summaries at the end of chapters. I never have time to sit down to read a whole book.”

4) Omnivorous reader: “I’ll read anything and everything. I read newspapers and magazines and books and cereal boxes, comics and billboards.”

5) Trendy reader: “I read only what’s in. If it isn’t being talked about by my friends, I don’t bother.”

6) Vegetarian reader: “I read only nutritious articles and books. I want what I read to nourish me spiritually. I wouldn’t think of reading books that had been made of animals.”

7) Gourmet reader: “I’m very selective about what I read. I know what makes good literature and I only read the best.”

8) Junk Food reader: “I read what’s quick, cheap and requires very little thinking. I often what I’m reading – throw away wrappers, etc.”

9) Smorgasbord reader: “I enjoy reading a little bit of everything – all at the same time.”

I read constantly. Newspaper -- daily. Magazine -- daily. Fiction -- daily. Blogs? Daily. And on and on and on. I have difficulty conceiving how people who don't read exist, although I know they do. My classes are full of anorexic readers.

So what's on the buffet at my house right now?

1) An anthology by Joyce Carol Oates
2) The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis (I'm reading it to my kids)
3) The Crucible, Arthur Miller
4) Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
5) Georgia Performance Standards for ELA (I'm writing new units -- requires lots of deep reading of the standards themselves)
6) Deeper Reading, Kelly Gallagher (He's my new idol.)
7) Angels and Demons, Dan Brown

I started a novel by Sandra Brown, who I've always loved and whose books I devoured during the year I taught at LCHS, but I couldn't seem to engage with it. I kept trying to take the plot apart . . . so I put it aside and I'll come back to it later.

I also tried to read The Color Purple. I love Alice Walker's non-fiction and short stories . . . but I hated that book. I couldn't finish it. Weird, huh?

So I'm an omnivore who reads everything . . . all at the same time.

What kind of reader are you?