Recently in 9B My Career as a Reader Category

If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.

-Oscar Wilde

My career as a reader has been amazing. I have been reading since I was in junior kindergarten.              

I didn't like reading when I was young. I was in India when I started reading and the school didn't have many short stories and the students were not allowed to go to the library so my mother took some short story books and some Walt Disney books from Canada. At school teachers would force me to read books or poems but I would start getting frustrated because I didn't enjoy the books they made me read. So I used to make my mother read the stories for me and I enjoyed it more when she read them.

But after a while, I started to read the Walt Disney books. My first Disney book was the Jungle Book and I liked Snow White and so on. I liked the way my mother read these books because she read them with expressions. When I started to read I tried to read the way my mother read to me and imagine the story in my mind. I always used read the book first and later watch the movie. One of my favourite books from Walt Disney is of course the entire Princess collection, especially Cinderella, and my other favourite is Peter Pan. I have always liked to read these books as I recall my memories. These books really put me in an imaginary world. I love the bright colours and the dresses the princesses wear. These books take one away from reality for a little while and put you in a whole new world.

Now that I'm older, I enjoy reading books but I don't like reading for school because some books are not that interesting. If the book is really boring I will read the end or check the summary on the internet. If I really have to read it, then I skip through the chapters. I like reading before I go to bed and if I find the book interesting I will sit there four hours until I finish my book because I get so curious to find out what happens next. I like reading mystery books because they always keep you guessing what's going to happen next. I also read fiction books. I have also read some Shakespeare stories like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. It took some time to understand the language but I did like the stories.

I like to read books for fun but most of the time I read magazines. I just find magazines more interesting because they have the latest information about what's happening in the world and also because it does not take a lot of time to read them. Magazines also have more exciting stuff to read.

When I'm travelling, I do take a book with me, especially if I am going somewhere far.

One of my favourite collections is Harry Potter. I have read the first four parts but after that I used to like watching the movies as I found it more interesting and also because it doesn't take a lot of time to find what happens at the end.

One of the books I read for school this summer is Black Like Me and I found that very interesting. I read this book in three days as I was very keen on knowing about the story. This gave me a reflection of the world where people were not treated equally. This is the first history related and also non-fiction book that I have read. This made me more interested in the subject of history.

I have always wanted to read The Lord of the Rings but I have never gotten a chance to read it as the book has a lot of pages and I find that I won't be able to finish it. I usually do not buy book that are very big in size because I find it hard to read them and I don't want them to be sitting in the shelf and not being used.

I got a library card last year but I usually don't get time to borrow books because of the school homework but in the summer I do go to the library to get some books so I can pass some time.

Last year when the class had to read Touching Spirit Bear, I only read the pages that had answers to my assignment or question sheet because there was a lot to read and a lot of assignments on that book so I wanted to finish it as fast as I possible but I did understand the story. If I don't find certain parts of the book interesting, I would skim the boring parts and get to the next chapter.

So far, my experience as a reader has been going well and for me, reading books is a good way to pass some time. Books are also good to gain some knowledge because a lot of stories have lessons in them, which makes it more interesting.

I believe that I first began to read at home when I was five years old. The

thing that really got me interested and wanting to read was quite unusual. I started

reading because I wanted to know what my Pokémon cards said. I didn't really play

with Barbies, so this seemed to be the next best thing. I used to spend all of my time

sounding out the names, and eventually I could read them all.

I usually read because I need something to do or because I've been

recommended a book. I like to read fiction and sci-fi because I like to use my

imagination to create the new worlds and creatures. I find that non-fiction books are

a bit boring, because you don't get to do that. I also read some magazines if I don't

have any books on the go at the moment.

I never cheat when I'm reading a book. I just don't see the point. You're going

to get to that part eventually, so why not just find out what happens when you're

supposed to? I know a few people who cheat, and I'm trying to break them of

that habit.

The only time I re-read my books is if I don't have anything to do, and they

have to be comics or graphic novels. I find that a normal book takes too much time,

and you already know the ending, so why bother? The thing I like about graphic

novels is that they don't take too long to read, and they don't take too much

brainpower. I also like that no matter what title you choose, it will almost always be

a sci-fi book. That's sort of what got me started on them. My cousin was a huge

influence too, and gave me lots of great books that I seem to have read about one-

million times.

I tend to start books but not finish them. This has always been the case, and

probably always will. I started Breaking Dawn, got halfway through, and put it

down, probably making me the only girl on the planet to not finish the Twilight

series. I also started The Half-Blood Prince, and put it down. It's still sitting on my

bedside table, and I intend to read it, but I haven't for months. Some of the books I

really like, too. But if I don't read a bit every day, then I tend to not finish it. So right

now, I guess you could say I have about five books on the go.

I must own a million books. I have a huge bookshelf in my room, and I'm

starting to have a hard time trying to find space to put new ones. There's everything

from Junie B. Jones to Harry Potter. I also subscribe to a magazine called The

Magazine, and have about 20 issues of it.

I have a library card for the library in Fergus. I hardy ever use it though,

because I like to buy books instead. That way, if I ever need to do a report like this, I

can easily list off some of the books on my shelf, instead of having to remember all of

the books that I took out of the library.

Some of the greatest books I've read are graphic novels. My favorite series

would have to be The Umbrella Academy by Gerard Way. One day, at exactly 9:38

PM, forty-three children were born to women who had had no signs of being

pregnant. A certain Sir. Reginald Hargreeves then adopted as many of these children

as he could possibly find, giving him 7 new minions. Spaceboy, number one, a part

ape, part man hybrid; Kraken, number two, who has the ability to breathe under

water; Rumor, number three, if she says anything, then it becomes true; Séance,

number four, who is able to communicate with the dead and fly; Number five, able

to venture through time, into the future and into the past; Number six, part human

part squid; And Vanya, number seven, with no powers at all, apart from being able to

play the violin. When Mr. Hargreeves is asked why he adopted so many of the

children, he simply responded; "To save the world". They were really great books,

although hard to follow at times.

I hope you enjoyed reading about my career as a reader as much as I enjoyed

the memories this report brought back.

As is well known, books teach us to learn life, truth, science and many other useful things.

.In other words, they are our best teachers and wisest friends. This is the reason why our parents always encourage us to read more books.

When I was two years old, I can't really say complete sentence. At that time, my mom always read different type of books for me, through the every story to educate us. But, I was real begin to read at Grade 1. At that age, I think most children like to read children's books, like Snow White、Cinderella. Sometimes sitting on the grass to read, the reading is not called reading, as watching cartoons on television, and read book only interested the illustrations.

When I can know some words I often sat on the sofa reading. If this book appealing to me, I will forget to eat. Now I like to read fashion magazine or the pursuit of entertainment gossip, but I never spend a lot of time to see, just read at the way to travel.

In fact I do not like reading. At first, I thinking reading is a waste of a lot of time, no extra time will allow me to do more interesting things. However, I gradually came to love reading, because I feel different types of books give me a different feeling, gives me a different inspirations. I an not particularly careful every words, On general, I like skim the boring bits, if I see the pieces I particularly like, I will to read several times. Whenever I love a book, I also spotted several time and to feel. Even when in a dream i am the characters in that book.. I think I have a good habit to read books, I never see end of the book first, because I think the process is the most important in every book.

Now I was in puberty, do not know what is love, will often see that a book about romantic love story, want be the hero and heroine in a book, sometime I see the plot of the book will be cry. In China, Many Chinese girl like to see that type of book, we always chat that after-school or on MSN, but the Chinese teachers not allow us to read, they think we will not make a good studying. Then we are just reading that once a month..

I remember, there was time I love to read ghost stories and suspense novels. I like to see the kind of terrible stories, and can't sleep at night. I always sitting under the table to read, if the stories scared me, I will hide in the bedroom. I also wrote ghost stories in my blog, my friends say I wrote the stories terrible than others. Now, I have at least 30 horror book and suspense book. But, just read that one time.

 I like reading, but I never been to the library, and I never got a library card, I don't like borrow from library. I would like to buy it, then to read. I think that I will have a sense of pride, the knowledge on the book will become my own. My friend always said I would be a waste of money to buy such a book, but I think I pay money to buy the book and to collection is the good idea.

In China, we believe " Have oneself in the book the gold room, have oneself in the book YanRuYu". Anyway, read more books is a such a good thing, can improve a person's temperament and content, I was so longing.       

I don't really have a clear recollection of the exact moment I began to read. But I do remember a set of books my dad read to me when I was little. I then started to read little comics such as Garfield, captain underpants, and many others, which were easy to read.

            I did really enjoy reading for a long period of time. My dad then told me I had to start reading proper books because I was getting ready for school. When the books had no pictures and words that were beyond my 5 year old vocabulary, I began to dislike reading. In grade three the reading tests began. They were basically tests to see how high your reading level was. For example a teacher would snatch you out of the class for a second and make you read a chapter. After that they would give you your reading level. This I disliked very much. Every now and then a book would come up that would intrigue me. A book our teacher read to us in grade three "Gregor the over Lander" was a book I did really enjoy.

Looking back at it today and the book with the size one billion font was unbelievable. I can't believe I used to read books with such large letters. During grade five I encountered my first book, which appeared to be huge to me at that time. The teacher said it was normal for us to be reading books at this level. I really did not want to read it because of the size of the book. The book was called "The Giver".  I found that I really did enjoy the book. It ended up being one of my favorite books of all time. This was the time that I started to pick up on reading.

            The thing that pleases me most about reading is finally getting to the end. Now this may make it seem as if I wanted to get it over with. But for some odd reason I just like pushing through to the end. So in this case I do read quite quickly. I never read before bed, I just can't focus. Normally I read around noon. My favorite spot is on a couch in the front of my house. The sun shines directly onto the couch through these big windows, which stare out onto a field. I find I do enjoy reading the most while in the sun. Whenever I'm in the sun I find I will read for hours on end. It makes me much more into the book.

I am not always reading, I will go periods of time without reading a book. But then I will find one I like. I will read it within the time span of a week. There are lots of books I have read and a great many I have enjoyed. But there are about three that I would have to list as my all time favorites. The first one is a book called "The Giver" it was about a city that was trying to create a utopian society. To do this they remove all differences and make it so that everyone is the same. The main thing they remove is colour. There is one person called the receiver. The receiver would keep all the knowledge of the previous world in his mind. He was the only one who knew this. Then one day he takes the main character as an apprentice. Which then turns him into the giver and all his knowledge is transferred to the main character. This takes a long period of time. The main character slowly starts to learn about the outside world. He then escapes because he wants to see the outside world. He is almost dead when he sees a sled on a snowy hill, which he saw in his dreams. (Which the giver sent to him) He then falls onto the sled and slides down the hill. He then sees light, but they have colour. A Christmas tree, but with colour. That is how the book ends. The ending kind of disappointed me but this was really my first favorite book.

My second favorite book was called "The Book Thief". It is about a girl's family who is German. (This all takes place during World War 2) They live in Berlin and an escaped Jewish person appears at their doorstep. They then decide to hide him in the basement. It proves more challenging as time goes on. The searches get more detailed. They eventually get caught and they try to escape but the girl's parent's die. The Jewish man escapes to safety. In the ending a bomb drops on Berlin and ends the girl's life. This book I found quite sad.

My third favorite book is called "I am the Messenger" it is by the same author as "The book thief" Markus Zusak. It is about a man who has a crappy job. He is a taxi driver and he gets a note in his mailbox. The note tells him to deliver. It only says that he must deliver a message, and the only other thing that is in the package is a gun.  He then struggles with what to do with it. Later two random guys beat him senseless. He then receives another note telling him to deliver or else. He then goes to the person of interest and holds the gun up but he can't do it so he just shoots around the victim. He then receives a note on how the person he shot at changed. And how he was a better person and was living every day of his life to the fullest. He then realizes what he is doing. And why it is good.

These were my three all time favorites and I will probably have many more to come. I find I read to enjoy, relax and to have fun. It helps me get away when I need to. I'm sure I will have many more journeys to come.

I haven't the foggiest idea of when I began to read, but I'm sure it was before I was in SK. Before that I troubled my father every night before bed to read me a quick Berenstein Bears story, my favorite book. I did this so I could go to bed a bit later and also because I really liked those books. By the time I was in grade one I'm sure I read almost all the Berenstein Bear books out there and all the Dr. Seuss ones too. The Dr. Seuss books really amused me; I thought he was a very funny poet.

Whenever I decide to read I read at night on my couch in my living room under a bright lamp or I go outside on a warm day with a light breeze by my pool, sit under the sun and read. I find it easier to read like this because there are no distractions and I can be alone and really connect with my book.

                             The books I most enjoy are books that are non-fiction; this is because I find it is easy to relate to. To be more specific I like non-fiction books that are filled with action or are full of facts. When I was younger I liked the fiction books like Berenstein bears, Midas touch to books about dinosaurs. When I became a bit older, about 4 or 5, I liked books about science and the solar system and also books about skateboarding.

                             My favorite book so far that I have read was The Outsiders. I found this book quite interesting because the author was a girl who turned an essay into a book and got it published.

                             I am a single reader because I find it difficult to remember what has gone on in the book if I'm reading more than one.

                              I'm not too big on reading, but when I find a book I really enjoy I'll read it about 5 times, over and over again. This has only happened 3 times and the books where: the outsiders, magic skates, and to kill a mocking bird.

                             I learn a lot of information by reading books, whether its textbooks or non-fiction books. Learning math, science, geography etc. I'm reading a textbook to learn. I also learned lots from books like To Kill A Mockingbird which it takes place during the depression.

I have a library card to the KPL library, which is very convenient because it is not far from my house; in fact it's within walking distance. When I was younger I'd go there a lot with my dad to borrow books. That's when I was a big fan of Dr. Seuss and Robert Munch. I haven't used my library card for quite some time now.

What I like to do is, if there is a movie about a good book I have read I see the movie after and compare the stories to see the similarities and differences between the movie and the book. Most of the time I like the movie better then the book but that's because I can see what happens.

                  I don't like reading books that are really short but I also don't like reading books that are about 300 pages or more so it doesn't bore me. I manly like books that are in the 200-page range.

                  When I was in grade three my favorite book series was Goosebumps. I'm not sure why I liked it so much but I think it's because it was interesting and it scared me. There were two books of the Goosebumps series that I would never read because they seemed too real to me. They were about dolls or stuffed animals coming to life and attacking people(I know this because I read the back of the book). I was so scared of it that I threw it in someone's garbage bin during garbage day so it wouldn't come back to me if I threw it out in my garbage bin. By the end of the faze of liking that series so much I had about 30-40 books of the Goosebumps.

                  Over my lifetime I have read many books of the following genres: thriller, murder mystery, ghost, fiction, and non fiction.  I have boxes full of books in my closets.

            The reason I read is so that whenever I need to read in class I can read smoothly and not choppy. I also read because I like learning about history or a certain subject and leaning new words. The more I read the easier it is to read the next book.

            These are all the reasons why I like to read, where I like to read, what I read, and the books I like to read.

My love of reading started from a very young age. When I was just a baby, my parents would read to me. They later introduced me to children's books by Robert Munsch and the series called Jillian Jigs. I loved them. At first, I didn't really read them of course! I just flipped through the pages and looked at the pretty pictures instead. I would learn the words from memory and pretend to read by myself. I would read them over and over again. I even read them to my stuffed animals and dolls, like how my parents read to me! Of course, later I read them truly on my own and I still have many of those first books today. As time went by, I couldn't get enough of reading. I started reading all genres of books and wasn't sure which ones I liked more. They were all so interesting! However,  now as 9th grader, I must say that fantasy fiction books would have to be my favourite, especially ones that are about animals and mythology. I am an animal lover (always have been, always will be) and I find mythology very interesting, especially the similarities and differences between different cultures, like the Egyptians to the Greeks to the Norse.

I find that reading is not only a very fun thing to do, but something that can help me relieve my stress from my life and help me relax. Usually when school is giving me heck because I have so much I have to attend to, I take my book outside or downstairs (somewhere other than my room) and read there for about half an hour. After that, my mind is clear and I'm able to finish the things I need to do without being overwhelmed.

Over the years my style of reading has changed. When I was younger, not only was I more impatient when it came to reading but I was somehow able to read many novels at the same time. I would often check to see how many pages/chapters there were and while checking, I would manage to catch a few snippets that would totally give away an important part of the plot. If this happened, I would then wonder how the plot lead up to this certain part and read on. Spoilers don't irritate me as much as some people. After finishing a chapter, I would then switch books. However, as I grew and the books I chose were more detailed and involved, I found I was only to read one at a time. I do, however, still keep a stack of books I want to read beside my bed waiting for when I am finished my current read!

Its very hard to choose favourites since most books I have read are fairly good and hard to compare to others. Some of my childhood favourites were the Geronimo Stillton books. I kept rereading them well up to Grade 7 and heck, even if people call me childish, I still love them now!! A book I have read recently that I really liked is a book called Beastly. It is a mordernized version of the fairytale of Beauty and the Beast where an arrogant teenager named Kyle is turned into a beast when he cruelly makes fun of a witch in disguise. He has two years to make a girl fall in love with him and if he doesn't, he will remain as a beast forever. Not only was the fairytale a favourite of mine, but the overall characters and plot are so great that I can't help but reread the book just so I can see the interactions and feelings in the story. It's also very interesting to see the change in the main character from a handsome but shallow teenager, to a sullen and ugly beast, to an overall kinder person. You can really feel for him sometimes, no matter how arrogant he was ,and I think that makes him a very good character. Right at this very moment, I'm enjoying the I Am Number Four and the Evil Genius series. I Am Number Four tells the story of a boy named John who is an alien who landed with five others to train on Earth so they can save their planet from the Mogadrions. However, three of the nine have already been killed and it's up to the others to unite and fight the enemy before it is too late. Evil Genius is a tale about a teenage boy by the name of Cadel who is blessed with a super intelligence but has neglectful parents. He is then raised by a mysterious man named Thaddeus Roth. He is taught some of the harsher ways to look at the world. He is then turned into a cruel genius once he's enrolled at the Axis Institute for World Domination. However, he soon realizes there is more to his teacher and his life than it seems. This series is a very good read if you're looking for something different. I highly recommend it.

Growing up with a family that highly encouraged reading was not the only thing that has increased my love for reading. At my public school, my teachers would often read to us, encourage us to visit the library daily and let us have free reading time often. My Grade One teacher, Mrs. Guckenburger, was the main teacher that did this. She was nice, patient and loved her job. She made reading fun by acting out the books or dressing up. She was there to support my reading and would often help me with problems I had. I still remember her now and I often think of her when I'm reading certain books.

As you can see, it is very obvious that I love to read and I just love books in general. I have gone through many stages in my life and not only has reading improved my life, but it has improved me. I don't know who I would be if I never learned to like reading since it is a huge part of my character. I'm very grateful for the support I've had over the years and because of that, I will continue being the bookworm I am to the day I die.

Logan Carragher

Mr. Newman

ENG1D

Sep/23/11

My Journey Through the Universe of Books

I have to say, reading is one of my favourite things to do. It always helps me to relax after a long hard day by transporting me into a completely different world. It so exhilarating to be fighting against Darth Vader or alongside Percy Jackson as he battles his way to save Olympus. Even casting the most basic spells with Harry Potter is so much fun.

My parents started reading to me when I was about two. Of course I can't remember any of it, but it must have been stories like Mr. Brown. I started to read on my own in grade one, when I was about seven. I was very proud when I finally read an entire novel on my own when I was eleven. The novel was called "Gobbolino the Witch's Cat"; it was about a witch's cat that had white paws and blue eyes, not a normal witch's cat. He was cast away by his witch and sent to learn how a normal witch's cat should act. The book is about how Gobbolino tries to fit in with the other normal house cats and what happens when he returns to his witch.

I always read on the way to school, and after all my homework is done. My Dad still reads to us before bed and sometimes in the mornings on the weekend. I'll read anywhere I can if it is relatively quiet. Over the years I have covered every type of literature, though I generally read history-fiction and Sci-Fi novels. I always read from the beginning of the book and never read the end then start from the beginning, because I'd lose interest in the book if I did.

I think I have only ever had two books on the go at the same time and never any more, though I don't enjoy reading two books at the same time because I get the two mixed up with each other. I have never reread a book; I don't really like reading a book if I already know what happens in the end. I've read a lot of novels, comics and magazines and a few that a really liked were the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, the Harry Potter series and the Bleach manga series. I have a library card though I don't use it that much. I only use it to take out research books from the library.

My very first teacher I had always read to us before recess. His name was Mr. Dairy. He would usually read Dr. Doolittle to the class. I loved that story. I loved the push me pull you I loved Dr. Doolittle's adventures and I loved the way that Mr. Dairy read to us. He seemed to be able to make each and every one of us a character in the story. He had a way of pausing at a cliff-hanger, we'd all be at the edge of our seats listening and waiting for him to continue. He would then close the book and say that it was time for recess. We'd all cry out for him to read on and he would, he always would. He had to leave in grade four because he needed to look after his two new kids. We were all sad when Mr. Dairy left and I have never had a teacher read with his skill or a teacher that made reading a fantastical art.

I learned a lot from him reading to us. I learned respect for the others in my class and strangers on the streets. I learned that I should be grateful for everything I am given and to not exclude others because of their appearance. Mr. Dairy had a way with books that he didn't need to find a specific book to teach us these lessons. Even just reading out the bad guy's line made me feel that I really didn't want to be that person, but to be a better person than them and to not harm anyone. I would love to hear him read to me one more time.

I think Dr. Doolittle is one of the few books that have a significant place in my heart that should be mentioned. It brings back the memory of Mr. Dairy reading to us; the memory of him reading about Dr. Doolittle's fantastical assortment of animals and all his amazing adventures.

I have way too many books. They range from fiction to history and from manga magazines to Wild magazines. Most of these books are fantasy and sci-fi novels, but some are true stories and myths. The magazines that I have are Wild magazines, Airliner World magazines and Shonen Jump magazines.

I think there's one book that I'll never get to reading or I won't be able to read it for a long time. It's called The Restaurant at the End of the Universe; it's the second book in the Hitchhiker's Gide to the Galaxy trilogy of five. I've read the first book but it's taking me so much time to go out and buy it. I think I may go out and get some time in my seemingly far off future but you never know, I may get it sooner. As my journey through the universe of books continues, I'll try to read it and get my old teacher to read to me one more time.