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This book is a very good overview of the research available in the area of reading for pleasure. The organization of the book is very good looking at history of reading and what we know from the research. This is followed by specific chapters focusing on what is known about children, about young adults, and about adults. In addition, the book contains small sections at the end of the chapters for what can libraries do to apply the lessons of the chapter. This is very useful and practical advice. Also, there are small segments, in gray boxes, that look at small case studies or other interesting details. A reader can easily read the whole book, or he can choose to browse the parts of interest. Some of the material I read here I had seen in other books about reading I have read. The strength of this book is not so much on novelty, though there are some new things, but on the excellent synthesis of various sources. The book is well written; it is engaging, and it makes some very good points about the need and desire of reading for pleasure. I think that librarians and educators alike should be reading it as well as anyone with an interest in reading.

Finally, as a small exercise for myself, this is a partial list of books mentioned in Reading Matters that I have read. By the way, the book provides a convenient title index in the back, which made it easy for me to go back and have a look. The list then:

*Janice Radway, A Feeling for Books: The Book-of-the-Month Club, Literary Taste, and Middle Class Desire. I don't quite recall when I read it, but it was a few years ago. It is not listed here in GR.

* Diana Herald, Genreflecting: A Guide to Reading Interests in Genre Fiction,. I read it in library school, and I still consult it on occasion. I keep my copy in my office. One of these days I have to list it here on GR.

*Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading. I read this one years ago, so it is not listed in GR. I have to reread it one of these days.

*Jim Burke, I Hear America Reading: Why We Read, What We Read,/i>. This one is listed in my GR list.

*Jonathan Kozol, Illiterate America. This book came out in 1985. I remember being very moved by it when I read it during my undergraduate days. Since it was so long ago, it is not listed in GR.

*Robert Burgin, Nonfiction Readers' Advisory. This one is I have listed on my GR list.

*Harold Rabinowitz, A Passion for Books. This one, a favorite of mine, is also listed in my GR list.

*Joyce G Saricks, The Readers' Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction. I read this in library school for my RA classes. Not listed in GR. I also read her Readers' Advisory Service in the Public Library for the same classes.

*Dilevko and Gottlieb, Reading and the Reference Librarian: The Importance to Library Service of Staff Reading Habits. This one is listed in my GR list. It makes an excellent point on the need for librarians and library staff to actually read (yes, believe it or not, a lot of my brethren do not read outside what little they may need professionally).

*Azar Nafisi, Reading Lolita in Tehran. I do not have this one listed in my GR page, but if I did, it would be on the "dropped" shelf. I simply could not get into this book, which I found pompous and pretentious at times. But hey, if it is your cup of tea, go for it. Remember the old adage: never apologize for your reading tastes. This book was simply not within my reading tastes.

*Sara Nelson, So Many Books, So Little Time. I have it listed on my GR. However, it was not a particularly good book in my estimation.

* Harold Bloom, The Western Canon. Read this in graduate school. Not listed in GR.





… (mere)
 
Markeret
bloodravenlib | 2 andre anmeldelser | Aug 17, 2020 |
These short essays were fun to zoom through. Even though Catherine Sheldrick Ross encourages readers to enjoy these essays in any order they choose, I read the book straight through. It started out a little slow, but my interest grew as I continued to read.

Ross draws on her professional, scholarly interest in the habits of avid readers and her hundreds of in-depth interviews with such readers. This rich source of information provides many insights into how readers select books, view different genres, and think of their own reading identities. I particularly enjoyed Ross’s profiles of different genres (e.g., Horror, Romance Fiction), and examinations of how readers use book jackets, titles, and more to choose their next books. Most importantly, the essays sparked my interest in many different topics. Now I have a list of related books and reading blogs to dive into.

Recommended for: book lovers and readers’ advisors looking for a quick, fun read.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
AlaynaFisher | 1 anden anmeldelse | May 25, 2015 |
This book is clearly set up for a pleasure seeking reader. It allows for the reader to pick and choose something to be read with abandon. For instance, there are chapters on "bad reading" and on "unreadable books." Who wouldn't find these areas of interest to them in their reading quest for information? Research based information abounds in this tome, but above all it is a "fun" read itself. Genre literature is explored and considered with information on why certain "kinds" of books appeal and others don't. Excellent index and the table of contents is quite useful, backwards or forwards. Highly recommended.… (mere)
 
Markeret
BettyM | 1 anden anmeldelse | Sep 2, 2014 |
This book is incredibly interesting, very fun, and full of suggested activities that real people can do (unlike many books with experiments or crafts for “kids”).

Jim and I both love this book, but I suspect we are not the intended audience, which would be kids a bit younger than we are. We have also found that kids sometimes resist reading about “educational” topics in their time at home rather than school.

But this author makes sure to include plenty of fun facts that will pique the interest even of kids who claim to be not so wild about math. For example, in the chapter on triangles, you can read about the Bermuda Triangle. In a chapter on building with triangles, you learn how a computer science professor (who worked on the movie "Star Trek"), helped design a giant (31 feet high) Ukrainian Easter Egg for the Royal Candian Mounted Police in 1974. The book explains why the author chose the triangle shape for the tiles making up the egg, and why this egg was more enduring than Humpty Dumpty.

In the chapter on squares, you learn about mazes, and how one maze in the abbey of St. Bertin at Saint-Omer in France was so fun, the church had to destroy it. The noise of all the people in the maze was distracting during services (and no doubt interfering with attendance as well). And the information on circles is replete with entertaining facts, such as how the artist Giotto - using only a simple circle, convinced Pope Benedict XI to let him decorate the first St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome. The authors also share theories about the Stonehenge stone circles in England. In the part on cubes, famous buildings are shown that used cubes as a basis for their architecture, and in the one on cylinders, you learn why castles were built with cylindrical towers.

Along the way, you will learn math information too, of course, such as about the Pythagorean theorem, how Thales figured out the height of the Great Pyramid (and how to build your own), and all about Fibonacci numbers.

And there are projects galore, from making paper airplanes, kites, tops, and pinwheels, to making a model of a railway truss (the bridges built for trains to span rivers and gorges), to creating your own kaleidoscope, and of course, instructions for making your own Moebius strip. Some of the activities are tricks and/or games you can try on your friends and family.

The colorful and whimsical illustrations by Bill Slavin enhance the appeal of the text immeasurably.

At the end of the book, there are answers to quizzes posed earlier, a list of simple formulas, a glossary, and an excellent index.

Evaluation: This is a fabulous book. The 9-year-old girl and 11-year-old boy in our kid test group loved it as much as we did.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
nbmars | 1 anden anmeldelse | Aug 23, 2014 |

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Værker
12
Medlemmer
422
Popularitet
#57,804
Vurdering
3.9
Anmeldelser
9
ISBN
32
Sprog
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