Reading Interviews

I interviewed 3 individuals from totally different walks of life in order to present a little variety.

The first person I interviewed was my husband. He is the "perpetual student"(working on a second masters degree online), he is a Fire District employee, and he teaches two online fire-related courses. He has very little time to read for pleasure these days. However, when he does find a snippet of time, he enjoys reading biographies and autobiographies of recent and historical political figures. He has read numerous fiction novels by Louis L'amour and, like me, has a zest for the past and a fascination with the Old West. I have very little interest in the lives of political figures and Louis L'amour's writings do not thrill me. I find that there are too many characters introduced in these novels early on and I have difficulty keeping track of all of them. Plus, I find that the stories are all pretty much the same idea...very predictable.

I also interviewed a co-worker who is a middle school language teacher. She enjoys reading the "classics." She is currently dividing her time between the likes of Lord of the Flies, Pride and Prejudice, and The Hounds of the Baskervilles.I would have to say that I enjoy similar reading and would be more likely to share her enthusiasm for the classics as well. Perhaps that is the tie that binds us as friends.

Next, I interviewed my son who is in 8th grade and is turning 13 on Sunday. He is an avid reader, so much so that I have actually had to place restrictions on his reading time (ie. at the dinner table, during chore time, etc.). He loves to read anything that he can get his hands on. He is currently reading the Harry Potter series for the 10th or 11th time. He has read the entire series of Lord of the Rings several times and I even turned him onto the Twilight series, despite his initial resistance. In his manly opinion they were "chick novels." He and I agree on some aspects of what is "good reading" and differ quite a bit regarding others. While he and I both enjoyed the Twilight series, I am not a huge fan of Harry Potter. Lord of the Rings is a much better read in my opinion. My son can typically lap me when we read the same books. His dad taught him a little speed reading at an early age. Needless to say, his vocabulary is quite advanced for a 12 year old.