What books got you into reading?
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mike_dee23
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:41 am    Post subject: What books got you into reading?

So, as many of you guys know, I'm a teacher. I've been reading some material that says that people who read just to read are actually smarter (surprise!) than people who don't read... So I've decided to give my students 15 minutes of silent sustained reading at the end of every English class... I want to stock up my library with books that they might like. I teach Freshmen... recommendations?

I think graphic novels are pretty awesome too and can help students tons.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 11:29 am    Post subject:

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What books got you into reading?


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Quote:
I thing graphic novels are pretty awesome too and can help students tons.



My high school library was stocked with comic books. Most of us couldn't read past the third grade level; most words with more than three syllables had to be sounded out. I look back at those years as a waste; it was like Del Harris coaching your frontal lobe; whatever talent lay resident, it was wasted.

I don't have the answer. You'll need multiple books, each expressing a different idea or level of development. The students should try them on for size, much like a hat (metaphor borrowed from JD Salinger).
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REPPIN 818
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:49 pm    Post subject:

Kite Runner any freshman would like that
Harry Potter obviously
Life of Pi was pretty cool
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LALdynasty!
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 9:04 pm    Post subject:

The book Tortilla Curtain was really good. I read that a couple years ago. My sophomore year I think.
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 10:33 pm    Post subject: Re: What books got you into reading?

mike_dee23 wrote:
So, as many of you guys know, I'm a teacher. I've been reading some material that says that people who read just to read are actually smarter (surprise!) than people who don't read... So I've decided to give my students 15 minutes of silent sustained reading at the end of every English class... I want to stock up my library with books that they might like. I teach Freshmen... recommendations?


Harry Potter
Watership Down
Catcher in the Rye
To Kill a Mockingbird
Nightshift (Stephen King short stories)
Tiger Eyes (Judy Blume)
The Outsiders
The Pigman
A Wrinkle in Time
The Triple Post Offense by Tex Winter

maybe even some mysteries that get them hooked...
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:49 am    Post subject:

^Good idea, mystery's are appealing to us
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Bigguy
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:28 am    Post subject:

I've read all sorts of good books through school but the one that made me want to read more was The Hobbit. Then I read the the LOTR trilogy and it's taken off from there.
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dna.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 6:50 am    Post subject:

Books that really got me into it when I was younger were the BELGARIAD series by David Eddings. Awesome set of books. Once I read Pawn of Prophecy I was hooked.

I still am a sucker for that fantasy stuff... magic, warriors, kings, Gods, etc...
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Omar Little
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:39 am    Post subject:

dna. wrote:
Books that really got me into it when I was younger were the BELGARIAD series by David Eddings. Awesome set of books. Once I read Pawn of Prophecy I was hooked.

I still am a sucker for that fantasy stuff... magic, warriors, kings, Gods, etc...


Good choice, although the Lord of the Rings is still tops in the category. A lot of kids have seen the movies, but a lot of them probably have not read The Hobbit, to see how it began...
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dna.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:45 am    Post subject:

^ yeah somehow I hadn't heard of Lord of the Rings at the time... I think I did hear of The Hobbit, but IIRC there were some commercials for some show they made of it and it just didn't look appealing at all to me. So I never read it and didn't know anything about LOTR until much later in life, when the Peter Jackson movies came out. I remember thinking "oh THAT'S what that Hobbit book I heard about way back when was... I should have read that"

Now that I think of it, most people probably think of the Belgariad as the poor man's LOTR. But since I knew no other and it was new to me, it was awesome nonetheless. For people who like that genre, it's still a worthy read that I would recommend.
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mike_dee23
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 9:50 am    Post subject:

I will definitely bring in LOTRs... I have those and Chronicles of Narnia. Keep the recommendations coming.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:26 am    Post subject:

Im reading 3 right now...

-The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder by Vincent Bugliosi
-Generation of Swine by Hunter S. Thompson
-Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs by Chuck Klosterman
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Omar Little
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 11:35 am    Post subject:

George Carlin's "When will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops" is a great comedic read filled with lots of good critical thinking material, perfect for young readers...
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DancingBarry
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 12:38 pm    Post subject:

mike_dee23 wrote:
I will definitely bring in LOTRs... I have those and Chronicles of Narnia. Keep the recommendations coming.


A lot of these you can probably get cheap at a used bookstore.
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Shockerx8
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 1:02 pm    Post subject:

books i got into reading was at a young age, Goose Bumps loved those stories first one was about the evil halloween mask forgot the name of it, but as i got older i got into more horror mysteries.
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Teamof2000
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 2:47 pm    Post subject:

The Power of One. Read it when I was a freshman in HS, and became an instant favorite. One of my fav books of all time.
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REPPIN 818
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PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:42 pm    Post subject:

Also a tip bring in shorter books since they generally are easier to pick up and start reading as opposed to a long book which would cause someone to mess around during the 15 minutes.
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frack24
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:30 pm    Post subject:

awesome thread. im a teacher too. elementary school though. and just moved out here to cali and trying to find a job is murderous. anyway. the book that really really made me want to read and keep reading was read in 5th grade. The Giver by Lowis Lowry. I think it won a caldecott. Anyways it was so awesome to me back then, and I still pick it up and read it every few years now that I'm older.
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:49 pm    Post subject:

BillyBud
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Exick
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:20 pm    Post subject:

Some of these are a little young for high school freshman, but these are the books I read as a kid that made me enjoy reading. None of it would be considered great literature, but that's not really the point.

All those crappy Choose Your Own Adventure books
Hardy Boys
Judy Blume's stuff
Shel Silverstein's stuff
Sideways Stories from Wayside School
Stephen King
The Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy
The Hobbit
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:17 am    Post subject:

Exick wrote:

The Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy


Totally forgot about those. I used to read those all the time.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:39 am    Post subject:

"The Beach" by Alex Garland inspired me to travel overseas.

"Shantaram" by Gregory David Roberts is the best novel I've ever read. It's perfect in every sense of the word. It has inspired me in so many ways. I've also corresponded with the author by e-mail. I plan on visiting India within the next two years. (Also, they're making a movie out of the novel. It will star Johnny Depp as the main character. Brad Pitt and Russell Crowe are co-producers of the film. Mira Nair will direct it.)

"The Alchemist" by Paul Coelho is also amazing. Very short but also very inspirational.
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davidse
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 6:47 am    Post subject:

as a kid, the strongest reading experience i recall was "le miserables" (excuse my spelling - a hebrew speaker trying to write french in english...lol) - by victor hugo.

in addition to the human drama, i also think it exposes readers to some europian history and culture that provide the surroundings for the story.
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Ko8e8ryant
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 9:10 am    Post subject:

Im reading Siddhartha right now
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 03, 2008 12:10 pm    Post subject:

Ko8e8ryant wrote:
Im reading Siddhartha right now


Please don't bring this into your class. We had to read this over the summer prior to starting our freshman year. When school finally started, I don't think there was one kid who actually liked it.
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