Laura Riemensnider’s Blog Post: 1 Regie Routman Reading Essentials Chapter 3 Share your Reading Life

Laura Riemensnider’s Blog Post: 1 Regie Routman Reading Essentials Chapter 3   Share your Reading Life

The first sentence of this chapter is a very powerful one. Regie Routman says, “When I introduce myself to a new group of students, I always talk about myself as a reader.” So this inspired me to tell you a little bit about myself as a reader. I will do so using the suggestions of things you should share with your students that Routman gives throughout the chapter.

“Share your reading habits & Share your passion for reading”

My favorite place to read is on my patio on a somewhat cool Saturday or Sunday morning before the rest of the world comes out of their homes. I’ll wake just a few minutes past my usual workday time, just enough to claim “sleeping in”. I’ll carefully sit a warm cup of “Jamaican Me Crazy” coffee on a nearby stone wall in the mug that sports the cast of the Andy Griffith Show or the one that was a Christmas gift emblazoned with pictures of my niece. My favorite reading buddy always accompanies me to our little spot. Frank sniffs the air and studies the birds while I flip the pages sinking into a magazine article of a long forgotten drive-in or newest bluegrass festival somewhere in Eastern North Carolina. If a dog could be called a southern gentleman, he would surely earn the title. Loyal and quiet, he lays just feet away, only glancing in my direction when a humorous article or deep memoir elicits a verbal response from my lips.  It is a most peaceful time.  I can usually read this way for about 30 minutes to an hour before the traffic picks up on the main road behind my house and the neighbors begin the weekend rituals of yard work or visiting.

“Discuss the importance and pleasure of having a personal library”

My personal library now sits in parts. My books are scattered between my home, office, and childhood playroom. As much as I love my copy of Arnold Lobel’s Small Pig and my giant stack of Berenstein Bear books, I love them even more in the hands of my dear niece. We find ourselves reading book upon book on summer days back at my parents’ home. Upstairs in my guest room stand two very solid bookshelves that hold my current favorites and inside the cabinets at school, my professional books are waiting for the next time I need a snippet of golden information.

“Let students know what you are reading and what you will read next & Talk about favorite authors and favorite books”

I am currently reading every Simone St. James gothic mystery she can publish.  She is a relatively new Canadian author, currently writing her fifth book. The books are dark and sweet at the same time. They are set in the 1920’s with a ghost or two, and always a little romance.  I get lost in her words and when each book is done I feel a little sad that I have to mentally leave that era and come back to this one.                                           

Almost every weekend I choose an old issue of Our State Magazine to read.  This magazine chocked full of wonderful memoirs, travel accounts, articles on current places and people from the State of North Carolina. Because both sides of my family live in North Carolina, I have traveled to many beautiful and interesting places across the state. Reading this magazine brings back memories.   

The next books I plan to read are the two that Nick Offerman has published. I am waiting patiently for them to come in on hold at the public library. Offerman is a comedian from the show, “30 Rock” and both these books are said to reflect the voice of the character he played on the show. I was a fan of the show, so this led me to become interested in his books.

“Explain how you choose books to read”

               My friends and family help to influence the books I choose. My friend, John, suggested the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency book series by Alexander McCall Smith. I read a total of six before pausing to read anything else. It is an excellent series. I try to give every recommendation that I’m given, by someone who knows me well, a chance. I have rarely been disappointed.

In all my years of teaching I haven’t had this type of inspiration to reflect upon how important it is to share my reading life at such a deep level with my students. I had found it helpful that the kids knew I loved reading, but this level of sharing opens up so much more! This will connect us as readers. I can really envision this creating a love, not just for books or favorite books, but about reading and having a reading life! This chapter was full of wonderful, easy, suggestions of how to share your reading life with your students. I learned several practical ways to share by looking over the sections marked, “Try it Apply it.” I am going to try the idea about making time for kids to “sell” books to peers with the small group that I will be meeting with each week. This will be more powerful than just having the student tell whether they think someone else would like it or not. I will encourage them to bring a beloved book or pick a favorite from the classroom collection to recommend to the group. This will be about enthusiasm and the love of books that mean something to us. We will all share a bit of our reading lives!