Hi there,
I’m still wondering where 2019 went and we’re well into January 2020 already! A Belated Happy New Year!
For the first of the new decade interviews, I’m talking to Izzy, Joanna and Chrissie about their taste in reading.
Hello, girls. Lovely to talk to you today. I know you’re all avid readers though, Chrissie, you told me you weren’t always a keen reader, what influenced you?
Chrissie: I always thought of reading as something you had to do for school. Then one day last year, I had to meet my mum to go to the dentist. She was still at work when school finished, so we arranged to meet in the library. I had half an hour to wait and I was a bit bored, so I had a look around and I was surprised to find there was a really good Young Adult section.
To pass the time I looked through a few books. I was really into ‘The List’ by Siobhan Vivian when my mum arrived and she booked it out for me on her card. And that’s how I got into reading!
Trish: What about you, Izzy?
Izzy: I’ve always enjoyed reading; mainly for pleasure, though I read books for school subjects, too.
Joanna: Me, too! I’ve always loved reading. In fact, all my family does.
Trish: How many books do you read each week?
Izzy: About one a week.
Chrissie: Usually one or two a month.
Joanna: About one a week on average.
Trish: Do you prefer a short book or a longer one?
Izzy: I don’t really think about the length of a book. I am more concerned with the actual story and if it interests me or not.
Trish: What kind of books interest you?
Izzy: Any type at all. I like to try something new. I think there are more books for teenagers nowadays, which is really great.
Joanna: I enjoy fantasy books.
Chrissie: I go for books based on real-life and the problems young people find in everyday life. I think they can really help you with your problems, even if they are fiction.
Joanna: But, for me, reading is a way to escape from real-life problems!
Trish: Everyone can find something different in a book, can’t they? How do you find new books to read?
Izzy: Mainly, I look around the library, but sometimes my friends recommend books they think I would like. At our school book club, there are always lots of books recommended. We meet up every fortnight and talk about books we enjoy. I like to take a look at the books that are popular with the group.
Joanna: We have a book club in our school, too, for Years Seven and Eight. We are in groups of about four, and we meet up once a month and tell the other groups about the book we have read. Quite often I read the books other groups tell us about, if they sound interesting.
Chrissie: A book club sounds like a good idea. I'm going to talk to our English teacher about it!
Trish: What makes you pick up a book? Is it the cover, the blurb, the length of the book or something else?
Izzy: I read through the blurb and see if it sounds interesting. I look at the cover picture, too.
Joanna: Yes, I’m also influenced by the cover picture. I don’t like it if it looks babyish. If it looks good, then I'll read the blurb.
Chrissie: The cover and the blurb are important to me, too. And I probably won’t choose a book if the font is too small or too big.
Izzy: The font size doesn’t bother me.
Chrissie: Hmm, I think the font size can tell you a lot! If it’s too big, I think the book will be too young for me. If it’s too small, then it’s more likely to have longer and more complicated words. I don’t mind some difficult words, but not too many!
Trish: What do you do if you come across new words? Do you look them up or try to work them out from the context?
Joanna: You can’t keep looking up words or you lose the storyline. If I keep coming across the same unknown word, I’ll take a photo on my phone, then ask someone or Google it.
Trish: Why do you take a photo? Why not just jot it down?
Joanna: Then you have the rest of the sentence, in case there are several meanings.
Trish: I see, a good idea. Do you use dictionaries?
Chrissie: In school sometimes, but I prefer to Google words, it’s quicker.
Joanna: Me, too. We use Google in school as well as at home.
Trish: Well, thank you so much for talking to us today and telling us about the books you enjoy. Here are some of the books you recommend:
Chrissie: The List by Siobhan Vivian
Joanna: The Faerie Games by Michelle Madow
Izzy: The Fear Zone by K R Alexander
