Drawing upon data published in a variety of scholarly journals, monographs in education, cultural studies, media studies, and libraries and info... read full description
reviews
Jun 09, 2009
Angel
rated it: 
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.
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Aug 03, 2011
Christina
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Good nonfiction makes me a very annoying person. While reading this book, I forced pretty much everyone around me into conversations about their reading histories and habits. Sorry, friends.
But this was a seriously interesting read. It summarizes a wide range of studies done on reading throughout the life cycle, and made me think a lot about my own reading - why I read, how I choose books, my experiences with different genres, etc.
It also gave me the energy to set two More...
But this was a seriously interesting read. It summarizes a wide range of studies done on reading throughout the life cycle, and made me think a lot about my own reading - why I read, how I choose books, my experiences with different genres, etc.
It also gave me the energy to set two More...
Nov 16, 2008
Jen
rated it:
Reading a book about reading? How very meta.
As someone who has been reading from a very young age and hopes to become a teacher of literacy someday, I found this book to be a very satisfying survey on the state of reading in today's society. The authors organized this book very nicely in terms of reading habits at various stages of life (childhood, adolesence, adulthood), and gave particularly good insights for those of us who are teaching students to hopefully become life-long reade More...
As someone who has been reading from a very young age and hopes to become a teacher of literacy someday, I found this book to be a very satisfying survey on the state of reading in today's society. The authors organized this book very nicely in terms of reading habits at various stages of life (childhood, adolesence, adulthood), and gave particularly good insights for those of us who are teaching students to hopefully become life-long reade More...
Aug 12, 2007
Meagan
rated it:
This book is a great review of reading research, from the earliest studies of reading and theories of librarianship to the most current studies of appeal factors in popular fiction. The research covered in the book range from early literacy all the way to adult literacy, and citations for all the research are included for further study. The book is well written in an accessible style, and I found it not only very interesting and informative but also a compelling read. It's a great jumping-off
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Jan 21, 2012
Robin
rated it:
This truly interesting and readable book is one to buy and keep! To highlight and bring out at parent meetings, staff meetings, school committee meetings and budget times.
For those who are interested in history and trends in librarianship, there are some wonderful synopses of the leading library beliefs about reading and readers, major studies of reading done over the last 100 years, and rich annotated bibliographies for those who want more. I particularly appreciated that data and More...
For those who are interested in history and trends in librarianship, there are some wonderful synopses of the leading library beliefs about reading and readers, major studies of reading done over the last 100 years, and rich annotated bibliographies for those who want more. I particularly appreciated that data and More...
Mar 10, 2009
Ellen
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This is a pretty good book, I read it for a class this semester and learned a lot.
May 11, 2009
Megan
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Pretty good. Very dense, they try to put a lot of information in this book. Most of it seemed like common sense to me but it was still a fairly interesting read.
Mar 20, 2010
Frances
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Informative introduction on how the act of reading is viewed and carried out in society by age group. Could go into more depth on some topics, but was overall satisfactory for an introduction. For each section of the chapters, there were a wealth of books listed for further reading on the subjects covered.
Dec 16, 2009
MissInformation
rated it:
This is a very thorough and thoughtful examination of the issues around reading and readers. It is jam packed with research-both qualitative and quantitative. An important resource for projects and practice. (I'd put in more detail, but I'm using it for a project right now!)
Apr 13, 2011
Theresa
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The research and theory discussed in this book are nothing new or interest. It would be a good beginning, for class dicsussions but doesn't go into a lot of depth and doesn't represent a complete view of many issues surrounding independent reading habits.
May 21, 2011
Claire
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Lots of very valuable information, well-organized and engagingly presented, with useful pragmatic tie-ins for librarians. I probably wouldn't recommend it if it's not related to your professional or academic life, though.
May 23, 2011
Amy
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I liked this book, it was reasonably easy to read, for a textbook, and the resource/reference lists in each chapter section were very useful.
Nov 17, 2010
Jeffrey
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Great discussion of reading trends in the world and reading development through various stages of life. Great book.
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