Slice of Life 27: Sharing Your Reading Life

Reflecting on my reading life has been powerful for me, both as a reader and as a teacher. I have always considered myself an avid reader, but last year I started being more intentional with my reading life, setting goals and reflecting on the books I was reading.

Reflecting on what I have read shows me my own reading diet. I was able to ask myself:

• Am I reading widely? 
• Am I reading across genres? 
• Am I reading books ALL of my students might enjoy or just sticking to my favorites?

It also reminds us of authentic ways that readers share their reading lives. We don't write book reports, we don't draw a new book jacket, or build a diorama. We follow our friends on Goodreads, we ask for recommendations, we can't stop talking about the latest book we are hooked on. We might dig deeper into a topic that a book peeked our interest in or take action in some way that was inspired by a text we read.

I'm also able to model of a real reading life. I can show that reading is not something done just for a school assignment, but something that is done passionately and intentionally. I can show that there are some books I abandon and books that I thought I hated but ended up loving. Books that I read in one weekend and other books that take me a month to read- sometimes because of the book and sometimes because life gets busy.

Being a reader lets me interact with others as a real reader. Here's my reading life so far this school year:

Do you share your reading life? Who do you share it with? How do you share it?