What are you currently reading, Dear Reader, or what have you currently read? Why did it intrigued you? Was it the title, or images, maybe the topic? This is an area that I’m not always strong in, understanding why people read what they read. It means asking lots of questions, like fiction or nonfiction, hard copy or digital, books or publications (magazines, journals, manuals, etc.). When choosing reading material, what is more important to you than anything else? (More Than Anything Else was one of my personal read aloud books for my urban students. I think the story is so powerful that I placed copies in all my grandchildren’s legacy boxes.)

For years, I was strictly a fiction reader. It’s almost embarrassing to admit that as a stay at home mom when the kids were little, I was kind of addicted to Harlequin romances. When I became a fulltime, non-traditional student, books of choice became which textbook to crack open first. A career in education meant a constant stream of scintillating topics like research-based teaching strategies and stages of child development.

Lately, my hard copy choices have been books on leadership by John Maxwell, mixed with digital historical fiction (that I’m still learning to appreciate). Here’s something that drives my voraciously reading husband, Tom a little nuts: if any kind of reader’s choice book doesn’t grab hold of my attention within the first chapter, I can set it aside and move on. Not Tom, he sticks with a book no matter what. Where do you fall on the continuum of book devotion?

Coming Thursday, August 27: Women Like Us