Reflect of Reading habits

Let's take a look at some photos:

It is hard to know what kind of books are the people in this library reading, but we can make a guess. In this library some people came to make a project, a research or to complete a task. Therefore, they are guided to read some specific texts about the topic of their work. These may be articles, scientific texts, encyclopaedias... But also, people may have come to the library just to enjoy their free time by reading a book. This book choice will depend on their own preferences. 

For this reason, the first readers in this library may feel a bit stressed or anxious about the work they have to develop, while the others may feel relaxed and glad they can have a good time reading.

In this second picture we can see an old woman reading a book to a child. I think they are reading a story together, maybe a tale. They seem to be enjoying this moment of reading together as they are spending quality time together as a family, as I think they are mum and daughter. Therefore, they feel satisfied with reading. 

In this picture we find a different situation. Now, this person is reading through a digital device, a tablet. This a new way of enjoying reading that arose in the last few years. This person seems focused on its text, whatever it is, taking into account that the internet allow us to access to all kind of texts in a few seconds. 

This is a typical image at schools: kids sharing a moment of reading the same text. It seems that the class is performing an activity about Extensive Reading (ER), in which all pupils are reading the same book, probably a story. Some of the children look focused and interested on the book, while others seem bored. Their feelings about this moment of reading may vary depending on the story, whether it is interesting for them or not. As a teacher, it is hard to choose a story that all kids in a class like, but we can take their preferences into consideration, to select a book that is, at least, enjoyable for them. 

In this picture we can see a man catching up with the news of the day, as he is reading a newspaper. It is fair to say that this man is reading for his own pleasure, that he has decided to read the newspaper to get inform, taking a moment for this duty. 

After the reflection about these pictures, it is time to reflect on my own reading habits. In this sense, I feel identified with the people in the first picture, those who go to the library to read for pleasure, as reading is one of my favourite hobbies and I consider it a great enjoyment. I read on a daily basis, although I never go to a library. I enjoy reading novels, whether it is in Spanish, my mother tongue, or English, my second language. However, I feel more comfortable with texts in Spanish, as I am more use to them than to the English ones, in which I may get lost sometimes due to some expressions or literary argot. 

I am also a big fan of cinema and everything related to it, so I love reading articles about it or interviews of my favourite actors, directors... In this case, I normally choose these texts in English because of a main reason. For example, if it's an interview with my favourite actor, I love to read the exact words he said to describe a moment in a scene for a film. In a way I feel closer to them if I read in their mother tongue. 

As for the format, I was a strict defensor of paper books and still am, as the feeling of reading a book in paper is incomparable to reading in a screen. However, I have evolved with times and I find reading in my ebook very comfortable, as it is easy to carry everywhere. I have even decided to read on my phone sometimes, when I'm too addicted to a story, so I can take out my phone at any time and read. 

To end up, I would love to have more time to read, although as I have mentioned, I read on a daily basis. I normally read before I go to bed and also when I'm having breakfast, and of course, if I can scratch some time during the day. It's always a great time to enjoy a story!