Tag: reading

October 23, 2019

Worm Your Way into These Bookworm Memes!

We’re all obsessed with books. We all make terribly book based decisions. We all breathe deeply in secondhand bookstores. We all have so many books we’re likely to be buried in an avalanche and found only like a month later. Just me?

Is There One Where He Has Two Heads?

Image via Reddit

Those books aren’t real. TBR? A whole shelf of options? No. I can’t read those, how would I even go about it? Let me just go to the library quickly. Let me just hit the bookstore. I just need like, one thing. In and out. What about the only book I don’t own?

Get Some Perspective

Image via Alex’s Advice

It’s all about perspective, you know? Maybe nothing is anything. This is the mentality that describes poisons as ‘forbidden foods’. Have you ever seen a book? Did you open it? “Just” a book? JUST? There’s a special ring of the sauna for you.

It’s Only 500 Pages

Image via BookBub

People will get mad! I know you studied your whole life to read this fast, but I’ve just got natural talent and a high pony, and I am not intimidated. Give me the hardcover. Unless it’s for class. Homework? 25 pages will kill me. Don’t do this.

It Might Be

Image via Cheezburger

There’s a fine line here. Like, a really fine line. The number of stories I have to workshop that have zero description of the characters’ surroundings: I ask you, are these events taking place in a void? Is there just fog outside the immediate ring of characters? I didn’t expect to be that salty.

How Could You Do This to Me?

Image via Cheezburger

How could you do this to me? Like, actually how could you? The worst is when you get through a whole series and the end of the last book is the worst. All this time! All this emotional investment! And you’re going to let me down like this? I’d say I’m just disappointed, but I’m actually also very mad.

Featured image via Bookidote

October 21, 2019

Check Out These Library Memes

Who doesn’t love a public library? Sure, a home library is an essential part of my dream life, but there’s something just essentially wonderful about going to the library. It’s like being ten years old again. My crops are watered. The smell of old books is everywhere. I’m living my best life. Most library memes are about how you should return your books on time, and you should, but here’s a broader selection.

Cliches can be True

Image via Pinterest

It lets you get BOOKS. You don’t even have to buy happiness now. You can check it out. Plus, what’s more fun than going to the library? Nothing. Literally nothing. CHANGE MY MIND. Someone actually tried to bully me for reading a library book. In HIGHSCHOOL. I was so baffled it just bounced right off. Like, yes? Don’t pity the dead, Harry, pity people who don’t understand the joys of the library.

I’m SORRY

Image via Meme Generator

I’m a GOOD library patron. I am. I don’t spill my tea everywhere, I straighten out dog eared corners, and I wouldn’t highlight a book with a gun to my head, but picture this. It’s some time in January. I’m juggling the aforementioned tea and also eight layers of wool. I don’t track snow all through the library. I’m scanning the holds shelf. And then it happens. COUGHING. I return to the sea in shame.

Did Knife Crow Write This?

Image via BuzzFeed

Just… just try it. Start by reading banned books! Maybe work your way up! I mean, hell, if a librarian told me to do crime, I’d be like… I guess I do crime now. Plus, the ellipses, I swear. There’s a sense of dramatic timing. This suggestion doesn’t just have appeal, it has style. It has pizzazz. I might go loiter somewhere. Librarians made me do it! Just pay your fines on time. We’re rebels, not madmen.

The Hero We Deserved

Image via MEME

As a child, was there anyone more iconic? I mean, I’d use an invisibility cloak to read after hours, but this disaster jock? It’s why we love him, though, isn’t it? Sure, he might be confused, and easily distracted, and good at sports, but when Hermione says ‘Go to the library’ he goes to the library. Truly the hero we deserved as children, and still do now. No knowledge should be behind gates! Let me INNN!

ALL OF THEM

Image via MEME

Alright, it’s only tangentially library related, but someone’s got to know my suffering. It’s phonetic acoustics, not fluid mechanics, but I promise, it’s three AM and I’m crying. What’s Romeo and Juliet to this? The Fault in Our Stars who? I once went to cram just one more chapter of my Cosmology textbook, just really fast, and it was about NUCLEAR FUSION. We all deserve a medal.

Featured image via American Library Magazine

October 1, 2019

Toddlers May Connect with Physical Books More Than Tablets

E-books are one of the biggest changes to ever come to the publishing industry. They’ve revolutionized reading, whether you’re doing it on your commute to work or reading a good night story to your kids before bed. However, a recent study suggests parents should opt for physical books when reading to their kids at night.

image via jama pediatrics

A new study published in JAMA pediatrics found that toddlers seem to be more focused and engaged when their parents read to them from physical books instead of e-books.

Whoa whoa whoa, before you go and throw out your Kindle it might help to get some context. The study examines how toddlers behave when their parents read to them in different circumstances, and it found that “intrusive behaviors” and “solitary body posture” occurs more frequently when there’s a tablet involved. Basically, that means that when children were reading an e-book along with their parents, they were more likely to position themselves as if they were just reading alone.

image via momjunction

Some of the findings might have to do with how the parents read as well. When parents read from tablets, “their language use may not be as potent,” said Dr. Tiffany Munzer, a developmental and behavioral pediatrician who led the study. “With a print book, parents feel they can cozy up with their kids and make the story come alive”.

Speaking about the results of the study, Dr. Munzer said, “it may be that when parents and toddlers engage over a tablet, it might be harder for them to have moments of connection.”

Featured image via NAEYC

October 1, 2019

Growing Number of U.S. Adults Just Don’t Read Books

More than a quarter (27%) of U.S. adults say they haven’t read a book in the last year. No print books, no e-books, not even an audiobook – nothing! I know, I know, book lovers might be kind of shocked to learn how many Americans simply don’t enjoy reading all that much.

In a survey of 1,502 American adults, the Pew Research Center found there is a growing section of the population that doesn’t read at all. This statistic is up from 19% in 2011 when Pew began collecting data.

In a graphic published by the Pew Research Center, they broke down how book-reading habits vary by age, income, and community type:

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pew found that college graduates and more affluent Americans are more likely to have read a book than others, reaffirming the prevailing wisdom that ease-of-access is one of the most important factors for increasing literacy.

In another study, Pew found that the typical American has read at least four books in 12 months. But Americans, on average, read 12 books a year.

And while e-books and audiobooks are growing, it appears their popularity comes at the expense of the popularity of print books. 37% of American say they only read print books, 28% read or listen to digital formats, and about 7% of Americans say they exclusively read books in digital formats and totally eschew print books.