How well read are you?

ions said:

…if your location says Smalltown USA and you can't get your 'they're' 'there' and 'their's straight you are not well read.

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Now, now. Americans from big cities can be ignorant, too.

HermioneWeasley said:

?That's probably me with the no capitalizing. sometimes i have a lot to say so I rush and dont' bother to capitalize. Thank you for the comment, Kook.

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Oh, it wasn't directed at anyone specifically. I just find the use of abbreviations and what I call 'text message' speech to be interesting when talking about good writing and literature. Ironic, perhaps. I know it's becoming almost a cultural tendency, but I find it makes me see someone as being less intelligent than they are. Perhaps that is shallow of me, but I can't help it. I know you're one of the younger TBF members, HW, so I sort of understand it more. But at the same time, I wonder what kids are going to do when they need to write essays and papers and because of what they've practiced for years end up struggling with their grammar and spelling. Personally, I type far quicker using complete words and sentences and puntuation, because that's the way I learnt to type - by writing essays (my school attempted to teach me to touch-type in Grade 7, but I never 'got' it until I had to type every day in around grade 11 or so). I think if you practice typing complete sentences and using correct grammar and spelling now, you'll find it benefits you greatly further down the line.

HermioneWeasley said:

i counted and i've read about 375 books since i was 10, and i'm almost 14 now. so that's almost 100 books a year, i guess. i'm still counting!

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Keep it up!! And keep posting about what you're reading. I'm sure members here will give you some suggestions along the way as to what you might like . It's so great to have younger members so enthused about reading!!!

Kookamoor said:

But at the same time, I wonder what kids are going to do when they need to write essays and papers and because of what they've practiced for years end up struggling with their grammar and spelling.

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When I got to University there was a big push at my particular school for writing skills. At that time the powers that be at the school met with the powers that be in the business/hiring world and discussed what graduates should have and do not currently have. Apparently many were graduating from University with a variety of degrees yet couldn't write properly even if their lives depended on it. I can't imagine todays grads are any better if my anecdotal evidence is anywhere near true.

I have absoluely no idea how many books I've read.
I've loved reading since I was a little girl, and believe me then every saturday you could find me at the library, and now you can find me at a bookstore. lol

ions said:

When I got to University there was a big push at my particular school for writing skills. At that time the powers that be at the school met with the powers that be in the business/hiring world and discussed what graduates should have and do not currently have. Apparently many were graduating from University with a variety of degrees yet couldn't write properly even if their lives depended on it. I can't imagine todays grads are any better if my anecdotal evidence is anywhere near true.

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If the students who I've worked with are anything to go by it doesn't look good. I've marked final year engineering work and while some of it is excellent, other papers are downright frightening for the lack of writing prowess that is displayed. These students need a writing refresher course throughout their degree programs. I think it really highlights the importance of having a well rounded degree and having elements of the humanities in with technical degrees to ensure that students can string a sentence together coherently and fit in with the business world.

Kookamoor said:

my school attempted to teach me to touch-type in Grade 7, but I never 'got' it until I had to type every day in around grade 11 or so

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My school made us learn too, but it was Grade 9. I picked it up pretty quickly. It was always fun to have contests and see who could type the most in the least amount of time with the fewest mistakes! I guess high school wasn't an entirely deplorable experience.

I must correct and prepare my final draft of my seminar project this weekend. What fun... Twenty pages of this material can be exhausting. If I ever begin to make no sense whatsoever over the next week or so, you should know that college will have finally got to me by that point and I will be a lost cause unless I can read books for pleasure as soon as possible!

I thought there was a better thread on being "well read" but considering the search engine drops the term "well" and "read" isn't exactly rare finding it proved difficult.

Anyway, in an effort to be a better read individual I'm sorting my TBR list into a specific order. While not rigid I plan on moving through different types of books like this: Classic fiction, non-fiction, modern fiction, fantasy and repeat. Mostly self explanatory. I'm hoping this will keep everything fresh and interesting. Anyone else have this sort of rotation? How has it worked for you?

This thread was the beginning of this.

Not so long ago, a few years, I had 18 cartons of books that I had packed prior to moving. I once counted that out to maybe 40-50 books per carton, and that represented a four to five years' acquisitions. Prior to that I had a still larger library covering two walls of a bedroom floor to ceiling. That was dispersed in a previous move after marital separation. And in parallel with that I was an avid reader of library books, along with my entire family. Of those 18 cartons mentioned, I donated a dozen and kept six cartons which are still packed, and have added probably 100 books in the past couple years since moving.
Well read? maybe yes, probably not. I read quite a bit of non-fiction and I don't find many people who do that. In fiction I have read some of the classic authors but by no means all (obviously). Just now I am in a self-imposed project to try to read each American author at least once, but Faulkner has me stalled a bit. On the other hand, I have read detective and spy stories too numerous to mention, including the complete series of authors I like. So the answer to the question is probably in the multiple thousands. But I have seen the world turn many more times than most people here, so I don't count that as too much of an achievement.
Peder

I'm not particularly well read - I've only read about 500 books in total - of which nearly half I've read in the last four years, and of the "classics" I've read barely any (though by the time I'm 23 I'll have read quite a few more)

I have read a lot of books, I have read since I learned to read!!! but I feel the more you read the more you realise you haven't read and the list just keeps on growing of what you have read and what you want to read, it is an endless pursuit but a great one!

Are we talking about literature or non-fiction included?