Monday, January 12, 2009

The truth about teens and reading



I totally outed Child #1!

My 19 year old who says things like, "I'm not a reader. I haven't liked reading since elementary school."

Yes, he knows how to push my buttons. Brutally.

Tonight I cracked open the door to his bedroom because I needed extra light in the hall.

What was he doing?

Lying on his bed and.....reading! A book I'd stuck in his stocking last month.

I bit my tongue. I didn't comment. Didn't ask if he was enjoying the story. Didn't say, "Neener, neener, neener. See. You really are a reader, you poseur non-reader!" Nosirree, I was a mum Mom.

Then, this morning, he was reading again. This time in the living room.

The book?


              Naked by David Sedaris


And speaking of entertaining books, I have a VERY hilarious interview for THIS WED., JAN 14 with Eileen Cook. Her brand new YA, What Would Emma Do? is now on shelves. AND Eileen will post a SOMEWHAT hilarious interview with me on her blog on the very same day. AND we're each giving away a signed copy of our book to a lucky commenter and/or linker!



Also, the Book Roast is re-launching TODAY! Here's the week's line-up:

Monday, Jan 12: Mystery Publisher
Tuesday, Jan 13: Eric Stone
Wednesday, Jan 14: Agent Lucienne Diver
Thursday, Jan 15: Barrie Summy
Saturday, Jan 17: Elysabeth Eldering


Yes, I'm up for a grilling on Thursday. Should be quite the experience. Please come by and see me. Don't worry; I'll remind you. ;)









29 comments:

  1. Haha. That is such a great story of Child #1. It is great that you kept your inner neeners to yourself. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened?!

    ~Meredith

    ReplyDelete
  2. Closet reader!!!!

    Looking forward to your interview.

    How are sales of your book??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Every non-reader is just waiting for the right book! I'm glad that you found it for him.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I didn't read much in my early teens. Too busy being sociable and books were just homework. As Bee said it just takes the right book. So as long as he keeps having good reads slipped into his stocking there's always the chance the bug will be caught.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great choice of books for Child # 1.
    I love the fact my kids are all great readers (some sooner than others). All those years of leaving books scattered about the house and seeing how Mom took such delight in reading paid off!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I love reading! My daughter is a bookaholic like myself. My boys are a little more challenging. Recently my (almost) 14 year old discovered Michael Crichton ... who would have thought? He can't get enough!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oddly enough, I am not much of a reader (of books), but I can't get enough of David Sedaris. Your child must be extremely intelligent.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congrats on infecting your son! It's always good hearing about someone else who has discovered reading is more fun than they believed.

    ReplyDelete
  9. good for him!

    i can't get my son to read much more than car/truck magazines :(

    visited eileen, thx for the link :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Love it! And NAKED is a great book. :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. The dates are already on my calendar!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Interesting post and good for you for getting child #1 to read.

    I'll be there for your grilling.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ha! Good thing to catch him in the act of doing!

    And good job on you for picking out something he likes!

    ReplyDelete
  14. You get major points for self-control with Child #1. Wahoo!

    ReplyDelete
  15. "outed"! That's reassuring to find that kind of a secret isn't it?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good for you for not making a big deal out of it and embarrassing him! Oh, and for getting a supposed non-reader a book for Christmas. All it takes is one for kids to discover that books can be fun.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Yay for Child #1 and yay for you for keeping mum!

    Can't wait for the interviews!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Bitchy is totally reading all the time. (Never thought I'd see the day....) but I am still having a hard time getting Sassy to read. (16) I maintain a hope that she will turn the corner, as Bitchy did, and find her love of books.

    Say a prayer for her Barrie, will ya?

    ReplyDelete
  19. There is hope! I have a reluctant, albeit young, reader. I keep hoping the reading bug will bite her soon! My older one finished Dragon Wishes and came down to hug me and tell me how good it was. She jumped right into your book next, and has taken to staying up late to read. I'd tell her to get some sleep, but I'm so tickled she's finally found the secret entrance to the world of reading.

    ReplyDelete
  20. busted! and i will need the reminder...

    ReplyDelete
  21. So if you were a chef, would child #1 not like to eat?

    ReplyDelete
  22. That must have been hard to bite you lip. I'm proud of you!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Hilarious!! :)

    And he sounds a little like me when I was a teen. No way would I admit to liking anything that was supposed to be good for me or would please my parents. Secretly, however...

    ReplyDelete
  24. I think everyone should run and get a copy of Eileen's book...I'm not biased, I'm just her cousin!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I love that book and I love David Sedaris! Now I just need to figure out what I can get my son to read because he sounds like your's. But Sedaris just won't do the trick since he's only 9!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Hi Barrie - that's funny, especially to me who can't get my kids to do much EXCEPT read. My girls are teens and love to read - one historical and pretty much any fiction, the other mostly fantasy/sci-fi. They are older teens.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always welcome!