I, The Reader

 I surprised myself the other day when, while reading, I found myself secretly editing. The revelation began when I found one mistaken use of a word by a well-known writer. It was relatively minor and perhaps a typo, nevertheless, it revealed to me what kind of reader I was. I read critically. And while that is probably not an entirely bad thing, it was a surprise to me. I have an ambition to write a book and have it published not by me but by some grand company. That will never happen.  In Grade Seven, Miss L gave me a ten out of ten for a composition about my grandmother. The two pages of handwriting with the 10 in red at the top of the foolscap paper, made me think I would become a writer. Somehow, between that time and over the next ten or so years, I segued into becoming a librarian which was the closest I got doing my own book rather than handling hundreds of them written by others. Teaching English also made me aware of what the elements of writing are and which ones cause a reader to pick up a book and want to read it. While the Book Club era is waning, they continue to be experienced by all those who find reading a great pleasure. Using a plastic book with its vast collection of books inside or a single paper book that holds the attention of its partaker for concentrated hours, all readers are of various types. During one of my book club sessions after each of us described our current books to recommend, I came away thinking about the variety of books we discussed. And the people who discussed them. The conclusion was. that each of us was a kind of reader. It made me wonder what kind of reader I am. At the next session, I am going to ask my fellow members that very question of what kind of reader they are. For fun, I made up a list of types of readers. There are the Gossip Hounds who read biography or autobiography to search out little or large bits of knowledge about people, facts that surprise and delight.  Amateur Critics read to catch  flaws or find beautiful elements in books and to assess whole books regularly. The Book Addicts are ones who read nothing but certain genres only or one particular author solely. Then you have Social Elitists  who read only what the media critics recommend as The book to read that goes well with the canapes in cocktail party conversation. The Media Author Interviewer reads because it is too embarrassing to be caught in error having read only the first and last pages and blurbs and not the entire book. The Wannabee Writers read for inspiration and perhaps scribble some unintended innocent plagiarism later on. And then there are the Library Locusts who descend upon the professional shelves just to stroll around stroking book spines and chatting up the librarians for what's most popular to read. Books will never die or cease to be written. We avid readers, like seekers of buried treasure, continue endlessly, to search and often find, the perfect book.