READ

READING

To me, to know someone is to know what they read.  The first question I ask my students is, “What’s your favorite book?”  When I visit someone’s house, my first stop is always the bookshelves.  On Christmas, I always make sure that, for each member of my family, at least one present is a book, because what would Christmas Day be like without something to read?

This post is going to come at reading – and books – from a slightly more practical perspective.  From an ‘advice for students wanting to go to college’ perspective.  You should seek out and read trade books on whatever subject(s) you’re interested in.

Maybe that should have been the first line of the post.  Here, let me bold it: Read trade books about the subject(s) you want to study in college.

By trade books, I mean non-fiction books written by experts but for a general audience and found in ordinary (not specialist) bookstores.  

FIrst of all, most of these books are written by people who practice in the field in one way or another.  Reading them will often give you a sense of what forensic scientists/biomedical engineers/ theater designers etc., etc. actually do all day.  This can help to clarify whether this is something you really want to spend your college years and ultimately your life on.  If you have to force yourself to get through the first chapter, maybe you’re not as excited about this field as you thought you were.

Note that, in general, trade books are much more readable and fun than academic books.  Trade publishers expect to make money on these books, which means they need lots and lots of people to buy them.  Dull prose and lots of technical jargon is going to make that less likely.  Of course trade publishers publish plenty of bad books – if you don’t like the first one you read, try another.  If you try half a dozen books and can’t get through any of them, it’s probably not the writer, it’s the subject.

Second, from a college application perspective – these books will give you both a wide understanding of your field and a grounding in various specifics.  They can help you narrow down a specific area of interest.  In interviews, when asked, “Why do you want to major in Marine Biology” instead of just saying, “I’ve always liked animals” you have information and opinions to share.  Many colleges have supplemental essays that ask about your academic interests; even if you don’t quote or refer to any of these books, your thorough knowledge of the field will come through in your response.

And the most important reason?  It’s reading.  And what’s not to love about that?

Over the next few weeks, I’m going to compile lists of trade books for students interested in various subjects.  Most of them will be available at most local libraries (Or you could always get them on interlibrary loan).  I admit, this project is as much for me as it is for students – the opportunity to check out new books is always a treat!  I will link these pages to this post as I put them up.