What’s on Teacher Robin’s Bookshelf?

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Hello, welcome to today’s class. I’m Robin and today we’re going to be talking about what’s on my bookshelf. So if you have watched some classes with me before, you may know that one of my favorite hobbies is reading. I love to read. I read a lot and today, I want to talk to you a little bit about reading. So I’m wearing my reading glasses, which you don’t normally see. But, when I’m reading, I normally need to wear glasses when I read or when I look at the computer. So maybe that’s the same for you. So today we’re going to talk about reading, so I’m going to share with you some different genres.

Okay, so these are types of books. And I’m going to talk about what I have read, specifically this year, which is a special year because of COVID. I’ve been reading a lot more than I normally do. So let’s start with genres. Okay, so what is this genre? This is a kind of book. So there are very – there are many, many kinds of books that you can read.

We have fiction. So fiction is a story that is made up, okay. It’s not real. Nonfiction, which is a true story. So this could be like a biography. It could be a history, okay, so something that is true is nonfiction. All right. Another genre could be poetry, all right, books of poetry. We also have mysteries or crime novels. Science fiction, okay. So this is something else that’s not real. This might focus on things like technology, or living on another planet, things like that. So that’s science fiction, or “sci-fi” for short. There’s also a genre, which is one of my favorites, called historical fiction. So this is, it’s fiction. It’s not a true story, but it’s based on events that happen in the past. So there’s a lot of historical fiction, for example, that takes place during World War Two. So that’s a type of fiction, historical fiction. And another genre could be a thriller or suspense. Okay, so lots of action. So these are a few genres.

I have a little bit of everything on my bookshelf. So I own quite a few books. I have this shelf here and the other corner of my living room, I have the exact same bookshelf with more books. So I try to alternate between buying books and reading them online. So let’s talk about the different types of books that you can read. Okay, so I have here some examples. This one, which is a classic by Harper Lee, this is called a hardback. So see, the cover is actually hard. These tend to be more expensive. These are the most expensive types of books, hardbacks, okay, so this is one type a hardback. The other type, which people more commonly buy or purchase, because they’re easier to carry is a paperback. Okay, so this, the cover is softer, it’s thinner, and it’s easier to carry around. Okay, so this is my paperback of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Another classic book. And another format that I like to use a lot is an E-reader or an E -book. And this is my Kindle. So Kindle is the, the brand, but many people have this. So this is my lovely Monet cover. I love art as well. I love Monet and this is my Kindle. So you can purchase books off Amazon, for example, and send them to your Kindle. You can also, depending on your library, you can check out library books, and library ebooks and they will send them to your Kindle as well. So that’s one thing that I do a lot because it’s cheap, it’s free. You check out an E-book, you read it on your Kindle and then after three weeks or however many days it is that the library loans you this book, then it just disappears from your Kindle. So this is a good way as well. Some people like to read on their iPad, I don’t have an iPad, but that’s another popular way to read. Or you can also read on your phone, which isn’t as comfortable, it’s a bit more difficult for your vision. But if you’re traveling for example, then it could be a comfortable way to read.

Okay, so those are some of the different formats, the genres, okay. And now I want to tell you a little bit about what I read. And how I read, because sometimes I choose books randomly by what’s available. But I’m also a member of a book club. So this is something that’s really popular, especially in English-speaking countries, in the States and in the UK, many people like to participate in book clubs. And it’s a great way to, to form friendships, people who have things in common, so if you enjoy reading, you can find a group. And you can join this book club, or you can start one with your friends. So I am a member of a book club and what we do is we suggest books, so everyone suggests one or two books and then we vote on which ones we want to read. So we meet maybe once a month, and we vote on the book and everyone either buys the book, or you can take it out, like you can get it from your library, or you can download it to your Kindle. And then when we meet, we discuss the books, so many books you’ll find online, or even inside the book, they’ll have some discussion questions. So this is a great way to actually go deeper into your reading. So you don’t just read the book and say, I liked it. I didn’t like it. It makes you think more about why. What did you think about this part? What did you think about this character? What did you think about the ending? What did you think about the character development? So there’s a lot of things that you can discuss with your book club. And one thing that I love about my book club is that sometimes we read books, and I don’t like them, particularly. It’s not my favorite, it’s not a book that I would have chosen. But we have a great discussion about the book. So it’s a way to read things, read books, that you wouldn’t normally read. So you kind of broaden your horizons, we say, so it exposes you to more kinds of genres, literature, etc. So I highly encourage you to find a book club, if you can, or start one with your friends.

So especially if you’re learning English, this is a great way to practice. And you can find some good suggestions of books that you can read that aren’t so complicated to start, if you want to participate. So this is a great idea. Another thing that I do, I have an account on Goodreads. So this is almost like a social media of books. So imagine if you had a Facebook profile of all the books that you’re reading and it’s actually a great source, because you can have, you can connect with people, you have friends on the website, and you can see what they’re reading, you can make a list of books that you want to read, you can make a list of the books that you are reading, and the books that you have read, and you can rate them. So and you can write a review if you want. So this is a great way if you’re thinking about reading something, and you’re not sure, if you’re going to like it, you can read what other people have read. And it also suggests books to you based on what you’ve liked in the past. So it’s a really, really great tool. Goodreads, I highly encourage you to create a profile if you read a lot, because it’s a great way to also remember what you’ve read because maybe you read something five years ago, and you don’t remember so you can check. Oh yes, I read that and I liked it. And you can remember a little bit about what it, what the story was. Okay, so this is a great way to keep track of what you’re reading.

And one good thing about Goodreads is that you can set a challenge for yourself every year. So the past three or four years, I’ve set a challenge to read 25 books. Now that may sound like a lot, but I really love to read. So in January, I set the challenge again of 25. I thought that’s a good number. But I didn’t know that with COVID I was going to be at home a lot more and I was going to have more time to read. So I actually just last week, I’ve already reached my goal of 25 books, and it’s only September, so I probably should have read a little bit more or should have set my goal a little higher to like 35 or 40 books, but I didn’t know. So I encourage you to set a reading goal for yourself.

It’s really helpful when you set goals for doing anything, set a goal, pick a number and work towards that. Okay, it’s a good challenge to yourself. Alright, so I’m going to share my top three books that I have read of the 25 so far, my top three this year and they are a mix of genres and I want to recommend them to you.

So one book that I recently read is called “Oryx and Crake” by Margaret Atwood. So you may have heard of Margaret Atwood from another book that she is famous for, that is also a TV series now, called “The Handmaid’s Tale”. So most of her novels are called dystopian. So it’s kind of like science fiction but dystopian, that’s set in a world that’s maybe like end of day something has happened and the world has changed. It’s a different world. There are some similarities to today’s world, but it’s different. It’s dystopian, and this book is about dystopian society after something goes very wrong. So it’s a good book, I really enjoyed it. And it parallels a lot with what’s happening right now with this pandemic, with COVID. But it was actually written in 2003. So it’s kind of incredible how some authors are able to predict these things or imagine what the world would be like when it actually hasn’t happened yet.

So that’s one recommendation. Another one, which is nonfiction, is called “When Breath Becomes Air” by Paul Kalanithi, I’m not sure if I said that, right. But this is nonfiction. It’s actually a biography by a doctor who was diagnosed with cancer, and he is actually he, he dies, but you know this. But he writes, he reflects about his life, going from being a doctor and saving lives to becoming a patient who is dying. And it’s a very, very beautiful novel. It’s sad, but it’s very good. And I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed it a lot.

And my final recommendation is historical fiction. You’ll remember I said this is my favorite genre. So this year, I read a book called “The Secrets We Kept” by Laura Prescott. And this is actually a book about a book, because it’s about the book, there is a novel, a Russian novel called Dr. Zhivago. And in the book, it’s about after World War Two women who were who, who had important roles during the war. Afterwards, they had to go back to office jobs as secretaries. This was in the 1950s. So this is about how these women, some American women, helped to publish Dr. Zhivago outside of Russia. So it’s kind of a spy novel, historical fiction. It’s really good.

So I just wanted to recommend three of the 25 that I’ve read this year. I’ve liked some, I haven’t liked others but that’s the great thing about reading as you always take something away from it. So to finish, I’d like to ask you some questions and then I’m going to show you my favorite reading spot. Okay, so tell me in the comments: what are you reading right now? What do you like to read? What’s on your bookshelf? So do you have a bookshelf in your house? Do you keep a lot of books? And what is your challenge for this year? Do you have a challenge? I want to read five books, ten, etc. Have you read anything in English recently that you’d like to recommend to other students? So let me know and now I’m going to take you to my favorite reading spot on my terrace.

Okay, so this is my favorite spot to read on my terrace. I have this table here with some nice plants, and this lovely view of Barcelona. So this is where I love to sit back and relax with a good book. So I want to thank everyone for joining today. I hope this class has encouraged you to read a little bit more and I look forward to reading your comments. So, take care and I’ll see you next week. Bye!