{"id":7127,"date":"2022-08-11T01:58:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-11T01:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=7127"},"modified":"2022-08-11T15:05:51","modified_gmt":"2022-08-11T15:05:51","slug":"learn-constantly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/learn-constantly\/","title":{"rendered":"How We Read: Learning Constantly"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Books We Read Blog is conducting a series of interviews with contributors and friends of the blog to get a snapshot of our reading habits<\/a>: the things we like to read, the circumstances in which we read, and more.<\/p>\n

Meredith Parker is Science Reference and Instruction Librarian, who was based out of the Library of Science and Medicine before she moved on to a new position at Duke University. She worked with Books We Read and Summer Tales in 2021-2022.<\/p>\n

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\"\"What kinds of books do you like to read?
\n<\/strong>Nonfiction (history, popular science, social commentary); pop fiction; novels recommended by reviewers or friends and family<\/p>\n

Do you have format preferences (print, ebook, audiobook, abridged, original language\/translated, etc.)? <\/strong>
\nNo–I use all of them! I read print and ebooks pretty equally. I listen to audiobooks less, but partially because I don’t drive as much as I used to.<\/p>\n

How do you find new books to read?
\n<\/strong>A lot of my friends are also avid readers, so we frequently recommend books to each other. I also look for year-end best of lists (i.e., the New York Times 10 best books of the year lists) and try to read a few of those. I am also a sucker for Kindle book suggestions.<\/p>\n

Where and when do you read? Outdoors or indoors? At home or out and about? Mornings, evenings, or just before bed?
\n<\/strong>There is no one particular time that I read. On the couch, in my bed, on an airplane. I probably read outside the least because I am easily distracted by the sunshine and sounds of nature. I like to read before I go to sleep at night, but I also read for significant chunks of time during the day on most weekends.<\/p>\n

Do you use any libraries or library resources for non-required reading?
\n<\/strong>I belong to my local public library and frequently borrow books from there.<\/p>\n

What do you get out of your non-required reading?
\n<\/strong>I read a lot of nonfiction because I love the opportunity to constantly learn about topics and areas of interest that I would otherwise never explore. I also believe in the power of literature to transport me to a different place, experience, way of life that I would never otherwise experience. I also think that reading expands my vocabulary. When I am reading an e-book, I frequently use the dictionary feature to look up words.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>What are you currently reading, or what have you read and enjoyed most recently?
\n<\/strong>I have just finished Hourglass: Time, Memory, Marriage<\/em><\/a> by Dani Shapiro. I recently read her first memoir, Slow Motion<\/em><\/a>, and thought I would try reading through all of her memoirs. I loved the way she realistically depicts the changes, strain, and growth that occurs in relationships over time. She is also an incredibly gifted writer and wrote the memoir nonlinearly through a series of vignettes, so the book was also stylistically interesting and beautiful.<\/p>\n

Recommend a book in one sentence that you think everyone should read:<\/strong>
\nI think everyone should read Einstein’s Dreams<\/em><\/a> by Alan Lightman because it’s short, beautifully written, and will challenge the way you think about space, time, and experience.<\/p>\n

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