11 Plus Exams Forum

How much do your teens spend time reading? I mean apart from the books needed for the school program.

And what books do they read?

I see my DD (17 yo) extremely seldom reading something else than her phone
Makes me very worried (((

Dd rapidly approaching 17 also has a phone surgically attached to her, but also reads! Latest were: The Beautiful and The Damned by F Scott Fitzgerald and Shanteram by Gregory David Roberts.

My 17 year old is somewhat obsessively reading and rereading Mrs Dalloway atm, but that's for her AS! She reads a lot of YA, the usual stuff. I am forever encouraging her to read some 'proper' books. She's been reading Les Miserables for about a year - loves it, but it's sloooooow going, she reads it in fits and bursts.

DS (13) has suddenly announced he wants a Kindle and is happy with a second-hand one. He hasn't read anything apart from set books at school for a good couple of years, so I'm quite pleased about this development (and am resisting the temptation to save some cash by pointing him in the general direction of the local library ). He's interested in reading the Hunger Games books and the Cherub books. I'm just pleased he's doing this of his own initiative and not as a result of pushing from me. And if the novelty of the Kindle wears off, I've always quite fancied one!

To be honest at 17 I was reading little else besides the occasional smutty romance and NME.

I think we all go through phases of solid reading, then forgetting literature exists, then reading again. I coincidentally became enraptured by Chekhov when my then boyfriend, now hubby, visited me at uni one weekend clutching a rolled up copy, I drew the line at Dostoevsky though, but was easily swayed to read his copy of VIZ.

Good luck with the kindle Mary Lou, I love mine, had it nearly a year and am deffo reading more, particularly good for night-time reading as it has a back light, no getting told off for turning lamps on. Also love the built in dictionary/ envclopedia, no more missing the point in will self books!

My DS - 13 in a few weeks - is reading constantly ATM.

He loved the new Patrick Ness, and has read lots of books that are considered girl orientated, like John Green, or Wonder, or a very good book called Butter, about an obese boy who is bullied.......I loved Wonder myself, a fabulous book.

He's also enjoying Divergence, and hitchhikers guide to the galaxy.

It's such a pleasure to catch him reading with his torch under the covers! Finally, I have to ask him to STOP reading!!!!!!!

Marylou wrote:DS (13) has suddenly announced he wants a Kindle and is happy with a second-hand one. He hasn't read anything apart from set books at school for a good couple of years, so I'm quite pleased about this development (and am resisting the temptation to save some cash by pointing him in the general direction of the local library ). He's interested in reading the Hunger Games books and the Cherub books. I'm just pleased he's doing this of his own initiative and not as a result of pushing from me. And if the novelty of the Kindle wears off, I've always quite fancied one!

Marylou - it would be worth looking at other e-readers as lots of them let you download ebooks from the library. They stay on the device for 21 days and you can have up to 5 ebooks at a time. Unfortunately kindle don't allow this, which is why I didn't buy one I have a kobo and got it on offer and I'm very pleased with it, but there are a few of the other brands that allow library downloading.

I get public library books on my kindle, I set it up the week I got it, you have to be a member of one of the libraries and sometimes you have to wait for a download to become available, which I always assumed was in the libraries lending terms and conditions. I use overdrive to read them, as I like the format better than bucks county council e reader format.

Dc1 (14) loves reading biographies. He's currently reading Steven Gerrald and has read several other sport stars

Dc2 is reading a book by Cliff Mcnish and I think has just read a Famous Five book.

I loved reading as a teenager Jeffrey Archer, zen and the Art of Motorcycle maintenance, Jonathen Livingstone , Judy Blume, etc

My 15 yo daughter says she finds it hard to find time to read, as she has so many other things she wants to do. Every now and again a book / author grabs her though, and she reads more. Recent hits have been The Hunger Games, The Fault in our Stars, Holly Smale and Cat Clarke.