Reading for leisure and reading for school are totally different for me. I can read for hours but if I don’t like the book I get very frustrated. When I read for leisure I’m able to pick my own book and I know I will enjoy it. For school we are forced to read and it is torture for me.

                When I read on my own I am able to sit back and relax and just read the book. I can spend as much time as I want to, to read it. For school there are deadlines and you have to read a certain amount of pages per class. This stresses me out because most of the time I don’t like the books so I don’t have motivation to read them. Also having seven other classes to worry about, I have to somehow do all my homework for all the other classes and read about fifty pages. Reading for school just makes me not want to ever do it because I feel like I could be using that time to do worksheets or essays for other classes. When I read for leisure I am also able to just read it and enjoy it. When I read for school each chapter has to be pulled apart and analyzed and I feel that the book should be left alone and read as it is instead of having to analyze it. If I liked the book that we read in class, I end up disliking it because so much time was spent analyzing it and talking about it and it becomes boring and a nuisance. When I read alone I am able to enjoy the book more and just enjoy what the author has written instead of trying to figure out a deeper meaning.

                On the other hand school books are good because it exposes me to different genres of books and books I personally wouldn’t have picked out to read. Some books that I have run a crossed in school have been very good and I appreciate the fact that I was exposed to those books. I was also able to learn that books do have a deeper meaning and I learned about different symbols and how objects represent different things such as water could symbolize baptism and purity. Also reading in school I’m able to finish a book. When I read on my own sometimes I become too busy to read and end up not reading for awhile and forgetting what was going on in the book. This angers me but when I read for school this never happens because there are such strict deadlines. Analyzing books in school allow me to understand parts of the book that might not have been clear to me and didn’t make sense and in school I can ask questions and have it explained to me. Also in school I am able to discuss the book with people since they would be reading the same one. I hate when I’m reading on my own and it’s a really good book and I have no one to discuss the book with.

                Reading is something I really enjoy and even though I may enjoy reading for my own pleasure instead of for school, I have learned more  about books and have been more exposed to different genres to figure out more what I like and what I dislike.