Interesting. (Not surprised about the attitude of the other kids. A lot of the people Bec went to school with felt much the same way. I think many rural schools need a Dawn on staff.)

From the press release:

The Times is supporting each publication with a host of events including celebrity readings and panel discussions. The first reading will be at Borders with Sam Waterston and his daughter, Elisabeth, reading from passages of the Fitzgerald novel on Monday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle. Sam Waterston portrayed Nick Carraway in the movie version of "The Great Gatsby."

I can read in the car as long as there aren't any buildings or trees close enough to cast shadows across the page when it's bright out. Not much gives me motion sickness, but constantly shifting shadows across a page of text does, big time.

I'm probably not the only one here who can't resist cracking a book open at a red light on the way home from the bookstore or library, huh?

Heh. I had a similar experience: my mother was bragging to her uncle that I was already reading at age 3. He figured I'd probably just memorized the stories they'd read to me hundreds of times, so he sat me down with the newspaper and asked me to read it to him. So I did.

My grandmother found me laboriously sounding out the names of dinosaurs in her coffee table book, Marvels and Mysteries of the World Around Us, when I was barely 4. She told my parents I could read. They didn't believe her until they tested me on a book I'd never seen before.

Oh. Dear. God.

And I hate listening to books, too. It's too slow. But I'd totally be there for that one.

I'm probably not the only one here who can't resist cracking a book open at a red light on the way home from the bookstore or library, huh?

People don't keep a book in their car specifically for that purpose?

I started reading around 3 or so, but I couldn't sound out words. I could only read words I'd seen before, but once I knew a word, I knew it, so I could read pretty advanced books, and just occaisionally have to ask someone what a word was. It took me until I was 10 or so to really get the hang of the whole "letters make sounds, and sounds make words" concept. I just knew what each whole word looked like -- I couldn't split it into letters.

The first reading will be at Borders with Sam Waterston and his daughter, Elisabeth, reading from passages of the Fitzgerald novel on Monday, July 12, at 6 p.m. at the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.

Dude. I'm totally going to that.

They're both in the Shakespeare in the Park Much Ado this year, aren't they?

People don't keep a book in their car specifically for that purpose?

I have a car book (and a home book and a bag book), but I don't like reading them at lights.

Comics, on the other hand, I have to bribe myself with food to keep from reading before I get home.

I actually have a book that my library gave me for the "Youngest Reader Award". I was 4. The book, Maxwell Mouse.

When I was moving, my mother took it from me to ensure I didn't lose it.

I have a car book (and a home book and a bag book), but I don't like reading them at lights.

Not enough challenge?