Chapter 4 Journal Entry Part A.

Poll 10 people by posing the question, "Read any good books lately?" How many have they read in the past 6 months? What types of books have they read? What does this tell you about your sample and society?

What an interesting poll this was! I loved our chapter about books because I love to read. However, I don't find much time to read and so I haven't read nearly as many books as I would have liked. My poll was interesting because I found that people have interesting reading styles. 

I polled ten people and these were the results:

Grandma in CA - Reads often, is currently reading a book about arms build up in the 70's and 80's which has to do with a company my Grandpa worked for. 

BYU Student (girl) - The Host (Stefanie Meyer), 3rd Nephi in the Book of Mormon, A history book on the Great Depression. 

BYU Student (girl) - A New Earth (Erkhart Tulle), The Peacegiver

Co-worker and BYU student (male) - Heaven's Resound; Nauvoo; Isaiah Prophet, Poet and Seer; Joseph Smith - Teaching of Latter-day Prophets; Bible; Book of Mormon; Pearl of Great Price; Doctrine and Covenants; Mormonism and Early Christianity; Temples of the Ancient World; Mere Christianity; BYU Studies Summer 1969 Code Names

Older Brother, 25, works full-time (male) - Princess Academy; The Perilous Gard; Madeleine L'Engle Herself; Book of a Thousand Days; The Lord's Question; The Kite Runner; The Arm of the Starfish; Wit; The Amulet of Samarkand; American-Born Chinese; Every Book Its Reader; The Golem's Eye; Mummy's the Word; A Voyage to Arcturus; Ptolemy's Gate; Bird by Bird; Conversations with Mormon Authors; As Long as I have You; Art and Fear; The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Co-worker (female) BYU student - Pride and Prejudice; started reading Twilight but decided not to finish it. 

Little brother (13) - Book of Mormon

Little brother (15) - The Hobbit; all of the Lord of the Rings (probably for the 20th time); The Once and Future King; The Stilmarillion; Unfinished Tales; all of the Chronicles of Narnia. 

Little brother (16) - The Count of Monte Cristo; Les Mis (abridged); part of The Last Man; We the People (textbook)

Dad - can't remember (He did read some children's books to my little brothers). 

What an interesting poll! What I learned from my small sampling was that some people read more than others. It seems that people who want to read will take the time for it. I was most impressed with people, like my two brothers, who have read so many books in the past few months. It is also interesting to note what kinds of books people choose to read when they do read. Everybody is different and my sample size only shows me that people read what they like, and they only read as often as they choose to make time for it. 

I heard a quote once by a great man that something to the effect that, "You can tell a man by the books he has by his bedside." I agree. It says a lot about a person when you look at the kinds of books they read. My fifteen-year-old brother reads a lot of fantasy, my older brother reads a variety of genres, and my co-worker (I work at the Missionary Training Center) only reads gospel-themed books. My sixteen-year-old brother seemed to be reading classics and I think that is because they are required for his English class. My dad, a tax CPA, hasn't had time to read anything (he does read the Sports page and Stock info). 

In the past six months I have read a few books with my husband. Everyone's reading style differs. Some people read only one book in six months, others read twenty. No matter our style, reading is something that almost everybody engages in for one reason or another. It is a means of mass communication that is still widely used today.