Personal Information

EK Reading Club

Mexico City, Mexico

I love to read; I have always loved to read. I started at a very early age by taking the books in my home and reading them under the bed by flashlight.   I graduated to secretly "removing" books from the public library "forced" by their age-appropriate policy. At the age of eight, I didn't want Nancy Drew; I wanted Tolstoy. It is much harder to "reintroduce" books to the library than to "remove" them.

I will read any and everything that comes into my hands. I have read almost all the so-called "great books" (http://www.modernlibrary.com/top-100/100-best-novels/) but I freely admit to reading trashy books (the kind of book you read, enjoy and then throw into the trash or hopefully pass on to somebody else) and I am not proud of this but I have read all eighteen of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. So, nothing is off-limits...well, except that I refuse to read James Patterson. So, the guided reading books on this blog are pretty eclectic but you won't find any James Patterson books.

I came to Mexico many years ago and I did not speak any Spanish - not one single word. I understand perfectly well  how difficult it is to learn another language. But, I had an advantage in that I heard Spanish everyday and everyplace I went. I watched television and I almost died of hunger the first few months. It is much harder for my students because they don't hear English all the time and don't have anyone to practice with outside the classroom.

I was an English as a Second Language (ESL) professor at the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico for too many years to count. I would like to think that I was a good teacher. I took so many courses on teaching reading (and how to write exams) and that is how the idea for this blog was born. I want to share the reading techniques that I have learned as well as the books I am reading and give my former students a place to practice their English.

Hopefully, this will inspire someone to read and share their ideas.