You Might be a Nerdy Book Clubber if …

Posted by on December 9, 2011 in Uncategorized | 28 Comments

If you read this, you are most likely a card carrying member of the Nerdy Book Club (which is something Colby Sharp should be providing us by the way).  When you get to the quiz below, you might find yourself saying, “Yes, that is soooo me!”  It’s OK own the label of Nerdy Book Clubber.  Go ahead and scream from the mountain tops, “I’m in the NERDY BOOK CLUB!!!!!!!” What would be even better though is to find new recruits to our cause.  So my advice to you is to print this out and leave it in your staff lounge.  Or email the link to people who you suspect may be closet members of the Nerdy Book Club.  If we are going to move ahead with our plan of Global Domination, we will need a legion of Nerdy Book Clubbers ready to roll.  Imagine the scene below, but with all of us carrying books and hopefully wearing better outfits.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/calafellvalo/2393306695/)

Are you ready to step up and see if you are NBC material?  With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, please take this “You Might Be a Nerdy Book Clubber if …”  quiz.  A scoring guide will follow.

  1. you have books in storage boxes because you have run out of room on bookcases in your home and/or classroom
  2. you make sure there are room for books in your bag when you go on a vacation and you actually read them
  3. you sincerely hope your class orders a truckload of books during the September Scholastic Book Order.  Seriously, who doesn’t love 20x bonus points?
  4. you have listened to a book on tape during a long car drive
  5. you saw the Hunger Games trailer and thought, “Well they still might screw it up, but at least Katniss was well cast.”
  6. you can appreciate the dysfunctional Joad, Sedaris or Wormwood families, but you try to blend in with the crowd when the Kardashians, Hogans or Gosselins are being discussed.
  7. you have been to a midnight release party for a Harry Potter Book (or you really, really, really wanted to go but you knew you’d be in the doghouse for a while)
  8. you have purchased furniture specifically designed to enhance your reading experience
  9. you have disabled or seriously considered disabling the Amazon One-Click button
  10. you can name your closest independent book store and you actually shop there
  11. you become irritable when other things get in the way of your reading
  12. even though you have a massive TBR pile, you find yourself not wanting to finish a great book (bonus point for knowing what a TBR pile is)
  13. you would consider voting for the Presidential Ticket of Joyce Carol Oates and Stephen King, even if you have never read one of their books
  14. you felt a little disappointed when Oprah picked a book you really liked for her book club.
  15. you own an article of clothing that is clearly related to reading
  16. you actually try to predict who the Newbery winner will be (bonus point for correctly predicting at least once)
  17. you follow at least one librarian like on twitter
  18. when asked what your favorite book is, you respond with something like, “Do you mean favorite of all time or just in the last few months?”
  19. you always factor in a book allowance whenever you feel the need to look at your family budget
  20. you find yourself quoting fictional characters

Self Scoring Guide:

0-4 points: Clearly not a Nerdy Book Club Candidate

5-9 points: There is some promise, we’d consider you as a probationary member

10-14 points: Welcome to your new home
15-19 points: Oh my stars, you definitely need to go buy a mug or t-shirt immediately

20-22 points: Immediately contact Colby Sharp, he will give you the access codes for The Nerdy Book Club’s secret plans for Global Domination

Tony Keefer (@tonykeefer) lives with his NBC family and teaches 4th grade NBCers in Dublin, Ohio.  He also writes for Choice Literacy and on his own blog atychiphobia.