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From the Modesto Bee:

X-Press Yourself: Modesto teacher an open book



Josh Moore is a fan of novelist Stephen King and horror movies.

By CHRISTOPHER CASKEY
BEE STAFF WRITER


Last Updated: January 7, 2007, 09:13:45 AM PST


Josh Moore loves to read books, but you probably won't see him in the library any time soon. The 31-year-old prefers bookstores, where he can browse around and find one to take home for good.
"I like to read books at my own leisure," said Moore, 31. "Sometimes, I will go back months, or even years, later to a book I didn't finish and read it again."

Moore regularly meets with a small book club composed of friends. Members read a different book every month and discuss different aspects of the work. This month, it is "Out of My Mind," by Andy Rooney.

"It isn't even really a book that I wanted to read," said Moore, who lives in Modesto. "I'm really not Andy Rooney's biggest fan."

Moore especially loves to read Agatha Christie mysteries and Clive Barker and Stephen King thrillers, though he seeks out lighter reading when he reads to children at work. He is a preschool teacher at the Modesto Salvation Army's Child Development Center. And when he is not reading or working, he likes to watch movies — especially horror movies.

Q: Is there a book that really had an early impact on you?

A: That's hard, because I think every book I read I am really taken by. My usual rule is that I give a book up to Page 100 to catch me, and if it doesn't, I move on to another one. But one book in particular that really caught my interest, I don't know, is maybe "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." It's definitely one of the best books I have ever read.

Q: Why 100 pages?

A: The books I read are usually like 300 or 400 pages at the most. I'm not into the thousand-page, huge novels. If nothing has happened by Page 100, then nothing is going to happen. I really don't do it very often, but I do sometimes. I have a lot of books that I wish I had stopped at Page 100. It's like those movies where you expect something to happen but it never does, and you walk out of there going, "I wasted my life watching that?"

Q: Why do you like to discuss books in a group?

A: It is a way of getting other people's points of view. I have read books and have told people that I didn't really like it, and they have said, "Well why not, I loved it?" Then I explained that I didn't like how this character did this or that character did that. But they explain why those characters did those things, and I had never thought of it like that. Sometimes, I end up changing my mind. I go back and reread the book and go, "Wow, they were right, this is a really good book," and I didn't even realize it the first time around.

Q: Do you think people read enough today?

A: In my opinion, not enough people could ever read. But I do think things like Oprah's Book Club are good. When she quit her book club, it was like everyone else had their own book club. And when she came back with it, everyone else's kind of went away. I wish they would bring them back, because they encourage more and more people to read, and that is the best thing you can do for someone. ... And the "Harry Potter" series, those help draw in children. Children may read that and nothing else, but at least it exposes them to something they may not have otherwise been exposed to, so I am all for that. Even though I have never read any of the Harry Potter books.

Q: Why not?

A: Well, I tried, but for some reason, I just could not get into those books. I had a hard time understanding what was going on, and how to pronounce all the character names. And the fact that the books are getting longer and longer is not endearing me to the series.

Q: What is it about horror movies that you enjoy?

A: I like to see who is going to get it next and how they are going to get it. ... No matter how gross or disgusting the movie is, I will be the first one in my seat, and I will enjoy every gross and disgusting minute of it.

Q: If you hear that a movie is coming out that is based on a book, do you watch the movie or read the book first?

A: It sounds funny, but when I read a book, I play the movie in my head, and I cast the movie the way I want to cast it. I would much rather read the book than see the movie. But I don't like reading the book and then seeing the movie, because then I don't just sit down and enjoy the movie. I end up sitting there pointing out all the differences between the book and the movie. I have done it, but I don't like it that much.

Q: If you could visit one place in the world, where would it be?

A: The only place that is really on my "To do before you die" list is Italy. I love Italian food, and the pictures I have seen of Italy are so beautiful.

Q: Do you have a favorite Italian restaurant?

A: I would have to say my all-time favorite is Johnny Carino's. I always know that no matter what I eat on the menu, I am going to enjoy it.

Q: What is something about yourself that would surprise someone?

A: The only thing I can really think of is that I collect ancient Egyptian art. ... I have statues and I have figurines, and I have a whole wall full of pictures of hieroglyphics written on papyrus paper.

Q: But when I asked about places you wanted to visit, you didn't say Egypt.

A: Egypt used to be up there until one of my friends went and her experience was horrible. She hated it there, and that kind of turned me off to the idea of going there. I think I kind of want to admire it from afar.

Q: What is your favorite thing about Modesto?

A: I would have to say my favorite thing is all the different restaurants to choose from. Although we do not have as much as some other towns may have, I still think we have a lot.

Q: What is your least favorite thing?

A: I am not a fan of those roundabouts at all. I would also have to say my other least favorite thing is how much the town has grown. I think it was originally meant to be a small town and was meant to stay a small town.


My pooh Bear so rocks!!
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MY BARF is TASTIER than Yours!!!

[Rocky Sullivan]

italian food? egyptian art? not liking long books? he sounds really cool, man.
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[Sharp]

We have a Johnny Carino's here. I only get the chicken parmigiana though.

[Steveo]