I'm not surprised by what I see. The culture of reading in our school is well established. If I walked down the corridor to our Grade 8 rooms, I would see the same sight!
It's just that seeing them all engrossed in books just a few days after the start of the school year means they are already doing something positive and powerful for themselves. When I eventually move into lessons about characterization and word choice and conflict and connections to texts, we will already have that shared experience of becoming engaged as readers.
And shared it is...it is essential for me to practice what I preach! I vary my material - novels at MY reading level/interest, university texts, and of course I regularly read new books that have have been ordered for our class library.
They also KNOW I am a reader when I can speak in an informed way about the books I am recommending. When I determine from their interest surveys or a conversation that they prefer mysteries I can suggest everything from Cam Jansen to "How Come the Best Clues are Always in the Garbage?" to Encyclopedia Brown.