39 and 40

let me just get this out of the way: i heart chuck bass.  yes.  i am THAT 30-year-old who must have her gossip girl fix each week and counts the cw as her 2nd favorite network (no fears, nbc, you are still numero uno . . . as long as you keep jim halpern around.  but back to the books - upper eastside?  new york city wealthy lifestyle?  great fashions?  a lovable cad?  secrets?  true-love beyond class . . . wait.  don't i watch this show?  no. no you don't because these books are set in 1899!!!  a turn-of-the-century historical fiction  gossip girl-esque series?  oh my.  my nerdiness will not contain itself.

i have downed both of these books in record time.  i was craving something fun to get into and i found such respite in the luxe and rumors by anna godbersen.  now that i've gobbled these up, i have to wait until january 27th of 2009 for the third, envy, to make its appearance.  that's okay.  maybe i can win some cool nars goodies from godbersen's website.  (yeah, i am not sure i get the connection, but as far as sponsors go, you can't get too much better than nars!)

36, 37, 38 - combining posts . . .

i am in the process of designing a new class right now.  (shh.  this should have been done a few weeks ago, but i'm finally putting some actual teacher thought into it.)  my friend, micki, at school sent me the link to this lesson plan on www.readwritethink.org to help motivate me a little.  and oh boy!  did it motivate me.  and here's why.

36 - the anchor text for this unit is a chair for my mother by vera williams.  when i saw that, i knew that i absolutely had to do the lesson.  this was my favorite book EVER reviewed on reading rainbow.  i still remember watching reading rainbow, hearing about this book, and going to straight to it the next time we went to the library.  i loved the story, loved the art, loved everything.  so yeah.  i am excited to work with it next week.

37 & 38 - when i went to buy it yesterday evening, i found myself standing in front of several of leo lionni books.  talk about books that have amazing philosophy . . . so i had to get a couple.

35 - rebel angels

oops.  i actually read this back in july.  but you know, since i pretty much sucked at keeping up with this blog over the summer, i'm having to backtrack now.

this is the sequel to libba bray's a great and terrible beauty.  like the first book, i LOVED this one, too.  it's so steeped in the mythical and the descriptions are so vivid.  are they for everyone?  nope.  but i really like them.  i'm being cheap right now and waiting to buy the third book until it is in paperback.  i've got several more months to wait . . . 

34 - perfect

my friend, lori, suggested that i read natasha friend's books.  at the time she suggested them, i had several books in my arms for purchase, so i had to file the thought away for a while.  which i did, until last weekend when i went in to border to buy pride and prejudice.  i figured i owed it to myself to buy a book i would probably enjoy reading during the purchase of what has now become my nemesis.  (can a book be a nemesis?)

anyway.  of course, lori was right.  perfect was, well, perfect.  and fast to read.  it's already found a place on my student shelf in the classroom and will probably be the first book i do a podcast on for my school website.  i'm fighting the urge to go buy the other two books she has written.  i will probably lose that battle.

33 - breaking dawn

i read this book.  it was long.  i was happy the last two words of it were "the end."  here's hoping that means i'm done with forks, washington for a while.

do i appreciate ANY book that can get kids excited about reading?  um, duh.  i am an english teacher, so yes.  do i appreciate ANY book that can help me connect to that student who typically won't say a word to me?  um, duh, again.  but here's the deal: i've never been a fan of vampire stories, zombie stories, horror stories of any kind.  you throw in a romance that (to me) borders on unhealthy obsession and dependence and stretch it out for FOUR books (the last of which was RIDICULOUSLY long with some crazy weird stuff going on, i.e. nessie), then yeah, i'm going to be ready to be finished with these characters.  

p.s.  i really liked twilight.  i did!  i did!  the rest of the series has just not been as fun for me to read.

32 - girls in trucks

i'll be honest.  i picked this book because of the cover.  i LOVE that photograph above.  i would like to have it framed somewhere in my house.  

and because i picked a book solely due to the cover, i must deal with the ramifications.  the book was interesting, i'll give it that - a debutante who doesn't follow tradition and goes to college in the northeast and ends up in new york city, drinks too much, alienates her family, and so on.  but, the fact that i read it over a month ago and can't think of anything really to say about it, should probably be an indication of something.  don't get me wrong, i had no negative feelings about the book while i was reading it.  (i know this because i always remember everything about books i don't like . . .)  it just doesn't stand out now.

31 - the dogs of babel

i picked this book up at my parents' house, so it isn't something that would have caught my eye on my own.  that said, i really enjoyed reading it.  the premise is horribly sad: a man comes home from work to find that his wife has fallen out of a tree in their backyard and has died. their dog, Lorelei, witnessed it all.  the first chapter of this book sucked me in faster than any other book i've read lately.  The rest of the book is the journey through the husband's grief and how he just can't accept the explanation for his wife's death.  a linguist, he decides that he is going to teach the dog to talk so she can explain what happened that day.  

farfetched?  a little.  but i think that is why i liked the book so much.  the linguistics plot is interesting and somewhat creepy.  i haven't don't much research to find out if carolyn parkhurst imagined a lot of the "facts" that appear in the novel or if they come from actual historical accounts.  if they are imagined, then WOW.  she does an amazing job of creating very realistic science.  if the are based on historical events, then WOW.  disturbing.

30 - emily's reasons why not

wow.  i don't know what happened the last two months that i decided to be horrible at posting.  i have been reading . . . not as much as i normally do or would like to be, but i have been reading.

so i picked this book up for 3 bucks at barnes and noble.  it sounded interesting . . . girl searching for why she can't make a relationship work having to analyze everything about why previous relationships failed.  she does so by making lists.  i LOVE lists!

overall, it was a good read. my favorite part of the book was that each chapter was kind of like a short story, so you could read a chapter and put the book down for a couple of days and then come back to it.  and, that's what i did.  let's just say, when i needed a break from other books, i came to this one for a bit of silliness.  also, they apparently tried to make this a tv show, but it only lasted 6 episodes.

29 - eye of the world

part of the reason i started this blog was so that i would have a way to track what i was reading and avoid falling into the trap of reading the same kinds of books i always read.  i'll be honest.  i don't think i've done a very good job of breaking out of my literary comfort zones.  but yall, i deserve like a million bonus points for eye of the world by robert jordan.

i'm not a fantasy reader.  granted, i love me some good ol' harry potter (if you are fantasy fanatic and are offended by me putting HP into your ranks, i'm sorry, but seriously, that's as close as i've ever really been), but as for going to the actual fantasy section of the bookstore/library to find a book to read . . . well, i'd never done that before i went to purchase this book.  i decided to read at least one of robert jordan's books after a couple of people told me how much they enjoyed his series and after hearing that from them references to his books seemed to keep popping up around me.

and as much as this book frustrated me - it took me nearly TWO WEEKS TO READ! and that NEVER happens - i really did find myself drawn into it.  as i am sitting around this summer, trying to make some progress in my own writing, i couldn't help but be amazed at the world jordan created.  everything in this book was imagined by him and all of the 800 pages of complicated stories weaving in and out of each other had to be organized by him.  i can't even begin to think of how he managed to do that for one book, let alone his ELEVEN others.  

will i read more fantasy?  hmm.  i'm really kind of attached to some of the characters from eye of the world, so i would like to see what ends up happening to them.  but to be honest, after two weeks with one book i'm pretty exhausted.  perhaps i will get around to reading the other books, but i'll have to be okay with only reading a couple a year.  no gobbling up these books as i tend to do with so many others.  maybe there is a lesson in slowing down to read and imagine for me?

28 - names my sisters call me

so i discovered megan crane's books last summer.  many a day by the pool was spent reading her stories and then i ran out of anymore to read.  until this week, when i realized she had published another book.  yay!  i like crane's books for the same reason i like jane green - she writes for women (some would say "chick lit," but but the feminist in me is debating whether or not she likes that term anymore) without falling into the trap of assuming her audience only wants to read about shoes, crazy friends, financial irresponsibility, sex, etc.  i have enjoyed all of her books because they have all been very different from each other and have all stayed away from that cliché that is the "chick lit" novel.

27 - code talker

i picked code talker by joseph bruchac up a few weeks ago and finally got around to reading it the other day.  let me just say this . . . there is A LOT of history packed into 214 pages.  i learned more about the pacific front of world war II from this book than i think we ever talked about in high school.  (and yes, i realize how disappointing that is.)  both of my grandfathers served in the pacific, so i was drawn into this book in a different way than i normally am.  i was constantly wondering if  bruchac's VERY REALISTIC descriptions of the battles were what my grandfathers saw and experienced.  it is kind of a reality check to realize that they probably did - and more.

because the code talkers were navajo*, much of this book concentrates on what life was like for navajo boys and girls in the 1920's and 1930's as they (like many other children from tribes all over the country) were being sent off to boarding schools where they were forced into assimilation (if you want to read a powerful short story about this topic, go here).  the greatest irony of this assimilation is that these children were constantly being told how unimportant their native language was.  thankfully - for so many reasons, they continued to speak it and in just a few short years that "unimportant" language ended up saving thousands of lives.  being a language person, the portions of this novel dedicated to stressing how important communication is and how it connects us to our past blew me away.  being a teacher, i can't wait to use portions of this book with my classes this year.

while this wasn't a suck-you-in-can't-put-it-down type of book (for me), it has sparked an interest to learn more about world war II, specifically the pacific.  in my mind, any book that inspires more questions has done it's job.

_______________

*i knew that the u.s. military recruited people who could speak native languages during world wars I and II.  not just the navajo were recruited, but (according to the book) the navajo code talkers were the only group of men to create a code based on their language.  

26 - a great and terrible beauty

don't get me wrong, i love harry potter as much as the next person, but to be quite honest, i've never been one to get into books about the occult.  not for any ethical reason, i just tend to drift toward memoirs and biographies, historical fiction, and contemporary reality fiction when i am walking the aisles of barnes and noble.  but here's the deal with teaching adolescents - THEY tend to LOVE books like harry potter, cirque du freak, twilight, etc.

i've been meaning to read libba bray's gemma doyle trilogy for the last year or so, but never got around to it.  this summer, though, i have decided is my gemma doyle summer, especially after reading a great and terrible beauty and now wanting to read what happens next.  despite being a little confused at the end, i really enjoyed this book.  it kind of reminds me of a more mature secret garden, but that is probably just because both books start out in india in the late 1800's. hopefully, my confusion will get cleared up after some discussion, rereading, or moving into rebel angels, book two.

i'll definitely be mentioning this book (and hopefully the other two if they are as good) to my students when we return to school - especially to those who seem to think that life only exists in forks, washington with bella, edward, and jacob.  while i must admit that the twilight series is fun to read, i liked AGTB just as much (and maybe more!).  most of the reason for that is because the heroine, gemma, is awesome.  i know, i know . . . kind of a weak description.  but seriously, i like how bray made gemma a character who is CONSTANTLY questioning everything she has been told about who she is suppose to be.  there is a definite feminist message to this book, which is made even more clear at the end in the author interview printed at the back of the copy i read.  i love me some girl power books, so this one quickly gained my appreciation.

also, libba bray - yay texas girls who write! - keeps a blog, so if you like to read writers' blogs like i do, check hers out.  i just found it today, so i'm not sure what all is on it.

25 - the tie that binds

here's another kent haruf novel.  i've written before about why i love his books so much, and the tie that binds did not disappoint.  this novel was a little different from his others, which are usually written in (here's an english teacher word for you) third person omniscient point of view - you get the story told from a variety of perspectives and you get to be inside the head of several different characters.  if i am remembering correctly, all of haruf's books that i've read thus far are written in this style.  the tie that binds, his first novel, is not.  

instead, it is told by sanders roscoe, who now may just be one of my favorite characters from a novel.  (he's up there with scout.)  i could go on and on about why i love haruf's writing as much as i do, but one (main) reason is the characters in his novels.  because he has such a gift at creating interesting characters with authentic voices, it was a treat to read an entire book told in one of those voices.  i really felt like i was sitting at a small town cafe, drinking coffee and eating pie with sanders roscoe while he was telling me his story.

that said, none of haruf's books are very lighthearted.  they deal with very real and serious issues.  i tend to cry quite a bit when i read his books, not because they are sappy, but because i connect so deeply to the themes and issues and characters and settings set forth on his pages.  

24 - notting hell

i really wanted to like this book because, well, it's british chick lit and typically, that is right up my alley. not the case with this book. i just didn't get it. the characters annoyed me. the notting hill "name-dropping" references (for which there is a 7 page glossary at the back for stupid americans like me - yes. SEVEN PAGES!), which were endless, were lost on me. i thought the attitude toward marital infidelity was flippant. perhaps i am not rich enough or london savvy enough to have enjoyed this novel. but, you know what? i'm okay with that. normally, after i read a book set anywhere in england or scotland i am ready to pack up everything and move "across the pond" (as they say). um. this book kind of makes me understand my fellow americans who feel like europeans are ridiculous. i never thought i would understand that thought . . .

yikes. do yall realize how hard it is for me to NOT like a book? usually i can find something redeeming. ooooh. i really like the name of the book. catchy. clever. witty.

23 - h.r.h.

i've mentioned before that i am a danielle steel fan . . . sometimes you can't beat being wrapped up in one of her books while you are either curled up on the couch on a rainy day or roasting yourself by the pool during the summer.  the first d.s. book i ever read was zoya, and i still love it and reread it occasionally.  the books i remember reading during my high school and college summers, though, were sagas . . . and i miss those.  the last two of her books i've read have stretched out only over one year, and h.r.h. is no exception.  maybe after SEVENTY-ONE books, steel is a little tired and doesn't feel like writing the 600 pages sagas anymore - could you really blame her? 

but, you know what?  this book still fulfilled it's purpose and helped me kill a few hours by the pool.

22 - the nature of jade

so here's another deb caletti book . . . and just like the first book i reviewed on this blog, i was really drawn into this one. i'm starting to admire caletti's ability to write about common societal issues that tend to get overlooked in the YA genre. in the nature of jade those two issues are anxiety disorders and teen fatherhood.  there is a line in the book where jade says, "i am not my disorder" and while that is a powerful message to send about mental illness, i also feel like it is an honest description of this novel.  caletti has avoided writing a novel that reads like a diagnosis and also is able to stay away from defining her character (jade) only by some sort of textbook description of anxiety.  but yet, now that i've finished the book, i feel like i have more of an understanding of what anxiety is and how it touches every part of a person's life as they are dealing with it.

on a personal note, i should be back on track with reading now.  school is out and i've got a stack of all sorts of 'stuff' waiting for me.

21 - a midsummer night's dream

i FINALLY got to teach this play.  last year i had to teach romeo and juliet, which is probably my least favorite of shakespeare's plays . . . not that i don't love it, i just have a few others i would much rather share with my kiddos.   AMSND is one of them.  i owe my love of will to linda batty - my junior high english teacher.  it had been years since i'd actually read this play, but i had great flashbacks to good ol' WRJH during my month with this text.  (in particular, i remember us all turning the desks upside down and sitting on the floor to trick batty.  the teacher next door was NOT amused.)  nowhere in my mind do i think i did it the service that batty did, but maybe someday.  i'm hoping one of the outdoor shakespeare companies is performing it this summer.  i've never gotten to see it outside and would LOVE to.

not a lot of time for pleasure reading lately.  a lot of AP/GT curriculum reading, though.  that's always fun.

20 - lock and key

i have been waiting for sarah dessen's new book forever.  (in case you forgot, she is one of my favorite writers . . . )  it came out on tuesday and it took a lot of self control for me to not go buy it then.  i knew once i did, all i would want to do is sit and read it.  sooooo, i made myself wait until yesterday.  just like all of her other books, this one is now on my list of top whatever.  not only did the story suck me in, but i loved catching all of the references to her other books.  she doesn't really write sequels, but all of her books are set within the same community, so characters and references to characters pop in and out . . . especially in the last couple of books she's published.  (the evil rogerson from dreamland even makes and appearance in this one.  bleh.)

because i've been reading dessen's blog for about the last two years, i had a different perspective while reading this book than i have her others.  for example, one of the characters builds a koi pond in his backyard . . . and i know that dessen and her husband have a koi pond because she has written about it a couple of different times.  so, i like having some of that inside perspective on why things ended up in the book.  if i were still in grad school, i believe there is some interesting research to be done on authors, their blogs, and their readers . . . maybe in a few years . . . 

anyway.  LOVED lock and key.  i tried not to gobble it up yesterday, but it was hard not to.  now i'm sad it's over and i've got quite a few years to wait for another one of her books.

19 - does my head look big in this?

i'm trying to find good excerpts to use for a lesson in class next week, so i've been reading a lot of YA lately. i came across this book at the local library and was intrigued. (today, i was happy to see it on the shelves of our school library.) very simply, amal - the main character - is the only muslim student at her ritzy private school, so she already is pretty conspicuous. but then, she decides that she wants to wear the hijab. i learned a lot about islam while reading this book . . . a very different viewpoint than what we are exposed to in the media; a very intellectual understanding of a religion. amal (i had a student with this name one year and i love it! it's so pretty!) has a very authentic teenage voice, although not very stereotypical aussie, which i found interesting since the book is set in australia. i'm wondering if they changed some language for the american audience? or maybe i just have a weak understanding of how people in australia really talk? that's probably closer to the point.

anyway. it was a very quick read, i learned a bit, and i laughed. all in all, a good way to spend a sunday afternoon.

p.s. the new sarah dessen book, lock and key, comes out tomorrow! woohoo!

18 - how to teach filthy rich girls

chick lit. cute. slightly racy, but overall pretty tame. it was a very quick read, so if you are looking for some entertainment by the pool this summer, this might be a good one. there is a certain expletive used quite a bit, though, so probably not a book everyone would like.