Recent Reads

The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta (probably better known for Little Children and The Leftovers)

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

Both of these are the first books I've read by these authors, and I enjoyed them both. I read some negative reviews on Amazon about The Abstinence Teacher that I can't really disagree with (some thoughts that had been circling in my head upon completion, such as character motivation and one-dimensionality of some characters), but it was a quick read and intelligent and kept me interested.

While I enjoyed The Abstinence Teacher, I loved The Sense of an Ending. It was so articulate and beautiful that I savored every word of the compact little novel.

Shakespeare and bad vampire fiction

What do Shakespeare and bad vampire fiction have in common? This is quite good. Note to future me: share it with my students!

Some links

The Patience Problem: http://chronicle.com/blogs/onhiring/the-patience-problem/34818

Get Naked and Take a Nap: http://www.upworthy.com/get-naked-and-take-a-nap-plus-21-other-life-hacks-you-can-learn-from-a-kid?c=ufb1

For further perusal down the road.

Trying to track my reading habits

I've been using a variety of methods to track my reading habits: this blog, Amazon wish lists (really more helpful for the "to-read" list), Pinterest boards (also more helpful for the "to-read" list), my "currently-reading" classroom sign, and Goodreads. I've been having trouble with Goodreads on my iPhone pretty much since the school year started and just today I finally read the error message and signed out and signed back in. And now it's working.

So, an updated list, cobbled together from the various sources:

1. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Wildwood by Colin Meloy
3. In the Woods by Tana French
4. Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka
5. Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

9. Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close

10. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

11. Sick Puppy by Carl Hiassen

12. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

13. That Old Cape Magic by Richard Russo

14. Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James (okay, shut up!)

15. This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper

16. The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan

17. Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld
18. All We Ever Wanted was Everything by Janelle Brown

19. State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

20. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

21. Igniting a Passion for Reading by Steven L. Layne

22. Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

23. Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

24. The Mailbox by Audrey Shafer

25. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

26. Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

27. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Currently reading: Murder in the Marais: An Aimee Leduc Investigation by Cara Black and Fahrenheit 451: The Authorized Adaptation by Ray Bradbury (graphic novel)

To-read list (books currently in my possession from the library and from my most recent Scholastic book order):

1. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes

2. The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perotta

3. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

4. 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

5. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

6. I'd Tell You I Love You, But Then I'd Have to Kill You by Ally Carter

7. Dirty Little Secrets by C.J. Omololu

8. Bad Girls Don't Die by Katie Alender

I may be on track to read 40 books this year (the books listed above equal 37). It helps that I've decided to count the YA books that I read (and sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, like with Miss Peregrine) and that I have a student teacher right now, which allows me more time to read (and write! Check out 750words.com). My determination method has continued to evolve. I'm still pretty set on maintaining high standards for the books I personally read, but the book Igniting a Passion for Reading (see #20, above) has convinced me that it is important to read YA novels - nay, consume them - for the sake of the kids I teach. I've got lots of ideas for helping kids pick out "just-right" books and I'm excited to teach, and part of the plan is to read and recommend lots of books that my 8th graders may like. So, I've got this peculiar mix of award-winning adult novels and guilty-pleasure (for lack of a better term - I've expounded about how I detest that phrase before) YA books, plus my own pet genre, mysteries, represented in my list.

Onward! Two months left of 2012!

This is Where I Leave You (Ch. 1-3)

Just started reading Jonathan Tropper's This is Where I Leave You (2009). I'm on Chapter 3 and already it's so full of brilliant, dazzling constructions that I have to record a few of them somewhere so I don't forget.

"He is the Paul McCartney of our family: better-looking than the rest of us, always facing a different direction in pictures, and occasionally rumored to be dead."

"My landlords are the Lees, an inscrutable, middle-aged Chinese couple who live in a state of perpetual silence. I have never heard them speak. He performs acupuncture in the living room; she sweeps the sidewalk thrice daily with a handmade straw broom that looks like a theater prop. I wake and fall asleep to the whisper of her frantic bristles on the pavement. Beyond that, they don't seem to exist, and I often wonder why they bothered immigrating. Surely there were plenty of pinched nerves and dust in China."

"We knew marriage could be difficult in the same way that we knew there were starving children in Africa. It was a tragic fact but worlds away from our reality."

The New List and Selection Process

So far, this year, I've read:

1. The Return of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
2. Wildwood by Colin Meloy
3. In the Woods by Tana French
4. Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka
5. Dovey Coe by Frances O'Roark Dowell
6. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
7. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
8. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins


Judging by the fact that 6 out of those 8 books are technically YA novels (though Wildwood is enormous and The Hunger Games trilogy packs an adult-sized emotional punch), I'd say I need to get moving on some of the adult books on my list.


Coming soon . . .


1. The Best American Short Stories 2011 (downloaded to my Kindle)
2. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (sort of waiting for paperback or when it comes to my small-town library)
3. What Maisie Knew by Henry James (this has been chilling on my Kindle for almost a year. Over the summer I finally landed firmly on the love side of my love-hate relationship with Mr. James.)
4. The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka (2011 National Book Award finalist)


I've recently decided that most of the books I read should be award-winning books. I've wasted a lot of time and energy and come away angry at too many sub-par books. If I know it's won an award, at least I know even if I personally don't care for it, it will be worth my time. All the books I read so far this year, and all the books on my to-read list, are award-winners or nominees. (The exceptions are books you can rely on to be excellent because of the authors, like James or Doyle, books that will be excellent because of the selection process, like the Best American series, books in a series that follow an award-winning debut, such as the Hunger Games series, or books by authors* I already like, such as Colin Meloy).  


*Not technically an author before Wildwood, but I've listened to and owned enough Decemberists albums to know that he's a talented lyricist.