Monday, February 11, 2013

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 02/11/13

Visit Kellee and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts
for more about the It's Monday! What Are You
Reading? Meme
 
 
I find that I'm not exactly reading what I plan to.  At first, my weekly goals were a bit lofty.  Now I just find that I get sidetracked by library books or e-books or tasks at work that require me to read different professional books.  But, even though I'm not always reading the books I had planned, I do think I'm more productive in my reading so making a plan is working out. 
 
My Life as a CartoonistThe first book I finished this week was one of the books I had planned to finish last week.  Honestly, if I hadn't put in writing that I was going to read this, I probably would have quit early on.  It's not that I thought the book was bad, it just wasn't immediately captivating.  I'm glad I pushed through though.  The bullying story-line played out pretty well, there was humor, I liked the vocabulary with sketches in the margins, and the dog didn't die.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
Cinder (Lunar Chronicles, #1)
 
Cinder was not on my list for this week, but it was at the library and the ARC of Scarlett stares at me every day, so I had to go off-plan.  I'll tell you, I was not happy in the first page and a half.  (I'm a bit harsh at the beginning of books.)  I knew it was going to be one of those weird robot-cyborg, mechanical, technical sci-fi stories; not at all what I wanted.  And then the prince walked into Cinder's shop and I was in.  In one paragraph I reverted to a sixteen-year-old girl, and I stayed there throughout the story.  I really enjoyed this futuristic version of Cinderella and look forward to diving into Scarlet.
 
 
Description: Giant Steps To

I am reading a picture book every day (which is why I visit the library even though I have a million YA books here to read), so as usual, I'll just highlight one.  I really appreciate all of the recommendations on the other IMWAYR blogs as that is how I am able to choose my picture books each week.    I liked Giant Steps to Change the World even before the first page.  The inside cover has inspirational quotes such as "A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new" from Albert Einstein.  I also love the artwork.  Each page describes a way to change the world with a specific example.  The examples describe famous people and the artwork also hints at who each person is, but the people are not specifically named.  I think it does a nice job of showing the potential of an individual.  My only criticism would be that I wish there was sort of a cheat sheet or answer key in the back to identify each person.  I think it would benefit kids to know that real people did the things suggested in the book.
 
Energize Research Reading and 
Finally, I finished one of the professional books I've mentioned in the last few weeks.  What I love about Energize Research Reading and Writing is that it really highlights individual strategies for carrying out research so that research does not always have to be a long, drawn-out unit of study.  There are specific examples and ways to differentiate each strategy.  The title indicates the book is appropriate for teachers of grades 4-8, but I think this is certainly good for high school teachers as well. 
 
 
 

 
So what's for this week?  Well, I suppose I should try to get last week's books done.  And maybe Scarlet. 
 
The Dark Unwinding     How They Croaked: The Awful  As Scarlet and Wolf work to   Book Love by Penny Kittle
 
 
Thanks for reading my blog!  Please let me know what you're reading or leave me your website address so that I can read your blog. 
 
 


11 comments:

  1. I had the same reaction to Cinder and am excited to seek out Scarlet to read. I agree with you that Energize is a great book for all teachers who teach research. I especially like that it really stresses the focus on research as learning and not just what most students think is the purpose---to do school. I bet you will love Book Love. I am almost finished with it and loving every page. http://mrspayanreads.blogspot.com/2013/02/its-monday-what-are-you-reading-211.html

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    1. Thanks, Andrea. It's good to know that once I really get started with Book Love, I will really enjoy it. I look forward to checking out your blog. :)

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  2. Wow-I'm excited to read all that you recommended. I've had Cinder on my stack a long time, so maybe you have given me the boost to start! The 'change the world' book does sound good, & I keep hearing about Energize as terrific as well. Thanks for all you wrote about these! (I get sidetracked too!)

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    1. So far, all of my "sidetracks" this year have been enjoyable reads. I just feel badly because I've put into writing what I'm going to do (as if someone is going to call me on it). :) When I have so many books on my TBR list, I have to be captivated quickly. I'd say if you're not into Cinder by the end of the first chapter, but it back at the bottom of your list. It caught my interest fairly quickly.

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  3. I agree with Linda - this may be the boost I need to read Cinder. The cyborg/sci-fi thing is not really for me but reading this, maybe I need to reconsider. Thanks!

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    1. Well, at least this cyborg has a little romance - and with a prince!

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  4. I might need to practice some reading strategies because I think I've just figured out that the quotes inside of the front cover of Giant Steps to Change the World - the quotes I loved so much - are the answer key that I wanted for the descriptions within the book. If it took me this long to pick up on that, I'm going to guess it might take a child a while to figure that out too. (That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.) Also in my defense, the library has glued the flaps down so that I can't see all of the quotes. Otherwise, Im sure I would have figured that out immediately. :)

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  5. Love what you read this week :) I have Book Love to read as well; just need to get to it. Definitely need to get into some of the series you mentioned- Cinder and Life as a...

    Happy reading this week! :)

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    1. Thanks, Kellee. Of course, now that I've read Life as Cartoonist, I realized that I have Life as a Book under my desk. (Actually, 6 copies of it!) So, I thought I had never heard of the series, but I guess I have. :)

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  6. Your review of Cinder has piqued my interest. The cover is definitely eye catching but I don't really like to read that genre and I'm kind of burned out of fairy tale retellings.

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    1. It's hard to avoid scifi since it's so popular right now, so I know what you mean. Sometimes, I just want something else. And this really is a retelling of Cinderella, so you might want to wait for a little while. I did really like it though, and got through it fairly quickly.

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