It's Monday! What Are You Reading? 02/25/13



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I finally sat myself down and read Book Love.  It was easier to put this one off because I feel like a have a fairly good handle on getting students to read.  But even when you think you can do something fairly well, it's always good to collaborate with others and hear new ideas, and this book was full of new (to me) ideas for building independent reading throughout the school year.  I highly recommend this one.

 

 

 

For nonfiction this week, I read Charles and Emma.  I really liked it, although not as much as last week's The Bomb.  There are parts where it seemed a bit repetitious to me, and I don't think the writing will be as engaging to younger people, but it's a fascinating story - a very different view of Charles Darwin.  I must say I've never thought of him as a husband and father.  I didn't consider his struggle to share a theory he was convinced was correct, but that might hurt his relationships with people he loved.  The book is full of quotes from letters and journals so you really feel like you're getting an accurate picture of the Darwins' lives. 

 

 

Here's my classic for the month.  Considering the number of years I lived and taught in Orlando, it's a shame it took me so long to read Their Eyes Were Watching God.  I admit the vernacular really slowed me down, but I liked the story and the writing so much that I pushed through.  It's not a classic for nothin'.  It was really interesting to see the expectations of women and how one woman reacted differently throughout her life.  I can't say I was always thrilled with her choices, but I was interested to see how things would turn out for her. 

 

 

 

This is my "sidetrack" for the week.  I checked out YALSA's Hub challenge where you read or listen to 25 books from their list of 83 (http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2013/02/03/yalsas-2013-hub-reading-challenge-begins/).  So, I'm only on #14 (also counting this week's graphic novel), but so many of the books on my TBR list are on this list, I hope to read far more than 25.  Boy21 was a very fast read for me.  Engaging story - basketball, competition, mental instability, romance, friendship, family, murder, the mob . . . something for everyone. 

 

 

 

 

This is another sidetrack.  It was on the Hub challenge list and in my library and a graphic novel, so I checked it out.  What can I say?  It's Spiderman.  No surprises, but the art is pretty great and the pages are shiny and colorful. 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm still doing well with my read a picture book a day (although I admit, sometimes it's just an average for the week).  I read 10 picture books this week including Beast Feast, Moonpower, Three Nasty Gnarlies, Extra Yarn (recommended by many of you), Out of this World (also an IMWAYR rec), Children Make Terrible Pets, The Green Mother Goose, and Sleep Like a Tiger (rec by Carrie at There Is a Book for That), and But Excuse Me That is My Book.  This was a good group of books and I found myself brainstorming lots of ideas for using them in the classroom.  Finally, I got Something to Prove from Netgalley.  It's the story of the meeting of Satchel Paige and Joe Dimaggio.  It's an interesting story that I hadn't heard before.  The illustrations are beautiful, as you can see from the cover.  And while the story is focused on baseball, there is also the frustration and disadvantages that came with segregation.  I can't wait to see this one in print.   


For this week, since I got sidetracked by two books last week, I still need to start The Girl of Fire and Thorns.  I also have Hold Fast and/or Hide and Seek coming up in the near future.  Thanks for reading my blog.  Have a great reading week!