Posts Tagged ‘Reading’

I like to read.  A lot.  I have a book “in progress” at any moment. I even have different books stashed in all areas of my house in case I happen to have a free moment, at which point, I’ll pick up that book and start reading. I even have a book in my car for times when I’m waiting for people or stuck at trains.  I can’t help it, this has always been my habit.  Right now, I’ve just finished a few terrific ones.

I say this all the time, even though I’m a  school librarian, I try not to review books (unless I find them terribly horrible and even then, I try to be polite about it.)  I don’t want to push a student (or anyone) away from a book just because I don’t like it, or think it’s subpar. Think about it, how else are you supposed to be able to distinguish between poor, ok, good and excellent literature if you aren’t exposed to all kinds?  I read my share of books that are OK and that’s fine with me.  Each book serves a purpose and I’m just as thankful for light, entertaining, mindless fun books, and the intense, suspenseful, life-changing books as I am for the nostalgic, old friend, comfortable couch like books.

Having said that….here are some recent books that I have found to be terrific and dare I say spectacular:

After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick.  I love this author. I love all of his books. I love that he used to be a middle school teacher.  Here’s a bit of history about the author.  The story goes (I heard him give this speech, so I know it’s accurate) that he had a student who was going through a rough time at home.  Her brother had just been diagnosed with cancer.  He asked the student’s mother if he could recommend some books for her to read, to help her cope with what was happening, but he couldn’t find any books that would help this particular student.  Sooo, he wrote one for her.  How amazing is that?  That book was called Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie.  It was funny, moving, emotional and pretty incredible.  He’s written a few more since then and I’ve enjoyed them all.  In February, his latest book, a follow up to Drums, was released and it’s called After Ever After.  I laughed out loud at parts, cried at others and found it very satisfying overall. I know I’m be vague about the actual story, but I don’t want to give anything away.  Go to your local library, check it out, give it a read, and let me know what you think.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I’m not sure I’m able to speak coherently about this book yet.  It was so spectacular that I’m still recovering from the read.  It’s been on my “List” for a while because it’s been the rave of middle school and high school librarians for about two years, but I just haven’t gotten around to it.  This year it’s one of the 20 books nominated for the Rebecca Caudill Young Readers’ Book Award for grades 4-8. My school participates in this award, and it’s about this time of year that I start reading the nominees and figuring out which ones are appropriate for my 4/5th graders.  (Two years ago The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan won….incredible book…another special treat.)

While The Hunger Games is not quite appropriate for my students, for anyone older than 13 or 14  I say go for it!  (side note: this is a perfect book for a parent to read with a teenager…lots of deep discussion material here and I promise you’ll find it exciting, fascinating and thought provoking). It’s about the US in the not so distant future, which has become a dystopian society divided into 12 districts.  Districts vary in jobs, wealth, resources and life is not pleasant.  In an effort to control and oppress the citizens, the Capitol hosts the annual Hunger Games where 2 tributes from each district (one boy and one girl from 12-18) are chosen lottery style and dumped into an arena competing to become the last one standing.  It’s brutal, intense, ridiculously addictive (I stayed up all night to finish reading and then I finally took a breath) and a fascinating story.  I’m so glad I finally read it, annoyed it took me so long and really want to share it with others.  The characters are well-developed, rounded, unpredictable and very believable.  Highly recommended.

Books I’m reading right now:
Heat Wave by Richard Castle — I’m a big fan of the TV show and I just borrowed the book from a coworker.
To Kill a Mockingbird – This is my “car read” right now  – loaded on my ipod

Books I’m looking forward to reading soon:
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris — out in early May
The Gregor series (by Suzanne Collins)

Happy reading!

Here’s my first year end wrap up.  Hopefully, you’ll find it thrilling.

Travel
Even though we didn’t do any international traveling (technically, Puerto Rico doesn’t count as international) in 2009 , we still managed to have a few good vacations.  Our summer trip to San Francisco was fantastic.  I ate lots of great food (mmm cioppino!!), toured Alcatraz at night (spooky) and even drove across another famous bridge.  In case you’re keeping track, that brings my “Famous Bridges I’ve Driven Across” list to 2: the Brooklyn Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Meaning, I was the driver not just a passenger.

We also spent a few days in Pennsylvania visiting my dad and stepmom.  That’s always a good trip (even if we do end up bringing a carload of “stuff” home.)  This year, in drastic preventative measures, we brought my brother along, therefore limiting how much stuff we could bring home (sorry Dad!).  In case you think I’m joking, this is what we brought home summer 2008.

I could have opened a discount electronics superstore  and a laser disc rental center in my living room. Thankfully, most it went home with the Canadians, and the rest of the electronics were set up in the cats’  room so they could watch their cat movies in peace.  At least that’s what I’m hoping they are doing down there.  I don’t ask.  They don’t tell.

We’re ending our year in sunny Puerto Rico visiting Jose’s parents.  It’s always a relaxing vacation full of napping and eating, more napping, reading, more eating, tv watching.  Ahh.  I will have some picture to post when we get home, but this trip has really been a lot of chilling and not much doing.  For which, I’m very thankful.

Books
Well, let me start off by saying that back in March I thought it would be sooo easy to reach my yearly goal of reading 150 books.  Even now, it doesn’t sound so crazy until I looked at my actual book log (check list at top of page) and found out I only read 46 new books this year.  There must be at least 5 books I never recorded, maybe 10? Only 46 books?  How is that possible?  I reread 11 books this year, but those don’t count on my list.  So I’m amending my 2010 reading goal to 100 books.  Obviously 150 was a stretch.  I need to do a better job of keeping track. I don’t always write down what I’m reading to the kids at school but this year I’m keeping a daily journal of activities, funny things kids say and little anecdotes.  That will help me in keeping my book log more accurate.  46? Only??

Moving on, I’d like to discuss my favorite books of the year. There were not a lot of horrible books on  my list this year, except maybe The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I really, really disliked that book.  Thought it was poorly written, didn’t make much sense and would not be the book I would choose to introduce kids to the the Holocaust.  There are others I think that are better written (for elementary students)  like The Mozart Question by Michael Morpurgo, which is a short, beautiful book.

For older students and adults, Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is the book I’d recommend. It’s one of my two favorite books this year.  I can’t even begin to explain this book except that it’s the story of a young German girl who steals books to learn how to read, during WWII. Oh, yeah and it’s narrated by Death.  Hopefully, that’s enough of a hook to get you to read it.  I gave this book to many people this year and so far, every single one of them has loved this book.  There’s something about the words, they are so poetic and luminous, the book is just breathtaking, powerful and deeply deeply satisfying.  Please read.

My other favorite book of the year is another one that I either gave away as a gift or cajoled people to read.  Seriously, at school I left this book on teachers’ desks, in mailboxes and on chairs with a note that said “Stop everything and read this book”.  Can you believe that everyone did?  The book is Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate. It’s the story of  Kek,  a Sudanese boy who is brought to Minnesota by a refugee rescue organization. He’s around 10 or 11 and in 5th grade.  He’s learning English and American customs while dealing with memories of what he lived through in his village.  Family members were killed in front of him and his mother is missing.  He moves in with an aunt and cousin who are also still trying to acclimate.

This book moved me more than anything I’ve read in a long time.  It’s told in short verse, so every single word was chosen specifically for that stanza, page, chapter.  This is nothing short of a perfect book.  A mastery of the writing craft.  This is a book you’re going read and want to share with everyone you know.  Ok, that’s just me, but you’ll probably want to share it when you’re done.    This was a state book award nominee, and I’m not proud of this, it was one of the last books on the list that I read. It has a cover that’s not very appealing.  I know that’s the kiss of death coming from a librarian, but it’s true.  My students walk away from books with better looking covers.  This is a book that has to be sold to a child, and it’s even better if you can read it with them. This story of an immigrant, refugee even, will bring up questions and hopefully feed into many many discussions.  Oh, the cover….now after falling in love with this story I have a fondness for it, but I personally saw a lot students pick it up (at my request and their own discovery) and put it right back down.  Please read it and let me know what you think.

My last recommendation is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I just finished it tonight and it was spectacular.  Just as I was finishing it, I found out that it won USA Today’s Book of the Year honors. It’s a first novel (always amazes me) about Southern women circa 1962/63. It’s the story of a young, white woman who is breaking societal roles and developing an interest in the civil rights movement.  She befriends two brave maids and together these women write an anonymous tell-all about the relationships between black maids and their white women bosses. It’s a 450+ page book that I read in 3 days. I couldn’t put it down.  I can’t wait to discuss it with my book club and share it with other people.

I read lots of other fun books this year including the Sookie Stackhouse books (True Blood on HBO) and of course the latest installments in the Sisters Grimm and Percy Jackson and the Olympians series’.  Both of those sets should be on your list (at least the first of each one)  The Lightning Thief (first Percy Jackson book) movie is coming out in Feb, but you should read the book first, especially if you are a Greek mythology fan.

If you’ve read any of my recommended titles, please leave a comment below with your thoughts and if you’d recommend them to any of your reader friends.

Food
My favorite new recipe of the year came from Jose’s friend, Judy. It’s Tuscan stovetop meatloaf.  I’ve blogged about meatloaf more times this year than I care to admit, so check my recipe log at the top of this page if you want the details.  Other things I mastered this year include fudge (all varieties…I made eight different kinds around Christmas) and I roasted a whole turkey for the first time ever for Thanksgiving this year.  I also made homemade cranberry sauce. Next year I tackle stuffing. My mom makes the best ever, so it will be a hard act to replicate.

Celtics
2009 was the year I went to TWO Celtics games. Both of them were in Chicago. One was Game 4 of the first playoff round.  Celtics lost, but it was a 3 overtime game and it was exciting!   We had awesome seats, and manged to pay ticket price for them AND get them within minutes after it was determined Boston and Chicago were going to play each other.  Our seats were 9 rows behind the Celtics bench.  We also attended a game just a few weeks ago and were able to take a lot of pictures of pregame practice and shoot around. That post is coming soon, promise.  Here’s hoping that the Celtics stay healthy in 2010.  I’d love to see them go as far as possible this season.  One day, we’ll make it to Boston to see a game.  Here’s hoping that’s in 2010.

Happy reading, happy eating, happy basketballing, happy traveling!  Happy 2010!

I’ve been a reading nut for the past few weeks, pretty much to the detriment of everything else that wasn’t work or required household jobs (like making dinner).  Last September, HBO started airing True Blood, which is based on a series of books about a telepathic waitress who gets involved in some mysteries involving vampires and other supernatural creatures. Does that not sound like great TV or what?  The TV series is highly enjoyable and right in tune with HBO’s other great shows like Rome (sigh. I miss you, Lucius Vorenas and your equally intense friend Titus Pullo).

Back to True Blood…it’s bright, sassy, and full of excess.  In typical HBO fashion it’s excessive everything…violence, sex, humor, over the top characters.  Someone summed up the show in three words. Vampires and hillbillies.  It’s a pretty accurate description, but they are likable hillbillies.  Some of them.  Ok, most of them are pretty stereotypical., but I can’t help but like the show, even the vampires.  Especially the vampires. Highly ironic  considering  I spent my entire childhood, teenage years and even some of my early twenties being scared to death of vampires.  Really, I’m not kidding. I had a real, tangible fear of them.  Damn you Stephen King and your Salem’s Lot.  I read that book in high school.  Literally. I kept it in my locker and refused to take it home.  It scared the bejeezus out of me.  I somehow convinced myself that if i only read about vampires during the day when they were locked away in their hidey holes (aka coffins), I would be safe from them.  I had nightmares for years about them.  Until I read It and then my vampire nightmares were hijacked by a really scary clown hiding in the sewer.

Anyway, the TV show is based on a series of books about a waitress (Sookie Stackhouse) and the vampires who have now gone public.  I bought the first four books just after we started watching the show and began reading the first one (Dead Until Dark).  I quickly decided that I wanted to watch the entire first season on HBO first before tainting either the books or the show with the influence of the other.

I had a hard time getting into the first book and adapting to the author’s writing style.  I’m by no means a book snob. I read everything…good, bad, classics, pulp.  Whatever. I give it a try.  I was having trouble reconciling the character in the book with the actress playing her on the show because I didn’t like the way the character came across in the beginning of the book series. So I ended up putting the book aside until after the season ended.  Then, I got caught up in basketball (Go Cetics!!) and CSI and Grey’s Anatomy.  Then it was June and before I knew it, True Blood season 2 was going to begin.  I started reading the first book again from the beginning and it was much easier  now that I wasn’t doing a direct comparison to the show; the characters were able to live on their own.  I flew through the first two books while we were in San Francisco, then watched the entire season and finally just read the last 7 books in the series over the past 3 weeks.

I love the books…they are fun and light and just like really good, filling, addictive candy.  The books have become more fantastical as the series progresses.  Besides vampires, you’ll meet were-creatures, shape shifters and fairies just to name a few.  The book covers are elaborate and over the top… illustrations with just the right hits of sparkle, plus the occasional hovering vampire, flying coffin and gigantic tiger.  I’m happy to say that the show is doing the right thing by the books.  They’ve changed some details, fleshed out characters and moved some events around, but the overall feel is very good.  I especially like that the author, Charlaine Harris, is very involved in the general show, even though she does not do any of the script writing.  Did I mention that True Blood has an awesome theme song and opening credits?  That song is so good I won’t even fast forward through it. (youtube to it!!)

HBO has also just started marketing a Tru Blood beverage. It’s a blood orange soda that looks exactly like what’s on the show. How fun!  In the books/show, the vamps are able to go public because of the development of a synthetic blood substitute, Tru Blood, that allows them to live without human blood. (Of course, not all of them choose to drink it.)

I could write another ten paragraphs about the world’s reaction to the True Blood phenomenon.  How some people feel the books and show are making elaborate social commentaries on a myriad of topics encompassing race, religion, homosexuality and poverty just to name a few.  Personally, I’m not sure I’d dig that deeply into the show or the books.  But that’s just me.  It’s pure superficial entertainment on my part.

I can’t believe I wrote an entire post about a vampire book/TV series without even mentioning how good looking most of them are, especially the two main vamps.  Do a quick True Blood Google search and you’ll see.  You won’t be disappointed.  Bill (dark haired) is pretty darn good looking, and Eric (blond Viking vampire)..he’s…well, let’s just use the word luscious. It certainly fits.  So sad that I have to wait until next June for season three, but if they stick even a little bit to the 3rd book, it should make for some excellent TV.

Next up on my reading list is our October book club selection: Roast Beef’s Promise. It’s about a son who promises his dying father that he’ll spread his ashes in every state.  I sure hope it’s funny.

And on the TV front is Dexter.  Another superb cable show also based on a book series…but more on serial killer, forensic blood spatter analysts another time.

Happy Reading! (and watching!)

I had to share a photo of my new King collection! I purchased this whole set from a relative of a friend. I’m so excited! I was just thinking about getting rid of all my paperbacks and buying some hardcovers of my collection, but I was too cheap to buy the books. Then, this amazing opportunity came up and I couldn’t resist. There are a few I haven’t read, and some that I’m looking forward to re-experiencing.

I’ll take this moment to mention my favorite Stephen King books:

Eyes of the Dragon — I completely loved this fantasy book. Rumor has it that he wrote this because he wanted his young children to be able to read something he’d written. Who cares why he wrote it, the book is fantastic. Wonderful story!

Misery — Annie, Paul, the special paper, and the axe!!  oh how I loved this book (and the movie too, surprisingly– Kim…remember waking mom up to show her the foot-smashing part? She was not nearly as amused at 3am as we were!)

Skeleton Crew has to be my favorite overall King short story collection. The first story, The Mist, creeps me out today. I was horribly disappointed in the movie (which was pretty faithful to the story up to a point then not so much.)

Night Shift — another amazing collection of short stories…especially the very spooky “Sometimes They Come Back” scary!!!

My favorite short story of all time (and one of my favorite movies, too) is “Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption” Most people are unaware that that movie is based on a King short story. Both are incredible.

Here’s what I’m looking forward to reading (or rereading):
Danse Macabre – a nonfiction book on the horror genre. I was always too afraid to read this, but I’m looking forward to it now.

All the stories in Different Seasons, especially Apt Pupil (I recently saw the movie, which was good and disturbing)

I think I’m ready to reread It, but I’m not sure. That book freaked me out.

Salem’s Lot -ditto on the freaking out. I used to be afraid of vampires, but I’ve gotten over that. I read this book in high school, at school. I refused to take it home and have it in my house. I would only read it during daylight hours. I know it’s strange.

The Stand – What can I say about this one?  It’s a perfect story, well written, planned and executed.

ok that’s enough of my 5 second reviews, I’m going to hug my books for a while.