Spring ended June 20th but I was on vacation and haven't had time to wrap up the reading challenge until this morning. Overall, I am pretty thrilled with how well I have done. SRT has been hugely motivational for me as well as learning I will be teaching 5th and 6th language arts next school year. I haven't done a lot of reading for me, but I am finding that a lot of the children and young adult novels are just as enjoyable and fulfilling. So what are the results?
Well, I had from March 20th to June 20th to read as much as possible. ***
1. The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
2. Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
3. Zach's Lie by Roland Smith
4. Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
5. Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
7. Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix
8. Tunnels by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
9. Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli
10. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
11. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
12. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
13. Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
14. The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
15. Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
16. The Luxe by Anna Godberson
17. Gone by Michael Grant
18. My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
My favorites: Milkweed, The Witch of Blackbird Pond, My Sister's Keeper
My goal for next year is to read 25 books. In fact, I'll make that my goal for summer '09!
***This does not include the educational books I also read:
19. Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer
20. Kelly Gallagher's Readicide
21. Nancie Atwell's The Reading Zone
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Shamed
What makes writing "good?"
I just finished Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper and I was blown away by the story. I quickly went on to Goodreads to give it five stars and write a quick review about how it wowed me from the start. Afterward, I read reviews from other Goodreads members and a huge majority had given the book the lowest ratings of twos and ones. So I read what had them so peeved.
Many said Picoult's writing was too cliched. The B-story about Campbell and Julia was fluffy and unnecessary. The ending was ridiculous and blew. They hated Sarah. The story is "trash pop fiction." The more I read the reviews, the more embarrassed I felt about giving it a five star rating, about loving it.
In college, I took a Modern Novels course in which I had to read a different book each week, many of which were killer-boring and painful to read. I still hate Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel. We finally came to a novel that I was enthralled with from the start, Joyce Carol Oates' The Falls. I finally had great things I wanted to say to contribute to the class discussion, after having certain opinionated students dribble on for weeks about the greatness of the other selections. So, as I was discussing with a peer next to me before class started, I admitted to liking the story for once. Almost immediately I was drop-kicked by one overly-opinionated chick who said it reminded her of a trashy novel you could pick up on the shelves of Target. Just like that, my opinion was nulled.
Is there such thing as a book snob? What makes writing good as opposed to the kind of writing that the masses go for? Isn't an author's job to make you feel and think no matter the feelings or thoughts evoked? If we look closely at Shakespeare, while yes poetically written and clever, his plays were filled with sex and drama and conflict. All cliches stem from his plays as he used every one of them. If he were to rewrite for this generation, would others still be apt to call it popular garbage?
Cop up. No one wants to admit she's danced around to a Top 40 song at one point in her life. She's too cool for that. Metallica was cool until they sold out.
I admit I hated Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. And yet, I read it straight through to the disappointing end. I also don't think too highly of Twilight. But I also just recently purchased New Moon, to give it another shot. I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by saying they must be a moron for enjoying popular fiction. And so maybe I shouldn't take it to heart when other's disagree with my viewpoint. I just want it to be okay to love a book that everyone loves (or hates).
I just finished Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper and I was blown away by the story. I quickly went on to Goodreads to give it five stars and write a quick review about how it wowed me from the start. Afterward, I read reviews from other Goodreads members and a huge majority had given the book the lowest ratings of twos and ones. So I read what had them so peeved.
Many said Picoult's writing was too cliched. The B-story about Campbell and Julia was fluffy and unnecessary. The ending was ridiculous and blew. They hated Sarah. The story is "trash pop fiction." The more I read the reviews, the more embarrassed I felt about giving it a five star rating, about loving it.
In college, I took a Modern Novels course in which I had to read a different book each week, many of which were killer-boring and painful to read. I still hate Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward, Angel. We finally came to a novel that I was enthralled with from the start, Joyce Carol Oates' The Falls. I finally had great things I wanted to say to contribute to the class discussion, after having certain opinionated students dribble on for weeks about the greatness of the other selections. So, as I was discussing with a peer next to me before class started, I admitted to liking the story for once. Almost immediately I was drop-kicked by one overly-opinionated chick who said it reminded her of a trashy novel you could pick up on the shelves of Target. Just like that, my opinion was nulled.
Is there such thing as a book snob? What makes writing good as opposed to the kind of writing that the masses go for? Isn't an author's job to make you feel and think no matter the feelings or thoughts evoked? If we look closely at Shakespeare, while yes poetically written and clever, his plays were filled with sex and drama and conflict. All cliches stem from his plays as he used every one of them. If he were to rewrite for this generation, would others still be apt to call it popular garbage?
Cop up. No one wants to admit she's danced around to a Top 40 song at one point in her life. She's too cool for that. Metallica was cool until they sold out.
I admit I hated Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. And yet, I read it straight through to the disappointing end. I also don't think too highly of Twilight. But I also just recently purchased New Moon, to give it another shot. I'm not going to insult anyone's intelligence by saying they must be a moron for enjoying popular fiction. And so maybe I shouldn't take it to heart when other's disagree with my viewpoint. I just want it to be okay to love a book that everyone loves (or hates).
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Throwing in the Towel
So, I have until 7 in the morning to finish the book challenge, but I'm really proud of what all I've accomplished so far and I just don't see myself staying up through the night to try to rush through a book just to have one more. I'd rather read when I'm awake and lucid enough to comprehend what's happening. Since 7:30 Saturday morning, I have read 5 books. That's five in less than two days! I'm sure I've never done that in my life. Here is the run down of my accomplishments:
1. Fever 1793 - 243 pages - 3 hrs.
2. Maniac Magee - 184 pages - 3 hrs.
3. The Graveyard Book - 307 pages - 4 hrs. 15 min.
4. Life As We Knew It - 337 pages - 6 hrs. 30 min.
5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - 223 pages - 4 hrs. 30 min.
Totals: 5 books, 1294 pages, 21 hrs. 15 min.
Congratulations to everyone who participated this weekend. I know I was never in the running, but I'm so excited for what I've accomplished!
Oh, and for the Greater Good, I pledged $1.00 for every 50 pages I read to my two charities. I will be donating $25.88 to both Rose Brooks and LiteracyKC.
1. Fever 1793 - 243 pages - 3 hrs.
2. Maniac Magee - 184 pages - 3 hrs.
3. The Graveyard Book - 307 pages - 4 hrs. 15 min.
4. Life As We Knew It - 337 pages - 6 hrs. 30 min.
5. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - 223 pages - 4 hrs. 30 min.
Totals: 5 books, 1294 pages, 21 hrs. 15 min.
Congratulations to everyone who participated this weekend. I know I was never in the running, but I'm so excited for what I've accomplished!
Oh, and for the Greater Good, I pledged $1.00 for every 50 pages I read to my two charities. I will be donating $25.88 to both Rose Brooks and LiteracyKC.
Just Finished Reading...
48 HBC #5
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
time spent reading... 4 1/2 hours
time spent blogging... 12 min
I am ending on a high note. This is my favorite book of all the ones I read this weekend. I loved it. Romance, crazy Puritans, witch trials, history, romance. Kit from Barbados has recently lost her grandfather, and having no other immediate family members boards a ship headed for Connecticut, to an aunt's she has never met and who is unaware of her visit. Kit is like a colorful peacock that sticks out amongst gray pigeons in Puritan New England. She shocks the natives over and over again. She can swim and read and oh, that "witch" at the outskirts of town? a wonderful new friend! A couple of chapters devoted to the witch trial reminded me of the insanity also seen in The Crucible. This story, however, does everything a good book should. It was fun, worrisome, irksome, sweet, funny, and had a very happy ending. What more could a girl want?
Just Finished Reading...
48 HBC #4
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer
time spent reading: 6 1/2 hours (embarrassing)
time spent blogging: 35 minutes
I'm disappointed in this book. It started out so well that I thought this was going to be the most fun of all the books I've read and then it began to feel more like The Diary Anne Frank: Armageddon. The premise is that a large enough astroid hits the moon hard enough to send the moon out of its natural orbit and pushes it closer to the earth. This sets off a chain of disasters almost immediately. Tsunamis decimate almost all coastline cities, electricity comes and goes, phones lines are down, volcanoes erupt blanketing the atmosphere is ash and smoke, blocking out the sun, and quickly turning an August summer into an August winter. It all sounds terrifying and enthralling but that's the extent of explanation we get from Pfeffer. The rest of the story is rather monotonous, told from the point of view of 16 year old Miranda as she writes in her diary. At first she complains about not having the chance to experience what it would be like to date, then school is no longer an option, and eventually every is one in the same. The temperatures are freezing. They are starving. Surely, the will all die soon.
I was hoping for scientific explanations for this chain reaction of horrific events and to get an idea of what is happening in the world, but even at opportune moments, Pfeffer chooses not to reveal any details. Even as Miranda's mother listens to the radio, the information is thin.
Most of the news was bad, the way it had been last summer. Earthquakes, floods, volcanoes, the litany of natural disasters. There were a few things added the list, though: Flu epidemics and cholera. Famine. Droughts. Ice storms.
The news reporters and top officials don't seem to have any answers, but everyone has a list of the deceased. The president (no doubt Bush Jr. - or as mom calls him "idiot") only says that things are looking up. If that were true, then shouldn't the earthquakes, floods, and volcanoes be over by now? I'm not sure the earth could sustain itself after a year of nonstop natural disasters. No one could survive that.
Even if the news did report something of significance, Miranda and her family don't seem to concerned to hear what they have to say.
It scares me a little that Mom is willing to burn up batteries just to listen to the radio.
Besides not having a clear explanation as to what is going on or why, I was troubled with the actions of some of the characters. Firstly, the family goes on a huge shopping spree stocking up for the end of the world. They come out with at least 6 or so heaping carts of food in just the one trip alone and a week later they already seemed to be starving. What happened to it all so quickly? The mother begins to act irrational, too, getting upset with Miranda for going back to her boy friend to tell him that bags of food are being given away to each household. They all come out with a bag of food, but the mother scolds her saying, "What if they ran out while you went to get him? We need to think only of ourselves right now." Real nice.
The father is no better. The world is ending and he leaves town with his young new wife and their unborn child to head cross country to her parents' place, never to be seen again. He has three kids and he leaves them to fend for themselves alone with their single mother. What real father who loves his kids would do that?
The story ends with no explanation of whether they all die, the planet implodes, or civilization begins to flourish once again. It just ends. I'm going to assume that dinosaurs crawled out from under the earth and ate Miranda and her family.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Just Finished Reading...
48 HBC #3
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
time spent reading... 4 hours and 15 min
time spent blogging... 15 min
Hmm... this book was interesting. A great beginning hooked me from the start. Parts of the story reminded me of The Labyrinth... especially the ghoul world, and others reminded me of a freaky Tim Burton movie, or characters from a Roald Dahl story. It all begins with a sharp knife. One that kills a mother, a father, and a young girl. Somehow, the baby boy of the family, eludes the killer and crawls his way up the hill to a graveyard that has overtime been turned into a "nature reserve." The ghosts in the graveyard agree to care for the child and protect him from the dangers of the outside world. However, as the boy grows up, his curiosity and desire to know about the world of the living brings Nobody Owens into the face of danger on many occasions. And then he learns the truth about where he came from and that his family's killer might still be alive and looking to finish the job...
The Graveyard Book is this year's Newbery champ. The story was dark, fun, entertaining but I'm not sure I'd rate it up there with my all-time, life changing, mind altering favorites.
Just Finished Reading...
48 HBC #2
Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
time spent reading... 3 hours
time spent blogging... 20 minutes
I love this book! A boy, given the nickname of Maniac, is in search of a place to call home after his parents died in a tragic accident when he was 3 and he was sent to live with an aunt and uncle who share a house separately but refuse to divorce because of their Catholic faith. Jeffrey has had enough with them and during a choral concert, takes off running and doesn't look back. He arrives in Two Mills - which is split into West End and East End, whites and blacks. Here, in his new town, he makes friends, enemies, and fans, but will he find an address to claim as his?
Just Finished Reading...
reading time... 3 hours
review... 12 minutes
Historical fiction about the yellow fever epidemic that took the lives of thousands of Philadelphia's inhabitants. Mattie Cook, 14, lives with her mother and grandfather helping with chores in running Cooks Coffehouse. Shocking news comes one morning when the servant girl does not show for duty. Mattie learns she has died and each day more and more are falling ill with pestilence. Mattie has to grow up fast in order to survive as well as care for others.
The further I read, the more queasy I felt myself. I finally took my book over to the fridge and made some toast. Almost miraculously as the food was in my stomach, the first frost fell on Philadelphia and things began to take a turn for the better in the story.
48 HBC Starting Line
And I'm off... 21 minutes later than I had planned.
First book: Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
First book: Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Just Finished Reading...
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
I read this book over the weekend, but have been busy (and out of town) and have not had a chance to write about it. I am not usually savvy enough to figure out whodunnit before the characters do and mystery is not a genre I read often, but this is a perfect book to introduce the mystery genre to students. There are many characters and many clues to keep track of and plenty of opportunities for skillful predictions. I had difficulty myself keeping track of who is who (16 main characters are a lot to follow) and so I want to read this again and spot all the clues the author slyly put in that I never caught. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Will use this with my 6th graders.
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