Calvin's Day at School

Poor Calvin. He was always misunderstood. He's the active crazy child who can drive you up a wall - but he's also really creative. It's a shame that his talent hasn't been tapped into or explored by his teachers because then he wouldn't have such a negative view of school. This is what I hope I don't do to my students.

Even though I mostly like school, there have certainly been times that I've felt each and every one of those cells (comic can be found here). Especially the zombie one - sometimes I look back on how little sleep I got throughout high school and wonder I made it through. Asleep at midnight, up at 5, at school at 7, home at 4, 6 or 10. I can't believe I survived like that for four years.

Luckily, though, I had teachers who were a bright spot in the day. They worked hard to make school not seem like an assembly line and that we weren't just there to get our cup of knowledge for the day. A lot of my teachers tried to make sure they weren't trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. They worked with us to make sure that we fully understood the concept and how it applied to our lives outside of those four classroom walls. Of course this didn't happen every day because those teachers were humans, and you have down days. DAys were you are less energetic, slightly sick, distracted by life. But for the most part, they worked hard to serve our needs.

I remember all too well, though, those classes where I was expected to fit a mold and just parrot back to the teacher (this is why I still have a great hatred for anything Brit Lit - a bad teacher can ruin you for life). I was miserable in those classes. 45 minutes of pure torture. I didn't learn anything and just put in my time. I DON'T want that for my students.

So, this is why I try my hardest to emulate the teachers who tried to reach all of us. It isn't always easy, and sometimes I fall short of that goal. But, I don't want my classroom to feel like an assembly line. I want it to fit my students' needs. I want them to feel like they're being encouraged to grow as people - not just as a score on a test.

IMWAYR - Slacking off a bit

So this week was a little lacking on the reading. A lot of it was I was too tired by the time I got home to pick up a book. I needed to just veg out and not think for a while. Hopefully that will change this week.

At school

The Giver by Lois Lowry - I've never read it, so I decided I should. I haven't started it yet; it's what I plan on reading today during SSR.

At home

A Dragonfly in Amber by Diane Gabaldon - This is the second in the Outlander series, which is about an Englishwoman who is transferred from 1946 Scotland to Scotland in the 18th century. These are pretty thick books (more than 600 pages, so it takes a bit to get through them).

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor - This is the third book in the Daughter of Smoke and Bone series. Usually I get bored in a series with the second one - typically because it is setting up. But, in this one, I'm just not getting into the war between the angels, humans and other beasties as much as I liked the first two. 

Audio book

Still working on Delirium. Along with the "too tired" to read last week, I didn't want to listen to the book to and from work last week. So I didn't get much farther in it.

Finished

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - (see last IMWAYR for the summary of the book). I really enjoyed this book. It was very suspenseful while Rose was in the concentration camp - even though you knew she made it out OK, there were times where you wondered if she was going to make it. It was also hard to conceive that she was only in the camp for six months. It's amazing how much brutality she had to face in such a short amount of time. I highly recommend this one. The author's website also has a lot more information about the real Rabbits who were experimented on at the camp.

Abandoned 

I know in my reading life essay I said that I rarely abandon books. Well, it happened this week. I started reading Grave Mercy, one of the Iowa High School Award books, and it just wasn't clicking. I think it was more that I wasn't in the mood for it. So, I put it back to the side. I hope to pick it up soon again because I really do like to try to get those award books read.

Up Next

I realized I left this section off the last one. Of course, this one ends up changing quickly though. I'll think I want to read one book next and then completely change my mind.

Ashfall  by Mike Mullen - This has been in my to-be-read pile for quite a while. But, thanks to a lot of you mentioning it in your reading essays, I decided it needs to be moved up.

The Book of Life by Deborah Harkness - This is the final book in a trilogy I've really enjoyed, and it's been sitting on my Kindle for months, so it is time for it to get read!

My Reading Life

I honestly don’t remember a time where I didn’t read. Even before I could read, I would listen to books on tape (some were even on 45 records) or I remember my mom reading to me every night before I had to go to bed. I read a lot even as a kid. When your mom was an English teacher, one grandma was an English teacher then a librarian, and the other grandma worked in a library - you don’t have much choice but to read. But, add in the fact that I was an only child with no kids my age who lived near me (before I went to school anyway), reading was one thing I could do at anytime without needing anyone else around.

Picking a favorite book is really difficult for me. I have favorite authors: Ernest Hemingway, Anne Rice, Rainbow Rowell, JoJo Moyes, John Green, Christopher Moore, and Jonathan Tropper are a few of those. Their books are usually toward the top of my favorite’s list. And I’ll always pick up their books when they have a new one out. These are also usually the same ones I’ll reread - for example, I used to read Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire - I even have a first edition of that one - and Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises yearly. But picking a favorite book is hard because it depends on my mood and my attention span at that moment. I usually tend to gravitate toward literary fiction, supernatural and historical fiction - but I do like a good “popcorn” book every once in a while too. These are ones I don’t have to think about much while I read; Janet Evanovich, James Patterson, and Tim Dorsey are some of my favorite brain break authors. While I’ll usually give anything a try, I barely read anything that’s strictly romance (my husband says I may be the least romantic person in the world), and I try to read war/military books, but that usually isn’t successful either (although Tim O’Brien writes some fantastic stuff based in the Vietnam War).

Even though I read a lot (almost 100 books last year, and I’m at 100 right now for this year), I still have weaknesses. Sometimes I read too fast or I skim too much (the downsides of being a former copy editor), so I’ll miss out on stuff and have to go back and reread (sometimes chapters back) because I wasn’t paying enough attention. Another weakness is that I will rarely abandon a book. I always hold out hope that it will redeem itself by the end or that it will become more interesting. This usually means I will read some books that make me want to scream - and these are the ones that I frequently read too quickly because I just want to finish it! It also means that I usually greatly dislike that book because I feel like I wasted too much time on it when there are so many other great books out there to read. While that’s a weakness, it can also be a strength. It has exposed me to new authors and genres or books that I wouldn’t likely read in the first place.

I can’t imagine not reading. It’s how I wind down at night, and it keeps my brain active. I get exposed to so many other cultures and ideas - as well as learn history sometimes. It makes me want to go and explore new places, and when I finally get to go to those places, I feel like I’ve already been there thanks to the book. So, I truly believe that reading expands your world and takes you to places you’ve never been.

IMWAYR - FIrst edition of the 2014-2015 school year

Some of the bloggers/teachers I follow on Twitter started a hashtag - #IMWAYR (It's Monday, what are you reading?). So, I decided on Mondays, I would do a post on what I've read during the past week, what I'm reading now, and what I plan to read next. I meant to post the books I read this summer last week, but I forgot, but I will eventually do that (it shouldn't be too hard since I have the books I emailed out during the summer).

At work

Thanks to doing SSR in class on Friday, I finished the book I was reading. So, I'll be starting Grave Mercy by Robin LavFevers (the first in His Fair Assassin series) today. Ismae (all of this is from the back) has escaped an arranged marriage and finds safety at a convent. She learns that she has been "blessed" by the god of Death to have violent gifts and destiny. Basically, she's an assassin. 

At home

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein - This takes place during WWII. An American pilot is working with the English women's auxiliary when she manages to fly into German airspace. She is captured and has to spend six months in a women's work camp/concentration camp. Even though it isn't one of the death camps, conditions are still brutal. Little food, tons of people, random beatings. This has been a very interesting read so far.

Audiobook

This summer, I started to listen to audiobooks while I was walking or doing housework. I've learned that the narrator makes a HUGE difference, and that I have a harder time getting into a book this way. I didn't realize how much I reread and how much I skim when I read (I sometimes skip over background information, and I rarely read the attribution for dialog. It's amazing how much difference this makes.) Right now, I'm listening to Delirium by Lauren Oliver. Love has been outlawed because it makes people crazy, so all marriages are arranged and people are "cured"/prevented from falling in love. I'm not that far into this one, but the narrator is probably the best I've heard so far this summer, and that has helped tremendously with me getting into the book

Finished

If I Stay by Gayle Forman - I don't plan on going to see the movie, but from what I've seen on the previews, a lot has been added to the movie. Mia has a snow day from school, and she and her family are out driving. A car slams into them, and ends up with her parents and brother dying - and Mia is in the ICU. The book is written from Mia's perspective as she looks down on herself while she's fighting for her life. She has flashbacks from her life with her family and boyfriend. And ultimately, the decision for her to live or die is up to her spirit. This really isn't my type of book, but it was an OK read.

Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz - Yanek (Jacob) is a teen in Krakow, Poland, when the Nazis invade in 1939. He and his family are moved into the Jewish ghetto by the Nazis, and then he moves around to 10 different concentration camps throughout the war. This is based on a true story. I personally thought that they didn't focus enough on one aspect of it, which watered down the story. It still shows the horrible conditions but it could have been better.

Conversion by Katherine Howe - This story takes place in a private girls' school in Massachusetts in 2012. Suddenly, a bunch of the girls come down with mysterious diseases - seizures, hair falling out, massive headaches, throwing up pins. No one knows what is causing it, and more and more girls are getting weird symptoms. It becomes a national story, and all the while, Colleen is starting to draw parallels to this story and the Salem Witch trials - which took place in the school's town (even though it has been renamed). The story is also interspersed with some narratives from the trials. I really liked this book. I started reading it, and the next thing I knew it was an hour later. I thought the ending was a little rushed and lacked real explanation - but it was still a good read.

Picking Books

I'm not sure that there is a rhyme or reason to how I pick out books to read. Honestly, my to-be-read piles are so massive, I just dig around in those until one seems to fit my mood (and then there are the times where the huge, towering stacks just make me groan because nothing looks good, so I either head to the bookstore or download something on my Kindle).

Of course, there has to be a way to get those huge stacks. A lot of the books I pick up are from recommendations - either friends, students, authors I follow on Twitter or Goodreads. I also like taking a look through Barnes and Noble's staff picks shelf. Sometimes I've found some good stuff there. I also know my favorite authors, so if they release something, I usually have it pre-ordered. Another source for book ideas is the Iowa State Book Awards lists (http://www.iasl-ia.org/p/state-awards.html). I focus on the teen and high school awards lists. Most states have a similar list, so I'll search those every once in a while. And I always pay attention to the national awards - the Printz, Pulitzer, National Book Award, etc. I will fully admit that those are sometimes a crapshoot, but it never hurts to check them out.

Going back to Goodreads, I only really started using that this winter. At first, it didn't do much good because I didn't have many books rated, but I've gotten a lot of suggestions from them - some good, some bad. But, it's also expanded my reading horizons and made me aware of a lot more books when they come out. The biggest thing I've gotten from them is following book bloggers; because they will write about the books as they read them, they often get sent ARCs (advanced reading copies). This means they get a first look at books months before they come out. That has really added to my to-be-read list!

It is perfectly fine to abandon a book. However, I rarely do that. I will force myself to finish one - usually because I hope that it will redeem itself by the end. Many times, it does not. I also try to finish all of the ones I get for the classroom because I want to be able to at least talk to you about them. This makes it hard for me to do the booktalks because I don't want you to get a negative view of the book, but I at least want you to be "exposed" to it (and this is why I don't read most of the military war books I have in the room because I know I won't like them).

Feel free at anytime to recommend a book to me that you've really liked! Trust me, I've had plenty of students just throw books on my desk for me to read - and I always will read them!

Me, in 47 words

Today, I had you write your story in 47 words and then go back and edit it to as many words as you wanted. Here's one of the ones I did today and then the revised version.


Scared faces. Silent room. Awkward pauses. Bumbling words. The first day isn't the easiest. Soon they'll be boisterous. Soon, I'll wish they were timid little mice. It is always an adventure to get to know their personalities. A fresh start. Not every job gets this. I'm lucky.
(FYI: By some miracle, I got to my 47 words on the first try for this one).



Not every job gets this luxury. A fresh slate at the start of every year. New faces that come in: timid little mice at first - some of who will eventually turn into roaring lions after 180 days. I get to see them grow and change throughout that time. Sometimes physically to where they are towering over me. All of them I get to see change emotionally as they mature. Right now, they are stranger, but in May, we'll have strong bonds that will make me get a little teary-eyed when they walk out that door for the last time as freshmen. Sure, there will be moments I cringe and bang my head on my desk, but these are my kids and I wouldn't change any of it for the world.

IMWAYR - Back on Track

I'm trying to get back on track with posting regularly. I suppose that means I should also look back through what I've written during class and post some of those. Anyway, back to books...

School
Virals by Jessica Khoury - Pia is a science experiment - one who can live forever. Kinda fitting that I'm reading this while some of you are reading Flowers for Algernon because Pia is the first of her kind - the only other animal this has been tested on is a rat. She is also "caged" into a compound in the Amazon jungle - and has no clue that there is an outside world until a new scientist comes in and Pia stumbles onto a hole in the electrified fence.

Home
Then and Always by Dani Atkins: I have to put a full disclaimer first - I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway, but any opinions I put down are my own. I have a hard time explaining this (because I'm not too far into it), so here's the synopsis from Goodreads - don't worry, there are no spoilers:

Rachel Wiltshire has everything she’s ever wanted: a close group of friends, a handsome boyfriend, and acceptance to the journalism program at her top-choice college. But one fateful evening, tragedy tears her world apart. 
 
Five years later, Rachel returns home for the first time to celebrate her best friend’s wedding. Still coping with her grief, she can’t stop thinking about the bright future she almost had, if only that one night had gone differently. But when a sudden fall lands her in the hospital, Rachel wakes to find that her life has completely changed. Now she has her dream job as a writer and a stylish apartment, but the people she loves most are not the way she remembers them. Unable to trust her own recollections, Rachel tries to piece together what really happened, and not even she can predict the astonishing truth.

So, basically, it's talking about Rachel having an alternate reality.

This one will become part of my school library and will have a book talk later this week.

Finished

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira - Still can't go on about how much I loved this book about a girl dealing with her older sister's death by writing letters to dead people. This is a very real, raw, realistic book that will seriously tug on your heartstrings. I highly recommend this one.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain - This follows Billy L. and his company on their tour of Dallas Stadium while they're on leave from a tour of duty in Iraq. There are flashbacks, but most of the book takes place while they are stateside. You don't even get the fully story of why the troupe has been highly decorated.If you've read any Tim O'Brien, this is somewhat similar but to be honest, I prefer O'Brien. I had a hard time getting through this book - not because it was bad, but because I didn't really like it.

Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn - This books pretends that Queen Elizabeth has decided to sneak away one day to go see her old yacht, Britannia, which is now docked in Leith, Scotland. She is slightly incognito and has none of her typical entourage. They are actually freaking out because they don't know where she is and want to find her before there is an incident.

Up Next

The second book in the Mara Dyer series
Monument 14 by Emmy Laybourne

IMWAYR - In a reading funk

It's been a struggle with reading this week; everything I've been reading hasn't gotten excited. So, I've been avoiding it. I'm hoping I can find some books this week that I really enjoy.

School

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain - This really isn't my type of book. It reminds me of Tim O'Brien's works but it hasn't sucked me in. Billy Lynn is a hero of the Iraq War; he and his company have been touring the nation to build up morale and show that the war is successful. The book takes place during one day when the company has gone to the Thanksgiving game at Cowboys stadium. I don't like the writing style, and with all the flashbacks to what has happened since he's been home make it drag for me.

Home

Finished

Going Over by Beth Kephart - Book talked. This was the one that took place in Berlin in 1983 with two storylines that connect on either side of the Berlin Wall. I highly recommend this one.

Hemingway’s Girl by Erika Robuck - I had to force myself to finish this one. It was not very good at all. I thought it was poorly written and a little mushy for me. I wouldn't recommend this one, so I'm not giving many details about it.

Swim by Jennifer Weiner - This was another Kindle single/short story. My complaints are the same as the previous ones I've read. I just got into and then it ended. It is based off a book she has written that I have yet to read, but I didn't like that it really seemed to leave off in the middle. But, it will drive me to read the book, so I guess it is a good marketing tool.

Up Next
Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn
Origin by Jessica Khoury

Pull up a chair...

Whoa. I realized that I haven't posted in a month. I even have entries from quick writes in my journal at school, but I think this shows how crazy the first part of March gets with the end of the quarter, conferences and spring break. My goal for the rest of the school year is to post more regularly. And, because I've gone so long in posting - I've got a lot of finished books to talk about on here.

School

I just finished The Age of Miracles today, so I'll need to pick a new one. I'll let you know in the "next up" section.

Home

Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck - I grabbed this one at Barnes and Noble from the staff recommends section (I've gotten some good books from that area - they have a notecard with a short description of why they liked the book; check it out!) mostly because it had "Hemingway" in the title. Hemingway is probably my favorite author (although, it may be a four-way tie with him, Anne Rice, Rainbow Rowell and John Green). I will pick up almost anything that includes him in the storyline. I'm about halfway through this book, and it is a little more romancey than I normally like. Not that crazy about it.

Finished

Pull up a chair, because this section is a little long.

The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by Michelle Hodkin - I did a book talk on this one when I finished it. It is about the girl who wakes up and knows her friends have died but she survived the building's collapse. She has no memories of it though. This was really good and kept me wanting to read more of it.

The Line by JD Horn - I needed a replacement for the Sookie Stackhouse series, and this one popped up in my Goodreads recommendations. It is a series that is mostly coming out this year (the books are going to be less than $5 on Kindle!!!) about witches in Savannah. I'm not fully sold on it yet, but it was entertaining and worth it for $5/book.

Boy 21 by Matthew Quick - I also book talked this one. This is about the boy who moves into a school district but barely talks to anyone. His coach pairs him up with a current student/player and he slowly comes out of his shell and no longer refers to himself as an alien named "Boy21."

The Last Enchantments by Charles Finch - This is about a group of people who go to school for a year at Oxford in England. I didn't like most of the characters and thought they thought too much of themselves, so I can't say I really enjoyed the book.

Paris by Edward Rutherford - This is a history of Paris written as a novel. It isn't in chronological order, but each time period has families that intertwine throughout the centuries of The City of Lights. Most of the book focuses on the time period from the construction of the Eiffel Tower on, which made me a little sad. I knew that history; I was reading it to get more of Paris' ancient history. However, it was still enjoyable to read and still talked about a lot of historical events (and included Hemingway, so I was happy). I have Rutherford's historical novelizations of London and New York, and I'll definitely be reading those soon.

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan - This follows multiple married couples during different time periods. Slowly, you see the connection between the couples, however, it also doesn't paint a pretty picture of marriage. Most of the couples are dysfunctional for one reason or another.

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout - I wasn't crazy about this book. The characters weren't likeable and it was too much like real life. A lot of times, I want to read something that isn't real life - I use it as an escape. This book just kinda plugged along. It was good writing, but not necessarily my cup of tea.

Tropical Warning by Tim Dorsey - This is a Kindle single, which is basically a short story. This is just an extra story about Dorsey's character, Storm Serge. I think it was too short and didn't really develop the plot well.

Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg - This is a non-fiction book about why women aren't leaders in the workplace (like CEOs, CFOs, COOs, etc.). I've heard a lot of buzz about this, but I wasn't too crazy about it when I read it. You all know that I'm not afraid to stand up for myself, and that's basically what the book was telling women to do. It was a lot about what I already do.

Honeymoon in Paris by JoJo Moyes - This was another Kindle single and is a companion to her The Girl You Left Behind. It follows each of the two couples - the one during WWI and the present couple - on their honeymoons to Paris.

The Edible Exile by Carl Hiasssen - same as Tropical Warning

The Sherlockian by Graham Moore - This was a literary mystery involving Sherlock Holmes. It follows a group who "studies" all of the works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and fights to prove items about Holmes. There is a murder and the group is then plunged into a hunt for Doyle's missing diary. Chapters switch back and forth between the present and Doyle's time period. This was a great mystery.

The Witch of Belladonna Bay by Suzanne Palmieri - I won this book as a giveaway for an advanced copy on Goodreads.

This was a quick read, and I honestly couldn't put it down when I started reading it. I was sucked in to the tale of Brownwyn, who has escaped her Southern roots and magic for a calm farm in New York. She returns to her family home in Southern Alabama to try to help her brother, who is sitting in jail accused of murder. Wyn slowly embraces her roots and finds answers to secrets that have been eating away at her for years. There's a lot of mystery to the book, and it is very reminiscent of Southern Gothic. If you like Anne Rice, this would be a great book for you.

Alabama Moon by Watt Key - This was another book talk. Ten-year-old Moon has only lived off the grid in the forest with his father. Things take a drastic turn when his father dies and Moon gets sent to a home for boys. He doesn't adapt well to living there and escapes with two other boys. The trio tries to make it to Alaska from Alabama, but of course, things don't go as planned.

Lincoln's Letter by William Martin - Martin does a neat trick with his novels. There are always two story lines - one in the past and one in the present. It follows Peter Fallon who deals in historical documents/artifacts. Usually there is a mystery surrounding one, so you get its "history" in bits as that timeline slowly inches toward the present. These are great books if you like American history; he's done ones on New York City, the US Constitution, Boston and now this one on Lincoln. This was probably my least favorite, but if you liked the National Treasure movies, you may like these.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker - I'll be doing a book talk on this tomorrow. It basically follows the year in a life of humans after the Earth slows. Days last up to three "normal" days and there are lots of odd side effects. It shows how we are good at adapting even in the face of adversity.

Up Next
I am thinking about Billy Linn's Long Halftime Walk for work, and at home, I know I've got three new releases being delivered tomorrow, so one of those may be up. Or I could randomly pick another one - you never know.

What I'm Reading Monday - A Slow Down

I knew the slow down of finished books would come - and it did. This is even two weeks worth because with the screwy week at school last week, I forgot to do a post. But, this time, there won't be a ton because I forgot.

At school

The Unbecoming of Mara Dwyer by Michelle Hodkin: I am going to be starting this is during SSR today, so I don't know much about it yet. Lindsey L. told me I had to read it, so I decided I might as well. I will be doing a book talk on this one when I finish it. This is a trilogy, and I do have the second book, but the third has yet to come out.

At home

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker: This has been on my to-read list for quite a while. I'm only a little bit into it, but it is another apocalyptic novel. Unlike Life as We Knew it (talked about below), the weather and moon isn't causing the issues, instead the Earth has slowed down. Days are now 25 hours and 30-some minutes long. This creates all sorts of issues - weird daylight hours, lowered gravity, animals acting weird, etc.

Winter's Tale by Mark Halprin - In all honestly, I haven't touched this since I first talked about it.

Finished

Life as We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer - I really liked this one. So much so that I got the next two in the series soon after (but haven't read them). It did creep me out a little because an asteroid could hit the moon or other things could greatly change our weather patterns. It made me a little more uncomfortable than some other dystopian/apocalyptic books.

Grasshopper Jungle by Andrew Smith - This was the book that I was REALLY excited about when I pre-ordered it. It sounded like it would be a great, high-interest book. There was just too much going on with it. If it had stuck with either the sci-fi storyline or the coming-of-age storyline or the apocalyptic storyline - I could have handle it. But all three was just too much.

Hostage Three by Nick Lake - Cassidy H. brought me her copy to read, and I REALLY liked it. This book follows Amy, a spoiled rich girl, on an extended yacht trip (that she wasn't excited about going on). Things go horribly wrong when they get to Somalia, though. Their yacht is taken over by Somali pirates, and her name becomes Hostage Three. The book centers around how she deals with it, and it also gives an update on her life three months after the ordeal.

Asylum by Madeleine Roux - I picked this book up because it looked a lot like Miss Peregrine, and because so many of you liked that one and are always asking me for something like it, I thought I should grab it. Besides having weird, old photos (and there really aren't that many) in it, it really isn't much like Miss Peregrine. This book is more of a thriller/murder mystery that takes place while gifted kids are at a summer camp in an abandoned asylum, which was the site of some grisly experiments.

Next up

This is a little harder this week since I've just started the two I'm reading now. But, Origin by Jessica Khoury and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain are the front runners.