Ooo! Ooo! I really love this book! Ok, ok I know that is not a descriptive opening, and I would have marked my students down for such sentiments, but I just can't help myself. Let me try that again. The Night Circus is highly enjoyable because it is a very successful fantasy story. It captures that glamorous, ethereal quality that really good magical realism does so well, but manages to maintain an originality that is quite unusual.
Marco and Celia have been bound since childhood to compete in a game of chaos versus order. The venue is a fantastical circus whose creator, performers, and attendees have no idea what is really going on. The medium is magic. Each competes by manipulating the circus into ever more extraordinary directions, and the result is a dreamscape of different tents. Parallels I noticed were with The Tempest (which is often quoted) and Romeo and Juliette. If you're not a fantasy person, the quality of this book might well be lost on you. However, the fact that this is a first novel does make it all the more impressive.
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Friday, December 23, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Library Books on Your Kindle
You read that correctly! The largest downside to the Kindle, high prices on books, has now been eliminated! Anyone can now go online, borrow ebooks from the library, and then download them to their personal device without ever leaving the house or paying a cent. That is pretty much the best news since "it's a healthy girl" in my book.
In our neck of the woods, you just visit this part of the King County Library System and follow a few simple steps. It took me a few tries before I was quick at the process, but it really is not very difficult to understand. First you put the book in your digital "bag" go through "check out" and then log in to Amazon to push the book to your Kindle. You get to keep it for three weeks which is more than enough time to read the average novel.
As if that were not enough, you can actually check out up to twenty books at a time. That may sound crazy, but if you are using your Kindle on a long trip, twenty might be a reasonable number. Think about that; a whole stack of books will take up almost no space at all. One last bit of icing on the cake is that there are children's picture books available too. That way, when you aren't busy reading Proust or Huxley or The Naughty Duke, your child can enjoy some Go Dogs Go.
In our neck of the woods, you just visit this part of the King County Library System and follow a few simple steps. It took me a few tries before I was quick at the process, but it really is not very difficult to understand. First you put the book in your digital "bag" go through "check out" and then log in to Amazon to push the book to your Kindle. You get to keep it for three weeks which is more than enough time to read the average novel.
As if that were not enough, you can actually check out up to twenty books at a time. That may sound crazy, but if you are using your Kindle on a long trip, twenty might be a reasonable number. Think about that; a whole stack of books will take up almost no space at all. One last bit of icing on the cake is that there are children's picture books available too. That way, when you aren't busy reading Proust or Huxley or The Naughty Duke, your child can enjoy some Go Dogs Go.
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
Mark Bittman's New Book
I’m working my way through another Mark Bittman book, The Food Matters Cookbook, and it is just as good, if not better, than his previous ones. In the past, “foodies” and “greenies” were never found in the same place, and when they were, fighting ensued. It was taken as read that a person who really cared about delicious food couldn’t possibly be interested limiting or altering food consumption. After all, if this hand-made salami tastes SOOO good why would I ever consider NOT eating it?
This is where Bittman is a genius. He has the foodie credentials, but he also has a passion for re-thinking our patterns of consumption. He advocates a reduction in meat-eating because the average American eats more than 200 pounds of meat per year which is an unsustainable level for our country and our planet. He also considers processed foods to be an evil that is causing obesity and illness in much of the population. Of course none of this is news, but he’s pulled together a very sensible and delicious answer to the current food problem.
Did you know that if the average person ate just three fewer servings of meat per week it would be the carbon equivalent of taking all the SUV’s in America off the road? Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. Besides, if we all swapped our burger and fries for something better, imagine all the weight we might lose as well. It’s a win-win situation to say the least. His book includes 500 recipes that will surely help to steer us in the right direction. I can't wait to try his five ways to top popcorn and five new flavors for trail mix and that's just the first few pages.
This is where Bittman is a genius. He has the foodie credentials, but he also has a passion for re-thinking our patterns of consumption. He advocates a reduction in meat-eating because the average American eats more than 200 pounds of meat per year which is an unsustainable level for our country and our planet. He also considers processed foods to be an evil that is causing obesity and illness in much of the population. Of course none of this is news, but he’s pulled together a very sensible and delicious answer to the current food problem.
Did you know that if the average person ate just three fewer servings of meat per week it would be the carbon equivalent of taking all the SUV’s in America off the road? Pretty amazing stuff if you ask me. Besides, if we all swapped our burger and fries for something better, imagine all the weight we might lose as well. It’s a win-win situation to say the least. His book includes 500 recipes that will surely help to steer us in the right direction. I can't wait to try his five ways to top popcorn and five new flavors for trail mix and that's just the first few pages.
Saturday, October 02, 2010
Banned Books Week 2010
Banned books week is here once again, and I almost missed it! It seems that requests to remove literature from American libraries and schools are once again on the rise. The American Library Association keeps track of official challenges and tabulates the most frequently challenged titles for each year. This year's list includes Twilight, The Color Purple, and The Chocolate War. Interestingly, many of these titles were challenged on the grounds of "religious perspective" which must mean that of the challenger because Twilight does not include a religious perspective as far as I can tell.
Monday, September 20, 2010
The Hunger Games
Just a quick plug for my favorite series of late, The Hunger Games. While this author can be found in the Young Adult section, her stories are quite readable by all ages so long as you enjoy sci. fi. dystopian future stuff. All three books deal with issues around authoritarian governments, poverty, and human rights. However, the main theme in all three is actually the power of media to shape opinion. The Hunger Games themselves are the world's worst reality TV show where young people from all over the country are forced to fight to the death in a giant arena. The cameras are always on, and the rest of the population gets to enjoy the spectacle. Of course there's always that one person who can't seem to play by the rules. Just do your best to ignore the love triangle which is trite and unnecesarry.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Banned Books Week 09
Welcome to banned books week! It seems incredible to many of us that there would still be people trying to ban books in the year 2009, but it actually happens all the time. In the past seven years, more than 3700 book challenges were reported to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. It is believed that this represents a small portion of those books actually challenged since not all institutions report such events to the ALA.
The single greatest reason for such challenges was concern over sexually explicit material. Other challenges occurred because of offensive language, violence, or homosexuality. At least 200 books were challenged over a "religious viewpoint." Some of the frequently challenged authors were:
-Phillip Pullman
-J.K. Rowling
-Chris Crutcher
-John Steinbeck
-Katherine Paterson
-Walter Dean Meyers
-Mark Twain
-Maya Angelou
-Toni Morrison
Of course whenever I hear about a book challenge, it always makes me want to go out and read the book in question. I hope this kind of list causes these authors to do better, and not worse, on their quarterly earnings reports. Therefore, go out and buy a challenged book today! More info about Banned Books Week may be found here at the ALA.
The single greatest reason for such challenges was concern over sexually explicit material. Other challenges occurred because of offensive language, violence, or homosexuality. At least 200 books were challenged over a "religious viewpoint." Some of the frequently challenged authors were:
-Phillip Pullman
-J.K. Rowling
-Chris Crutcher
-John Steinbeck
-Katherine Paterson
-Walter Dean Meyers
-Mark Twain
-Maya Angelou
-Toni Morrison
Of course whenever I hear about a book challenge, it always makes me want to go out and read the book in question. I hope this kind of list causes these authors to do better, and not worse, on their quarterly earnings reports. Therefore, go out and buy a challenged book today! More info about Banned Books Week may be found here at the ALA.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
A Ho Hum Book Review
Can someone please tell me what is so hot about The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? This is a newish novel by Mary Anne Shaffer, and I keep seeing rave reviews about it in all sorts of places. I read this book, and I don't get it. It's a little book about a little island. The set-up is unique and so is the title, but otherwise it is just a sort of cute little story. The reviewers are treating it like great new lit, and I really cannot see what all the fuss is about. Perhaps I've spent too many years in the YA trenches, and I just don't get "real" literature anymore. I expect something remarkable before a book goes on my best loved list.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The World's Dumbest Car Scene
Okay, I must confess that sometimes, especially on vacation, I do read schlocky novels. Right now I'm reading The Villa which is a murder mystery set in Napa Valley. This is certainly not literature, but it's done a decent enough job of keeping me guessing without being too embarrassingly bad in the writing department. Then I came to the thrilling climax with the run-away car. What follows has been deeply paraphrased for the sake of space:
Person 1: OMG! The brakes! I don't have any control!
Person 2: OMG! What will we do?!
Person 1: I will steer this speeding car along this curving road that has a cliff to one side!
Person 2: You won't make it! Look at those s bends up ahead!
Person 1: OMG! Try pulling the emergency brake!
Person 2: It doesn't work either!
Person 1: OMG! We're going to die! (car fishtails wildly around bends, tires squeal, other cars honk in protest)
Person 2: What about shifting? I'll try down shifting through the gears. Hold on, this is going to hurt! (crunches car into fourth)
Person 1: (whacking head on steering wheel) OMG! That hurt! We're still going waaay to fast!
Person 2: Here we go again (shifts into third, then second, then rams it into first with a horrible twisting of metal, but the car finally stops)
Person 1: OMG! I think someone is trying to kill me! Thank goodness you knew what to do!
Sure, it's a badly written scene, but there have been many badly written scenes in this book. What makes this scene hilariously bad is the one key omission. Did you spot it? At no point, in all that frantic action, did anyone suggest the driver take her foot off the accelerator. Sure, the author could have claimed the pedal was jammed, or that the car was going down hill, but she didn't and that makes all the difference. I can hardly wait to see what will happen when they finally catch the killer. Maybe it will be as unintentionally funny as this part. I guess this is what happens when you try to write 27 books per year.
Person 1: OMG! The brakes! I don't have any control!
Person 2: OMG! What will we do?!
Person 1: I will steer this speeding car along this curving road that has a cliff to one side!
Person 2: You won't make it! Look at those s bends up ahead!
Person 1: OMG! Try pulling the emergency brake!
Person 2: It doesn't work either!
Person 1: OMG! We're going to die! (car fishtails wildly around bends, tires squeal, other cars honk in protest)
Person 2: What about shifting? I'll try down shifting through the gears. Hold on, this is going to hurt! (crunches car into fourth)
Person 1: (whacking head on steering wheel) OMG! That hurt! We're still going waaay to fast!
Person 2: Here we go again (shifts into third, then second, then rams it into first with a horrible twisting of metal, but the car finally stops)
Person 1: OMG! I think someone is trying to kill me! Thank goodness you knew what to do!
Sure, it's a badly written scene, but there have been many badly written scenes in this book. What makes this scene hilariously bad is the one key omission. Did you spot it? At no point, in all that frantic action, did anyone suggest the driver take her foot off the accelerator. Sure, the author could have claimed the pedal was jammed, or that the car was going down hill, but she didn't and that makes all the difference. I can hardly wait to see what will happen when they finally catch the killer. Maybe it will be as unintentionally funny as this part. I guess this is what happens when you try to write 27 books per year.
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Censorship Continues
Recently, I wrote a post about censorship. In it, I mentioned the story of my elementary school banning the book The Lorax due to its unflattering depiction of loggers. It is, to my mind, a pretty clear example of how close-minded my little community was 25 years ago. No worries though because that was quite a while ago, and we are all much more reasonable today right? Ha and ha again. It seems that another small Oregon town has just pulled the exact same trick under the exact same logic. Sad, sad, sad.
Monday, March 02, 2009
Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss
If he were alive today, Dr. Seuss would be turning 105 years old. What he would have to say about such a momentous occasion, we can only guess. His fabulous array of books, over sixty in all, are a library unto themselves, and millions of people, young and old, owe their literacy to his excellent work. Oh the Places You'll Go, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Green Eggs and Ham, The Bitter Butter Battle, and Fox in Socks are some of my personal favorites.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Outliers by Malcom Gladwell
Some books are great fun to read, but they don't promote much deep thinking. On more than one occasion, I've picked up a promising-looking book only to discover a vague memory of having read it before. For whatever reason, the story just doesn't stick. This is never the case with books by Malcom Gladwell. His topics always leave me pondering the ideas for months or even years afterwards. His newest book, Outliers, is no exception.
The main theme of this book is success, and it attempts to debunk the myth that some people are successful simply because they are talented. Success, Gladwell claims, is the result of a complex interplay of many factors including natural talent, extensive practice, thorough education, bountiful opportunities, and a healthy dose of luck. Quite the counterpoint to that old story about a person who pulls themselves up by their bootstraps through sheer pluck alone.
One part of the book I found particularly interesting was when he looked at the role of education in success. I won't repeat it all here (you can and should just read the book), but it was so good to hear his opinion that American schools are not, one the whole, total failures. He argues that our education system does, in fact, educate nearly all students (he has the test results to prove it). However, it seems that this learning is often disrupted, disjointed, and ultimately stratified by issues of class, parental style, and social expectations. I could go on and on, but it turns out that Gladwell is a much better writer than I am.
The main theme of this book is success, and it attempts to debunk the myth that some people are successful simply because they are talented. Success, Gladwell claims, is the result of a complex interplay of many factors including natural talent, extensive practice, thorough education, bountiful opportunities, and a healthy dose of luck. Quite the counterpoint to that old story about a person who pulls themselves up by their bootstraps through sheer pluck alone.
One part of the book I found particularly interesting was when he looked at the role of education in success. I won't repeat it all here (you can and should just read the book), but it was so good to hear his opinion that American schools are not, one the whole, total failures. He argues that our education system does, in fact, educate nearly all students (he has the test results to prove it). However, it seems that this learning is often disrupted, disjointed, and ultimately stratified by issues of class, parental style, and social expectations. I could go on and on, but it turns out that Gladwell is a much better writer than I am.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Censorship
When I was very young, I remember the Dr. Seuss book, The Lorax, being banned from our public school library. That story shocks many people because Seuss is such a beloved, and harmless, figure. There is no nudity in Lorax. Nobody curses, no one is murdered, and none of the characters even mentions having two mommies. Nevertheless, after parent complaints, The Lorax was gone.
Why? Because I lived in rural Oregon in the early 1980's. The timber industry was busy shedding jobs, and many logging families (maybe half my little school?) attributed this to liberal forestry policies (hrm let's check, who was president then?). The Lorax included themes about ecological conservation, and this was unacceptable to many parents. Rather than simply preventing their own children from reading the hateful book, these parents felt the need to prevent everybody's children from reading it.
That, to me, is the most amazing thing about censorship. It's not about one person avoiding a certain book. It's not about keeping their child from seeing the book. It's about that person wanting to make this choice for everyone. This reminds me a lot of the gay marriage movement. If you, an individual, don't like gay marriage, then don't have one! Why in the name of everything important do you need to impose that belief on everyone else?
It is amazing that censorship still exists in our country, but it most certainly does. Usually, the excuse for this is to "protect the children." One of my favorite examples of this logic is from a school district in California who, the story goes, handed out copies of Fahrenheit 451 to it's 8th grade English classes. The books had the "naughty" words like "hell" and "damn" blacked out. The main theme of Fahrenheit 451? The horrors of censorship.
Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007
1 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
13 Forever Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice Anonymous
18 King and King Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
21 The Giver Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee`
24 Beloved Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing Robie Harris
34 Arming America Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber Judy Blume
37 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
38 Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground Avi
56 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children Garth Nix
86 Cut Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau Iona Opte
90 Ironman Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman
Why? Because I lived in rural Oregon in the early 1980's. The timber industry was busy shedding jobs, and many logging families (maybe half my little school?) attributed this to liberal forestry policies (hrm let's check, who was president then?). The Lorax included themes about ecological conservation, and this was unacceptable to many parents. Rather than simply preventing their own children from reading the hateful book, these parents felt the need to prevent everybody's children from reading it.
That, to me, is the most amazing thing about censorship. It's not about one person avoiding a certain book. It's not about keeping their child from seeing the book. It's about that person wanting to make this choice for everyone. This reminds me a lot of the gay marriage movement. If you, an individual, don't like gay marriage, then don't have one! Why in the name of everything important do you need to impose that belief on everyone else?
It is amazing that censorship still exists in our country, but it most certainly does. Usually, the excuse for this is to "protect the children." One of my favorite examples of this logic is from a school district in California who, the story goes, handed out copies of Fahrenheit 451 to it's 8th grade English classes. The books had the "naughty" words like "hell" and "damn" blacked out. The main theme of Fahrenheit 451? The horrors of censorship.
Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books in 2000-2007
1 Harry Potter J.K. Rowling
2 Alice series Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3 The Chocolate War Robert Cormier
4 Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck
5 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
6 Scary Stories Alvin Schwartz
7 Fallen Angels Walter Dean Myers
8 It’s Perfectly Normal Robie Harris
9 And Tango Makes Three Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
10 Captain Underpants Dav Pilkey
11 The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
12 The Bluest Eye Toni Morrison
13 Forever Judy Blume
14 The Color Purple Alice Walker
15 The Perks of Being A Wallflower Stephen Chbosky
16 Killing Mr. Griffin Lois Duncan
17 Go Ask Alice Anonymous
18 King and King Linda de Haan
19 Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger
20 Bridge to Terabithia Katherine Paterson
21 The Giver Lois Lowry
22 We All Fall Down Robert Cormier
23 To Kill A Mockingbird Harper Lee`
24 Beloved Toni Morrison
25 The Face on the Milk Carton Caroline Cooney
26 Snow Falling on Cedars David Guterson
27 My Brother Sam Is Dead James Lincoln Collier
28 In the Night Kitchen Maurice Sendak
29 His Dark Materials series Philip Pullman
30 Gossip Girl series Cecily von Ziegesar
31 What My Mother Doesn’t Know Sonya Sones
32 Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging Louise Rennison
33 It’s So Amazing Robie Harris
34 Arming America Michael Bellasiles
35 Kaffir Boy Mark Mathabane
36 Blubber Judy Blume
37 Brave New World Aldous Huxley
38 Athletic Shorts Chris Crutcher
39 Bless Me, Ultima Rudolfo Anaya
40 Life is Funny E.R. Frank
41 Daughters of Eve Lois Duncan
42 Crazy Lady Jane Leslie Conly
43 The Great Gilly Hopkins Katherine Paterson
44 You Hear Me Betsy Franco
45 Slaughterhouse Five Kurt Vonnegut
46 Whale Talk Chris Crutcher
47 The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby Dav Pilkey
48 The Facts Speak for Themselves Brock Cole
49 The Terrorist Caroline Cooney
50 Mick Harte Was Here Barbara Park
51 Summer of My German Soldier Bette Green
52 The Upstairs Room Johanna Reiss
53 When Dad Killed Mom Julius Lester
54 Blood and Chocolate Annette Curtis Klause
55 The Fighting Ground Avi
56 The Things They Carried Tim O'Brien
57 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Mildred Taylor
58 Fat Kid Rules the World K.L. Going
59 The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things Carolyn Mackler
60 A Time To Kill John Grisham
61 Rainbow Boys Alex Sanchez
62 Olive’s Ocean Kevin Henkes
63 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Ken Kesey
64 A Day No Pigs Would Die Robert Newton Peck
65 Speak Laurie Halse Anderson
66 Always Running Luis Rodriguez
67 Black Boy Richard Wright
68 Julie of the Wolves Jean Craighead George
69 Deal With It! Esther Drill
70 Detour for Emmy Marilyn Reynolds
71 Draw Me A Star Eric Carle
72 Fahrenheit 451 Ray Bradbury
73 Harris and Me Gary Paulsen
74 Junie B. Jones series Barbara Park
75 So Far From the Bamboo Grove Yoko Watkins
76 Song of Solomon Toni Morrison
77 Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes Chris Crutcher
78 What’s Happening to My Body Book Lynda Madaras
79 The Boy Who Lost His Face Louis Sachar
80 The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold
81 Anastasia Again! Lois Lowry
82 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret Judy Blume
83 Bumps In the Night Harry Allard
84 Goosebumps series R.L. Stine
85 Shade’s Children Garth Nix
86 Cut Patricia McCormick
87 Grendel John Gardner
88 The House of Spirits Isabel Allende
89 I Saw Esau Iona Opte
90 Ironman Chris Crutcher
91 The Stupids series Harry Allard
92 Taming the Star Runner S.E. Hinton
93 Then Again, Maybe I Won’t Judy Blume
94 Tiger Eyes Judy Blume
95 Like Water for Chocolate Laura Esquivel
96 Nathan’s Run John Gilstrap
97 Pinkerton, Behave! Steven Kellog
98 Freaky Friday Mary Rodgers
99 Halloween ABC Eve Merriam
100 Heather Has Two Mommies Leslea Newman
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Series Part 2
Oh yes, the second reason I love Twilight? It's entirely selfish. These books are just plain fun to read! As I mentioned earlier, the characters are so well done, that you really do find yourself caring about them. I am also a sucker(har!) for a first person narrative story with excellent voice. Bella and Edward are the perfect star-crossed lovers, but they manage to be interesting long past the point of standard teen romance. Meyers also manages to confront some very serious themes, such as divorce, family connections, suicide and depression, and teenage alienation, all through the lens of this very unsual relationship.
In the end, I would recommend the first book in this series to nearly everyone (okay, to be fair, to nearly all women and older girls). For the adult reader, it takes just a couple days to finish the novel, and it is such a fun ride that you won't have time to worry about whether it represents highbrow or low. If you are still concered about looking silly being seen with the now famous cover, grab this for a plane ride, and tell everyone around you that your niece is making you read it.
In the end, I would recommend the first book in this series to nearly everyone (okay, to be fair, to nearly all women and older girls). For the adult reader, it takes just a couple days to finish the novel, and it is such a fun ride that you won't have time to worry about whether it represents highbrow or low. If you are still concered about looking silly being seen with the now famous cover, grab this for a plane ride, and tell everyone around you that your niece is making you read it.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Stephenie Meyers' Twilight Series Part 1
There are so many reviews and so much discussion out there of the Twilight series, but I just had to get in my two cents in case you'd written them off as pap for the very young. Actually, you're not entirely wrong, there is something a little bit pap-ish about them. They are certainly not the highest form of literature ever to grace the shelves. However, the good qualities of these books far outweigh the bad, and I must confess that I love them for two reasons.
First, I am thankful to Stephenie Meyers for writing on a level that works for such a wide array of kids. Her situations and settings may sometimes be a touch simplistic, but her characters are so beautifully drawn that readers really start to care what happens to them. This is another wonderful phenomenon, like Harry Potter, where I am seeing huge numbers of kids being hooked into reading by these books. Many kids, both good readers and poor, are telling me that these were the first books they ever read where they stopped noticing how many pages or minutes went by.
One little girl told me that it used to take her two weeks to read a short (roughly 150 page) book. She wasn't so sure about reading Twilight because it is so long (498 pages), but she was actually able to read it over a long weekend. She only stopped reading when her eyes were starting to hurt. When we had our booktalk about her reading, it was clear that her quick read had not hurt her comprehension in the slightest. That's a pretty engaging book if you ask me. She's also gone on to read the other three monster books in this series.
Success like this is invaluable to a struggling reader. Looking at a shelf full of big books, and knowing that YOU actually read, understood, and even enjoyed them is a huge thing for many of my kids. Lest you worry, I am happy to report that when this girl finished with Edward and Bella, she went on to read other books and series. This to me is the whole point of YA literature. If a kid happens accross just the right book at just the right time, it can mean a lifelong change in attitude towards books and reading. The trick is to keep exposing kids to different kids of books in hopes of hitting on that magic one.
First, I am thankful to Stephenie Meyers for writing on a level that works for such a wide array of kids. Her situations and settings may sometimes be a touch simplistic, but her characters are so beautifully drawn that readers really start to care what happens to them. This is another wonderful phenomenon, like Harry Potter, where I am seeing huge numbers of kids being hooked into reading by these books. Many kids, both good readers and poor, are telling me that these were the first books they ever read where they stopped noticing how many pages or minutes went by.
One little girl told me that it used to take her two weeks to read a short (roughly 150 page) book. She wasn't so sure about reading Twilight because it is so long (498 pages), but she was actually able to read it over a long weekend. She only stopped reading when her eyes were starting to hurt. When we had our booktalk about her reading, it was clear that her quick read had not hurt her comprehension in the slightest. That's a pretty engaging book if you ask me. She's also gone on to read the other three monster books in this series.
Success like this is invaluable to a struggling reader. Looking at a shelf full of big books, and knowing that YOU actually read, understood, and even enjoyed them is a huge thing for many of my kids. Lest you worry, I am happy to report that when this girl finished with Edward and Bella, she went on to read other books and series. This to me is the whole point of YA literature. If a kid happens accross just the right book at just the right time, it can mean a lifelong change in attitude towards books and reading. The trick is to keep exposing kids to different kids of books in hopes of hitting on that magic one.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Men and Their Small Devices
What is it about men and small electronics? Women are constantly accused of being shopping crazy, but take a guy into an electronics department, and he becomes a demon. Scads of men lined up and waited for hours when a certain new uber phone was released. Newly available applications are rigorously reviewed, and some men even pay large sums for applications that add no practical value to the actual device (green glowy gem anyone?). What is so absorbing about staring at that tiny screen?
Many men appear to think about their devices almost constantly. They caress them, play with them under the table, worry about their health, buy cases and decorations for them, and some even have them engraved. Then there is the urge to compare. When two device-owning males get together, they immediately begin competing to see whose is more powerful. If social convention would allow it, I think men would be playing with their devices 24/7 and in all situations. It seems that if the device-loving man doesn't get some quality time with his "little friend" every day, he gets very grumpy indeed.
I'm sure you've had experience with all this. You may have heard stories about men like this, you may have met a man or two who fits the profile, or you may even have a man in your life who's fallen victim to the scourge of small device envy. Precious hours of your relationship/marriage may have been purloined by these tiny devils that hold such captivating power over our men.
What can be done? Not a whole heck of a lot in my experience. If you are lucky enough to have a device-free male, thank you lucky stars, and try to ensure that he stays away from those already infected. The spread of this crisis is rampant because there is nothing the device lover enjoys more than showing off his special tool.
Many men appear to think about their devices almost constantly. They caress them, play with them under the table, worry about their health, buy cases and decorations for them, and some even have them engraved. Then there is the urge to compare. When two device-owning males get together, they immediately begin competing to see whose is more powerful. If social convention would allow it, I think men would be playing with their devices 24/7 and in all situations. It seems that if the device-loving man doesn't get some quality time with his "little friend" every day, he gets very grumpy indeed.
I'm sure you've had experience with all this. You may have heard stories about men like this, you may have met a man or two who fits the profile, or you may even have a man in your life who's fallen victim to the scourge of small device envy. Precious hours of your relationship/marriage may have been purloined by these tiny devils that hold such captivating power over our men.
What can be done? Not a whole heck of a lot in my experience. If you are lucky enough to have a device-free male, thank you lucky stars, and try to ensure that he stays away from those already infected. The spread of this crisis is rampant because there is nothing the device lover enjoys more than showing off his special tool.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Women and Books
NPR had an fascinating and disturbing story about reading this morning. It seems that women read far more than men. (No surprises there!) You can read the specifics in the actual piece, but the basic questions are about why women should choose to read more than men. Some suggest it's because women are more able to empathize with the characters, while others seem to think it has more to do with the simple ability to sit still.
Who knows the actual reason, but in my personal experience, it is true. Many of the intelligent, educated men I know do not read for pleasure. Of those who do, only a handful are willing to read fiction. One of the many things I love about M is that he has a stack of novels next to his bed, and he actually moves through it at a reasonable pace. Why should we care about the fiction vs. non-fiction question? Educational research suggests that our brains process fiction as if it were actually happening to us. Therefore, my reading a moving story, and caring about the characters, is a form of emotional practice. Perhaps if more people were good fiction readers there would be a better sense of empathy in general.
Who knows the actual reason, but in my personal experience, it is true. Many of the intelligent, educated men I know do not read for pleasure. Of those who do, only a handful are willing to read fiction. One of the many things I love about M is that he has a stack of novels next to his bed, and he actually moves through it at a reasonable pace. Why should we care about the fiction vs. non-fiction question? Educational research suggests that our brains process fiction as if it were actually happening to us. Therefore, my reading a moving story, and caring about the characters, is a form of emotional practice. Perhaps if more people were good fiction readers there would be a better sense of empathy in general.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Harry Potter For All!
A few weeks ago, shortly after the 7th Harry Potter book, I was in a favorite bookstore, Powell’s Books, and I happened to overhear a group of clerks talking together. They were discussing the launch party they'd helped to run, and one of their favorite topics was the derision they felt towards the teenagers who attended. "Come on, that guy had to be like, eighteen, at least! Doesn't he have anything better to do on a Saturday night? I mean, come on, it's a kids' book!" (paraphrasing heavily, but you get the point)
Now I understand that one of the ways to survive your job sometimes is to make inappropriate jokes about it with your co-workers. Goodness knows I’ve made some. However, even knowing that, I was very disappointed in that bookstore. This was not just one knucklehead spouting off, it was a group, and they were all enjoying the joke. Add to all that, they were having this conversation IN THE YA SECTION for all the children to hear. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Now, if they want to make fun of the grown up readers, they should go right ahead. I will cheerfully take on anyone who wants to berate me for reading kids' stuff (narrow-minded people do this on a regular basis), but leave the teenagers alone! A kid who is eighteen now may well have started reading the series when the first book came out ten years ago. These kids have grown up with Harry and they, perhaps more than anyone, had a right to be there for the final installment.
A recent study of 500 young Harry Potter readers found that 51% did not read for pleasure before they met Harry. I have seen this happen so many times in my classroom. Students discover the wonders of Hogwarts, and then they start to get curious about what other interesting worlds might be hidden in those previously distrusted items called books. No matter what you think of Harry or his fans, large amounts of credit are due for that effect.
Now I understand that one of the ways to survive your job sometimes is to make inappropriate jokes about it with your co-workers. Goodness knows I’ve made some. However, even knowing that, I was very disappointed in that bookstore. This was not just one knucklehead spouting off, it was a group, and they were all enjoying the joke. Add to all that, they were having this conversation IN THE YA SECTION for all the children to hear. Shame! Shame! Shame!
Now, if they want to make fun of the grown up readers, they should go right ahead. I will cheerfully take on anyone who wants to berate me for reading kids' stuff (narrow-minded people do this on a regular basis), but leave the teenagers alone! A kid who is eighteen now may well have started reading the series when the first book came out ten years ago. These kids have grown up with Harry and they, perhaps more than anyone, had a right to be there for the final installment.
A recent study of 500 young Harry Potter readers found that 51% did not read for pleasure before they met Harry. I have seen this happen so many times in my classroom. Students discover the wonders of Hogwarts, and then they start to get curious about what other interesting worlds might be hidden in those previously distrusted items called books. No matter what you think of Harry or his fans, large amounts of credit are due for that effect.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Harry Potter Mania
Ahhh Harry Potter. I love Harry Potter. To be more specific, I love the Harry Potter universe. If you are one of those people who dislikes Harry on principle, or who attempts to apply adult lit standards to a YA series, then I have nothing to say to you. I am a huge fan, and no one and nothing can change that. It was thrilling to be around for the release of each book, and I really do think that is something people will look back on as a significant event.
We were on vacation when both the movie (#5) and the book (#7) came out. Fortunately we were able to see the movie during our stay in Ashland, but I had to wait for the book until we got home. The movie was highly enjoyable (I'm doing a good job of separating the book from the movie, so I'm actually able to enjoy them both. This is a relatively new skill for me) but seeing it did not keep me from pining for the book. After all, we've been reading this story for a decade now. We want to know how it ends!
Sunday night (the day after the book came out) we got home from vacation. You might think I ripped open the box the moment we pulled up in the driveway but no. I had decided some time ago to read six again before reading seven so that it could be a single story. Therefore, Sunday night and Monday I spent on six and I'm very glad I did. My memory of the horcruxes and double crosses was not complete, so it turned out to be a good thing. Tuesday morning, I finally opened that special box from Amazon.com (customized for the purpose!) and took out book seven. It's a beautiful, thick book and I felt sort of elated and also sad to see it. Elated because I will soon know all, but sad that the ride is almost over.
The book is really everything I would have hoped. The sophistication of the plot has really grown alongside Harry. The first books are full of fun, humor, and hope. However, as time goes by, things become much more serious. By this last book, things were very serious indeed, and that is really as it should be. Rowling has said that each of her characters is defined by their relationship to death, and that is very much the central theme of this last book.
I will not offer any spoilers (yet anyway) but I will say that there are several parts of the book that are very vivid and very moving. Chapter 34 is (if you care about the characters) quite tough to read, but also heroic in an unexpected way. All in all, it was a satisfying conclusion to this beloved (by not just me) story. I strongly believe that this series will join the ranks of the major works of literature for young people, and that many generations of children are set to enjoy it for a long time to come.
We were on vacation when both the movie (#5) and the book (#7) came out. Fortunately we were able to see the movie during our stay in Ashland, but I had to wait for the book until we got home. The movie was highly enjoyable (I'm doing a good job of separating the book from the movie, so I'm actually able to enjoy them both. This is a relatively new skill for me) but seeing it did not keep me from pining for the book. After all, we've been reading this story for a decade now. We want to know how it ends!
Sunday night (the day after the book came out) we got home from vacation. You might think I ripped open the box the moment we pulled up in the driveway but no. I had decided some time ago to read six again before reading seven so that it could be a single story. Therefore, Sunday night and Monday I spent on six and I'm very glad I did. My memory of the horcruxes and double crosses was not complete, so it turned out to be a good thing. Tuesday morning, I finally opened that special box from Amazon.com (customized for the purpose!) and took out book seven. It's a beautiful, thick book and I felt sort of elated and also sad to see it. Elated because I will soon know all, but sad that the ride is almost over.
The book is really everything I would have hoped. The sophistication of the plot has really grown alongside Harry. The first books are full of fun, humor, and hope. However, as time goes by, things become much more serious. By this last book, things were very serious indeed, and that is really as it should be. Rowling has said that each of her characters is defined by their relationship to death, and that is very much the central theme of this last book.
I will not offer any spoilers (yet anyway) but I will say that there are several parts of the book that are very vivid and very moving. Chapter 34 is (if you care about the characters) quite tough to read, but also heroic in an unexpected way. All in all, it was a satisfying conclusion to this beloved (by not just me) story. I strongly believe that this series will join the ranks of the major works of literature for young people, and that many generations of children are set to enjoy it for a long time to come.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Hattie Big Sky
Mostly I don't bother doing book reviews unless it's a good book, and I want to recommend it to others. On this book, however, I can't be completely enthusiastic. To set the context, this is a YA novel about life on a Montana homestead during the First World War. The author decided to write this book after discovering that her grandmother actually held a homestead claim in Montana during this era.
Hattie Brooks was, therefore, a real person, and some of the events in the story are taken from actual events that took place at the time. The portrayal of frontier life is very well done, and you really do get a sense of just how hard it was for people to "Prove Up" (In order to keep your property, you had to build certain things on the land and lay a certain amount of fence. You also had to earn enough to afford the fees) their land claims. I was especially fascinated by the story because my own great-grandmother was almost exactly the same age as the main character, and she probably lived much the same life.
The incredibly frustrating part about the book comes with the author’s decision to veer away from the real facts. That is, she decides not to end the story as it really ended for her grandmother. Why, you might ask, if she's gone to all the trouble to be realistic, would she then slip over into complete fiction? Because, she says, she wanted to be authentic! She claims that her grandmother's story was unusually successful for the times, so she had to "correct" for that to remain realistic. Does this make any sense to you at all? Personally, I want to shake her! A completely non-fiction story about a person who perseveres against all odds is a very good story indeed! In short, this is a great read if you just imagine the ending as it really happened.
Hattie Brooks was, therefore, a real person, and some of the events in the story are taken from actual events that took place at the time. The portrayal of frontier life is very well done, and you really do get a sense of just how hard it was for people to "Prove Up" (In order to keep your property, you had to build certain things on the land and lay a certain amount of fence. You also had to earn enough to afford the fees) their land claims. I was especially fascinated by the story because my own great-grandmother was almost exactly the same age as the main character, and she probably lived much the same life.
The incredibly frustrating part about the book comes with the author’s decision to veer away from the real facts. That is, she decides not to end the story as it really ended for her grandmother. Why, you might ask, if she's gone to all the trouble to be realistic, would she then slip over into complete fiction? Because, she says, she wanted to be authentic! She claims that her grandmother's story was unusually successful for the times, so she had to "correct" for that to remain realistic. Does this make any sense to you at all? Personally, I want to shake her! A completely non-fiction story about a person who perseveres against all odds is a very good story indeed! In short, this is a great read if you just imagine the ending as it really happened.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
The Historian
I've been meaning to do this post for ages! Many of my regular readers have already heard me go on in person about this book, but it really is so good that it deserves a special web mention. First of all, don't be confused into thinking that this is great literature. It doesn't quite rise to that mark. Nevertheless, it is one of the most compelling and entertaining books I've had the pleasure of reading in quite a while.
Told from several different viewpoints using mostly letters and recollections, it tells the story of a family searching for answers to its past. Many lines of connection are spun between disparate people with a single common factor, an interest in the historical figure Vlad Tsepesh, also known as Dracula. I do not want to give away any of the delicious details of the story, but I can say that it does an amazing job of evoking the places and times in which the various chapters unfold. I'm left very much wanting to visit all sorts of unusual locations across Europe just because they seem so real from the telling in the book.
Of course there are always naysayers for any novel. Some complain that the characters are thin, others that there are too many "coincidences" for believability, but I really do think these people are picking. There are some areas that could use fleshing out, it's true, but given the heft of this book as it is, I can see why the author (or perhaps the editor) chose to leave some things unexplained. On the whole, this is a very well-written story with all sorts of interesting angles to consider. Remember when you were a kid and you had a really good book that you just didn't want to put down? Your mom would have to call you three times to come to dinner, and you might even hide under the covers with a flashlight just so you could finish? This is one of those books for grown-ups.
Told from several different viewpoints using mostly letters and recollections, it tells the story of a family searching for answers to its past. Many lines of connection are spun between disparate people with a single common factor, an interest in the historical figure Vlad Tsepesh, also known as Dracula. I do not want to give away any of the delicious details of the story, but I can say that it does an amazing job of evoking the places and times in which the various chapters unfold. I'm left very much wanting to visit all sorts of unusual locations across Europe just because they seem so real from the telling in the book.
Of course there are always naysayers for any novel. Some complain that the characters are thin, others that there are too many "coincidences" for believability, but I really do think these people are picking. There are some areas that could use fleshing out, it's true, but given the heft of this book as it is, I can see why the author (or perhaps the editor) chose to leave some things unexplained. On the whole, this is a very well-written story with all sorts of interesting angles to consider. Remember when you were a kid and you had a really good book that you just didn't want to put down? Your mom would have to call you three times to come to dinner, and you might even hide under the covers with a flashlight just so you could finish? This is one of those books for grown-ups.
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