quality literature: these is my words

although it is typically not my style to rate books, i would give this one a three out of five stars.  it's a typical settling the west (non trashy) romance written in diary style.  the characters are engaging and enjoyable.  it's entertaining for the most part.  there is an excessive amount of traumatic death, even for a settling with west novel.  it ends abruptly without really saying much.

on a side note, the random spelling errors drove me bonkers.  as an english teacher of beginning english writers, this is just not how it goes.  students do not spell everything perfectly except for a random word now and then.  nope.

quality literature: tell the wolves i'm home

i don't know when i've ever read a book with so much heart.  i can already tell this is going to be a great year for reading.  goodreads book summary can be found HERE.

quality literature: night circus

the night circus was an excellent read.  i highly recommend it.  i felt like it was the most interesting and compelling novel that i'd read in a while and one of the most well written that i've ever read.  the characterization is amazing.  i was immediately invested in each circus member as he or she was introduced and was completely intrigued by the antagonists.  the plot was also stellar.  each page gave a new small bit of information, but only enough to keep me wanting more from beginning to end.  plus the entire story concept was just so unique.  beautiful, beautiful writing.  a really, really good one.

top five books of 2015

i only got halfway through my goal of 52 books this year.  hoping to make a better attempt next year.  i feel like i didn't love a lot of the books i grabbed this year either.  not sure why.  just bad luck probably.  this one i absolutely loved though and also out of the easy by the same author.  really lovely books recommended to me by my high school librarian.

this one was given to my by my elementary librarian.  it was a very well written southern mystery.

i mean, that title.  stand up and be counted!

this will always be my favorite, no matter how many times i read it.  i was glad i decided to read go set a watchman though.  i thought it was a very excellent commentary on the times we are now in.

so glad to have men skippyjon jones this year.  he is delightful.

quality literature: unbroken

unbroken by laura hillenbrand is quality literature.  it turned out to not be too much about survival on the ocean as i assumed.  it also was not solely about overcoming, although it was definitely that.  the thought that stood out most to me was fear . . . how fear destroys the lives of men and nations . . . and how it can change us from who we are to a people we do not recognize.  it's something to think about in our current political climate.

and this leaves my grand total for 2015 at 27.  not 52, but not too shabby.  on to 2016!

g's bookshelf: pete the cat saves christmas

another delightful read.  i'm hoping to sketch this cute guy in my hobonichi soon.  here's a video for your viewing pleasure:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6Qiiksp4sg

p.s. i am still cheating on my 52 books this year quota.  with this one, the last one, and rereads of the great gatsby and to kill a mockingbird at school, i'm bringing my total for this year up to 26.  officially halfway there with over a month to spare.  ha!  ha!

quality literature: on the road

on the positive side:
i'm finished
jack kerouac has a brilliant command of the english language (ie the words are written prettily)
it gives an interesting glimpse into a different era (and lifestyle) in the united states

on the flip side:
the plot was practically non existent
the characters were not really likeable
it's all about irresponsible drug use, alcohol use, sex, and irresponsibility in general

quality literature: skippyjon jones

 

last year i set myself the goal of reading 52 books over the course of the year.  it was a little tight finishing in december.  i had to read a couple of my son's chapter books to make it, but i was quite proud of myself.  i thought to do the same thing this year.  i counted up my totals thus far yesterday and realized i was at 21.  a sad number unless it's your birthday.  what to do?  what to do?  why cheat, of course!  you all know me too well.  but is it really cheating if it's your own personal game.  i don't think so!  so anyway.  i'll be reading lots of children's picture books in the next few weeks.  i figure i can kill two birds with one stone in this particular endeavor since i've decided to take up hobonichi journaling and children's picture books make great practice material (see image below).  what is hobonichi journaling, you ask?  a new obsession.  i will be sharing more soon as i am addicted.

 

so, yes.  skippyjon jones books are all delightful reads.  you will thoroughly enjoy them as an adult.  they are about a siamese kitten who thinks he's a chihuahua.  i really love the authors command of language and how she doesn't at all dumb down the words for her chosen audience (being the kids, not us adults but we benefit from her style and wit for sure).  read them.  you will love them.  your kids will love them.  they are awesome.

 

 



this one makes 22/52.

quality literature: my boy is a poet

you can't even imagine how thrilled i am to know my baby loves words as much as i do.  above is the rough draft of a poem that he wrote at school and was so excited about that he was reading it to me practically before he even shut the car door after getting off the bus that afternoon.  i had him jot down notes on the grocery list pad as he came up with extra lines to mull over.  he wasn't overly impressed when i helped him edit it for redundancy and word choice but quickly realized i was right when i asked him if he thought edgar allen poe released a poem straight off the pencil without editing.

below is the final version.  he reports that he got a 100, and it's hanging on the wall at school.  :)

ode to pencil

oh pencil, you are a gateway to other galaxies.
you are a guide through time and space.
you translate people's thoughts and feelings.
you spark ideas.
you can turn paper into life.
the world would be dark and grim, dull and boring without you.
you inspire thoughts and dreams.
you preserve history.
you are the instrument of words.

quality literature: we are called to rise

We never know how high we are  
  Till we are called to rise;  
And then, if we are true to plan,  
  Our statures touch the skies—  

                                 - Emily Dickinson

"we are called to rise" by laura mcbride really resonated with me.  it reminded me quite a bit of "the bean trees" in that it dealt with quite a long list of social issues.  i really thought about why i was okay with that in this book and not in the other.  i realized that this book does not have the "us vs them" mentality.  it is a conglomeration of activists, individuals, and those in "the system" working together to help.  it seemed so much more hopeful that way.

“The way I see it, nothing in life is a rehearsal. It's not preparation for anything else. There's no getting ready for it. There's no waiting for the real part to begin.Not ever. Not even for the smallest child. This is it. And if you wait too long to figure that out, to figure out that we are the ones making the world, we are the ones to whom all the problems - and all the possibilities for grace - now fall, then you lose everything. Your only shot at the world.

I get that this one small life is all we have for whatever it is that we are going to do. And I want in.”

                                      -Roberta, "We Are Called to Rise"

quality literature: high druid of shannara

i read through the high druid of shannara trilogy by terry brooks this week.  i was engrossed and thoroughly enjoyed them per usual with his books.  i read one review that said his older works are strong on characterization and i totally agree.  the story line was interesting, but i really got connected with the characters and was concerned what would become of each of them.  i thought all their little endings were tied up nicely.

school starting in the fall seems to be my trigger for wondering if i'll meet my 52 books in a year quota.  probably this is due to mrs. price's "books i read" wall chart.  i am highly motivated by stickers and a little friendly competition.  i just checked.  i'm at 20 at the moment.  a little behind, but not too bad.  i need to compile a good list and start powering through!

quality literature: gone girl

well written: yes
uplifting: no
suspenseful: yes
enlightening: no
entertaining: yes

quality literature: go set a watchman



there is so much to say . . .

i read the announcement of the release of a new harper lee novel with disbelief followed by wonder.  i've awaited its arrival these long months with anticipation and trepidation.  "to kill a mockingbird" is a literary masterpiece (without equal in my opinion) and a gift to humanity.  i was excited for the new book but feared it wouldn't come close to mockingbird's brilliance and would somehow tarnish its reputation.

when word got out earlier last week that "go set a watchman" portrays atticus finch as a racist bigot, i was devastated and, like many, chose not to read it.  thankfully i did not broadcast this decision on facebook.  i believe it is necessary to give reactionary thoughts time to settle into my consciousness, so i can mull them over thoroughly before they become law in my mind and fodder for the masses. 

as i was walking my normal three mile route the evening of the release date, pondering the new book and mourning what could have been, i was jarred from my reverie by a rebel flag with the "don't tread on me" rattlesnake superimposed upon it gently waving from my neighbor's front porch, my neighbors who are truly awesome good people.  in that moment, i had flashbacks to my childhood, to growing up in a charming small town in the south, not unlike the one i live in now.  you know, sometimes we need to take off nostalgia's rose colored glasses for just little a while.  in that small, southern town of my youth, all african americans lived in the "quarters" on the other side of the tracks, there was still an all white elementary school just over the bridge where "townies" could send their children if they were still ruffled over integration, and two teenagers who fell in love moved up north where their non-matching skin tones would be more accepted (it is worth noting here that i was a child of the 80's, not the 50's).  then i thought of my dad, one of the most unprejudiced people i know, a man who treated everyone with the same open smile, ready hand to help, and basic human kindness.  a man who said the most horrific, off color jokes like it was his right and didn't care if god or his genteel wife was listening.  i went and bought that book the very next morning.  atticus finch, good or bad, is my heritage.

and actually, deep down, i always knew it would be okay.  for me, atticus was never the protagonist.  if you make him so, you miss the heart and soul of "to kill a mockingbird."  if you make him so, "go set a watchman" will so thoroughly shatter your childhood illusions that your heart will be forever left in a million pieces.  harper lee wrote from the point of view of scout finch.  it is scout who must make sense of the world she lives in, come to terms with it, and then decide where her place will be in it (this is us, people).

"go set a watchman" is raw and uncomfortable reading in places.  the atticus finch of "to kill a mockingbird" is the sainted image we like to see in ourselves and our society.  the atticus finch in "go set a watchman" is much closer to reality.  how far removed are we really from racism if we're honest with ourselves?  charleston and stone mountain both suggest not very far.

"go set a watchman" is not the literary masterpiece that "to kill a mockingbird" is.  there are several rough spots that could have used some smoothing over, and the ending needed more time to evolve.  but its message . . . its message is a profound one and one we need to hear right now in our time.

quality literature: the bean trees

"the bean trees" was a good read.  i finished it in a day, mainly because i was in a reading mood.  i enjoyed getting to know the characters and hoped for good things in their lives.  the main character, taylor, leaves poverty and a small town in kentucky for the open road in a beat up '55 volkswagon bug.  along the way she becomes a foster mom to a native american toddler in a tiny roadside diner on the plains of oklahama, and then settles in tucson, arizona where we meet the rest of the cast of characters.  on the downside, i felt like the author tried to work in way too many societal issues.  it got to the point where they cluttered up the story line.  i feel like if you create characters with enough depth, they speak for themselves and society.

genre: societal fiction
setting: Kentucky and Arizona in the mid 80's
reading level: adult, high school

quality literature: the lovely bones

i picked this one up off the top of the stack yesterday morning just to see if i wanted to read it next.  the back cover warned "don't start "the lovely bones" unless you can finish it."  i did not heed the warning and the next thing i knew, i had finished it around 3:00 that same afternoon.  it wasn't the driving plot that kept me going, it was the beauty and complexity of the characters and the needing to know their thoughts and emotions and what would become of them.  excellent.

genre: modern fiction (some crime, but not the driving force)
setting: u.s. in the early 70's
reading level: adult

quality literature: fahrenheit 451

i pretty much devoured all the american classics back in high school, so i'm not sure how i missed this one.  thank goodness for second chances though; one of my freshman english coworkers handed it to me as i was heading out the door on the last day of school.  summer reading for the teacher!  :)

fahrenheit 451 is a difficult read.  it is only three chapters, however, so it's not too bad.  i read each chapter in one sitting to help maintain the flow and to really just not run the risk of getting lost and having to start over.  it's amazing to think that a book written in the early 1950's could be so relevant today, but wow.  it's spot on relevant.  read, people.  please.

genre: dystopian (was that even a word in 1953?)
setting: a large city in the u.s., sometime in the future
reading level: adult, high school

quality literature: confessions of an ugy stepsister

it took me a while to get through "confessions of an ugly stepsister" for whatever reason, but that could have just been me still in my reading slump.  i really enjoyed it quite a bit.  it has much to recommend it.  the author, gregory maguire, is gifted in many ways.  i look forward to reading more of his work, including "wicked."  he definitely has a gift for taking an old familiar story, in this case "cinderella," and adding layers of meaning to the plot and giving more depth to the characters.  this cinderella story is set in holland at the height of the tulip bulb frenzy.  i don't particularly care for stories set in the medieval and renaissance time periods, but again this is an area in which the author is gifted.  he is somehow able to paint the setting into his story without getting the reader (at least me) bogged down in it.  he is really brilliant with this, actually.  so those are my thoughts.  good book.  interesting read.  enjoyed it.

genre: historical fiction
setting: holland in (approximately) 1637
reading level: adult, high school

quality literature: the absolutely true diary of a part--time indian

at first i thought this might be a book i get g, my 5th grader, to read this summer.  it's written with humor, but deals with poverty, bullying, and stereotyping very well.  then i got to chapter four and decided he wasn't quite ready for it (there are several references to a more mature topic brought to you by the letter M).  i do think this is a really great read for an 8th or 9th grade boy (or girl! but it's harder to find books for boys) who doesn't like to read.  it's funny, very relatable, and written with simple sentence structure and short chapters.  the reader stays involved, and doesn't get bogged down in the text.  there are even comics.  honestly, it's very much a slightly more mature take on "diary of a wimpy kit" only written from a native american on a reservation perspective instead of a caucasion in the suburbs perspective.  it teaches compassion and seeing beyond appearances and stereotypes.  it's a good read.  you might like it too if this is your type of genre.  :)

g's bookshelf: bud, not buddy

g read this novel at school this spring, so i decided to read it as well.  it's historical fiction from the great depression.  it's a sweet story and a quick read.  a good read for upper elementary.

g's thoughts:  i thought it was an adventurous book.  it was a great story.  you kinda built tension; you wanted to know if mr. c was really his father.  you kinda get shocked at the end when you figure out what happens.  i liked how they described the hooverville in flint and the muskrat stew that they ate there.

if you're looking for greatness, check out christopher paul curtis's "the watson's go to birmingham - 1963."  it will make you belly laugh and the sob buckets.  also, if you're a school teacher or a homeschooling mom, you'll definitely want to check it out.  i use it often with my freshman esl class.  it's very well suited for 4th - 8th grade i would say.  it seriously uses every literary device known to the english language.  it's also great for teaching history and compassion.  this one's in my solid top twenty of all time reads.  it's that good.

quality literature: welcome to the world, baby girl!

i know i've been lagging in the reading department lately, but i'm hoping that with summer vacation just around the corner i'll get caught up.  i did finally finish a couple fannie flagg novels.  fannie flag is the author (and screenwriter) of "fried green tomatoes (at the whistle stop café)."  she is pretty much awesome.  i also read "daisy fay and the miracle man" sometime in my mid-twenties, but need to read it again.  i remember it being utterly fabulous, but can't remember much else.  i guess twenty years of living can cause you to forget a few things.  anyway, i just finished reading "welcome to the world, baby girl!" and "can't wait to get to heaven" and can't wait to read the rest that she's written.  her plots are slow and meandering and simply go nowhere fast, but she more than makes up for this with her rich characterizations and subtle life lessons.

"welcome to the world, baby girl!" is set in new york in the early 70's and chronicles the life of a woman on the fast track to superstardom in the news industry.  there are lots of flashbacks to her early life and that of her mother, so the novel is packed with small town atmosphere, charming characters, and obscure history.  i came away with a confirmation of my belief that the news industry is driven by entertainment value, not fact.  pretty much if we're watching the liberal or conservative cable channels, we're hearing what we want to hear and not the whole story (and if we think obama is the messiah or the antichrist, we might want to rethink that view - he's human like the rest of us).  there was also a major plot twist at the end that i totally did not see coming and that brought to light a tiny scrap of history that i'd actually not heard of before.  solid recommend.

"can't wait to get to heaven" is even more meandering.  it's set in a small town in the midwest with a few trips to heaven and centers around a delightful octogenarian who is equal parts wide eyed innocence and unabashed wisdom.  i want to be aunt elner when i grow up.  it would be so wonderful to look at the world with such love and understanding that rose colored glasses aren't even necessary.  solid recommend.