A Challenge...of sorts...

My friend Sara and I love a good challenge. We've challenged one another to learn all the states and their capitals in order of how they came into the union, to learn the continents and oceans and presidents. We've challenged one another to watch movies and listen to music (above or below our usual taste) and we've challenged one another to read books out of comfort zone by creating long lists of books we think every human should read.

Buzzfeed has helped us with our latest challenge:

1. GREAT EXPECTATIONS Charles Dickens
2. THE HOBBIT JRR Tolkien
3. THE BIBLE
4. MOBY DICK Herman Melville
5. THE FOUNTAINHEAD Ayn Rand
6. THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA Ernest Hemingway
7. LOLITA Vladmire Nabakov
8. CATCH-22 Joseph Heller
9. 1984 George Orwell
10. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD Harper Lee
11. WAR AND PEACE Leo Tolstoy
12. TREASURE ISLAND Robert Louis Stevenson
13. MADAME BOVARY Gustave Flaubert
14. THE ODYSSEY Homer
15. ULYSSEUS James Joyce
16. PRIDE AND PREJUDICE Jane Austen
17. JANE EYRE Charlotte Bronte
18. OF MICE AND MEN John Steinbeck
19. THE BELL JAR Sylvia Plath
20. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE JD Salinger
21. THE SCARLET LETTER Ernest Hemingway
22. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT Fyodor Dostoevsky

I'm not going to talk about the ones that I've read, the ones that I've sorta read, the ones that I should read again because...we're going to make sure THAT WE'VE READ THEM ALL!

Starting with...*drum roll please*

Crime and Punishment (a book that neither of us have even pretended to read)

What Buzzfeed says about it:

What you think it’s about: Law and Order SVU set in the 19th century.

Why you should actually read it: Dostoevsky addresses the concept of morality and causes readers to wonder whether the end really does justify the means.

What Goodreads says about the audio version, narrated by Alex Jennings (my fav!):

The talented Alex Jennings creates an atmosphere of gripping psychological tension and brings a variety of characters to life in this new audio edition of a crime classic. When the student Raskolnikov puts his philosophical theory to the ultimate test of murder, a tragic tale of suffering and redemption unfolds in the dismal setting of the slums of czarist, prerevolutionary St. Petersburg. While Jennings's adept repertoire of British accents works to demonstrate the varying classes of characters, it occasionally distracts the listener from the Russian setting. However, Dostoyevsky's rendering of 18th-century Russia emerges unscathed, bringing the dark pathos (such as wretched poverty and rampant suffering) to life. 

Through the story of the brilliant but conflicted young Raskolnikov and the murder he commits, Fyodor Dostoevsky explores the theme of redemption through suffering. Crime and Punishment put Dostoevsky at the forefront of Russian writers when it appeared in 1866 and is now one of the most famous and influential novels in world literature. 

The poverty-stricken Raskolnikov, a talented student, devises a theory about extraordinary men being above the law, since in their brilliance they think “new thoughts” and so contribute to society. He then sets out to prove his theory by murdering a vile, cynical old pawnbroker and her sister. The act brings Raskolnikov into contact with his own buried conscience and with two characters — the deeply religious Sonia, who has endured great suffering, and Porfiry, the intelligent and discerning official who is charged with investigating the murder — both of whom compel Raskolnikov to feel the split in his nature. Dostoevsky provides readers with a suspenseful, penetrating psychological analysis that goes beyond the crime — which in the course of the novel demands drastic punishment — to reveal something about the human condition: The more we intellectualize, the more imprisoned we become.

Our reading schedule

We're starting today, follow along with us here.

If you'd like to join the read with us, find it online for free here.

Sorry to Bore You...

...but, I need to get a few things out of the way so I can begin to blog again. I am a writer really. I'm not sure my works will ever be published, I'm not sure that I think of writing as a profession, but I am a writer and not writing is making me live in Crazy Town population 1.

I started this blog for me therefore it doesn't really have a target audience, actually I don't really have a target anything--although I try to make it center around books and reading. I was having a hard time adjusting to being in a family and being married and I needed an outlet. You know somewhere I could have personal space and time without neglecting my work/friends/family...writing and reading are the only things that can occur anywhere and at anytime. I kept the blog going because it was like going to a counselor that gave really great advice and, writing about me (even writing about books that I read) has been and will continue to be therapeutic.

My personal life is busting my chops. I don't go into things lightly I pray about it and talk about it with all sorts of people. I did not decide to become a teacher without lots of thought, I did not decide to stay in Lebanon lightly and I did not go into my marriage lightly, so when one or all of these are not functioning properly stressful is an understatement. I don't really even want to blog about it as I hate it when I am wrong...and, it looks like I was wrong about a lot of things, and it will take the rest of the year and working to change my credit score to fix it all. Work life crossing into personal life. Ugh.

My work life is busting my chops. I have four preps. I need to get a news magazine out. We have 3 new teachers in our department. I'm a mentor. I'm on the PD committee. Literacy across the school building. Saturday work days. Sunday afternoon work days. Personal life crossing into work life. Vom.

I'm still amazed at the person who can be on all sorts of social media, have a job, have a family...ie. have a life outside of social media and still blog daily...where are you finding the time? where can I score the kind of happy pills you are taking? And, I'm sooooooooooooooo behind in my reading...

So, what do I hope to be able to do from here on out?...I am still writing and still thinking and still enjoying life. I'm going to make time to write about that more as being in my head so much has caused me to be a killjoy and a buzz-kill...it has caused me to be a little less than the person I know me to be. On this new adventure expect writing about books, writing about my daughter, about my faith and school, just don't expect it daily or even weekly or on any schedule at all.

So, next week I'll get back to blogging about books/school/whatevs...promise.

Physical Books vs. Ebooks...a confession

So, there have been three books on my Goodreads Currently Reading shelf for quite a long time. It isn't that they aren't lovely books, actually when I'm reading them I'll devour large chunks at a time. The problem is *whispers* they aren't on my Nook. This means that these three books aren't easily accessible; I can't carry them all with me, in a cute little bundle of awesome, wherever I go. I can't look up words and concepts I don't know the second I don't know them. I mean surely I can't be the only one who starts reading a physical book, finds a word she doesn't know, touches it with her finger and suddenly...nothing happens. I've gotten used to the power of my finger and its ability to highlight. I've gotten used to never losing my place. I've gotten used to the WIFI. The most important point, however, is that these books don't light up which means I can't read them in the dark or in the car and if you knew how often I'm waiting in the car at night or how often I go to bed early just to read without interruption for the tiny tot, you'd understand how important it is that I be able to read under cover of darkness.

I've been noticing the change in my reading habits for awhile now...I just didn't realize how much.

I hope there's a 12-step program...er...maybe I should just come to terms with the fact that I adore my ereader and move on. What do you think?

Storyline Online...

Go the website here!

So, I found this online last week and Lila Jane and I have been having a blast! Actors and actresses discuss reading and the book and then read the story while sharing the pictures. We've listened to Sean Astin read A Bad Case of Stripes at least once a day since Tuesday. Too cool!

50 Books...a retrospective, sorta

I've got 6 books on the burners (yes, I've read parts of 6 books) and yet...

3 of these are for Reading Challenges, 2 of those are from last year!

...I don't feel any sense of urgency, I definitely don't feel the same way I did this time last year when a 50 book challenge loomed on the horizon. I wasn't sure (with everything that goes on with day to day living) I'd be able to do it, I was afraid that my zest for reading had died. I wasn't even sure that I really liked to read for pleasure anymore. Those were dark times.

And, why were they?

You get pizza just for reading...pizza people!

Let me start at the beginning. Every since I can remember I have been an above average, avid reader. If my Book-It goal was 100, I read 120, if we had to read a book a quarter, I read four and I remembered. I remember drawing a poster (we could chose to draw a poster or write a page response) for the Phyllis A. Whitney book Step to the Music; a girl in one of those Civil War period pink hoop skirts standing by a man on crutches--a replica of the cover. I remember having to stay in for recess with a friend for three days (we'd been gone on a school trip when the punishment was doled out, so we had to stay in just the two of us) we read 3 of the books from The Chronicles of Narnia...I remember Digory and Polly and Mr. Tumnus and Prince Rillian. I remember the conversation we had about religion; sure I was only in 4th grade, but he was the first Catholic I'd ever met. I remember all the More Tales for the Midnight Hour especially the one about the moth collector. I remember reading The Last of the Mochicans (this is not the one I read, but I can't find it--yes, I remember the cover) as a graphic novel and reading a biography of Louisa May Alcott. I was sad when the girl jumped off the cliff and thought it was even more tragic that someone would punish their kid by making them put pepper on their tongue; events that happened in each of the books; respectively. I read the Emily books by LM Montgomery and because of those books I've written a letter to myself every 10 years since I was 14. I could read over 100 books a year and look over the list recalling each moment in the book, recalling each feeling I felt while reading. I used to keep list of the books I read just for this reason...I still have those list, I still get the same feelings.

In college I read a ton of books many of them were required for classes, but were still fun for me. I appreciate Early British lit, dislike explorer narratives, worship The Scarlet Letter as the first American novel and read The Sun Also Rises every year. I love Edith Wharton and Thornton Wilder, Toni Morrison, Harlem Renaissance poetry, Thomas Hardy and Jane Austen.

Then it all just died.

Don't kill me, I'm just trying to finish Vanity Fair

In hindsight, it was a gradual sort of death...although it seemed all of the sudden. I read only the books I taught, and I read them over and over and over. I only read books that would help me with teaching. I  stopped reading for pleasure. Who has time when attending meetings and writing lesson plans?

I tried to get it back on my own. I assigned choice reading at the Honors level. This allowed me to have a list of books; a goal. I made it a point to read books from this list. I started assigning a Non-Fiction book project. It helped me read more non-fiction. It opened up a whole new world of books. But, I still wasn't reading like I used to...I wasn't make my own personal list. I felt like I was reading to survive.

And, then my friend Julie devised herself a plan--50 books in a year, and I soon followed with my own plan. I made it official on Goodreads, I made it official on my newly developed blog, I joined Goodreads reading groups, I joined challenges, I followed reading blogs. And, then I began to read. The reading started off kind of slow, but by summer I was ahead of my goal. I was ahead of my goal by 15 wonderfully, marvelous, glorious books!

I read everywhere and anytime. It felt like old times. I read my books to my kiddo at night. I read while she napped, I read while she was at daycare. I read on planes. I tried, unsuccessfully, to read in the car. And, people who are reading this, I read for pleasure!

It wasn't until school started that I realized I'd easily meet my reading goal, but not my challenges, and you know what I didn't care! Having those challenges just forced me to read outside of my comfort zone, having a goal of 50 just guaranteed that I'd read more than that. Having those challenges just meant that there was something on the horizon geared towards making me a better reader, thinker, writer, teacher...person.

And, then I read this lovely post by Gabe Habash and thought, "Oh, geez, what if I'm doing it wrong?" Seriously, I thought that literally for 5 minutes at least...you see Gabe (I feel like I can call him by his first name) counted his pages and I only counted my books. I read more books, but he friggin' read more pages (War and Peace in three weeks, really!? Gar, I'm soooo ashamed it took me 8 months to read Vanity Fair) and I stopped checking my challenge updates...I was *gulp* reading for pleasure. And, I realize, reading his post for the 15th time, that he was reading for pleasure to...he accidentally got caught up in the numbers.

And, I didn't feel any pressure...can you tell I did not play sports in high school? Can you tell I haven't a competitive bone in my body?

Will I continue my challenges? Yes, remember they've made me a better person. Will I do the new ones? Yes, to the best of my ability...there really are books I want to read! I've upped my reading challenge to 55 books (I could do more, but, then I'd lose all the fun of it!). But, I don't care if I don't meet my goal and I don't care if my challenges spill over into the next year or the next. If I'm reading just for the sake of reading who's winning? It sure ain't me!

I just finished a book last night and it felt so good to add it to my Goodreads list. It ain't pizza (there isn't a Book It program for adults or high school students, I know, sad right!?), but it's a start!

Oh, and I love looking at and reading my 50+ books list of 2011. I recall each moment, each feeling...it's fantabulous!

Suggested Summer Reading

Keeping Summer Reading, fresh, fun, priority one
from Teachmama.com

So, I read this post at No Filter Mom about suggested Summer reading for her (sit down for this one please) 5 year old. Here's the post if you are interested in reading it.

Anyway, I'm not sure how I feel about the whole idea for summer reading for little people. I know that I am the kind of parent who has already looked at and bought or asked for books on the list for toddlers and I like the idea of suggested reading at that age because I'm sure there are parents who wouldn't do it otherwise.

But, what about those of us that would? I know that there are people out there who would read to their kidlets all the books on the list, spending the summer checking out the whole list. I know that's what I'd do and I'd make it fun and hopefully help instill a love of reading in my tiny person.

I'm all for summer reading, really. Every year I am amazed that there are students in Honors Sophomore English who complain about the summer reading/don't do the summer reading/don't read at all. It is over-whelming to me that students will perfect their sports skills by doing two-a-days in the hot summer heat, they will hewn their band perfection by practicing their instruments and marching, but many of them will not read to advance their comprehension skills. Not only can I not get these kiddos to read Of Mice and Men and Anthem in the summer (two books totaling about 300 pages), but they don't read for pleasure...no Romance novels, no silly YA adult fiction, no mysteries, they don't talk about books, they don't write about books...it makes me sad.

What does reading do for you? Well...

1] it increases your vocabulary
2] it increases your writing and speaking skills
3] it gets you to think
4] it increases your cultural literacy and background knowledge
5] it makes learning fun!

And, if you practice it everyday, think about how smart you'd be!

But, I suppose I'm preaching to the choir on this one...

"A capacity and taste for reading gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others."

~ Abraham Lincoln

The students that succeed are those that are AVID readers. I just hope all this summer reading at the elementary level doesn't turn them off to reading the way the implementation of the Advance-Reading (AR) program has.

What do you think about summer reading programs?

I'm A Reader...Yea!

I have read 3 books and 80 pages of Vanity Fair since last Monday.

1. Stardust by Neil Gaiman
2. One Day by David Nicholl
3. The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Sorry, I'm posting so late I was reading!
Hm...maybe I'll quick my job, so I can read like this all the time!

Reviews soon-ish...

For the Love of Reading

Found this at Squiddo...Feel free to answers these questions below or on your own blog.

What have you just read?
I just finished Dead Is Not An Option by Marlene Perez.

What are you reading now?
I'm still working on Loving Frank and will always be reading Vanity Fair, but at least I'm farther along on both of them. Vanity Fair is sooooo uninteresting that I'm having a hard time and I know how Loving Frank is going to end and am not ready to be that sad, and, reading it has made me melancholy. I've picked up another book (S)mythology by Jeremy Tarr and illustrated by Katy Smail. I won it on GoodReads and will definitely have it finished before finishing these other two, as it is nonsensical like Alice in Wonderland, which I love.

Do you have any idea what you'll read when you're done with that?
I'll review a book from NetGalley (on Sunday) and start reading the book that was sent to me to review for Free Press; review due on the 24th...which is also my birthday!

What's the worst thing you were ever forced to read?
Ironically *smirk* it's still The Sound and the Fury...I will never finish it, but here's the thing WHEN I finish (and, I'm only finishing it because I am in a group and feel compelled by this fact) Vanity Fair, I think it may surpass The Sound and Fury...WOW!

What's one book you always recommend to just about anyone?
Here lately it's been Cinderella Ate My Daughter, as I have been in the mood to talk people about raising my daughter and want feedback.

Admit it, sadly the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don't they?
The librarian at the high school does...hello! Some librarians in the town library do, not all of them.

Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don't like it at all?
People seem scared by Ayn Rand...although I love her books, especially The Fountainhead.

Do you read books while you eat?
Loads.

While you bathe?
Everytime. There is nothing better in the world than a bubble bath, some candles and a good book.

While you watch movies or tv?
Yes, during the commericals ALWAYS...and, during movies my husband picks as they are "man" movies.

While you listen to music?
Yes. Rarely is it quiet while I read.

While you're on the computer?
Yes, and this is a new thing for me. I read most of my answer to #1 on my computer.

When you were little did other children tease you about your reading habits?
Yes, mostly because I was reading books like Great Expectations and Watership Down in 4th Grade.

What's the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn't put it down?
Last night. I am really liking that (S)mythology book...and, it fills my head with wonderful visions, while I dream.

Have any books made you cry?
Yes, I don't want to talk about it...as it will make me cry.

Enjoy!!!

How Do You Read? A Questionnaire

[Source]

I found another lovely reading questionnaire at I Read to Relax. Feel free to answer these questions below, on FB or on your own blog.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack:
I think I used to snack, but, now, when I read I have to distract a tiny tot...eating snacks would just draw her to me, unless of course, she were trapped in her chair eating the same snack...*hmmm...?*

What is your favorite drink while reading?
Mtn. Dew...unless I'm feeling like I don't need the caffeine and then juice (of any kind). On winter mornings I enjoy a lovely cup of tea while reading and, of course, coffee is always good while reading.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Depends on what kind of book I'm reading, if I am reading a book and I am REALLY in it, I can't help but write in it. I also like what Mortimer Adler says about marking up books. I enjoy reading my marks years later and seeing what I was like then and seeing if I've changed.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Remember the page #. If I know that isn't going to happen anything can become a bookmark...I've found a $100 bill in one of my books before. I also have what I like to call my "Hugh mark" it is a picture of Hugh Grant that I laminated when I worked at Wal-Mart...he is my favorite bookmark.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
I lean towards fiction, but can read non-fiction and enjoy it.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I can stop anywhere or will press on if I want to...I like to get to the end of a scene at least.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No, but I am the kind of person who will talk about it to ANYONE who will listen. Especially if the book irritates me and I don't see any reason why the book had to end/have that character/have that scene et cetera.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Yes, and then I write the definition in the margin.

What are you currently reading?
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, that friggin' Vanity Fair, Julius Caesar (as we are doing it in the class I teach)

What is the last book you bought?
I just bought the tiny tot three used books (I love used books)...Songs of Black, Dinosaurs and Cats.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I learned in college how to read more than one book at a time. It's a great skill, almost worthy of being a superpower.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
Early in the morning when I am the only one awake. I've tried reading at night, but it just fills my head with 'thinking' when I should be 'sleeping', and also I can't stay up very late. I'm a weakling at that!

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
Stand alones or books in a series that can stand alone and are only enhanced should you read the series.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
Michael Ondaatje, I love his books...love, love, love.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)By size, keeping series together (as I buy series in the same size, from the same publishing year, so they match...James Bond not withstanding as my Bond books come in different sizes, copyright years and pictures).

What about you?

Booking Through Thursday (Cheating)

 

From Booking Through Thursday:

Do you cheat and peek at the ends of books? (Come on, be honest.)

           Always. Especially if the book isn't going fast enough or is part of a series (see: "I'll Take 'Books in a Series' for 400, Alex"). That's the short answer.
          The long answer...

          I hate waiting, I also hate suspense, most books make you wait suspensefully for the ending.  If I'm really into a character, I want to know what happens to them. Spoilers for the rest of the paragraph. I don't like it when my favorite character commits suicide (The Sound and the Fury), dies unexpectantly and for no reason (Message in a Bottle) or ends up being the bad guy, I mean the really bad guy, not the bad guy that you love to hate (American Psycho), but the "OMG! you're the killer, really!?" bad guy (In the Cut).

         Frankly, for the most part I don't mind knowing the ending of books. It makes me read the book for the book and not because I have to know the ending. I don't mind knowing the outcome of a lot of things before I do them. I plan whole units in advance and from the test to the front. I don't ride the rides at amusement parks until somebody has gone first and has told me all about every hill and curve. I don't travel to the unknown (which means I do tons of research before going anywhere) and I don't read books without knowing where they are going. I don't have a fear of the unknown, I just don't like it.

         I remember once asking a former principal (my favorite boss in my life so far) why he didn't read the Harry Potter books, his kids had read them, they were easy reads and well, the whole world was reading them and he said, "Why would I waste even an hour of my precious time reading a book I know I'm not going to like?" And, I think that's it...I am very self-aware, I know what I like and don't like, if I've picked a book I know I'm going to like, I'll like it no matter what...if a book has tricked me into liking it, I like to know as soon as possible so I can a) put it down--I will NEVER finish The Sound and the Fury nor will I ever read another Nicholas Sparks or b) finish the journey so I can see if it was worth the ride And, if I'm finishing the journey, it was worth the ride.

"I'll Take 'Books in a Series' for 400, Alex"

"I hate suspense, really I do. I like to know what's happening at all times and to whom, especially if it is to me." ~Michael Thomas Ford

I love, love, love Michael Thomas Fords' writing and have since reading the books of his syndicated column "My Queer Life", but enough about MT Ford for now...I'll save him for a different post. Instead I want to talk about book series.

In short, I can't stand them.
To elaborate, I can't stand them because they make me wait.
To clarify, I hate waiting.

I don't read books in a series until a series is complete finished. I read the first six Harry Potter books in six days, waited in line the day the 7th came out, bought it and then read it that day. I haven't started the Percy Jackson books...I hear they're not finished. When I was a kid I stopped reading The Sweet Valley books because they never stop. People have told me that I would love The Outlander series, but Diana Gabaldon won't stop writing...6th book, 7th book, 8th book...ah, geez!!! I read Twilight on a flight to DC, Eclipse on the return home, bought New Moon and Breaking Dawn at Border's with a friend (you know who you are Julie Andrews) and read them both the same day as soon as I got home. I haven't read the Lemony Snicket books, don't know if they're truly finished. I've never started reading Romance novels on a regular basis, don't even get me started about my need to collect, and those Harlequin ones are numbered and I'd want all the numbers. I only started reading the Dune books, after I researched and realized there were only so many that Frank Herbert actually wrote, I'm only reading the Frank Herbert ones (I told a Barnes and Noble cashier, I hope they're called cashiers, and not some cute name like barista, and he said I was making a wise choice). I read Patricia Cornwell's Kay Scarpetta novels because I choose to ignore the back stories and focus on the murders and forensics.

But, enough about my need for control and dominance.

Only after finding out that Stieg Larsson was no longer with us and that all the books had been published, did I begin to look at The Girl series. I bought the books (one in paper back, the others on the Nook), I was excited, I was going to have a series to read over the summer (as I could tell from the first paragraph it was going to take me longer to read each book than the day afforded to a Rowling or Meyer)...and, then, I started to read the first book (so excited!) as I got past the part with the mysterious flower, and finally began reading about the main character Mikael Blomkvist, I heard and then I read and then I became leery of the fact that there may be another book out there.

I will not pick the book back up until I'm certain that there isn't.
I will not watch the movies until I know there are no more books.

Yes, I am aware that I may have a slight problem...

"We Can Do It"

"I do not wish them to have power over men, but over themselves."  ~ Mary Wollstonecraft

"Rise to the occasion which is life!"
~ Virginia Woolf

In honor of Geraldine Doyle

So, I read the other day about Geraldine Doyle's, the model for Rosie the Riveter, passing at the age of 86 and this has inspired me to write about some strong female roles/characters/books/poems that have inspired me over the years. I do so enjoy strong females who do what is right and good in the face of some sort of incomprehensible driving force and I also enjoy those female roles that kick butt and take names.

Non-Fiction (Books and Essays)
I have never read all of The Femine Mystique, but I do enjoy and have taught it's first chapter as an essay titled "The Problem That Has No Name".
Are Men Necessary? When Sexes Collide Maureen Dowd
Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern Joshua Zeitz
Ruth, Esther, Mary et cetera in The Bible
A Vindication on the Rights of Women Mary Wollstonecraft
A Room of One's Own Virginia Woolf

Fiction (Books, Short Stories and Plays)
Anything Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale especially
Bridget Jones's Diary Helen Fielding...although I think the Americanized version is just silly...I mean look at the cover!
Anne of Green Gables series by LM Montgomery
"The Yellow Wallpaper" Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"The Story of an Hour" Kate Chopin
Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe Fannie Flagg
How to Make An American Quilt Whitney Otto
The Joy Luck Club Amy Tan
"Trifles" Susan Glaspell
"A Wagner Matinee" Willa Cather
Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte
A Room with A View EM Forster
anything by Jane Austen
The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne...first powerful American female in literature! :)
Little Women Louisa May Alcott
The Hours Michael Cunningham

Fiction (Poetry and Music)
anything Alanis Morrissette
anything Fiona Apple
"Song" Adrienne Rich
"Self in 1958" Anne Sexton

And, for fun
because we all watch movies, The 100 Best Female Character Roles

Twist Your Noodle...

"In our new knowledge economy, if you haven't learned how to learn, you'll have a hard time."
---Peter Drucker

         So far my kid loves to read...no seriously, she does. If there are toys on the floor and a pile of books, she picks the books. She'll grab one of the books and hand it to me, nodding her head, while quietly and passionately saying, "Yes, yes". We read to her at night and well, frankly anytime she wants. She loves books that have animals, and Seussian sentence structures and princesses...I can't wait until she starts reading the Serendipity books. We watch "Super Why" where you learn that if you have a problem you 'look in a book'. This genius cartoon teaches theme, rhyming patterns, spelling, phonetics and has caused my kidlet to sing, "ABCDEFG" over and over...I know she doesn't know that these are letters, but isn't it a start?
          I don't know how to keep this passion for books going, I don't remember not loving books, nor do I remember ever being told to read, so I don't know how to fan the flames. My mother read to us at night, something from the Bible and then something that we wanted like a chapter from the Laura books, "The Purple Pussycat" (Kim's favorite), "Popcorn" "Sheldon's Lunch" et cetera. On the rare occassion that I got in trouble and was told to go to my room, my mother would say, "No radio, and no reading". For as long as I can remember I have had a book in hand, in brain and/or in head. There was one night, just a couple of weeks ago, that the my whole tiny family was reading. Lila with her books on the floor, Chris with his Nook and me with my book. No television, just books and the occasional grunt of happiness...over books. We do this often.
            The men we have married are readers, sure it's non-fiction, sports books, man magazines or, in the case of my husband, "The Grumpus Under the Stairs"...a book he still wishes he had, by the way...a book that I can't find for sale under $100, but it's still reading. In our different ways, all three of us girls have become avid readers...sure Kim reads boring books like the manual to my car and Marissa reads scary books or VC Andrews, but we are ALL readers.
            Of course, my sisters and I had the same upbringing and, because we grew up in the world's smallest town, we had the same wonderful teachers, all of which did their very best to instill in us a love for reading. One teacher I remember especially, her name is Mrs. Coday, because she had a reading bathtub. It was one of those claw toed tubs that she painted some sort of obnoxious lime green and she had this tub sitting off to the side by the bookshelves. It wasn't attached to water or anything, there was no swimming involved, it was just an empty tub. But, during reading time (if you had been good) you and 2 or perhaps 3, I don't remember exactly, of your classmates got to sit in the tub and read. These times were the best times ever. In 5th grade, I got to be in the 8th grade-level reading class. Even then I understood that splitting kids up by their reading level and challenging them to read, at no matter what level, made them better readers. I understood this because my sister was in her grade-level class and she learned as much and had as much fun with reading as I did.
          We had Book-It goals (free pizza was way cool, Book-It was not tied to our passing our respective grade-level) and SSR, we did not have AR.
          In our own different ways, my sisters and I have figured out that reading is essential to life and understanding. We understand that the power to read and process information is stronger than monetary assets and we do not take this for granted.
          Being a high school teacher has also shown me the pitfalls of people who don't have a love for reading and I have also seen to what lengths students--smarts students--will go to NOT read (I can't even get all of my honors kids to read books in the summer--something I still assume every honors kid should just do by nature)...I do not want my kiddo to be one of these kids.
          How will I be able to make sure that my kiddo has teachers who instill in her a love of reading and how will I make sure that these teachers are more concerned with her learning than they are test scores and AR scores and MAP scores?
          How will I make sure that I teach my tiny person a love of reading without killing, in her, the joy of reading?



Happy Sparkly Halloween



Grandma (Nona) reading to Lila Jane