Books Books Books!
My summer break is coming quickly to an end. I feel like I didn't accomplish much. I didn't go on a major trip, I didn't do any crafts, and I got sick. What took up most of my time this summer was school (both) work and reading. I've pretty much finished my class website with only minor adjustments to make and I've finished 2 of the 3 Master's classes I am taking. This summer I've done something I haven't done in a long time, devour books. I'm pretty excited to tell my students that I read over a dozen books during vacation! I'm including a bit about what I read with the most recent first.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
This book is about a post-apocalyptic world in which all living things are dead and the sky is filled with ash. A man and his son are trying to survive by scavaging and hiding from the few other people who are still alive that have become cannibalistic. The book is written in an interesting form that adds to the surrealism of their situation. It reminded me a lot of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Despite its depressing aspects it was a good book. The Road is being made into a movie due out in November and McCarthy is also the author of No Country for Old Men.
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Apparently Lewis Carroll didn't get the story of Alice right. In fact, her name is Alyss and she is the to-be queen of Wonderland, until her aunt Redd returns to claim the throne and Alyss flees, ending up in London. I've mixed feelings about this. Beddor is very skilled in including many aspects of the Wonderland we know, but I just didn't really get into the book. The story wasn't amazing and I doubt I will read the others in the trilogy.
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
I had never read any of the Oz books before. The Wizard of Oz was so simplistically written that it was annoying at times. But I think parts of the story were more interesting than the movie.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I've read this several times and always love it. I put together a class set of books and have been meaning to do a literature study with my students. So I decided to get ready to read it with them soon after school starts, so I needed a little refresher. And it was refreshing! This is always a highly recommended book!
In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." This is the premise and focus of the book. I consider myself a little more in-tune to how where our food comes from than most Americans, but there were many new eye openers in this book. Pollan explains that most of what we eat are "food-like substances" and that we need to go back to eating whole foods. I think everyone should be concerned about what they put in their bodies and this book explains the history of our food and what it has become. Of course it includes what we should also do about it!
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
This book was hard to get into after reading the Twilight series. but once I got into it, it was a good, solid, well-written story. The story is about our world being taken over by aliens that use our bodies as a host and try to live like we do. It's considered sci-fi, but it wasn't overly so.
The Way We Eat (still reading) by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Peter Singer's Animal Liberation is what caused me to become vegetarian some 13 years ago. Now this book has made me see why it is important to go vegan. But, the book wasn't written to convert people, it was written to explore where our food comes from. It follows 3 families a typical American omnivore family, a ethically conscious omnivore family, and a vegan family and finds out where the food they eat really comes from and how it got there. The book focuses on the ethics of how we eat as well as the environmental impact and health concerns about the food we eat. I'm still listening to the audiobook, but it is never pushy or uses scare tactics, it just tells it like it is. Highly recommended!
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I've already posted about these books, but they were definitely the highlight of my summer!
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
One of my all-time favorites! I pick this book up every few years and it was especially fitting this year because it is the 100th anniversary. It was as good as I remember it :D
Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
This is a companion book to the His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, etc.) and was a short story about Lyra and Pan after they return to normal life (or not-so-normal now). It was nice to read a bit more about Lyra and Pan, but it wasn't epic like the other books.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamilio
A sweet story of a porcelain rabbit that goes through many owners looking for love.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
This book is about a post-apocalyptic world in which all living things are dead and the sky is filled with ash. A man and his son are trying to survive by scavaging and hiding from the few other people who are still alive that have become cannibalistic. The book is written in an interesting form that adds to the surrealism of their situation. It reminded me a lot of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. Despite its depressing aspects it was a good book. The Road is being made into a movie due out in November and McCarthy is also the author of No Country for Old Men.
The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor
Apparently Lewis Carroll didn't get the story of Alice right. In fact, her name is Alyss and she is the to-be queen of Wonderland, until her aunt Redd returns to claim the throne and Alyss flees, ending up in London. I've mixed feelings about this. Beddor is very skilled in including many aspects of the Wonderland we know, but I just didn't really get into the book. The story wasn't amazing and I doubt I will read the others in the trilogy.
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum
I had never read any of the Oz books before. The Wizard of Oz was so simplistically written that it was annoying at times. But I think parts of the story were more interesting than the movie.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
I've read this several times and always love it. I put together a class set of books and have been meaning to do a literature study with my students. So I decided to get ready to read it with them soon after school starts, so I needed a little refresher. And it was refreshing! This is always a highly recommended book!
In Defense of Food by Micheal Pollan
"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly Plants." This is the premise and focus of the book. I consider myself a little more in-tune to how where our food comes from than most Americans, but there were many new eye openers in this book. Pollan explains that most of what we eat are "food-like substances" and that we need to go back to eating whole foods. I think everyone should be concerned about what they put in their bodies and this book explains the history of our food and what it has become. Of course it includes what we should also do about it!
The Host by Stephanie Meyer
This book was hard to get into after reading the Twilight series. but once I got into it, it was a good, solid, well-written story. The story is about our world being taken over by aliens that use our bodies as a host and try to live like we do. It's considered sci-fi, but it wasn't overly so.
The Way We Eat (still reading) by Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Peter Singer's Animal Liberation is what caused me to become vegetarian some 13 years ago. Now this book has made me see why it is important to go vegan. But, the book wasn't written to convert people, it was written to explore where our food comes from. It follows 3 families a typical American omnivore family, a ethically conscious omnivore family, and a vegan family and finds out where the food they eat really comes from and how it got there. The book focuses on the ethics of how we eat as well as the environmental impact and health concerns about the food we eat. I'm still listening to the audiobook, but it is never pushy or uses scare tactics, it just tells it like it is. Highly recommended!
Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer
New Moon by Stephanie Meyer
Twilight by Stephanie Meyer
I've already posted about these books, but they were definitely the highlight of my summer!
Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
One of my all-time favorites! I pick this book up every few years and it was especially fitting this year because it is the 100th anniversary. It was as good as I remember it :D
Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
This is a companion book to the His Dark Materials (The Golden Compass, etc.) and was a short story about Lyra and Pan after they return to normal life (or not-so-normal now). It was nice to read a bit more about Lyra and Pan, but it wasn't epic like the other books.
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamilio
A sweet story of a porcelain rabbit that goes through many owners looking for love.