Musings, Malapropisms, & More

Last year I found John Green’s An Abundance of Katherines. I read it during our schoolwide Readathon. Laughing out loud in a couple of parts, several students asked to borrow the book. Next, I found his novel Looking for Alaska. Parts of it were also funny, but really it was more poignant.

I was overjoyed to find Paper Towns as an advanced reader copy at a local indie bookstore. I was enchanted by Green’s ability to make the characters resonate as “real” young people with flaws, beauty, and emotions. I don’t want to give away any of the plots, but suffice to say that readers would enjoy any or all of these books. They are the ya books that enchant both adults and teens who want to read stories about smart youth who sometimes make stupid, impulsive choices, yet in the end, a lesson is to be learned or at least felt.

Several years ago I purchased a book by an author I had enjoyed, only to find that it had been given a new cover and a new title. Argh. I felt cheated somehow. A friend suggested that I keep a reading journal to note what I read, a mini-synopsis, maybe a review, etc. And so, my first book journal began.
I got a journal at our local Half-Price Books and began putting down the date I finished the book, its title, and little else. After someone asked for information about a book I knew I’d read, I began putting in short notes to myself about the book, plot, characters, etc.
I’ve filled two journals so far, and now am venturing into blogging with this online journal.

Latest must read is Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. I picked this up because I’m interested in the workings of my mind. Pink’s premise supports the ideas in Friedman’s book The World Is Flat in many ways. Both books offer ideas about 21st Century Learning and jobs that many educators may fear. Change is inevitable in our world. I highly recommend each of these books.

Since I also love novels, I’ll recommend the one I started yesterday. Though it’s marketed as a young adult fiction, I would recommend it to sci-fi enthusiasts or those intrigued by apocalyptic stories that examine future societies, world ethics, leadership, etc.

When I encounter a book that I enjoy or can’t get out of my mind, I want to share it.  Sometimes I take it to school and tout it in the classroom, urging certain students to read it.  Here I can shout out about books that touched me and/or kept me up at night.

First, I have to say that this book disturbed me, but I couldn’t put it down.  I read a book galley copy that a wonderful independent store gives teachers when they buy a certain dollar amount.  Rich King wrote a memoir or tribute to his wife in My Maggie. What did I like about it?  His voice throughout the book was like a new friend who meets you and updates you about life’s tragedies.  Hmmm.  That doesn’t sound like a promising theme does it?  Reading this book kept me wanting to know who Maggie really was and how she coped and how she died.  Knowing the ending didn’t make the book less powerful to me.

This second book I found the same way.  It’s a futuristic look at what might happen to the world if oil production declined to the point of reducing the industrialized nations to tatters.   World Made by Hand written by James Howard Kunstler has the potential to cause the reader to ponder not only the meaning of life, but the meaning of being human or civilized.  “We’re building our own New Jursalem up the river.
It’s a world made by hand, now, one stone at a time, one board at a time, one hope at a time, one soul at a time…”  (142).    Yes, man, society, religion, hope, and survival all are interwoven in this tale.

A light read is The Writing Class by Jincy Willett.  As a closet writer, I was intrigued by the title and was eager to read the blurbs.  The protagonist, Amy Gallup, is a gifted writer who peaked too soon.  Now she’s a writing workshop leader who trudges through her classes.  Until now.  A prankster seems to be stalking her writers.  The class falters then regroups.  Murder, mayhem, and more.

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