TeacherDad 2008

Ok, I've been waiting for this moment, no better day to start than January 1st... you would think with all the anticipation in starting this challenge I would actually have thought of a book to read, but no, not yet... Like the first song played on a new stereo or the first girl to ride in a new car, the first book of the new year should be special...

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So here's the master list...

1. Journal of Biddy Owens (children's, 135 pp)
2. A Year Down Yonder (children's, 130 pp)
3. The Book of Lost Things (fantasy, 339 pp)
4. The Pickup Artist (novel, 240 pp)
5. Adolf: The Half-Aryan (graphic novel, 278 pp)
6. The Silver Chair (children's, 243 pp)
7. Thud! (fantasy, 373 pp)
8. Autobiography of My Dead Brother (YA, 210 pp)
9. The Blind Side (sports, 299 pp)

(list continued on post #34 #63 130 177 & 178)

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I'll post mini-reviews (and welcome comments/discussion/suggestions) here or on my blogs: TeacherDad's Books or "Inspired...?"

Hi, TeacherDad! Happy New Year! If you're like me, you'll decide on a book and then see something else that piques your fancy and read that instead. lol

Whatever you choose to read first, remember that it's not about the numbers but about enjoyment, so, well, enjoy! :-)

Don't stress about it or you'll get performance anxiety! Looking forward to watching your list! =)

If you say don't think about an elephant...

So now that you've made me worry about my "performance," is there a Librarian who can give me a prescription?

LOL. Not a librarian for sure, but I noticed you read some Civil War books. Have you tried Howard Bahr? I liked his Year of Jubilo better than his first one, The Black Flower but both are interesting reads.

And you can't go wrong with The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Turns out my first completed books for 2008 are children's books: The Journal of Biddy Owens and A Year Down Yonder, which I review here (probably don't actually qualify to be called "reviews")...

Finished Book of Lost Things last night, at great risk of bodily harm for having the light on too late, but when you're sooooo close to an ending it cannot wait until morning... a bit of a dark ending, but done very well. Thank you, fellow LTers, for a great book to start the new year...

The Pickup Artist... had to convince The Wife it had nothing to do with girls.. very Farenheit 451-ish, but in an absurdly, off-beat, strange kind of way...

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite books! Do I need to add The Pickup Artist to my never ending and ever growing TBR list?

#8: So, you're saying that The Pickup Artist is *more* off-beat and strange than Farenheit 451? Cool - I'll definitely have to check it out!

I normally don't count the comics/graphic novels the boys and I read, and I never read the manga jazz (weekly library arguement: "pick 4, put the rest back" "how 'bout these 12?" "Four" "10?" "4" "8, and I'll wash your truck" and so on...) but this one (Adolf, Volume 3: The Half-Aryan) caught my eye and turned out to be well worth it... quality writing and an important theme. I'll have to check out the rest of the series...

I would pass out if my boys offered to wash my vehicle in return for checking out more books from the library!

unfortunately, the quality of their work doesn't justify the quantity of books... I guess they know I can't fire 'em, or complain to their boss..

I can't wait to read The Book of Lost Things this year, it has had great reviews and I love fairy tales. The Silver Chair is one of my two favourites in the series.

which one is your other favorite? I have LW&W at #1, then Magician's Nephew... I need to catch up on ones I haven't read in a looooong time, like Horse Boy and the Dawn Treader one...

My top two favourites and The Silver Chair and The Magicians Nephew and then LW&W, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. My least favourite is possibly The Horse and His Boy.

I realized this morning after finishing Thud! that all my Pratchett books are property of the Public Library (no I haven't stolen them, I mean I've read them and returned them)... so I need to stop by Barnes & Noble and start building a collection -- any suggestions?

My only suggestion: rather than Barnes and Noble, is there a local bookseller you can support??

Or, better yet, buy them through LT!

In my opinion, Pratchett started really getting into his stride by about Mort, at Book 4. In the first three I think he was still looking around at Discworld with his mouth open, going, 'whoa, where do I start?'

Then somewhere around Jingo (21) up to but not including The Truth (25) he sort of had a glitch somewhere and those four books lose their piquancy a bit. But then he gets back into it.

I love Guards! Guards! and also the witches series, after Equal Rites, i.e. I'd start at Wyrd Sisters instead.

But all a matter of personal taste of course. :)

If it helps, here's a complete list of his books in chronological order: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

Have fun! :)

Oh, and, #16 - personally I love The Horse and his Boy and dislike The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (except for its beautiful title) - so there you go. Differences of opinion again, making LT go round... :)

If you're reading Terry Pratchett, you can start almost anywhere in Discworld. Thud! is hilarious and full of little digs at society. But beware- Pratchett is addictive! You'll want to also read Going Postal and perhaps his children's books The Bromeliad Trilogy. I'm getting ready to pass my set on to my 10 year old neice.

I've also seen that there is a board game based on Thud!, but we can't get it in the US yet. Darn.

at the risk of sounding naive, what's wrong with B&N? Prefer Borders? I think the only other bookstores I've seen are musty dusty tiny ones in stripmalls full of bodice-rippers (alas, the books, not the cashiers...)

TeacherDad - I advocate buying local as much as possible (and not just books). B&N and Borders and Walmart and their ilk are systematically putting independent booksellers out of business. Plus: The more money that goes to a local bookseller, the bigger percentage of the money (by a long shot) stays in your own community rather than going to a big multinational corporation (that's where the idea that you're spending less is really a falsehood). And, I suspect, a bigger percentage goes to the author (that's just a guess though).

If you have no decent local booksellers in your area anymore, well I rest my case -- and I think it's really sad.

*Jumps off soapbox*

Teelgee, as far as I know based on the contracts I've seen between publishers and authors, an author will receive the same royalty from a book sold in an independent bookstore as a book sold in a chain.

IMHO *climbs up onto soapbox that teelgee just jumped off* I love indies and wish there were more of them around. They usually have a less commercial feel than the big stores. And I notice that B&N and Borders and their ilk don't always stock older or less popular books whereas indies often do. And the clerks in the indies seem more like book-readers than the ones I've run into at the bigger chain stores. Could be because B&N/Borders clerks don't really have a lot of time to discuss books with you because there are so many other customers around needing help finding DVDs or games and, if they're not, they have stocking, etc. to do.

*hops off soapbox*

You can also find great bargains on used books at a lot of indie bookstores -- not so B&N, etc.

*sighs and takes up permanent residence on soapbox*

I agree that in a perfect world, supporting small local bookstores is not a bad thing. However, at this point in my life, I can't afford to have that particular set of morals (B&N et al. tend to be cheaper, at least in my region, than the locals). I also (and I know that I am strange in this - and probably many other - respect(s)) actually prefer being able to go into a bookstore and browse unhindered or molested by an employee. Furthermore (and I think I'm done after this one), Borders and B&N have a much better selection than the smaller locals round my parts (I don't buy used books because I'm too neurotic and my books must be new and clean and neat and all that). Having said (way too much) all that, I understand teelgee & Storeetllr and their opinions and I'm perfectly content with the fact that there are people like them (i.e. better than me) out there :)

PS: Sorry, TeacherDad, for temporarily taking over your thread!

quite all right, everyone is welcome!

I get the heebie-jeebies with used books -- who knows where they've been read?!?!? I also don't like the little mass-market sized paperbacks, no matter the price they feel so cheap...

TeacherDad: I agree about the mm paperbacks - you just know that in a few years they're going to look like the paperbacks from 10-15 years ago (all yellowed and falling apart). Ick.

I'm more in teelgee's camp on this subject, and actually am fascinated by the places a book can travel during its lifetime, enjoyed by reader after reader. But I just love the diverse views expressed here. And unlike so many web discussion forums, the dialogue is always very respectful. Three cheers for the LT community, eh?

#31 lindsacl: Oh I agree that it's such a friendly, comfortable environment round here. Booklovers are just more civilized that your average non-reader, I suppose :)

>28 scaifea: scaifea -- NOT better, just different!!!

So here's the master list...

1. Journal of Biddy Owens (children's, 135 pp)
2. A Year Down Yonder (children's, 130 pp)
3. The Book of Lost Things (fantasy, 339 pp)
4. The Pickup Artist (novel, 240 pp)
5. Adolf: The Half-Aryan (graphic novel, 278 pp)
6. The Silver Chair (children's, 243 pp)
7. Thud! (fantasy, 373 pp)
8. Autobiography of My Dead Brother (YA, 210 pp)
9. The Blind Side (sports, 299 pp)
10. The Tale of Despereaux (children's, 269 pp)
11. Onion John (children's, 248 pp)
12. Stargirl (YA, 186 pp)

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master list relocated to #63 (I have to write it down so I stop losing it...)

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ok, that's 3 "yute" books in a row, I need to finish something adult this weekend... well, I don't mean "Adult" just, y'know, a grownup book...

I'll post mini-reviews (and welcome comments/discussion/suggestions) here or on my blogs: TeacherDad's Books or here ("Inspired...?")...

must be a race-relation theme this week... Autobigraphy of My Dead Brother is about kids caught up in gang activity, and Blind Side follows a black football player "adopted" by a white family...

Golly, I would love to be able to go to any bookstore and buy something. Until we return to the states, I just have to buy online....

I also agree with the comment about new books. There's something about a new book, spine uncreased, pages unbent.... that I just love. I rarely purchase used books, although I should. The thought of a poor book, sitting sadly on a shelf somewhere without a home saddens me. How I wish everyone loved books!!

Here is a link to a gallery/artist who uses books... we haven't been there yet, got lost in another museum first, so I don't know if he loves books, thinks they're obsolete, or both...

http://www.quintgallery.com/

I have heard great things about The Tale of Despereaux and other work by her so I hope you enjoy it.

"I don't buy used books because I'm too neurotic and my books must be new and clean and neat and all that."

"I get the heebie-jeebies with used books -- who knows where they've been read?!?!?"

How sad---neither of you will ever experience the unmatched thrill of browsing through a used book barn, or a library book sale. OH! Does that mean you won't use public libraries, either? Oh, my. I mourn the loss of independent bookstores, but libraries are what I fear losing the most, and they are in trouble too. And now I'm going to go hug some of my old, yellowing paperback books. 'Cause I love them dearly.

Libraries are different, love the Library -- we're at one or another at least once a week, and have paid mucho dinero in fines over the years ... although I would never let a Library book touch one my books! Yuck! (just kidding)
Most of the used books I see at the Library or elsewhere is unwanted dreck, like 65 copies of James Patterson or John Grisham, otherwise it would be on a shelf waiting to be read... but I always look, and sometimes find a treasure (clean, not mangled, un-yellow) like the copy of 'Tis by Frank McCourt I picked up for $1 last week!

TeacherDad, you must make a trip to Portland to visit Powell's City of Books where they sell new and used books side by side. Many great used books at bargain prices. I wonder if it's just the nature of SoCal that you don't have good used book stores.

#39: Ok, wow. Within the space of a few minutes and two threads, my kind (i.e. chain bookstore goers and new-book-only owners) have been described as 'sad' and 'need to be educated about the evils of the big bad chain stores'. This is the first time that I've felt attacked on LT and THAT is what makes me sad. Live and let live, man. That's all I ask.

As far as the thrill of browsing a used book store, I much prefer the thrill of carefully opening a brand new book just purchased. I love that you love used books - good for you. And anyway, the fact that TeacherDad and I don't want them just means that there's more for you!

PS: 'attacked' is a little strong for your 'sad' comment - I felt much more attacked by the other post in another thread that I mentioned...

Well, can I say overreact much? Sorry everyone, but I have been getting super-emotional lately, which I blame completely on hormones, since I recently found out that I'm expecting our first child (yeah!). Man, though, my emotions are all over the place, and I let them get the best of me in my last post. Sorry, laytonwoman3rd, for my response to your post, and sorry, TeacherDad, for, once again, butting in on your thread!

One of the real problems with email and lists such as these is that there is no "reality check" for what is going on, such as body language or voice tone. for a good part of my life, i used to be accused of being angry--and that was in verbal conversation, not written--when in reality I should have been accused of being a passionate Italian from another era where the greatest entertainment after dinner was getting into verbal "battles" over politics and ideas.

When I first joined LT, I remember gritting my teeth and restraining myself because of the fear that indeed I would wind up offending someone totally unintentionally. A couple of times I forgot myself, and then sweated it out until I was assured privately that no, it was ok to have strong opinions. Now I go ahead and express my opinion without worry--or did.

Unlike other lists to which I no longer belong and blogs in which I refuse to participate anymore, this group of people--this community--seems NOT to attack others but rather expresses strong opinions. which I just love. I LOVE diversity of opinion; without it, the world would be such a boring place. How else does one learn?

And let me add one thing that is not irrelevant in this discussion--without Amazon.com and another site like it, hardly your corner indie bookstores, my reading life right now would be a wasteland. I depend on them near-totally for books that as yet I simply can not get here. There is a place for everything. It's just that small businesses everywhere of every type--not just bookstores-- are vanishing under the pressure of large chains.

I'm sorry, scaifea, that you felt attacked--it distresses me no end. And that is the truth. But it is hard for me to believe that it was intentional.

Although you have retracted the "attack" comment, scaifea, I'm sorry you had that initial reaction, too. It was certainly not intended as an attack or criticism. I know very well the thrill of a brand-new uncracked spine myself, and I love new books. I also buy books from Amazon and Borders. I simply could not indulge my near-addiction to the written word as I wish to without borrowing books from the library (which untold people have handled and read and smeared with jelly and blown their cigarette smoke into), or buying them a.b.e (already been read). So many wonderful books are out of print, and there is no hope of my reading them in their untouched state...
As joycepa and lindsacl have said above, this is a grand place to hang out, chat, and even argue---all in civilized fashion 99.9% of the time Let's start over, eh? Congratulations on the baby!

Teacherdad---hope you don't mind your thread being temporarily highjacked. Snatch it back anytime your'e ready.

Oh CONGRATULATIONS scaifea on the news about the baby! How exciting!!

Can we start a scaifea baby countdown party thread?! Well, maybe a little closer to the time. Congratulations!

And I'm happy to see the healthy discussion and everyone working towards peace.

TeacherDad, read any good books lately? :-)

Oh man, I feel like I started something that probably belongs elsewhere on LT. Apologies for highjacking your thread, TD. I can't seem to keep politics out of anything (well, the personal is political after all).

scaifea -- many congratulations and blessings on your pregnancy!!! How exciting! Have fun with the Hormone Rollercoaster!!! You can always come here for tea and sympathy - as well as joyfulness!

Yes, Congratulations scaifea (and Congrats/Sympathy to the significant other -- been there, done that, good luck to trying to hang on to that hormone rollercoaster!)...

anger, hostility, hormones, used vs. new, politics & debates, all is welcome and then forgiven here at LT. My posts from a few nights ago were heavily influenced by Heineken (and took me 40 minutes each to write, edit, re-edit, re-re-edit, give up, post), so no apologies needed...

Now that the boys are back in school I have a mission: to find a cool bookstore other than those-that-shall-not-be-named... I don't promise I'll buy anything other's eyes have previously perused, but I'll enter with an open mind...

just finished Despereaux and started Fahrenheit 451, with a bookmark ready for The Thin Place...

Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorites. I used to read it once a year.

CONGRATULATIONS, scaifea! Been there, done that on the hormone thing. Wait till the brain cells start going and you get placenta brain.

And kudos to TD for lending his post to such an interesting discussion. It's way better than that First Line game in the "What Are You Reading Now" thread (pouting, because I don't know the answers)...

I am lucky, I guess to have an Atlantic Books bookstore nearby. I don't even know if it is a chain. I love it because there are some real off-beat books, and lots of books about authors and their lives, loves,etc. They always seem to have books that I don't find at B and N. Also, I like the atmosphere, a square room,stacks of books, only a row or two of each category, but they always seem to have what I need or something that really appeals. They don't have any used books though. Regarding old vs. new books, I love the tactile, give me a book over the web anyday, but I do get a little skeeved over books that have been who-knows-where. In the same breath, I love the idea of the places they have been, and the people they have served. I always put my name and the date I aquired them inside the cover, sometimes some marginalia. I hope one day to come across one of my books somewhere. I usually take a cotton ball and rubbing alcohol and wipe off my used paperbacks and library discards. It makes the book seem a little cleaner.

Thanks so much, everybody, for your good wishes, and TeacherDad, I'll pass your sympathies onto my husband, who's already made several emergency craving trips to the grocery store for me and has suffered through my crying jags too!

lindsacl, I'd *love* a baby party thread - that's the only place I'll be able to drink far a good long while :) Or maybe just a mom-to-be advice thread; lord knows I need it!

whoa there, hang on a minute... it does NOT say "PreggoDad" or "DocSpock" at the top of this thread, so the only way you're going to talk baby shower stuff here is by installing a big screen TV for me & the guys (oh, and a pool table would be cool...)

LOL poor Teacher Dad you're 50 Challenge thread got highjacked

OUT! Out! everyone not talking about TeacherDad and his books get out!

*shoos people giddily talking about pregnancy*

be gone!

*packs up her soapbox and pink and blue balloons and trudges out the door*

heehee - yes, so sorry TeacherDad, for all the non-reading-challenge nonsense (somehow I always manage to derail thread conversations...)! Before we go, would you like to eat some unlabeled baby food and try to guess what it is?

no thanks on the tastes, had enough when various flavors were splashed my way... I was very encouraging when it came to moving on to real food (and now they're eating me out of house and home...)

So, uh, TeacherDad, have you read anything good lately (she says as she desperately tries to wrangle the thread back on track...)?

I started A Spot of Bother -- by author of that Curious Dog Asleep at Night one people always talk about -- yesterday while following The Wife through the mall... it seems ok so far, almost Nick Hornby-ish? And still in the middle of Fahrenheit 451...

Whoa, TD! You've got a pretty active following up in here! Thanks for dropping in on my own brand new 50 Book Challenge thread. You've got a much bigger jump on the New Year than I do! I'm only on Book 4! That's what I get for diving into a 720-page Russian novel for my second book!

I see you've been reading some fantasy-related work. Just curious (sorry I haven't checked out your library): have your read the Thursday Next series? Very funny and very clever for everyone who loves books, especially!

rocketjk -- Oh yes, Fforde is a ffavorite of mine. I think I'm one book behind in both the Thursday and Nursery Crime series (serieses?)... as for my great start to the reading year, unfortunately it has been at the expense of homework and housework, and I think Professor and Queen of my castle are both starting to notice...

So here's the master list...

1. Journal of Biddy Owens (children's, 135 pp)
2. A Year Down Yonder (children's, 130 pp)
3. The Book of Lost Things (fantasy, 339 pp)
4. The Pickup Artist (novel, 240 pp)
5. Adolf: The Half-Aryan (graphic novel, 278 pp)
6. The Silver Chair (children's, 243 pp)
7. Thud! (fantasy, 373 pp)
8. Autobiography of My Dead Brother (YA, 210 pp)
9. The Blind Side (sports, 299 pp)
10. The Tale of Despereaux (children's, 269 pp)
11. Onion John (children's, 248 pp)
12. Stargirl (YA, 186 pp)
13. Fahrenheit 451 (novel, 190 pp)
14. Soon I Will Be Invincible (fantasy, 280 pp)
15. The Freedom Writers Diary (non-fic/autobio, 280 pp)
16. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (short stories, 208 pp)
17. Small Steps (YA, 257 pp)
18. Fat, Forty, and Fired (autobio/humor, 272 pp)
19. The Illustrated Man (short stories, 275 pp)
20. The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (biog?, 106 pp)
21. Hogfather (fantasy, 291 pp)
22. What Jesus Meant (spirituality, 142 pp)
23. Gathering Blue (children's, 215 pp)
24. Quiet Strength: A Memoir (sports/biography, 301 pp)
25. Messenger (children's, 169 pp)

list now continued on post #130...

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I'll post mini-reviews (and welcome comments/discussion/suggestions) here or on my blogs: TeacherDad or random whatever...

finished Fahrenheit 451 this morning -- Wow. Amazing book. I'm sure I've read it before, and I remember the trippy movie (black & white?), but I was impressed from the very beginning. And despite being 50 years old, still extremely relevent and powerful today...

And in the Laugh Out Loud department: The Adventures of Rabbi Harvey, coolest and wisest (most cool and most wise?) book ever.

The discussion on your thread this week inspired my "Sunday Salon" post on my blog. Come check it out when you have a second!

#64 message - TeacherDad - I just watched that movie a couple of weeks ago. I agree with you that the book is amazing! I've read it several times and I always seem to find something new in it. My son (who is 26) recently read it. It's so nice to be able to talk to him about books! I'm really glad you enjoyed the book.

By the way, have you read The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. I would certainly suggest it if you haven't read it.

I'm so glad you enjoyed Farenheit 451; it's one of my favorite books. Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, which is more of a memoir, is summer-sweet and just as well-crafted, if you are adding more of his works to your list.

And, if you'll forgive me for contributing to the earlier bookstore-politics discussion, don't get yourself too worked up about where you get your books. I'm an equal opportunity buyer--library sales, B&N, Amazon, local indepents, remainder outlets, online clearinghouses, antiquarian book shows, airport newstands--pretty much any place that has books will get my money. Honestly, though, the place I go back to most often is B&N. In my town, we have this great independent local called Schuler's, which is huge and has a wonderful selection of things the big chains often don't carry, but I find myself looking there and buying at B&N not just because of the price, but because the B&N booksellers are actually friendly and willing to help you find what you need (at least at our location). The Schuler crowd seems to follow the code that you should shop local, so they don't have to be nice to you, or acknowledge you at all until you come to the register and hand over your money. There is an attitude of entitlement that comes across there (not to mention elitism--you have to take a test to be a bookseller there--but that actually appeals to my latent academic snobbery) that turns me off from really hanging out at Schuler, despite how cool and independent the store is. I think you should buy books wherever you feel most comfortable, and if they're all brand new, lucky you!

By the way, I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one whose 2008 list is thus far heavy on the YA (though I've only just finished #5 for the year -- what a slacker!). :)

Good Grief!
TeacherDad: just dropped in to say I like your posts so will be following your thread.

scaifea: Our second Librarything baby!!!!!!!!!!

everone else: go to the naughty corner for whatever you said (I didn't read it all) and leave TeacherDad in peace.

amandameale, I live in the naughty corner.

I would say "I am the naughty corner," but I try to be on my best behavior while in the Library...

I was really really impressed with F. 451, even Bradbury's into about the genesis and influences had me saying "cool" and "yes!" and it was one of the few books i would've marked often in highlighter if it wasn't due back at the library this week... I've started the Illustrated Man short stories...

One of the things no one mentioned when talking about "used" books. I have bought many that have not been read. I found a seller on ABE books that had about 80 Library of America editions he told me he bought at an estate sale. I bought about 10 for $10.00 to $15.00. They were all in slipcovers and they hadn't been cracked. You have to remember that for some people books are something to look good on a shelf.
On ABE they provide good descriptions and you can tell which books are in the new to nearly new category. I realize I am way behind the curve on the thread.
The premise of F. 451 is spooky when you read the articles about the decline in reading. It may not take the government to do away with books. In my experience it is a generational phenomenon. I guess I am glad I didn't grow up in the age of video games.

TeacherDad - My copy of Fahrenheit 451 is marked in highlighter. Some LT members will cringe when they read this! :)

Wildbill - I teach in a high school and deal with students each day who refuse to read. Some struggle with reading, but the vast majority simply don't read. That's a very scary trend. In fact, some of our teachers don't even assign textbooks because the students don't use them. The keep the books in the classroom so they don't get lost. I can't imagine never reading!

When my sons lived at home we worked to instill the reading habit in them. My wife's idea was to let them stay up an extra 1/2 hour if they were reading. It worked and up until they left home they maintained the reading habit.
Both of them now are in their early 30's. Reading is gone. All I hear about is video games. The games seem extremely seductive. They provide entertainment that comes to the player without the same type of effort involved in reading.
I am sure they are only an example of a greater trend. It is a cultural change that is an unintended consequence of technological progress. The same developments in computers that allow the human geonome project give rise to advances that contribute to the entertainment value of computer games. Sorry to get preachy but this scares me. It contributes to a semi-literate society that still has the right to vote.

#73: Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I'm not sure I buy the idea that fewer kids are reading now and that video games are the cause. It seems to me that the kids who would rather play video games would probably have been the kids who'd rather do whatever the cool-thing-to-do at the time was instead of reading, regardless of in what time they might be born. And video games aren't a sign of the end of the world, I think. There have even been studies that show that they help the older generation with hand/eye coordination. And since when has this *not* been a semi-literate society (not that that's a good thing, I'm just saying that I don't necessarily see it getting markedly worse lately)? One more thing and then I'll stop being preachy too: I work at Kenyon College, where, in the last election, our students stood in the longest lines (really, I'm not making this up - it was in the national news at the time) in the country to vote. These young folks are very serious about their responsibilities as voting citizens, and I'm pretty sure most of them play video games, and read, of course, too.

Edited to say: Oh dear. I just realized that this is TeacherDad's thread. I've done it again. So sorry, TeacherDad - feel free to ban me from your thread any time :)

#74 scaifea - You crack me up. But didn't amandameale send you to the naughty corner a few posts ago? =)

since I'll never catch up to some of you in number of books read (Ms. 168 and it was a slow year, et al) I have decided to go for the record of most posts in a "50 Book Challenge" thread... the people from Guinness said to check in with them in November...

but please, no movie recitations! :)

In an interesting (to me, anyway) confluence of the conversations here, my wife tutors at a local (San Francisco) private high school. The school has a grant to bring in some "at risk" kids who wouldn't normally be able to get past the school's entrance exams, and the grant includes tutors to help these students catch up, study skill-wise. My wife recently helped one of her tutees get through and write an essay about Fahrenheit 451. She said that once the fellow got the hang of it, he got into the book, and the reading, quite a bit. He found it quite relevant to his own life, once he saw what Bradbury was getting at. Whether that will translate to this fellow beginning to read for pleasure on his own is of course another question, but at least he got to see first hand that reading, even reading an assigned book, can be worthwhile.

Okay, well I'm new and going backwards a little, but I can't resist. I was laughing earlier because the main reason I frequent used bookstores (and don't get me wrong, I spend way too much at Barnes & Noble too) is because I'm a teacher--the paycheck doesn't go very far in books I'm afraid. I do want to tell a quick tidbit though--one of the greatest things I've found about used books it what other readers have left. I love trying to decipher notes from old high school readers or messages someone wrote in the cover when they gave the book a gift. I also spent some time crying a few years ago when I was in the middle of a book, when all of a sudden a letter fell out--it was an old dear john letter from a girl to her boyfriend with a picture of her and (her daughter?) inside. So, I suppose I'm a ghost snoop, but there's something sort of comforting in a weird way for me about reading used books...

Anyhow, sorry I went backwards on the subject, but I was just so shocked to see a teacher who buys books instead of trying out used ones! (No offense, just surprised). Good luck with the books, and if you like Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, I'd suggest The Ministry of Special Cases by Nathan Englander. It's a very odd book that goes by much faster than you'd expect, but the story is fascinating and the writing is just gorgeous. Luck with reading and grading....

#75 mrstreme: Yeah, I know. The silly thing is, I have my own 50 Book Challenge thread, but I've posted here I think more than I have on my own thread! (Clearly I'm spending more time nosing into other people's conversations than I am reading!)

wwd, thanks for the reading tip, love the letter in the book story...

technically, I should be FutureTeacherDad or WantsToBeATeacherDad, since although already a Dad 3x, I won't have my degree until May (20 years late) and then start a credential/master's program... so the only grading i do is checking the boys homework, and adding extra problems when they finish too quick...

so my shopping is very limited, perusing and dreaming, then heading to the library to check out a stack... but I did buy several stashes of cheap used Roald Dahl books on ebay last year, both for a class report and for use in my FUTUREteacherdad classroom...

please stop by anytime!

TeacherDad: I became a secondary school teacher when I was 39 yrs, and a mother of 3. So good luck to you. I loved it.

Thanks amanda... I'm scared to death but also feel I'm about to do something fun, rewarding, and what I am meant to do, hopefully for the next 30+ years...

latest: Soon I Will Be Invincible... this is the one to skip every other chapter. The evil genius part are funny and clever, but the hero parts are boring and something I've seen before, only with cool colored panels and word balloons...

#81 and 82 - After a career as a CPA, I started teaching 7 years ago at the age of 40. My pocketbook may not like my career change, but I sure do! I still keep my CPA certificate active and I do a little work on the side. I don't see ever going back to that career.

I had been teaching accounting and computer classes at night school and decided I wanted to teach full time. It was a great decision for me. Like you said TeacherDad, I always felt it was what I was meant to do.

I'm sorry for kidnapping your thread. That seems to be catching here! :)

knocked out a couple of children's books this afternoon, The Well and Call It Courage...

It has been a while since I have been on the site, but I had to stop in and see what the latest thread abduction was. In regard to marginalia, I actually read a book titled Marginalia I think sometimes it adds to the significance of the book as a sort of historical record. I always write my name and date aquired in my books. I hope to run into an old friend one day! Hopefully, it would consist of the reader thinking about what they are reading and not a grocery list, but that has it's charm too. That being said, I treasure opening the uncracked book, paging through, the scent of fresh paper, and the feeling that I can scribble my notes anywhere I'd like, cuz nobody has been there yet. As far as my 50 book challenge, I can add No Country For Old Men and Floor Sample. TeacherDad, best of luck with your new career!

thank you, mmignano... I've been stuck on the reading list lately, starting and stopping... Flashman and the Angel of the Lord, supposedly hilarious? Funny a bit so far, but can't get past the use of a certain n-word every page... some Yann Martel short stories, while the first one was excellent it was about dying* of AIDS, so it wore me out...been randoming my way thru Book of Virtues and What Philosophers Think which reminds me I'm supposed to be writing a paper today...

*doesn't that look like I spelled it wrong? Thanks teelgee, I always mix it up with "dyeing" and then get worried as to what color The Wife will come home as...

*Grabs red pen, compulsively edits*

uh huh -- dying.

From working for a wholesaler who refused to sell to the big five -- Barnes and Noble, Booksamillion, Borders, (one other B????) and Waldonbooks -- yes, they pay less for their books, trash more, and not only kill the independents but also kill the small presses when the small press prints more than they can afford and the big guys send 90% of their order back unpaid for. No small presses = no good non-traditional reads because the big publishers won't take chances on the unknown. We also refused to sell to Follett which runs most of the college bookstores in the US-- I agree with teelgee -- support your local independent before they are all gone like the dinosaurs they are NOT, and support your local swap shop (as long as the swap is a good deal -- some of our local swap shops have gotten greedy recently).

What a funny thread!
Tiffin, who buys old first editions and out of print books previously read, splurges on new books on occasion, loves it when friends send previously owned books they think I'll like, rides her bicycle in to the village library in the summer and has no compunction about reading someone else's book over their shoulder in public, just to see if it's any good.
*heading to the naughty corner of her own volition for that last bit*

AND she uses the word "compunction"! That deserves a free pass out of the naughty corner any day... welcome, Tiffin!

You don't know the half of it; wait till tiffin pulls out "gobsmacked" and "thingummy."

Oh, tiffin---I go through the most amazing contortions trying to see the title of a book some stranger is reading (pretending to be adjusting a crick in my neck, or a bunch-up in my waistline)---on occasion I'm bold enough to ask, but I'm usually afraid it will be something I consider dreadful, and then, what would I say? But I don't think I've ever tried the reading over the shoulder bit---brave woman, you.

I once saw the cutest scene on a bus. A young man was reading a Harry Potter book and a young woman sat down next to him. She began surreptitiously reading his book. As he got ready to turn the page, he looked at her to see if she was ready to go on to the next page; she nodded and grinned sheepishly. (I like to think they went for coffee when they got off the bus and lived happily ever after.)

Finished Freedom Writers last night... seems like it's been awhile since adding to the list (post #63) but I have a few titles I'm in the middle of and also polished off a few Newbery Winners in the meantime...

Freedom Writers Diary... loved the movie, added the teacher Erin Gruwell to my Hero/Aspire To Be Like list, and the book makes the transformation and accomplishments of the kids even more remarkable... so remarkable the cynic in me (always present, just at times more "vocal") started questioning the veracity of the stories... towards the end, every page seemed to have a too good to be true factor: this kid's going to Harvard, this one Columbia, this one football scholarship UCLA, this one drafted to play baseball... I don't know, I'll have to find out how much *creative* writing was involved...

But overall, an extremely inspirational and remarkable story, and certainly leads to its own Reading Challenge:

Schindler's List
The Color Purple
Zlata's Diary
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
Catcher in the Rye
Night
Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur

seems like there might have been a few more...

Zlata's Diary is the only one on there I haven't read...or even heard of, so I'll have to look it up! As for the book ending, is it possible she's talking about kids from various years or classes and it just sounded as if they were all from the same group? Oh, and you might add The Translator: A Tribesman's Memoir of Darfur to your list....

It's T-shirts that get me into trouble. The number of times I've suddenly realised I've been staring at some woman's chest when all I'm doing is trying to make out the words she's got written on her T-shirt.

>97 Robertgreaves: that was a bit of a leap for me! But I think you're referring to reading over shoulders from several posts ago....? LOL

that's right. Sorry, I should have made myself clearer.

yeah, that kind of threw me for a minute also...

and the award for the most unwieldy title of '08 goes to...
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, short stories by Yann Martel (the Life of Pi guy)... good, creative, not traditional "stories" -- the first one is the best, the last one is sweet, the death row one I didn't quite get...

Had several books in progress, so while it looks like I've been on a reading binge, it's actually just finishing up the last few chapters of a few to clean up the "late fees adding up daily, return to the Library asap" stack...

Fat, Forty, and Fired has some funny moments, the author seems to be witty, charming, etc... unfortunately he reminds us quite often just how charming, considerate, in good shape, successful, etc, he is...

Small Steps is a sequel to Holes...

The Illustrated Man is more sheer brilliance from Bradbury...

The Illustrated Man is more sheer brilliance from Bradbury...

I tore through all the Bradbury back in junior high school days and still remember vividly how much I enjoyed him. As to The Illustrated Man, I think the creepiest thing about that excellent book was the epilogue.

Finished book #20 last night, The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor by G.G.Marquez -- a reprint from his newspaper reporter days, recounting the story of an overboard sailor adrift for 10 days; concise yet poetic, quick read, very interesting...

Cranking out #20 before February is over seems like I'm heading for a high total, but it ain't really that impressive... I've only cracked 300 pages on two of my choices, and I have been severely lax on the homework lately...

rocketjk, I'm impressed with most Bradbury in its relevance today; I'm sure some new readers may think he's current and just uses the retro sci-fi for effect... definitely the kind of stories to spark discussion...

started Hogfather last night, and I get the feeling I've read it before (not that there's anything wrong with that)... although knowing Pratchett there could be other stories starring Death, Assassins, and some monster-smacking nanny named Susan?

also started The Beak of the Finch about Darwin and his birds...

Message 93-I once saw the cutest scene on a bus...There has to be a short story in there somewhere...I love this thread! I never know where it will lead when I click TeacherDad's forum...oh wait it's the 50 book challenge! and yes,how many times I have stared hopelessly at the book in someone's hand, the title being obscured by their tightening fist, the reader probably fearing I was some sort of book thief, but there is some compulsion to get the title! I guess next time I'll just ask.

#104 - there certainly are other Pratchetts as you describe :) In fact I think Hogfather is the second or third in the Death-and-Susan miniseries. Does it start with Soul Music?

Just checked on Wikipedia - seems that's right - Soul Music first, then Hogfather. Not that it matters.

mmig, isn't it disappointing when you see a book in someone's hand, think "cool, a fellow reader!" but upon closer inspection it's some dreck of a grocery store paperback... or worse yet, a romance novel?!?!?

Choc, no, it doesn't matter -- I not a big re-reader, but Pratchett's one I can go over a book a few times... I'm about 1/2 way into Hogfather, and I'm sure I've read it before, but I'm still laughing...

If I say I've never read a Pratchett book would it shock you? At least, I don't think I have, but I have some in the house now, if I only had time to get to them...Yes, there is always the fear that the person with the book will ask me if I've read the particular series they are on about. It's the Harlequin type books that I could never enjoy. Of course different tastes and all that, but, I need something I can sink my teeth(eyes?) into,both in terms of the writing and the plot. Ya know?

#107: Yeah, and those grocery story paperback/romance novel readers probably see you and think, "cool, a fellow reader" until they see what *you're* reading, then think "ugh, a non-romance reader, what a snob!" (heehee, just kidding.)

Hey, listen I do feel that way. I hate to think of myself as a book snob, I say as long as you are readin it's good enuf fer me. But I do find some stuff dull as bricks because it seems just so darn boring. In fact, I'm sure some folks would say, if I wanted a nap I'd just turn out the light and go to sleep when they see some of my book choices.

yeah, that did come out like my nose was in the air, rather than in a book...

TeacherDad: I didn't mean to criticize, just to tease a bit - I admit that I feel the same way about romance novels, although I'm sure that if I picked one up, I'd get sucked into it, bad writing or no...

well, since we're admitting things, I too enjoy a sleazey bodice-ripper now and then... oops, did I hit "submit" -- ah! delete! delete! nooooo!

quick, hit that flag abuse a few times....

Our staff room at work will often have 5 or 6 of us sitting reading while we eat our lunch. The cross section of books always amuses me. There is a woman who always reads romances and they are usually of the pneumatically bosomed woman head thrown back on the bare chest of the dashing pirate variety. But I know how unlike these books her real life really is, so it's a lot of fun to get her to talk about the story, to see her face light while she talks about it. For that little space of a lunch hour, she is that beautiful able-bodied young woman with the incredible cleavage, dashing around the cliffs of Cornwall with her pirate who is really a heroic nobleman.

I've nothing against a good bodice-ripper. But the writing has to be good enough to shut down my internal editor, or I won't get caught up in the story.

being the middle of a Pratchett book, my first thought reading "my internal editor" was Discworldian: a tiny imp with red pencil and glasses down on his nose, editing away...

Don't forget the green eyeshade.

Man, I've got to get some Pratchett books; they sound fantastic. I've read Good Omens, which was great, but it only half counts...

"green eyeshade"??? You want long lashes too, and maybe a little rouge? I guess I'm thinking of a different type of imp...

tiffin, @114: that's really sweet.

I read the first Pratchett when it came out, Scaifea, and I'm afraid it didn't do a thing for me but when I read on LT how funny he is and how readers I respect enjoy him, I think I need to give him a retry too. TD, I think Laytonwoman meant one of those banker's thingummies, not green eyeshadow - it was all those ripping bodices which got you derailed, right?
Tiffin, afraid her internal editor might look like a Nazgul

ETA I do love this thread; there's always something interesting happening here

#119 Yeah, not eye shadow, one of these:

Ah yes (lightbulb goes on)... and even rouge and long lashes wouldn't do much good...

I think we should get a bunch of those hats made with a LT logo for us all to where while we're here...

OK, guys where was I when the conversation went to eyeshades!? I agree, Tiffin, when a fellow reader gets excited (you know what I mean!) about a book they are reading it's a joy to see. One of my co-workers read all the Harry Potter's and kept telling me to read them and even though my kids had read them and we owned them I still hadn't picked one up, but with her persuasion I finally did and I really enjoyed my time at Hogwarts. That probably led me to the Golden Compass and that series and now I'm open to more fantasy which I really hadn't considered before. So, yeah, enthusiasm is catching!

whew, finally finished Hogfather! Don't know why it took me so long, since I really enjoyed it... a lot of schoolwork and a few other books started since opening it, I guess...

What Jesus Meant talks about the anti-political and anti-established religion side of Jesus -- no Popes, no big fancy buildings, no politicians playing the "WWJD" card; read it a lot last at night, so I need to read it through again to really grasp some of the ideas...

Just finished Gathering Blue, similar to The Giver, are they on the same planet, is there a book that connects everyone?

The last one is The Messenger, and it sort of connects the other two. I didn't really like the sequels so much as The Giver. Plus the Messenger tells you what happened to Jonas at the end of the Giver and I always like the ambiguity of it. At different times in my life, I believed in different endings. I sort of wish the sequels weren't connected.

Anyway, yes, the Messenger connects the two.

thanks, Ilithyia, I'll check at the Library today...

and Thanks to Tony Dungy! Not because I'm a Colts fan, I ain't, but because at 300 and 1, his book Quiet Strength gets me over that 300 page threshold...

I think I'm regressing... maybe instead of a mid-life crisis and a sportscar, I'm reverting back to 6th grade -- at least as far as my reading choices go...

Messenger was good, yet weakest of the trio, I think because of the supernatural element; something different was always hinted at, but this ended with a trite "and the spell was broken" that didn't seem up to standard...

then picked up Number the Stars, another Lois Lowry (my new fave author) Newbery Medal winner and a good start to the 2nd "half" of my challenge. I think I'll break it up into two 50-book goals, one for children's books and one with a 250 page minimum to get on the list...

So here's the master list...

1. Journal of Biddy Owens (children's, 135 pp)
2. A Year Down Yonder (children's, 130 pp)
3. The Book of Lost Things (fantasy, 339 pp)
4. The Pickup Artist (novel, 240 pp)
5. Adolf: The Half-Aryan (graphic novel, 278 pp)
6. The Silver Chair (children's, 243 pp)
7. Thud! (fantasy, 373 pp)
8. Autobiography of My Dead Brother (YA, 210 pp)
9. The Blind Side (sports, 299 pp)
10. The Tale of Despereaux (children's, 269 pp)
11. Onion John (children's, 248 pp)
12. Stargirl (YA, 186 pp)
13. Fahrenheit 451 (novel, 190 pp)
14. Soon I Will Be Invincible (fantasy, 280 pp)
15. The Freedom Writers Diary (non-fic/autobio, 280 pp)
16. The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios (short stories, 208 pp)
17. Small Steps (YA, 257 pp)
18. Fat, Forty, and Fired (autobio/humor, 272 pp)
19. The Illustrated Man (short stories, 275 pp)
20. The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (biog?, 106 pp)
21. Hogfather (fantasy, 291 pp)
22. What Jesus Meant (spirituality, 142 pp)
23. Gathering Blue (juv, 215 pp)
24. Quiet Strength: A Memoir (sports/biography, 301 pp)
25. Messenger (juv, 169 pp)

26a. Number the Stars (juv, 137 pp)... ...26b. Gypsy Tears (Early Review, 244 pp)
27a. Gossamer (juv, 140 pp)... ...27b. Flight (fiction, 181 pp)
28a. Chasing Vermeer (juv, 252 pp)... ...28b. Johnny U (sports bio, 286 pp)
29a. The Silent Boy (juv, 178 pp)... ...29b. Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green (war bio, 318 pp)
30a. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson (juv, 169 pp) ...30b. The Most Wonderful Books (essays, 274 pp)
31a. A Friend Called Anne (juv history, 163 pp)... ...31b. Dream Lucky (Early Review/history, 240 pp)
32a. Only You Can Save Mankind (juv, 207 pp)... ...32b. The Pearl (novella, 87 pp)
33a. Adolf: Days of Infamy (graphic novel, apprx 1200 pp)... ...33b. Thomas Jefferson (biog, 198 pp)
34a. Journal of James Edmund Pease (juv history, 168 pp)... ...34b. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (short stories, 246 pp)
35a. Tuck Everlasting (juv, 139 pp)... ...35b. Gascoyne (fiction, 245 pp)
36a. The Sisters Grimm (juv, 290 pp)
37a. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly (juv, 197 pp)

***

I'll post mini-reviews (and welcome comments/discussion/suggestions) here or on my blogs: TeacherDad or random whatever...

at last, an adult book! Gypsy Tears: Loving A Holocaust Survivor, my first Early Reviewer free book... I think I'm supposed to write a review somewhere?

First you need to add the book to your catalog. Then you'll be able to post a review on the book's detail page.

Ah, thank you! Got it, did it, done.

I liked the book (Gypsy Tears); took me a while to finish it, between other books and this thing called life, but I would definitly recommend it...

I also feel compelled to say- wow! What a thread! There are so many things I want to comment on, but I'll try to keep it brief.

#117: isn't it disappointing when you see a book in someone's hand, think "cool, a fellow reader!" but upon closer inspection it's some dreck of a grocery store paperback

My boyfriend (who is also a big reader) used to work as a bouncer at a bar in SoCal, so he spent a lot of time just standing around talking to regulars. One night he started chatting with a girl who he had seen around but never met. When he asked her what she liked to do, she answered "I like to read." Considering that this bar is in one of the most stereotypically air-headed towns of Orange County, you can imagine his excitement. He asked her what books she liked. her answer? Harry Potter, Dan Brown, and John Grisham. Hopes . . . shattered. A beautiful friendship did not ensue.

I am, obviously, a little bit of a book snob, but when I get too bad all I have to do is look behind me at the shelf of Robert Jordan books.

And #95: Freedom Writers Diary... questioning the veracity of the stories

For what it's worth, I taught an afternoon class at Wilson High School, the school in Long Beach where the book takes place, and the kids thought the movie was a joke. They even filmed it at Long Beach Polytechnic, not Wilson, because Wilson is in a really nice residential area and didn't have the right look, apparently. I'm not saying that the accomplishments in the book aren't true- couldn't say since I haven't read it- but according to my kids, not so much.

of course, those grocery store paperbacks are perfect for travel and vacations, so i'll have to look down my nose long enough to pick some up soon for a cross-country flight...

I enjoyed the Freedom Writers movie, found it emotional and inspiring, but that's what good movies do, sweep you up and guide your perceptions... the book gave me a chance to pause and think about what exactly I was being told/asked to believe...

wrapped up Sherman Alexie's Flight this afternoon, another good one from a favorite author... dark and violent, humorous and tragic, a quality read for YA as well...

I just have to add--I live in a collegetown, so pretty much all we have around here are bars galore, but I've learned that maybe fifty percent of the bouncers I come across are big readers--of pretty much everything. it's always interesting to see what they're recommending, and then if you end up reading it, to watch faces when friends find out a club bouncer recommended a book...

#137 - Sounds like a good example of one of those readers' guidebooks . . .

"The Clemson Bouncers Guide to Literature: What's the guy at the door with all the muscles reading?"

The adult books have caught up to the kids... Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas -- focus mainly on his early years and the 1958 title game, lots of stories and quotes from teammates... doesn't go deep into Unitas at all, celebrates his brash exterior mostly, there were a few narrative gaps when things aren't explained (the feud with Don Shula, his later injuries/seasons) but still a great look at pro football in the 1950's...

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green ...an infantry's look at Afghanistan; can't give you a sample sentence here in polite society, but it's hilarious, and troubling, and confusing, and frustrating, and more hilarious, and I was sure the author was gay, but maybe he's just a creative and sensitive writer... it says at the end he's out of the Army, going to work in Antarctica, and lives in the UK, so we'll probably see more from "Johnny Rico"...

the week of actually finishing what I've started continues...
The Most Wonderful Books, remembrances and essays from writers and how their love of books and reading got started (kinda sounds like an LT thread, doesn't it?)... interesting to see how many of use the phrase "decoded" as in discovering the secret to those lines on paper, how it all just clicked and they could now read!

>141 TeacherDad:. The Most Wonderful Books sounds lovely, did you like it? Any good teaching ideas in it?

liked it a lot, and plan on going back through it to note classroom ideas and quotes/passages... I had my 10 yr olf read the first one (they're mostly quick & short) by Sherman Alexie -- he talks about starting out reading comic books, about being the only smart kid in the class, and about saving others through the power of reading...

ps. We may be in DC in 2 weeks, so which direction should I wave if we're at the Jefferson Memorial? And are soft-shell crabs in season?

#138: you made me grin. Chances are those bouncers are working their way through university (like my son is...yep, a muscled bouncer in a bar). He had Clarissa inside his shirt one night when someone took a poke at him and regretted it. He didn't think that the metaphysical poets would have protected him as well.

And in defense of grocery store literature, the one in our nearby village has some Gregory Maguire, some Agatha Christie and - wait for it - Jane Austen's Emma! I can't resist: how do you like them apples?

I know three reading bouncers downtown who don't bring the classics around (though I did see one reading D.H. Lawrence)--I'll have to tell them your story! The readers I've discovered from them include Harlan Coben, Kazuo Ishiguro, James w. Hall, and and Gloria Naylor... Anyhow, I'm now the one TeacherDad apologizing for sidetracking your thread, but if we encourage more people to consult bouncers for reading, we're getting somewhere....

finished up Dream Lucky: FDR, Count Basie, and everyone wore a hat... very good, very readable, very recommendable*... touches a little on the whole pre-war mood in the U.S., but focuses specifically on events of 1936: Count Basie coming to Harlem, the Roosevelts dealing with race and Hitler, Joe Loius, Amelia Earhart, "only the Shadow knows..."

It's funny that I got this one as an ER since I had just finished a lesson plan/presentation on the Harlem Renaissance, and my son just brought me 5 volumes of Osamu Tezuka's Adolf series which begins in... yes, 1936! Help, I'm trapped in the past! I'll have to start wearing a suit to ballgames! But then again, the music swings and Billie Holiday is a hottie in any era...

"reccomend" me a way to not spell this word wrong every single time!

I finished Dream Lucky over the weekend. I enjoyed it, too. Now I have an ER copy of Franklin and Lucy waiting for me.

"reccomend" me a way to not spell this word wrong every single time!

Here ya go: To recommend is to commend again. Re-commend.

Just take out the -

thanks for the re-commend-ation...that might just work! That's what I have to do with "definite" -- I have to think of the word "finite" or i'll stick an A in there...

Steinbeck's The Pearl -- one I missed in high school when it seems everyone else has read it, or I don't remember at all, although I doubt that since Cannery Row has been one of my all-time favorites since around that time...
anyway, knew it would have a darker theme, such as the evils of money or power corrupts, but I was still stunned by the (spoiler!:) death near the end... great story, great author...

TeacherDad -- recommend was a hard one for me, too. I finally looked at the middle consonants and said "c comes before m -- 1 c, 2 ms".

This is such a fascinating thread. Wish mine were a bit more lively. Any teacher get reading burnout besides me??? I've been reading YA and fluff to get rid of the overly academic, but it isn't working!!!!@#$%^

Since I really got into the cramming for comps, I've lost my enthusiasm for my whole previous line of reading. ;-(

oh, lord, m-mama, I hope that passes. How awful if your love of books and reading were to smother itself. No...it can't happen. Not permanently. Do you like detective novels?---that's my pure escape when my brain needs r & r.

I always like to pick up a Lawrence Block mystery when I've been reading too heavy... Terry Pratchett's Discworld books and sports biographies are "escape" books for me too -- quick reads, not much thinking involved, good for the beach...

finished the Adolf series last night, son #1 found all 5 books at the library and snagged 'em for me... serious war/race thriller/drama set in Japan and Germany, mostly 1936-45 (the chapter tacked on to the end showing the characters still fighting each other in the Middle East 10 years later was a little contrived...)
It's fictional, the search for and hiding of secret documents showing Hitler was Jewish, and a circle of Japanese and German characters that continuously stretch the limits of "Hey, it's you again, whatta small world!" but very realistic in the historical events surrounding WWII and the treatment of the Jews... the characters are very passionate and sometimes quite torn by twisted loyalties, such as the half German-Japanese who falls for a Jewish girl...

This one falls short of the word minimum to qualify for the challenge, but it's interesting and a bit odd: The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain -- looks like a big picture book, but really a juvenile history book, telling the story of an artist growning up in Communist Czechoslovakia... I found it strange that it's out now, 10-15 years after it would be more timely/relevant, and that it's designed like a children's story... but the art and the info inside is very cool, and students interested in art, or communist regime oppression, might find it interesting... ?

Talking of wish lists thank you for mentioning Steinbeck. I had an omnibus edition of his work at one point but it seems to have disappeared, along with the Edgar Allan Poe and H G Wells omnibuses. I can't say I remember reading The Pearl either, only Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath. So now I'll be on the look out. Cheers!

155: TD, concerning the timing of the book The Wall, I was wondering whether the book was written originally in English or in Czech? In other words, if the original intended audience was Czech (and Slovak) children, a book now about what things were like for their parents might be timely indeed.

My wife and I traveled in the Czech Republic a few years back, spent some time driving around the countryside and stayed for almost a week in a small town very near the Czech/Austrian border. In other words, we were right at the old border between the Iron Curtain and the Free World. One afternoon we decided to take a stroll down to the border and walk into Austria, just to say we did. We had a good time doing so, but walked past the abandoned and basically trashed former border post of the old Czech Communist Police building. On the way back, we actually went inside and roamed around. A very eerie place to be, and the locals had obviously taken out some anger on the building: everything was smashed to bits.

Afterwards, friends we had made in the town (the advantage of staying in one place for awhile while on vacation) told us that the gentle stroll we'd taken had at one time been a no-man's land guarded by armed soldiers and attack dogs. Being caught on that stretch of road would have been worth our lives or at least our freedom.

Also, the differences, as you drive around, between the towns or neighborhoods built during the Communist era (essentially concrete block houses that look like prisons) and those built before or since are stark. Many of the people who came of age during those times still have the stolid, suspicious demeanor they grew up with, while younger adults seem well aware of their luck in not being born 20 years sooner, and the Czech children seemed the gayest bunch of kids I ever saw in my life, as if their parents were being sure to raise their children to enjoy the freedoms that they themselves certainly do not take for granted.

However, I could see those parents now wanting to be sure that their kids understood what their parents grew up with and what their grandparents lived with for almost all of their adult lives. And of course, here, too, it seems a good idea to start educationing our teens and young adults about the days of the Iron Curtain, something that has shrunk into words and lessons in their history books, essentially no more relevant than the Civil War, the struggle for Civil Rights, the Depression, Vietnam, and who knows what other events and eras that live in that cognitive jumble called "Before My Time."

Sorry for the long post. I just happen to find this stuff very interesting.

Fascinating, rocketjk. Great insights.

long but intelligent posts always welcome, rocketjk...

Having visited places like the Berlin Wall, Dachau, and the Anne Frank Museum as a child I certainly understand the impact those experiences can, and should, have on children. And as a parent I want my sons to be aware of issues such as human rights, political oppression, artistic supression, etc, etc.... The book seemed to have it's heart in the right place, not it's mind; it's detailed and specific, as if written 20 years ago but hasn't aged well; the themes are timeless, not the text/format...

I can't tell if it was written originally for a Czeck audience or not...

The children have taken the lead again (see post #130)... took a break from Three Cups of Tea and ended up whipping through some juvenile lit, including starting Tuck Everlasting and Here, There Be Dragons last night...

read A Friend Called Anne about Anne Frank, and realized I may have never actually read the whole diary, at least not that I remember...

enjoyed Terry Pratchett's Only You Can Save... for it's anti-war/violence stance; at least that's how I read it...

Hi Teacherdad. Haven't been on your fascinating thread for ages.
Question: Having just read 76 posts, can I include "Teacherdad's Thread" in my challenge?

Ah, gotta love those cross-country flights... hours and hours of sitting in an airport, sitting in an airplane, or sitting in a car going to and from the airport...

read Thomas Jefferson, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, most of Gascoyne, some of Three Cups of Tea, and umpteen magazines...

Wow, that was fast -- got my April ER copy of Two Brothers: One North, One South today, and double Wow, it's personalized and signed by the author! too cool...

book #34: St Lucy's Home for Girls... short stories, mostly starring kids/teens and bizarre situations... some of the first stories I read then skimmed because they were weird and confusing, but by the end of the book I was very impressed -- still weird, but intense and well done... highly recommendable!

book 35a: Tuck Everlasting... really, really liked the first half, the magic and the mystery and the characters... by the end I still think it's a good book, it just seemed all the questions raised about eternal life and the man in the yellow suit were pushed to the margins for a simpler conclusion...

I heard it's a movie, anybody seen it?

TeacherDad,

I knew we were on the same wavelength! I started Tuck Everlasting on the train today and I'll be done before I get home. I like the first half too. I'm certainly no stranger to the immortality stories (I love paranormal tales and creatures - vampires, shapeshifters, Highlander (LOVE the swordfighting), and that great new show New Amsterdam, or other unique stories about why one might be immortal) and I think this is a great way to introduce that kind of genre and the consequences of living forever to a younger audience.

But I haven't finished it yet, give me a few hours (damn this whole having to work thing)! And I'll let you know what I think of the end.

P.S. So far I love the fact that the horse is immortal too - that was a great idea!!

I received a copy of Two Brothers several months and was surprised that the author signed it too. I will be curious to see what you think of this one.

35b. Gascoyne (gotta find out where that name comes from)... hilarious, in a trippy crooked detective sort of way... thought I was going to read the entire thing on the flight, but was distracted by the fighting polar bears from the in-flight flick and the Chicago skyline... but I digress: funny, snappy, Elmore Leonard-ish but with a bizarre side -- the tentacle in the ear still makes me shudder...

tentacle in the ear
Eeeeeww!

Gascoyne

yep, I think it's put me off calamari for a while...

Teach,

You're either really busy or reading so many books at once that you're not finishing anything!

Anyway, I miss your witty comments so I hope you come back soon.

Hope things are well.

It's the joys of being thisclose to having a college degree -- last week the huge final art project and this week the massive senior portfolio and reflection on the past 80 weeks of schoolin'... although to be honest, if I hadn't put a lot off I would have time to at least read something...

I will catch up soon, everything is due tomorrow!

Hooray for you! Here's my version of an apple for the teacher. Enjoy.

Aha! I figured you were busy with school and such.

Well, I'm glad I asked so I could say "Good Luck"! I'm envious that you are almost done, and I am just starting...

I hope everything goes well (I know it will), and I look forward to your pithy reviews when you return.

Cheers!

Good luck!

thank you for the wishes, passed it all with flying colors, and am now another step closer to making my moniker a reality...

did knock out a few kid's book this week, The Sisters Grimm -- action packed fairy tale characters with a HPotter-style child/parent issue (liked it) -- and I Thought My Soul... -- one of the Dear America historical fictional diary books, which I am constantly impressed by the writing for all of the books in the "series" I've read...

maybe I should move the main list down again (from way up on #130)...

moved down from the unweildy master list at post #130...
plus I think I'll keep the juvenile & YA seperated from the adult books* -- kind of like having a kid's table when the family all comes over for Thanksgiving...

34a. Adolf: Days of Infamy (graphic novel(s), apprx 1200 pp)
35a. Tuck Everlasting (juv, 139 pp36a. The Sisters Grimm (juv, 290 pp)
37a. I Thought My Soul Would Rise and Fly (juv, 197 pp)
38a. Babe and Me (juv, 159 pp)
39a. The Cay (juv, 137 pp)
40a. Sky Horizon (juv, __ pp)
41a. Eggs (juv, 220 pp)
42a. FullMetal Alchemist (graphic novels, 4 out of *countless* books so far)
43a. Coraline (juv, 162 pp)
44a. The Slave Dancer (Newbery, 176 pp)

I do mini synopsis/reviews of these *here* and I'm always looking for suggestions for similar books!

*not those kind of adult books!

33b. Thomas Jefferson (biog, 198 pp)
34b. St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves (short stories, 246 pp)
35b. Gascoyne (fiction, 245 pp)
36b. Passionella (humor, no page #s -- 150?)
37b. Two Brothers (Early Reviewer & Civil War, 317 pp)
38b. The Deportees (short stories, 242 pp)

Passionella by Jules Feiffer, he who did the art for Phantom Tollbooth... just saw this on the library shelf and snagged it, it's short stories/humor skits/cartoons... quick read, somewhat dated (Kennedy and J Edger Hoover satire), but most definitely worthwhile...

I have most of the Jules Feiffer from that era and Passionnella is good but not the best. The Explainers and Sick,Sick,Sick are very funny and a trip back to the early 60's. You would have to find them at ABE Books.

wildbill, I put another Feiffer on my wish list, a children's book that I can't remember the title of right now because I have misplaced my actual wish list list...

spent the afternoon reading Theodore Taylor's The Cay; very interesting, good "coming of age" on a tropical island story...

Two Brothers - One North, One South... Finally finished this one, and only because I felt I had to since it's an ER and graciously signed by the author, bless his heart...

Too wordy, too split between fiction and non-, too many capital letters and middle initials in every single sentence -- if I really was having a conversation with these characters my head would pound from rolling my eyes every time they name dropped some general or politician, not to mention the spoiled society belles playing at war...

oh well. Moments of clarity in describing the confusion of war and the common soldier's plight, and the bravery of men doomed by moronic battle strategies...

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli... 2 emotional hurt kids team up to make it through tough times, and argue a lot along the way. In the real world, neat happy endings for a girl with this many issues would be rare, and the book on her next 10 tears would be much darker, I assume...

Fullmetal Alchemist... damn my parental responsibilty to be aware of what my teen is reading... once I got used to reading and turning the pages backwards, got hooked on the characters and story and haven't read anything else for 3 days...

couple more children's books -- the spooky Coraline and the dramatic The Slave Dancer... both very, very good and the illustrations went perfect with the moods of the stories (although one in Slave Dancer gave away a significant plot point at the beginning of a chapter... I hate when they do that!)

My latest ER arrived just in time for the weekend: America America by Ethan Canin...

The Deportees and other stories by Roddy Doyle... makes me need The Commitments soundtrack

I guess 185 posts is long enough -- time to start over...