Monthly Archives: October 2012

Open up the world to me. That is what I believe.

Posted on by
Reply

After 50 years, Juster is still flummoxed as to why his book turned out to be such a success. Children surprise you, he says. When they read a book, they may experience it or appreciate it in a way that’s totally different than what the author intended. But that’s OK, he says. Sometimes writers feel like their job is to communicate a specific idea or a finite point of view. “I think the idea rather is to open up a piece of the world to a more creative encounter,” Juster says.

[emphasis mine]

I just read Phantom Tollbooth in May–loved the wordplay. Really a LOT of fun to read as an adult. (If I read it as a child (?) I had forgotten it.)

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for September.

Posted on by
Reply

Bought:

  • ?? Probably a few but I did not keep track apparently.

Read:

  • A Wanted Man, by Lee Child
  • A Tale Dark & Grimm, by Adam Gidwitz
  • The Thief Lord, by Cornelia Funke
  • Any Small Goodness, by Tony Johnston

Gee, what happened in September? Well I started my first official “my own classroom” teaching job (I did have a teaching job in the spring but it was a maternity leave position in someone else’s classroom. Then we teachers went on strike and I was insanely busy going to the picket line and going to rallies and talking to my coworkers and I got no reading done whatsoever. And three of the four books I did eventually manage to read in the month were ones I wanted to review for the kids from our classroom library. Yeah, it was a crazy month.

À la Nick Hornby, books in/books out for August.

Posted on by
Reply

Bought:

  • Kornwolf, by Tristan Egolf
  • Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed

Read:

  • Blue Front, by Martha Collins (poetry)
  • The Wise Man’s Fear (Kingkiller #2), by Patrick Rothfuss (library)
  • Broken Harbor, by Tana French
  • You and No Other, by Cathy Maxwell (borrowed from mom)
  • Kornwolf, by Tristan Egolf
  • Dragonflight, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • Dragonquest, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • Dragonsong, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • Dragonsinger, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • The White Dragon, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • Dragondrums, by Anne McCaffrey (reread)
  • Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed
  • Hark a Vagrant, by Kate Beaton (gift from Ginger ages ago!)
  • Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, by Hena Khan
  • Far Arden, by Kevin Cannon (8/27)
  • Walk Two Moons, by Sharon Creech
  • The Book Whisperer, by Donalyn Miller

August was a great month of reading. Getting ready for school but full of free time.