Thank goodness my classroom library isn't just for me...

This morning I read Pernille Ripp's newest blog post. You should probably read it first. And it got me thinking about all the books I wouldn't have read if my library was just for me.

If my classroom library was just for me I never would know what a muggle was and imagined a game of quidditch. I wouldn't have cried over the death of a wizard or cheered the death of another.

I wouldn't have jumped into the land of a book and and loved the  silver tongues that brought words to life.

I definitely wouldn't have raced the capall uisce up the beach on the first of November, nor tracked ley lines with the Raven Boys.

If my classroom library were just for me, there would have been no fantasy, no magical reality.







I wouldn't have played games of life and death.

I wouldn't have lived in a world with no color and loved a giver of memories.
I wouldn't have lived in the future and wondered how we could keep those things from happening.

If my classroom library were just for me dystopian novels would not be there.

I wouldn't have cried over a football coach from just down the road or someone else's crazy lab. I wouldn't have experienced a soldier's life or rode a bus with her sister.

Because my classroom library lives for others I met Hazel and Gus, fell in love with Ryan Dean, shared a praying mantis with others, wished I could give the sun and traveled back to a very different Oz. And Auggie wouldn't have reminded me to #choosekind

Thank goodness my classroom library isn't just for me...

Three Books

Oscar Wilde, an Irish writer and poet, supposedly once said, "Books, I fancy, may be conveniently divided into three classes: 1. Books to read 2. Books to reread 3. Books not to read at all."  

Make your own list. Add a few books to each category and explain your thinking.

Requirements for this post:

• 150 word minimum
• two books for each category
• an explanation for each book why it belongs in that category
• picture(s)
• Spell-check, edited

I asked my freshmen to write the above post for their blog this week. I thought it only fair that I write it also. I think it will be harder for me to narrow down my choices than it will be for my ninth graders :)


Books to Read:

This is my longest list because I have so many books on my TBR list. Here are the two that I think right now top the list:

I have a huge author crush on Maggie Stiefvater. I just love the way she writes. While this book is sitting on my desk, I haven't started it yet because I'm waiting for a day where I can read the whole thing in one sitting. Or maybe in two sittings. I want to savor it.

Fangirl  is also on my list because so many people have said great things about it. A former student said it was possibly the best book of 2013 and I trust her book choices. 

Others on the list: Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (my boys love it. have to see what the fuss is about) 

BOOKS TO REREAD:

Even though I have read this book twenty five times, I feel a Gone With the Wind marathon coming on. I haven't read it in years and I've changed a lot since the thirteen-year-old girl I was when I read it the first time--or even the forty-something I was when I read it the last time. Think it's time for the fifty-six-year old to see what she thinks and what she learns as she reads it.

I simply love this story. So the Inkheart series is dear to my heart. How can a reader not love the story of book characters who come to life? I've been thinking about Meggie and her dad a lot lately. A sure sign I need a reread.




Others on the list; The Harry Potter Series. Missing those characters also.

BOOKS NOT TO READ:

I have never been a fan of the British classics. I've read a few of them and find them stuffy and boring. Pride and Prejudice has all that, I think. I've tried to read it three times in the last few years, because it's one of Roomie's favorite books. I just don't get it. I hear by give myself permission to never try to read it again. 

With so  many fantastic young adult novels out there, with great characters and plots, can we just forget about this one?

#23 of 31 The Diviners by Libba Bray

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know I don't really do book reviews. There are others out there. Others who do a much better job of writing reviews than I do.

But every once in awhile, I find a book I just have to talk about. For whatever reason, I have to tell others about a book.

The Diviners by Libba Bray is one of those books.

Here's what I loved about this book.

It's creepy. It's spooky. It's scary. It's good.

The whole time I was reading, I kept thinking, "This is Stephen King for high school kids who think they aren't ready for Stephen King."

It's smart. It's funny. It's readable. It's good

I love the characters--especially Evie who is the main character of this book. Although at times she can seem self-centered and full of herself, she is also a good friend, inquisitive and self-confident. I like her.

 I like the other characters we've been introduced to and I want to know more about them (good thing this is a planned series!). Theta, the Zeigfield girl; Sam, the mysterious young man whom Evie meets when she first arrives; the mysterious Jericho. 

I didn't know this was a planned series when I started reading this book. Now, I am going through withdrawals wondering what is happening!

I think one of the reasons I liked it from the beginning was as soon as I read those first few pages, I could picture some of the kids I would give it to. Immediate connections. And now, that is into those hands, I know I was right!  

This is a book with a long waiting list.....

And I wish that second book was coming out soon!

Good thing there's a Facebook page

The Goodreads review....

The Diviners (The Diviners #1)

by Libba Bray (Goodreads Author)

4.08 of 5 stars 4.08  ·   rating details  ·  7,362 ratings  ·  1,994 reviews

Evie O'Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City--and she is pos-i-toot-ly thrilled. New York is the city of speakeasies, shopping, and movie palaces! Soon enough, Evie is running with glamorous Ziegfield girls and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is Evie has to live with her Uncle Will, curator of The Museum of American Folklore, Superstition, and the Occult--also known as "The Museum of the Creepy Crawlies."

When a rash of occult-based murders comes to light, Evie and her uncle are right in the thick of the investigation. And through it all, Evie has a secret: a mysterious power that could help catch the killer--if he doesn't catch her first.(less)

Hardcover, 578 pages

Published September 18th 2012 by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Book Thoughts:The Tragedy Paper

Posted these thoughts on my blog for my English classes. Thought I would share here too.

The Tragedy Paper

by Elizabeth LaBan 3.87  ·   rating details  ·  389 ratings  ·  159 reviews

Tim Macbeth, a seventeen-year-old albino and a recent transfer to the prestigious Irving School, where the motto is “Enter here to be and find a friend.” A friend is the last thing Tim expects or wants—he just hopes to get through his senior year unnoticed. Yet, despite his efforts to blend into the background, he finds himself falling for the quintessential “It” girl, Vanessa Sheller, girlfriend of Irving’s most popular boy. To Tim's surprise, Vanessa is into him, too, but she can kiss her social status goodbye if anyone ever finds out. Tim and Vanessa begin a clandestine romance, but looming over them is the Tragedy Paper, Irving’s version of a senior year thesis, assigned by the school’s least forgiving teacher.

Jumping between viewpoints of the love-struck Tim and Duncan, a current senior about to uncover the truth of Tim and Vanessa, The Tragedy Paper is a compelling tale of forbidden love and the lengths people will go to keep their .  Goodreads Review 

I bought this book after seeing a blurb on Amazon that said it was for lovers of Looking for Alaska by John Green and 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher. How could I not buy it?  Those are two of my favorite books!

And you know what? I really enjoyed this book. I am a big fan of dual narratives. You know, those books that have more than one narrator. It seems I learn so much more about characters that way. I'm one of those people who wants to know what other characters are thinking. I became invested in Tim's story. I wanted to know if he ever got with Vanessa. I wanted to know how he was connected to Duncan. Duncan seemed so affected by The Game from the previous year. I had to know how he was involved.

The other thing I enjoyed about this book was its simplicity. It didn't have major violence, sex, or drugs. To me, the "love triangle", the romance, was secondary. It was just a good story, with characters I cared about and a little mystery that I wanted to know more about. And sometimes, that's enough.