Two Books!

So since I have written last, I have joined the Summer reading program at my library. I have to read 10 books by July 31st to recieve a cool beach bag. I am on Book 3. Here are the last two books that I read.

John Green- My abosolute favorite writer. His new book,' Paper Towns' exceeded my expectations. I highly reccomend this to any English teacher that is looking for a good book for their kids to read. There are several adolecent themes that are highlighted in this book. Plus it comes with discussion questions at the end.

Plot- A guy and his best friend are living out the rest of their senior year of high school . This guy and his best friend Margo are childhood friends. Margo is this spunky girl who is not so normal. She creates a series of pranks for them to do one night to get back at her cheating boyfriend. This turns out to be the narrators best night of his life. Margo then vanishes the next day. The narrator assumes that because she created this crazy night, there is more to the story.

I highly reccomend this book and any of his others, "Looking for Alaska", "Let it Snow", and" An Abundance of Katherines. "

I'll write about my other book later. This computer isnt letting me add a picture.

Its disheartening to think about this....

I can't even imagine what it would be like to be a kid today. Seriously, this is disturbing.... JUST WATCH!

O,Juliet by Robin Maxwell

I read this book a few weeks ago, because on a whim I thought it looked good on the shelf of the "new books" at my library. Now, I am an avid lover of Shakespeare, and always have loved the story of Romeo and Juliet...however, this book is different. Not only does Maxwell make the story set in the "real world" but she makes the characters come to life. She gives them known Italian family names, and even makes the families of the two lovers be friends with the Medici family that is famous in Italy. The characters also follow the social norms that would have been normative during this time. I guess what I'm saying is that if you are like me, and loved the story of Romeo and Juliet, then you should check it out? I found it much more believable to real life events, and also found the ending to be much more enjoyable. I hate how the end is just death in the original Shakespeare play. The other interesting thing about Maxwell is that she lets you know the reasoning behind her choice to re-write a classic story, and also tells you about the origins to the story. She gives this in a question and answer section at the end of the book, which I found extremely interesting. And...as a teacher, I find that this would be a wonderful book to eventually bring into the teaching of Romeo and Juliet. If you decide to read it, let me know what you think :)

Mary After All : Bill Gordon (First Novel)

Overall. Not a GREAT book.

General Plot: A young girls living on the Jersey Shore decided to get married to an older man at the age of Seventeen. She has two children right a way. While trying to raise her kids she stuggles with her husbands affair and her own desire to 'join the family buisness' as a bookie. This book offers moments of reflection and self-thought.

Best Line: "Air- Conditioning and Television: Before every household had and air conditioner, people sat outside on their stoops. So who was going to bother you, if I am outside watching? And televsion movies... before that people were out walking to the theater, coming home-decent people-out on the streets until eleven-thirty, midnight. Buth then they started staying home. Theair conditioner blasting, eyes glued to the TV set. The streets belonged to the criminals."



Maybe if the governement reccomended that people turned off their televisons, and air conditioners, we would not be dealing with and obese nation, and gang violence running rampent in Chicago...Just a thought for you politions out there....

I just finished the book "Dress your family in corduroy and denim" by David Sedaris. It's hard for me to pin-point what I like and dislike in his books because each chapter is an essay and none of them really correspond to each other. I did notice that in this particular book of his, quite a few of the essays ended on a sad note, which I haven't noticed when reading his other pieces. For instance, he has a short essay on a time his father threw him out of the house - David thought it was because he had graduated from college, moved back home, loafed around, and got high all the time. In the last couple sentences of the essay it's realized that none of these factors were the reason; his father threw him out because he found out David is gay. That broke my heart: to understand that the fact that David loafed around, didn't earn any money, did drugs all the time...none of that mattered like his sexuality did. I would find myself finishing essays with this kind of mood and I wasn't sure if it was something I could honestly like. While it was absolutely written well, it seemed to have been written in a slightly saddened, reflective time in his life. Granted, there were plenty of essays that made me laugh or times where I laughed during the sad essays, but it wasn't really what I was expecting and therefore I still can't decide if I liked it. I definitely would recommend it, but I would be more apt to recommend one of his other pieces first.

I'm picking up more hours at work and it's getting to be summer time so I'm looking for lighter, funnier things to read. Does anybody have any suggestions? I have a lot of serious books that I've wanted to read, but I just can't bring myself to dive into them right now. Anybody read anything witty and funny lately that they would recommend?

T-Rex SUE

So many of you know that I work as a Docent at the Field Museum in Chicago. I absolutely love this job. Even though I don't get paid, the amount of information that I have access to is unfathomable. As an educator, I can use this to my advantage. Whether it be preparing my kids for field trip, or using what I have learned there to start a lesson in my classroom, it is this kind of job that defines a person. I know that the econonmy is stinky, and that it is hard as hell to find a job, but I am rich with knowlege. One day who knows maybe I will write a book.

I am reading Tyranasaurus Sue. It is fantastic! Much of the information in this book, I have already learned about while training/studying for my docent test on Sue. Sue is the most complete T-rex ever found in the United States. None of the other t-rrex's found come close to her completeness. Having been found in 1990, and then put on display in 2000, one can imagine that her in her ten year hiatus, there was much controversy. This book explains the leagal battle over he bones. It is an excellent read!

Busy little bees, we are....

So I finished the book," Remarkable Creatures." I really enjoyed it because it allowed me to have more educated conversations with the other Docents at the Field Museum. This week I will probably read physics, and chemistry books to prepare for my test. All in all it looks like I will be very busy til May. Then maybe a trip to DC ( I will need this).

So what is everyone else doing/ reading??