Books and Books

I have been thinking about some unfinished business recently. I pledged to report on my summer reading list in July of last year. Of the list I posted, I read Life of Pi, Poisonwood Bible, and A Time To Kill in their entirety. I started Ender's Game and Perfect Storm but never finished. In my defense, I think I did read a few other books of which I can not remember even one.

So far this summer I have read the entire Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (although a few of the earlier ones I started while school was still in session), An Assembly Such As This (it's Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's perspective!), and The Alchemist. I am currently reading The Princess Bride. I find that I have much more time to read when I actually make a point to read every day. Since my Spring classes end next week, I hope to spend the rest of my summer afternoons reading by the pool.

Here are the books on my summer reading list:

Angels and Demons
Secret Life of Bees
Les Miserables
Ender's Game
Kite Runner
Memoirs of a Geisha
Twilight
Team of Rivals
Paradise Lost
Wuthering Heights
Alice in Wonderland
Eats, Shoots and Leaves
Salt: A World History
Duty and Desire, These Three Remain (the next 2 books in the Darcy trilogy)

I think I will leave my list at this for the present. I also intend on reading many of the books from the Newberry list. It was one of my New Year's Resolutions to read all of them. (So far I think I have only read half a dozen, and I need to get a move on!)

I have always wanted to join a book club. My mom and all my sisters are in them, and I am so jealous every time they talk about their meetings. How do you get into one? Or how do you start your own? It's a mystery.

Also, I plan on checking these books out from the BYU library or the Orem Public Library. I really should get a card to the Provo Library, too, since it is just around the corner (that would bring my library card collection up to 5). But I really must share an incredible source of books that I encountered recently. Behold, DI! The other day I went there with Ronnie to buy some books for my library when I'm a teacher, and I was amazed at the huge collection available for purchase at DI for a mere dollar or two per book, depending on the size. Granted there is not even a semblance of any type of organization, and the ocd part of me really wants to spend an entire week there organizing the books alphabetically by author and genre, but seriously it is a gold mine! I limited myself to about ten dollars and still got home with a dozen books.

While I'm at it, I may as well explain the book blog. I have taken several classes on literacy recently, and they have really opened my eyes to lots of issues. I always loved to read, but I learned in my studies that literacy embodies so much more than simply picking up a book and reading the words, and there is so much more to teaching literacy than the universal goal of English teachers to instill in students a love of reading. But I think I may have to explore those issues another day.

Happy Reading.