Where Have I Been?

WOW! I can't believe it has been so long since I have blogged about my reading. Don't really have a good excuse. I did read 11 books between now and then- some of the great, some not so much!

I just finished reading One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. I heard about it through a blog that introduces titles that could be possible Newbery Medal winners. I completely disagree about this book. I didn't care for it at all. Three sisters travel across the country to stay with the mother that abandoned them. She is involved with The Black Panthers. Much of the story deals with The Black Panthers and events around that time period. I thought it was very vague and scattered. In the end I didn't think there was enough that happened in the book or enough change in the characters.

Here are links to the other books I have read since my absence with stars next to my faves:

A Long Way Gone

Umbrella Summer **

The Leanin' Dog **

Worlds Afire **

Outcasts United **

The Circus Fire

A Reliable Wife

Leaving Gee's Bend

The Scent of Rain and Lightning **

The Sweet By and By **

Now for what is on the to read list:

Tinkers by Paul Harding

Comfort by Ann Hood

Out of My Mind by Sharon Draper

Bonobo Handshake by Vanessa Woods

The Other Wes Moore by Wes Moore

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

I'm not sure which one to read first. I'm leaning towards Bonobo Handshake or The Other Wes Moore. They both sounds fascinating. Since it won't stop raining here in Texas maybe I'll get all of them read soon. I promise not to be gone too long this time!

What are you reading?

Happy Reading

Brave and Broken

This holiday weekend has afforded me the chance to get a jump start on my poetry reading.

I have finished both Home of the Brave and All the Broken Pieces.

They were both beautiful and very well written.

I want to talk about both first and then speak to each individually.

Both stories weave together the stories or people who on the surface seem very different but the more you look, the more similar their circumstances.

In both stories the narrators are young boys who have come to America to escape war- from Vietnam and Sudan.

Kek is the narrator of Home of the Brave. Most of his family was killed in the violence familiar to Sudan.

He is brought to live with his extended family in Minneapolis.

The author does a wonderful job of allowing the reader to see the world through the eyes of Kek, who is experiencing so much for the first time- snow, airplanes, escalators.

Kek befriends Hannah, a foster child who lives in his apartment building

and an older lady who is also in transition.

I don't want to give too much away.

I loved the poeticness (might have invented a word there but you know what I mean!).

The words paint a lovely picture even though the story is at times bleak.

The night Ganwar lost his hand

was the night I lost

my father and brother

the night of men in the sky with guns

the night the earth opened up like a black pit

and swallowed my old life whole.

Here is an interview with the author, Katherine Applegate.

I must confess that I started reading the second half of All the Broken Pieces this morning thinking that it wasn't as strong of a story as Home of the Brave.
Well, I cried through the last 20 pages and changed me mind!
I do think that Home of the Brave is more poetic but the story of Matt in All the Broken Pieces really got me.
Matt was airlifted out of Vietnam and adopted by a family.
The story takes place a couple years after the Vietnam war and tensions are still high.
The story follows Matt as he tries out for the baseball team and learns to play the piano.
I know that doesn't sound like much but he encounters people who are also broken and they are each able to help one another.
I think in some ways we are all broken and if we looked deep enough we would find similarities and be able to help each other.
The connection to the cover photograph of a torn baseball is beautiful in this story.

Both books have led me to further reading: The Things They Carried, July, July, and A Long Way Gone.

Happy Reading!

Poetry Pile

April is National Poetry Month and I {heart} poetry. So why not a month of poetry reading? I teach at an elementary school so most of the books in my pile could be used with elementary students but they can also be enjoyed by adults. Poetry is amazing to me- with so few words you can say so much. It's definitely an art. I will be reading some novels in verse and some poetry collections.

Novels in Verse:

Poetry Collections:

Do you enjoy poetry? What is your favorite collection? Happy Reading!

City of Thieves

City of Thieves has been on my TBR list for a while and when I saw that it was available at the library I scooped it up and enjoyed it. I don't read male authors very often- not for any particular reason necessarily. I think I just relate to the subject matter that women write about better? Is that stereotyping, close minded, etc? Hope not!

The premise behind City of Thieves just intrigued me. Two young men,Lev and Kolya, in a lot of trouble with the Russian army for different reasons, are given the task of finding a dozen eggs for a high ranking official's daughter's wedding. The two set off to find the eggs- really a very dangerous wild goose chase- and encounter many episodes ranging from disgusting, to hilarious, to shocking. Of course, since the novel is written by a man and the two main characters are male there is some sexual conversations. That type of conversation doesn't normally show up in the books I read but it takes a lot to offend me! :)

In reading two interviews with David Benioff I learned that he did very extensive research including travelling to St Petersburg. The reader is given the impression that this story is part of his grandfather's history. You learn in the interviews that it is just part of his fictional novel that he is hearing this story from his grandfather. I think that part could have been left out.

Have anyone else read City of Thieves? What about The Book Thief? I have read so much about it and picked it up in the bookstore yesterday and was surprised by the format? Anyone else?

Happy Reading!

The Housekeeper and the Professor

I enjoyed The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. The premise of the books is very interesting and a brave endeavor for a writer. The professor from the title is a mathematical genius that was in a terrible car accident and only has 80 minutes of memory before it is erased and starts over. Anything before the accident he remembers. So the housekeeper has to reintroduce herself each day, etc. I thought Ogawa handled this idea very well without it taking over the book or things not adding up. The characters she brought together were very different and memorable but I felt that the whole book was a little surface level and I didn't get to know any of them very well. However, all in all it was a good read that I would recommend to others.

When I finish a book I love to go to amazon.com and see what else they recommend. Here are a few suggestions from The Housekeeper and the Professor:

I loved all of the above: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, The Well and the Mine, The Help and Little Bee.

I am adding the three above to my t0-read list on goodreads.com: The School of Essentials Ingredients, Cutting for Stone, and A Reliable Wife.

Happy Reading!

Progress on the Pile

I know everyone is wondering how I am progressing through the pile of books I featured a while ago. Here is the update:

* The Happiness Project is still patiently waiting by my bed.
* Drive and The Children's Blizzard were returned to the library unread but I might revisit them soon. There are more urgent read waiting= Reading Rumble list.
* I finished Identical Strangers and The Housekeeper and the Professor. Will blog about those soon.
* I abandoned Let the Great World Spin.
* The Mercy Papers is still waiting. I can't bring myself to read about a woman's mother dying when my dad just underwent major surgery this morning. Maybe when my heart isn't so fragile.

I am currently reading Fever, 1793 and Surprises According to Humphrey.

Here is more of what I' ve been reading.

What are you reading?

Happy Reading!

Get Off The Bus

I just finished Piper Reed, Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt. It is one of the Reading Rumble/Bluebonnet books. It was cute. Piper says "Get off the bus" as many of us would say "Get out of here." She deals with a lot of issues that chidlren her age deal with. I thought the book was nicely tied together at the end without being too sappy. Will definitely have to introduce third and fourth graders to Piper.

Kimberly Willis Holt has written quite a few books for elementary aged students and this isn't her first appearnace on the Texas Bluebonnet List. Her book When Zachary Beaver Came to Town was on the list about 8 years ago. Funny how I can place myself in a certain classroom, at a certain school by the books on the Bluebonnet list! :) There are three Piper Reed books to enjoy as well.

Happy Reading!