What We Read As Children

Hello there everyone!

Occasionally I get into conversations with my students about books. Actually, it happens often, and I love it when it does. Today, a student asked me the following:

Miss Tennant? When you were little, what were your favorite books?

First of all, I loved the fact that she asked me about my favorite books rather than my favorite book, but this question always gives me hives. For as long as I can remember, I have been a reader. As a child, when people would ask me what I was or what I wanted to be, I’d say a reader. But I can’t remember what I read or why I read it…or even what the first book was that I read all on my own.

Today was different, however. Suddenly, at least a dozen titles came swirling into my brain and it made me so happy I almost cried. My favorite books were as follows:

1. the stories of forest animals by Beatrix Potter – I had a collection of them and loved to have them read to me, to read them myself, or to read to others.
2. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss – It was a combination of the drawings, the colors, and the story. I was always very opinionated and liked a good cause.
3. The Nutcracker – As a ballerina, I liked to listen to this story, but I distinctly remember hating to read it by myself.
4. Charlotte’s Web – This was my favorite in kindergarten and well into 3rd grade.
5. The Harry Potter series – When I was in 4th grade, I discovered the magical world of Harry Potter and was infatuated (and still am).

So I guess my question is this:

What were your favorite books as children?

Cheers!

Bree

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Up Late with Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche

This is a wonderful review that has inspired me to read Adiche’s “Americanah.”

PCTELA News

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche, is one of those rare books that not only rocked my literary world, but also my personal world. I really believe every single person I know should read this, regardless of reading tastes or preferences.

Perhaps I should begin with my relationship as an Adiche fan.  I first heard of her from a fellow teacher at a summer NEH program taught at Central Michigan University by Dr. Maureen Eke.  We were discussing companion texts to Things Fall Apart, and someone recommended Purple Hibiscus, a novel by a young Nigerian woman that had similar themes. I promptly read it and then procured 10 copies to offer to my advanced students as an optional choice in my African literature unit. Many students wrote about Kambili’s struggle in their final synthesis essay for that assignment. Half a Yellow Sun also became popular among some…

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Bout of Books 10 Update 2

Good evening everyone!

I’m sad to report that I didn’t make much progress today. I continued some of Voyager, but did not get any further with The Lies of Locke Lamora. Tomorrow is a new day, however!

Cheers!

Bout of Books 10 Update #1

Hi there!

It’s Tuesday and I have accomplished something! Whoo! Here is my daily update:

On Monday, I started and finished Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay. It was a quick and easy read, rather painless, although a little cliched and bumpy at times. I also started reading both Voyager, which is over 800 pages and will not be finished this week, and The Book Thief.

Tuesday – started reading The Lies of Locke Lamora.

Accomplishments:

1. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

2. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

4. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

5. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

6. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

7. Fangirl by Rainbow Powell

8. The Secret Crown by Chris Kuzneski

9. Undressing Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos

10. Of Grave Concern by Max McCoy

11. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

12. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

Bout of Books 10 Goals

Hi Everyone,

As promised, here are my goals for this years Bout of Books Read-a-Thon!

 

This year, time has been a little crunched and I’ve not been able to read near as much as I would like. However, I’m going to attempted to read each day – mainly in the evenings – even though I’m leaving for a four-day weekend vacation on Thursday. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to read even more sitting under my favorite oak tree in Gettysburg?

My general yearly goal, each year, is to read one book a week, or 52 books per year. However, my Goodreads shelf is presently reminding me that I’m behind this year…three books behind. Therefore, I would like to read five books during the Bout of Books 10 Read-a-Thon. This will catch me up, and even get me a little ahead.

Here are some of the books I might choose to read:

1. Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

2. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

3. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

4. The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

5. Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde

6. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

7. Fangirl by Rainbow Powell

8. The Secret Crown by Chris Kuzneski

9. Undressing Mr. Darcy by Karen Doornebos

10. Of Grave Concern by Max McCoy

11. Stardust by Neil Gaiman

12. Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding

Obviously, I will not get to all of these books. If I do, it’ll be a miracle, but I do have some long amounts of time that I can devote to reading this week.

I will update you each day with books that I have read and/or started.

Cheers!

 

Bout of Books 10!

Well, it’s that time of year again!! Last year, I participated on my own, but this year, I’m making it all official and joining! (Even though I’ll probably have less time to read.)

I haven’t quite thought of goals and the like – I need to look at my packed schedule and see what I can come up with. Keep your eyes peeled for a goal post (hahaha) soon!

 

Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson

I’m not one to read books by authors who put out more than two books a year (i.e. James Patterson, Dean Koontz, Stephen King) because they’re often plot-based and low on the intellectual stimulation radar.  That being said, I finally read one of this novel-writing powerhouse-writer’s books: Confessions of a Murder Suspect by James Patterson.

Why? Because it sounded interesting, many of my middle school students were reading it, and I got a copy of the book for free from the Book Fair.

Conclusion: It was good. Wonderful? No. Fantastic? No. Kept me guessing? Yes. Fast-paced? Yes. Character driven? Kind of.

I recommend reading it if you’re a fan of Kate Brian’s two series Private and Privilege, or if you’re into middle school level books.

Winter Solstice Winter by E.J. Squires

I want to start by saying that I enjoyed reading Winter Solstice Winter. The plot, especially contained within the last half of the book, was very fast paced and kept you on the edge of your seat as a reader. However, this book fell short of its potential for me.

First of all, I greatly adore beginnings. I want to revel in the newness of a world, learning all of its intricate workings and figuring out its occupants. At first, Winter Solstice Winter seemed to promise that, but then the descriptions fell away. Now most readers will be just fine with this, but the style did not satisfy my own personal taste. Likewise, I often felt events were rushed – not due to a lack of understanding how to write – but due to a wish to string the action along and continuously engage the reader. This is not a fault. Again, it’s my personal taste. However, I do think the writing of important events should slow a little to give the reader some kind of bearing as to what is really going on.

On the same bent, characters often seem a little forced – especially the dialogue. I like characters who I can intricately come to know, and although I feel the author makes a solid attempt to make this a reality for readers, the writing falls a little short. In all honesty, I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters.

Overall, I loved the plot of Winter Solstice Winter and plan to purchase the next book in the series to find out exactly what happens to Ailia, Soren, Eiess, Lucia, and the rest. I just wish it could have been slowed down to make the incredible chain of events, and the characters, more believable.

The Genealogist’s Guests by Ann Simpson

The Genealogist’s Guests, a paranormal mystery, by Ann Simpson is an interesting and fast-paced read.  Overall, the plot is intriguing and keeps you guessing, even though it sometimes feels like you’re reading a Soap Opera.  Elizabeth’s family has been through so much and continues to have so many evil things happen to them that you eventually guess what is going to happen next.

Simpson also does a wonderful job of weaving the past and present together in The Genealogist’s Guests. When I first started reading, I was worried that the two worlds wouldn’t seem real if they were mashed together, but when the worlds collide, they seem to make sense. This is mainly due to the fact that we learn the history of the family as the ancestors are being introduced and figure out the mystery right along with them.

Although the concept of the book and the plot work well, I wish Simpson had taken more time to flesh out her living-breathing characters.  Scenes often feel rushed, and because we often infer a character’s personality, readers need to have time to digest a character’s thoughts, actions and words. When a scene moves too fast, readers tend to forget details in the melee.

The Genealogist’s Guests is intriguing, but it could soar above mediocre if the author would look back over the work, or employ an editor, to fix the constant switches between past and present tense.  I understand that the book moves between characters from the past and present, but the switch does not need to occur in the middle of a paragraph. Actually, the switch doesn’t need to occur at all. A couple errors aren’t a problem, but I was constantly thrown out of the story due to the multiple tense switches. It seemed like the author had written the story first in one tense and then decided to change it, but didn’t catch everything.

Overall, The Genealogist’s Guests is interesting, fun, and fast-paced.  However, for a reader like me, I would have liked to slow down the action a little more to connect to the characters and suggest the work be re-edited.

Rhetorical Grammar: Grammatical Choices, Rhetorical Effects by Martha Kolln and Loretta Gray

Rhetorical Grammar is a wonderful resource for writers and teachers alike. I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to become more knowledgeable in the art of rhetorical grammar – understanding the grammatical choices available to you and the effects those choice have on the reader.

Although Rhetorical Grammar looks like just another guidebook or style guide when it comes to the rules of grammar, it really shows how the rules influence how readers perceive a writer’s meaning. So the rules aren’t just rules anymore – they’re a way of expressing what you really want your readers to focus on. And Kolln and Gray aren’t saying, “Don’t ever break the rules.” They’re saying, “Use readers’ knowledge of the rules to your advantage.”