|
July 25
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Teaching Outside the Box: How to Grab Your Students By Their Brains (Paperback)
by LouAnne Johnson
bookshelves:
currently-reading
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Laura said:
"This book is fantastic for a first time teacher especially in regards to getting organized BEFORE the year starts and discipline issues. Johnson includes a bunch of lists that are really helpful for making sure that you have what you need where you ...more
This book is fantastic for a first time teacher especially in regards to getting organized BEFORE the year starts and discipline issues. Johnson includes a bunch of lists that are really helpful for making sure that you have what you need where you need it before the school year speeds away from you. It also has a lot of good ideas for what to do that first week of class and how to start the year off strong....less
"
|
|
July 23
|
|
Laura
is currently reading:
Sex and Self-Respect: The Quest for Personal Fulfillment (Hardcover)
by Philip M. Helfaer
bookshelves:
currently-reading
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Siddhartha (Mass Market Paperback)
by Hermann Hesse
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in July, 2008
Laura said:
"The whole time I was reading this, I was trying to imagine how it would have struck me if I was a teenager in high school. Would it have felt like a thunderbolt of lightning? Would it have been completely mind-blowing to me in the way that Rilke's ...more
The whole time I was reading this, I was trying to imagine how it would have struck me if I was a teenager in high school. Would it have felt like a thunderbolt of lightning? Would it have been completely mind-blowing to me in the way that Rilke's poetry was during the time and the way that it is still is for me today?
Siddhartha was not mind-blowing for me, and in some parts, it felt slow, tedious, and pedantic. In some parts, though, I felt like Hesse captured the non-attachment experience of Buddhism quite aptly.
I'll share some of the passages that I liked:
"The sinner is not on the path to Buddhahood, he is not in a process of development, although our thoughts have no other way to imagine these things. No, in the sinner, now and today the future Buddha already exists, his future is already entirely there, you must revere the becoming, the potential, the hidden Buddha in him, in yourself, in everyone." (p. 112)
and....
"Words do the secret sense no good, it always goes somewhat off when one utters it aloud, it sounds somewhat false, somewhat foolish -- yes, and this too is very good and pleases me greatly, I also greatly agree with the following statement: What is a treasure and wisdom to one man always sounds like utter foolishness to another." (pp. 113-114)
So in the end, I liked "Siddhartha". I liked how Siddhartha had to go through his own journey of spiritual development and how that development involved relationships with those around him. Often, while I was reading, I thought of "The Alchemist" and "War and Peace." I enjoyed this book and found it to be an easy read. I think it would be a much more enjoyable book to read in collaboration with other books regarding spiritual development and religion....less
"
|
|
July 22
|
|
New comment on sherri's review of
The Southern Diaspora: How the Great Migrations of Black and White Southerners Transformed America
reply to this comment
|
|
July 20
|
|
New comment on Patty's review of
The Secret Life of Bees
reply to this comment
|
|
July 19
|
|
New comment on Laura's review of
Collected Stories
(see all 2 comments)
|
|
July 18
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Things Fall Apart (Paperback)
by Chinua Achebe
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in July, 2008
Laura said:
"This book has the feel of a modern fable. I really liked how it captured the essence of "cultural misunderstanding", how one group of people can follow certain beliefs that hold no meaning for another group of people and therefore create a...more
This book has the feel of a modern fable. I really liked how it captured the essence of "cultural misunderstanding", how one group of people can follow certain beliefs that hold no meaning for another group of people and therefore create a source of conflict. There's a lot to learn here about traditional Nigerian customs, but, in general, there's a lot in this book to inspire intriguing discussions about tradition, ritual, and culture. An excellent and fairly easy read....less
"
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Krik? Krak! (Paperback)
by Edwidge Danticat
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
Laura said:
"I really love Danticat's sparse but poetic style in her stories of Haitians and Haitian-Americans. It's like she has boiled down the experiences to the essentials but kept the flesh of it all. Her eye for life is crystal clear. I found myself cryi...more
I really love Danticat's sparse but poetic style in her stories of Haitians and Haitian-Americans. It's like she has boiled down the experiences to the essentials but kept the flesh of it all. Her eye for life is crystal clear. I found myself crying at the end of the first story -- when the story ended, I felt like my heart had been shot. It was that kind of impact....less
"
|
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Collected Stories (Paperback)
by Gabriel García Márquez
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in July, 2008
Laura said:
"This collection includes three sets of Garcia Marquez's short stories. The stories in this collection are organized in chronological order, and it's fascinating to see how his style evolves and changes over time. The first set of stories are incred...more
This collection includes three sets of Garcia Marquez's short stories. The stories in this collection are organized in chronological order, and it's fascinating to see how his style evolves and changes over time. The first set of stories are incredibly abstract and focus mostly on the blurry line between life and death. For example, a young boy dies but his mother tends to him in his coffin as his body continues to grow until he dies again in his 20s. As the years pass, the stories begin to include characters that appear also in "100 Years of Solitude". The earlier stories have less dialogue than the later ones, and by the end of the collection, you have entered the terrain of Garcia Marquez: timeless locales usually in the desert with precisely spoken characters who exist between reality and magic. His stories always make me think of Dali's painting of the clocks melting all over the desert.
...less
"
|
|
June 16
|
|
Laura
gave
to:
Ines of My Soul: A Novel (Hardcover)
by Isabel Allende
|
my rating:
Added to my books!
add my review
|
| |
read in June, 2008
Laura said:
"This book follows Allende's passion for epic novels which make for great reads on airplanes (where I read this). The writing is excellent as always. Also, the topic of Ines Suarez, a single woman who helped found Chile, is fascinating, and her char...more
This book follows Allende's passion for epic novels which make for great reads on airplanes (where I read this). The writing is excellent as always. Also, the topic of Ines Suarez, a single woman who helped found Chile, is fascinating, and her character is entirely believable. However, the novel got a little bogged down in history and viciously bloody wars with the indigenous peoples of South America. I generally love Allende's writing for her juicy, sensuous details about love and relationship dynamics. There was not as much of that as I would have liked. I definitely got into it and found my mind lost in 16th century Peru and Chile, but it didn't feel particularly profound or transformative. Also, the ending felt really abrupt. Not my favorite Allende novel, but a good read especially for those who like historical fiction....less
"
|
