bookshelves: favorites, historical-fiction
This is a story that I will carry with me forever. The characters in this book walk right out of the pages and into real life, the story is compelling, the tone somber yet somehow hopeful. Markus Zusak's writing drew me in completely, his use of figurative language is nothing short of stunning, yet the real gem was in the story itself.
I highly recommend this book.
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bookshelves: currently-reading
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by Alexandre Dumas
I've heard this is good. Can't wait to hear what you think! ]]>
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bookshelves: memoirs
Mrs. Mimi is in the trenches. She is a real teacher who relates her experiences in the teaching world openly. I have to admire her stark honesty in this book, she didn't pull any punches and I wonder if it got her into some trouble at her school. This isn't a sappy, inspirational book about life as a teacher, it is true grit.
I was first introduced to Mrs. Mimi's blog of the same name by my teacher friend Marika. It was very exciting to see that a publisher discovered it and turned it into a book!
Mrs. Mimi talks about her experiences as a second grade teacher in Harlem. Despite the geographical difference, I was able to relate to just about everything in this book. I teach second grade in Colorado, and the teachers here have the same struggles as she described! Okay, so I'm not stepping over hair extensions and chicken bones as I walk into school, but I do see red when I watch the custodian dump the carefully separated recycle basket full of paper into the regular trash can with all of the other trash. I lament the extra work created for me by the "support" staff. I, too, have sat in a staff meeting while someone else presented an idea that I showed to her, without getting any credit for it. I am not in a "testing grade", but I get to spend endless amounts of time assessing my students rather than teaching them. I hope and pray the night before a field trip that the parents coming with us will be helpful and not "the pain in the ass" type.
I enjoyed laughing with Mrs. Mimi throughout this book. Amongst the ranting, she also explains why she loves being a teacher. To quote, "If I have learned anything about teaching in my short time in the classroom, it is that a teacher has to be willing to constantly reinvent herself, finding ways to stay positive and motivated." This book helped me do that, again. I am looking forward to taking it to school tomorrow and sharing it with a super colleague. ]]>
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Erin wrote: "I felt the same way, couldn't figure out why I liked it so much! " |
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bookshelves: classics
Whew - what a relief to be on the other end of this book! I had wanted to read it for so long and now am glad that I did, but it was not a novel that I can say I really enjoyed. I can see why it is a classic, there were certainly gems tucked into this story, places where Tolstoy's descriptions of the human condition seemed timeless and touching, but overall this book was difficult to get through. I will confess I do not have much background knowledge about 19th century Russia, and the political pieces of the novel were completely boring and lost on me. At some point I became very adept at skimming. I wonder how I would have felt about this book if it had been compacted into 200-300 pages instead of 800+? ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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