Christine Seifert's Blog: Lady Professor Reads, page 12

What I Read: May 2018

I had a big reading month, in part because I finished two weighty nonfiction books that I’d been reading since December. The other reason I read so much is that I submitted grades the second week of May and let myself fall into a pile of books as a palate cleanser. I read quite a few fluffy books that didn’t take much time.

I usually only manage about five or six books a month, but I read a whopping twelve books in May:

The Wife by Alafair Burke
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson
Yo...

Review: Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

[image error]Why yes, I would like to be smarter.

I read Charles Duhigg’s previous book, The Power of Habit, last year, and I loved it enough that I decided to use it for a class I’m teaching next semester. I ran across Duhigg’s latest book on the New Nonfiction shelf at my local library, and I read it in two days. Then I wished that I’d take more time with it. I’m definitely going to buy it because I’ll need to re-read it to really apply the lessons.

Books and articles about productivity are my absolute...

Review: The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy by Chris Bailey

[image error]Go on vacation; read productivity manual. Yeah, that’s me in a nutshell.

I love projects. I love productivity books. And I love the kind of “stunt journalism” that requires writers to do crazy things in the service of writing about it.

Elevator Pitch
The opposite of lazy is not busy. In fact, lazy and busy are quite often synonymous states of being.

Reasons to Read It
I loved that Bailey provided useful tips for productivity in every single chapter. I did some of the challenges he included at...

Review: Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

[image error]Dead wives and plotting housekeepers in a mansion. What more do you need in a book? Nothing is the answer.

Every few years, I get the urge to re-read Rebecca. I know it’s a book that a lot of readers find at an early age, but I didn’t. I was in graduate school the first time I read it upon recommendation of my most readerly friend.

I started it at the laundromat and was so engrossed that I left an entire washing machine full of wet clothes and had to trek back the next day to re-wash a garbag...

Let’s Talk About Books

Thanks for visiting me. I post about books I read. Tell me what you are thinking and reading.

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HBO’s Girls

I’m an avid watcher of the show Girls, and I occasionally read Slate’s commentary on the show. I know some people hate the show, and I agree that the second season was uneven. In fact, there were timesthat it didn’t even feel like the same show it was in the first season.

But count me as a Girls fan. Sure, the show is visceral, uncomfortable, awkward, and even gross at times,but isn’t that the point? The show brilliantly depicts just how hard it is to be a (fairly) fresh college grad with no d...

The Countdown

I’m one chapter away from finishing my latest revision of my latest novel, a Stepford Wives meets Mad Men meets Canby Hall meets The Handmaid’s Tale mash-up. For those of you who are counting, this is my eight millionth draft.

I’m Back!

I took a little blogging break, but I’m back! (I know, I know–you haven’t been holding your breath).

My favorite end-of-year activity is perusing all the best of lists, making notes of all the movies and books I need to get to. In the spirit of awards season, I submit my 2012 nominees.

Best Movie I Saw in 2012

Life of Pi (As good as the book–I swear.)

Best Movie I Saw in 2012 That I Thought I Might Hate But Actually Loved

Les Miserables (Imagine I just sang the title.)

Best Documentary I Saw in 201...

World’s Worst Blogger

I nominate myself for that title.

YA Literature in the Classroom

So I’m just a few weeks out from the end of spring semester, and my YA lit class is closing in on our eleventh novel for the semester. If I had to vote–and I don’t know why I would–I would say that Shine by Lauren Myracle yielded the best discussion, even though a lot of the students weren’t crazy about it.

I read all of the books (except two) for the second (or third or fourth) time, and I think the one I enjoyed the most this time around was The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks b...