Kim Culbertson's Blog - Posts Tagged "teaching"
5 Reads for Summer
This is the assignment I'm giving my students this week and I think it's fun so I thought I'd share.
I'm asking them to share 5 books they're hoping to read this summer and I'm asking them to explain why they're interested in them. We're going to talk about why we're drawn to certain books. We'll explore the idea of a "beach read" but also the idea that summer can let us set goals for our personal reading needs.
Here's my list that I'm sharing with them:
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
A very edgy contemporary YA novel about friendship, bad choices, and death. I know, I know – not exactly a sit by the beach or pool sort of summer read – nothing light or fluffy about this one, but it was named a 2011 Printz Honor book and I always like to read the novels that get attention from the Printz award.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I’m a huge Gatsby fan and I’ve always wanted to read this one. My book club decided to read it so now I have a reason. I think it’s interesting that there are apparently two different versions of this novel – one with a disordered chronology and one published after Fitzgerald’s death where they tried to “fix” some of the chronology issues (hmmm, wonder how Fitzgerald would have felt about that?). If I’m really motivated I’ll read both of them.
If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster
This will be my first “beach” read of the summer – very light and funny – the kind of book you read whilst dipping toes into a pool. I love that the main character is an Amish-zombie-YA author. Hilarious. What I love most though is Lancaster’s title is a nod to the Thompson Twins song that plays at the end of Pretty in Pink (one of the high school movies I was in love with as a teen). The story takes place around the house John Hughes used in the movie and the couple that now buys it and sets about renovating it.
The Understudy by David Nicholls
I loved Nicholls’ novel One Day and so I look forward to this story of a down on his luck actor. Nicholls has a really cinematic quality to his writing that I connect to (I guess he’s also a screenwriter so that makes sense) and I think he’s really funny while also having some good weight to his stories.
My American Unhappiness by Dean Bakopoulos
So I’m a big dorky fangirl when it comes to Dean Bakopoulos. I loved his first novel Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon and this one comes out the day after my birthday. Bakopoulos is such a gorgeous writer – so lyrical and yet so gritty at the same time. Reading his work is like listening to a Bruce Springsteen song. I can’t wait to read this.
I'm asking them to share 5 books they're hoping to read this summer and I'm asking them to explain why they're interested in them. We're going to talk about why we're drawn to certain books. We'll explore the idea of a "beach read" but also the idea that summer can let us set goals for our personal reading needs.
Here's my list that I'm sharing with them:
Please Ignore Vera Dietz by A.S. King
A very edgy contemporary YA novel about friendship, bad choices, and death. I know, I know – not exactly a sit by the beach or pool sort of summer read – nothing light or fluffy about this one, but it was named a 2011 Printz Honor book and I always like to read the novels that get attention from the Printz award.
Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I’m a huge Gatsby fan and I’ve always wanted to read this one. My book club decided to read it so now I have a reason. I think it’s interesting that there are apparently two different versions of this novel – one with a disordered chronology and one published after Fitzgerald’s death where they tried to “fix” some of the chronology issues (hmmm, wonder how Fitzgerald would have felt about that?). If I’m really motivated I’ll read both of them.
If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster
This will be my first “beach” read of the summer – very light and funny – the kind of book you read whilst dipping toes into a pool. I love that the main character is an Amish-zombie-YA author. Hilarious. What I love most though is Lancaster’s title is a nod to the Thompson Twins song that plays at the end of Pretty in Pink (one of the high school movies I was in love with as a teen). The story takes place around the house John Hughes used in the movie and the couple that now buys it and sets about renovating it.
The Understudy by David Nicholls
I loved Nicholls’ novel One Day and so I look forward to this story of a down on his luck actor. Nicholls has a really cinematic quality to his writing that I connect to (I guess he’s also a screenwriter so that makes sense) and I think he’s really funny while also having some good weight to his stories.
My American Unhappiness by Dean Bakopoulos
So I’m a big dorky fangirl when it comes to Dean Bakopoulos. I loved his first novel Please Don’t Come Back from the Moon and this one comes out the day after my birthday. Bakopoulos is such a gorgeous writer – so lyrical and yet so gritty at the same time. Reading his work is like listening to a Bruce Springsteen song. I can’t wait to read this.
