Missouri - Show-me Readers discussion
What Are You Reading Now and Why?
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While on Winter Staycation, I'm reading a bunch of books! Yeah!Charles Dickens wanted to know more about the author behind the books. And I hope to read several Dickens in 2014
A Christmas Carol, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth for the Christmas season
The Goldfinch this is a big, delicious novel
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin interesting stuff, but slow reading for me
I read A Christmas Carol every year with my sixth grade class. Well, TO my class. I love that book! Dickens was an interesting fellow, although it seems that a lot of writers from that period shared the same issues.
I love that his Christmas stories all have spirits in them. I read the paragraph on the belfry from The Chimes (about the 2nd or 3rd page if the story) aloud to my cat and it frightened her!
I'm currently reading Love in the Time of Cholera. I'm actually hoping to finish it today. I'm reading it because it's been sitting on my bookshelf for years after having been picked up at a library book sale for a quarter. I was drawn to it simply by name recognition alone, not really knowing much about the story. I'm also finishing up The Christmas Rat, a children's chapter book that I picked up from the library to read aloud with my kids over the break. It's an odd book about a boy trying to save a rat at Christmas from the exterminator, "Anjela Gabrail". I chose this novel because I've enjoyed other works by this author.
So...Today I started three books. A Tale of Two Cities has been on my shelf for decades, just hanging out and making me look well read. I've decided the time is right to tackle it. I'm cheating a little though because I'm reading it AND listening to it on Librovox while I cook and wash dishes. I also started another read aloud with my kids (I know, they sometimes hate being the teacher's kids). The Case of the Gypsy Good-byeis book six of this series of middle grades mysteries whose central character is the younger sister of Sherlock Holmes. No, I haven't read any other books in the series. I just grabbed this off the shelf at the library, and I'm hoping to hook one of my daughters onto the series.
Not to be outdone, or maybe to give me some of my own medicine, my other daughter has decided to start her own read aloud with me. She's chosen Miss Hickory, an old school library discard book that we dragged home last year. It is about the adventures of a doll.
We shall see how all of these go.
Oh goodness - I hope you enjoy A Tale of Two Cities! Probably my favorite novel. I think it's wonderful you read aloud with your kids. I remember - vividly - my fourth grade teacher reading Where the Red Fern Grows to the class. I still love that book.
Still plugging along with A Tale of Two Cities and The Case of the Gypsy Goodbye. Recently I started The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way. This is on loan from a friend who recommended I read it. Usually professional development reads for teachers are not that exciting, but this one is written in a pretty entertaining style.
I just finished
. Really good read if reading about educational reform is your thing. Lisa, you'd probably like it if you weren't so busy reading stuff for school anyway. lol I'm still working on A Tale of Two Cities, but I've also picked up
for some lighter fare. This book was recommended on a "books in verse" thread in another group. I happen to love books in verse, so when I saw this new to our school library I knew I had to grab it.
Finished The Weight of Water today. Cute little book. Haven't made it to the library yet to get Winter's Bone, so I'm going to start one off my bookshelf, Floors. This one was loaned to me by another teacher and it is by one of my favorite authors for young people, Patrick Carman.
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin.Why? A friend recommended it,and it's been haunting me on the shelf. A movie with Russell Crowe, Colin Farrell,and Jennifer Connelly will be released on Valentine's Day ,2014 . Another reason, it's winter. I do that with books sometimes. Like when I visited Hemingway's home in Key West, I read Hemingway. Lastly, it was a title suggested for bookclub as our March selection. I am 200 pages in....and it's wonderful.If you enjoy richness in a story with fantastic prose,and details....historical flavor,and romance, this is the book for you, and guys.....it's not chick lit, I promise. If goes into a lot of detail about Manhattan ,and it's development in the 1800's. Wonderful so far. I look forward to the movie. I hope I get the book finished before I see it. Have about 400 pages to go!
Gary, I really want to see that movie and I don't say that very often. Might have to check out the book too, by the sounds of it.
I'm snowed in at the moment and can't get to the library to get Winter's Bone, but I was uninspired yesterday by the books I'd started, so I started two more, both complete trash. Too Old to be a Hooker ,Too Young to be a Madam and Rush. Both were passed on to me by friends who probably just wanted to get them off their shelves...my motivation for reading them as well. Reading may be too strong of a word. Skimming, maybe.
I have been dragging along with
since August, I think. This is an actual book that I have to hold in my hands and read, and that is why it is taking so long to finish. My commute to and from work is long, and this is prime opportunity to enjoy audio books. When I'm home there are so many things to do that I generally cannot get through a book very quickly. I am enjoying the story, but I do not read very fast. The other book I'm, or was reading, is
, but I borrowed it from the library on my Kindle, and my loan ran out before I could finish it. To my dismay, when I borrowed it, I discovered that the text-to-speech feature was not enabled for this book, so I had to read it manually. I always finish reading my books so I know I will finish these too!
Today I have been reading Son by Lois Lowry. I am in the midst of teaching a unit on The Giver to my reading class, and it renewed my interest in the series. I'd read the other two books, Gathering Blue and Messenger, but that was before this last novel was published. This book is fabulous, and I can't put it down. Anyone else reading something wonderful this weekend?
Sharon wrote: "I an reading The River Wife by Joni's Agee (a novel set in the Missouri Bootheel) because The Maid's Version by Daniel Woodrell isn't available at my library, yet. It is a good novel about love, b..."I loved that book when we read it last month. You can find our thoughts on it under the January Read thread.
I finished Son late last night. I was sad it had ended. Now I'm reading another middle grades book that I'm thinking about purchasing for a class study,
I'm quite guilty of jumping all over the place as far as genres go, but I've been indulging in a lot of guilty pleasures lately. I love a good urban fantasy so I just finished Bitten by Kelley Armstrong. It was an entertaining read. I also recently read Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. Definitely looking forward to reading the next in that series! I think next I'm going to dig into World After by Susan Ee. I don't typically care for books based on angels as major characters, but her first book Angelfall was fantastic. I'm really looking forward to this follow up.
Jenni wrote: "I have been dragging along with since August, I think. This is an actual book that I have to hold in my hands and read, and that is why it is taking so long to finish..."Did you ever finish Dark Places? I'm curious how you liked it. I've read all of her books. I started with Gone Girl and then read her first two books after. I'm not sure why, but I found myself wishing I had read her older publications first. I liked them both so much, but part of me felt that I might have appreciated the characters more had I experienced them before reading Gone Girl. I'm sorry. I know I'm not articulating a solid thought process right now. Maybe it's the late hour.
As part of my continuing education in horror, I'm reading The Hellbound Heart, my first Clive Barker book. After that, I'm reading The Gunslinger as part of my big Dark Tower reread this year.
Dan wrote: "As part of my continuing education in horror, I'm reading The Hellbound Heart, my first Clive Barker book. After that, I'm reading The Gunslinger as part of my big Dark T..."The Hellbound Heart is a fabulous title for any book! lol
Sharon wrote: "I finished History of the Donner Party, A Tragedy of the Sierra last night. It was a very interesting. I had read about the Donner Party during American History class as a teen but so much is skim..."I, too, am fascinated by the Donner Party story. I teach 5th and 6th social studies and it's a story I always share with my students just before I try to push them to read some of the books on my bookshelf. lol
I may have to check out that book you just read.
I've been too busy lately to read anything and it's depressing. I'm getting all my grading done today because I think we will probably have a snow day tomorrow, and I want to have a free schedule so I can READ.
I need to see if I can find Catskinner's Book. I may read one of the other March Read suggestions if I can't find it.
I finally finished Crispin: The Cross of Lead. I was reading this because I thought I might want to buy a set for my classroom. Glad I read it first. It was okay. Not great. Not what I was looking for. I have another snow day tomorrow, so I'm hoping to knock out another book tomorrow.
Since True Detective will be over for the season pretty soon, I'm going to read Nic Pizzolatto's Galveston to try to fill the True Detective-shaped void in my heart.
Well, I was not able to knock out another book. I have picked up a copy of
to read for a challenge in another group, so that's what I'm cracking open today since I can't seem motivated to finish any of the books on my currently reading list.
I'm picking Sense and Sensibilityback up to read because my son gave me 'Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters' as a gift. Since I had never read the original I thought I had better read it first. I started it a while back but didn't stay in it. I am finishing up The Heistthis weekend. I picked it for a fun read because it had been a hectic work week and I needed something light hearted.
My daughter and I are reading Artemis Fowltogether because I have always liked the series and it was my turn (finally) to pick the book we read. We take turns reading a chapter every night.
I finished
for a satire challenge in another group. Now I need to cleanse my mind. I'm going to pick up
and try to finish it before the weekend. I need an light easy read after that last one. This is a book I started a month or so ago and put down. It is also one from my actual bookshelf, and a title I picked for my 12+2 challenge in another group.
Yeah! I finally finished one of those books on my "currently reading" list. Now what? I have actually started
but I'm not sure I'm sticking with it. I'll have to think on this. Maybe I'll set a goal to finish
this week.
I've been AWOL too. The end of the school year always kicks my rear and sucks all the energy from me. Not much reading to report. This week I started
to see if it is appropriate for my 6th grade classroom library. I'm halfway through and I can tell that it's NOT going in my classroom, but it's a pretty fun read.
I am reading
. It's a book off my actual bookshelf, and it is on my 12+2 list for 2014. Hoping to finish it this weekend (today, actually). My goal for summer is to clear some books out of my house!*Correction - this book is NOT on my 12+2 list so I was a little disappointed about that. :(
I'm trying to finish
, another book someone gave me for my classroom library, but I noticed on the back of the book it is recommended for high school kids. Yes, another enjoyable book, but one that I'm not sending home with a 6th grade kid. This book is also on my 12+2 list for the year, so I can knock another one of that list when I finish. Go me!
I just finished reading
for a group read and really enjoyed it. Its a 300 page book that managed to go through the entire Civil War and tell about the battles without bogging down the rest of the story. I think its meant to be a romance but it was published in the 40s so it isn't like the romances of today, the romance was intertwined throughout the story but didn't seem the main focus point of it.
Melissa wrote: "I just finished reading for a group read and really enjoyed it. Its a 300 page book that managed to go through the entire Civil War and tell about the battles wit..."Wow. That is a lot to get through in 300 pages.
Today I read
. I'm trying to find a book to use with my Native American unit. This was a good story, but it tackles the relocation of Native Americans by the U.S. government, and I really want to find a book that is more focused on Native American life or at least on earlier European contact. Tomorrow I'm going to start
and see how I like it.
is definitely a better book for my Native American unit than Sing Down the Moon, although the plot moved a little slow for a read aloud. Today I'm starting
and I have high hopes for it.
I'm tackling a book that's been on my "currently reading" list for a while,
. I'm on a mission to finish it by Friday!
My last book went quicker than anticipated, so I've started another book on my 12+2 list, a biography of Shel Silverstein
.
I am reading
because I have read the rest of the series and want to see how this story ends.
Melissa wrote: "I am reading because I have read the rest of the series and want to see how this story ends."I hope you love it as much as I did!
I just finished reading
one of my other groups had chosen it for a group read. I read the entire book and still am not sure what my response to it should be. There are several parts that were good but overall I didn't like it but I can't really put a finger on why I didn't care for it. But I am going to bounce to
because its a short and light read to clear my mind before deciding what I want to jump into next. I have been reading
on the side as well because I saw it on my shelf and realized I've never read them before. Its a nice escape.
Melissa wrote: "I just finished reading one of my other groups had chosen it for a group read. I read the entire book and still am not sure what my response to it should be. ..."Ahh...Harlequin Romances!!! How I used to love those! I haven't read one in years, but your post makes me want to devour one. lol Even the cover of that book you mentioned makes me smile.
I'm reading O Pioneers!. I found this in the back of a filing cabinet at school and decided to give it a go. Also it will fulfill my requirement for an "O" on my A-Z list. :)
See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image is what I'm reading tonight. I stumbled on it at the library and couldn't resist this book because of all the old postcards, brochures and advertisements included in the book. I'd love to have a collection of old scenic Ozark postcards!
Missouri - Show-me Readers
Books mentioned in this topic
See the Ozarks: The Touristic Image (other topics)The Virgin Suicides (other topics)
O Pioneers! (other topics)
The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh (other topics)
The Virgin Suicides (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nic Pizzolatto (other topics)Patrick Carman (other topics)
I'm reading Voyage by Bus. It's an odd book that I found tucked into a box of books I bought at a yard sale for $2. I decided to read it because I thought it might be funny. It's not, however, I shall persevere!