Saturday, April 10, 2010

Saturday's List- The Reading Room

This Saturday I am giving you a list of the very random books I am reading right now:

*If you read yesterday's post you know I just finished "Our Boys" by Joe Drape. It was loaned to me by a friend.  I found it a good read about a high school football program. 

*Another friend loaned me a copy of Mitch Albom's "Have A Little Faith."  It is sad.  I have to be in the right frame of mind to read it. 

*In direct contrast, another friend loaned me a copy of "Plum Spooky" by Janet Evanovich.  The Stephanie Plum stories have been a favorite summer read.  Evanovich is always good for a chuckle. 

*I'm teaching "To Kill A Mockingbird."  This is my 27th year of reading/teaching this book.  It never gets old.  It is still a favorite.

*Dad and B gave me a copy of "Smart Kids, Bad Schools" by Brian Crosby. They said Crosby had some good points, but that there were other things that were off base-- at least for schools in the Midwest.  Crosby deals mainly with education in California.  Listening to my KS (Kid Sister) and her girls, I would say that our school systems are quite different. (And I'll take ours any day of the week!) B warned me that some of the things Crosby said would make me angry.

*Alicia of A New York City Life gave me the book, "It's Not All Flowers and Sausages" by Mrs. Mimi.  An NYC teacher wrote a blog about teaching in the NYC school system and was approached about turning her blog into a book.  (Yeah, that's what happens when your blog is actually about something!)  She did, and this book is the result.  I have skim read several chapters and am excited to finish it.  The woman has a sense of humor.  I think humor was her only way of surviving. 

*Finally, my student aide gave me a copy of "Ron Clark's Essential 55."  BK aides during my teaching class and loved watching the video of "The Ron Clark Story."  My students did a bit of research on the Ron Clark Acadamies, and we spent time discussing what made Clark an effective and successful teacher.  BK bought me his book for my birthday.  I was quite touched.  It will be a nice way to remember BK in the future!

These are the books on my table right now.  I'm actually in possession of them.  (I've really got to get the borrowed books finished and returned!)  The only other books on the horizon are ones suggested by students.  They keep saying that I have to read the Mortal Instruments series: "City of Bones," "City of Ashes," "City of Glass" series by Cassandra Clare.  Maybe this summer...

Sounds like I have enough on my plate here for awhile.  So many books--so little time for reading these days!

2 comments:

Mary said...

I keep reading blogs that mention books that look really good! I LOVE Janet Evanovich! When I read her books I laugh at loud.
So many books...so little time!

A said...

Love this list!! I was thinking about "To Kill a Mockingbird" the other day and when I do, I ALWAYS think of you! Makes me wish I'd gone to school to be an English teacher :)

My mom read the book "Our Boys" and said she enjoyed it quite a bit.

Also, Ron Clark's "Excellent 11" is another good book. If I remember right, I liked the "Excellent 11" book more than the "Essential 55"... I should check those books out and reread them for some inspiration.

And last little note - I'm reading the book called "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". It's pretty good once you get past all the difficult names!