so i guess it was about time that i started reading books that you all might actually find in your own local library – can’t promise i’ll do it for too long though… 🙂

“the pigman” – i forgot this one last week – garrison reminded me about it – so anyway, i read “the pigman” – and promptly threw the book in the trash at vestavia hills high school when i finished – and then returned to school and trashed the rest of the books i had – for those of you that read it in a book group, my apologies – definitely a better read in 1968 than today – lots that doesn’t translate to a current generation (some of the more troubling things: alcohol seems okay and people are constantly called “retarded”)

“chickamauga” – battlefield in northern georgia – the current plan is to go run a marathon up there this november (when alabama is undefeated:) anyway, i found the book in the county library and read through it – lots of pictures to help me maybe appreciate the course that i’ll be running through in the fall

“mount pleasant” – story about a california businessman who jumped into education after becoming a billionaire – i could relate:) anyway, the book was interesting just for the novel ideas the guy had – too bad he lost in a primary for governor last year in california

“inkheart” – i’m not a fan of 1,500 page series books, but book no. 1 was good – i’ll admit that – looking forward to now seeing the movie – i guess what i liked about inkheart was that it seemed to be an author who loves books writing about loving books – and that’s something i can relate to

“usain bolt” – bolt released this book back in the fall – or rather his press group did – great photos – decent story line – you can’t expect great literature from current superstars so i was hoping for much – and i wasn’t disappointed

finished the new testament this week while on the treadmill – took about a month – the old testament is just too long so i have no real interest in going there…

happy reading!

maf

not sure why we’re going back to journals – i was really impressed with the monologues – the averages were really high – oh well – we can’t spend our whole time memorizing things people wrote 400 years ago (related note: watched dvds this morning before church and after running 17 miles – old series i watched in junior high – “boy meets world” – and the english teacher had the kids making videos related to “much ado about nothing” – about teens’ views on love – i laughed at the episode – b/c we will NOT be making videos about love…)

as for what i read this week…

“disrupting class” – business book on education – that is, three business writers looked at applying business models to education – it was an interesting read – primarily for pointing out the flaws in a lot of what’s written about classrooms – the part about digital classrooms was dead on, i thought

“school lunch politics” – fascinating book – basically, we didn’t get to free school lunches just out of the goodness of politicians’ hearts – it had to do with giving farmers crops to sell – anyway, the program has evolved through the years as ideas on nutrition – and kids’ needs – has developed – although, the guy that was in reagan’s administration that wanted ketchup classified as a vegetable was till out there in 1982:)

i’m now between books – i tried to crash the BOB party friday and start the inkheart series – but the first book wasn’t there – you inkheart people – is it worth my time? i’m hopeful

maf

yo,
short week – again – so three journals – as for me, the books were…

“radical” by david platt – my pastor at brook hills – sort of a book about his sermons last year – good review – and good book about how the Christian life should be lived radically (subnote on reading – i read matthew-luke this week as most of my magazines didn’t come in – i think they’re encased in snow in atlanta – so i had more time than usual to read other things – like the new testament)

“operation world” – a book that’s a ba-jillion pages long – like over 900 – the book takes you through the world in a year – and details each country and how to pray for that country specifically – of course, i can’t go through something in a year – i have to work ahead:) so i’m now in march – just finished reading about benin – in africa – the average income per year is $828 (that’s not a lot of money, by the way) – so the book is a geographic and spiritual help

“run to overcome” – winner of the ’09 ny city marathon and ’04 marathon silver medalist wrote it – inspiring book – read it in a day – great book about how you can overcome obstacles in life through faith – both in yourself, in good things, and in God – the book got me motivated to train again for a marathon – i just finished one six days ago so it must be good:)

do hope you enjoy the week

sincerely,
mafeld

greetings and happy snow day!

no, sixth grade, you don’t have to write on mondays – save your generator at the house for something else other than blogging – like updating your facebook page or something (“10:17 – threw snowball at sister, 10:18 – threw snowball at sister, 10:19 – cocoa break, 10:21 – threw another snowball at sister…”)

as for my reading last week…

galileo’s daughter – by dava sobel – galileo was, of course, a famous scientist, math guy – he got in trouble for supporting the sun-centered universe – anyway, he had three daughters – one that he was close to – who liked in a convent – and the two wrote letters for all their lives, back and forth – good read

choosing to see – mary beth chapman – awesome book – sad book – funny, at times book – chapman is the wife of my favorite artist ever – steven curtis chapman – and she wrote about her life – and the tragic loss of the chapman’s five-year-old daughter – now almost three years ago – very encouraging story of how faith can carry you through dark times (also, how pathetically little i’ve ever had to “suffer”)

the winner’s manuel – by jim tressel (coach of ohio state) – tressel gives his players a book at the beginning of every year – and he sort of modified that for this book – a collection of how to use advice from others to make good decisions – pretty quick read – admire tressel and his faith now – although, not sure if it’ll make me a fan of the big ten:)

i finished the david ortiz book as well – papi – red sox player – not that good – what do you expect from a current superstar (sort of like what it would be like to read justin beiber’s book – you can’t expect literary excellence from something like that – it is what it is…) – anyway, the book did get me in baseball mode (oh, forgot, ortiz did neglect the substance he was taking in ’04 that made him test positive on a drug test – go figure that that detail was left out…)

ran a marathon in mobile sunday before hopping in the car and making it back just before the ice/snow got bad – thankful for that – thankful as well to have run a decent time – might even have a trophy coming my way…

sincerely,

maf

wow,
where to begin – oh, i remember – with the books that you all like:)

i do hope you had a wonderful break – you were missed – sniff…

“catching fire” and “mockingjay” – i really shouldn’t put these two together – even though they’re part of a trilogy – because catching fire wasn’t that interesting but mockingjay was – to say the least – regardless, mockingjay was so good that i now consider myself a hunger games’ series fan – even though i really suspect that none of you would enjoy the third book – b/c it doesn’t end in a way that most teen fiction ends – things don’t wrap up nicely – scars still show even after the healing time – which is a reality of life that we don’t always like to be reminded of – so, in short, enjoyed mockingjay – too bad i had to go through two other books to get to it

as for the rest over the break, i’ll be shorter b/c i don’t think any of it is anything you’ll enjoy…

“my life on the run” by bart yasso – second time i’ve read this book – memoir from running world’s chief officer – yasso has a ton of stories about his travels through the years – liked the part where he talked about running helping you think

“right on track” by marion jones – great, sad story about an olympian who had to give up her medals and served time in prison – great story about the criminal system – less so about running

“rope and a prayer” – ny times journalist kidnapped by a terrorist group and taken to pakistan – learned more about the detiorating situation in western pakistan

“shakespeare’s secret” – thought about using this book for my sixth grade for summer reading – the book is sort of a clue-based book – good side information about shakespeare though

“cinderella man” – made into a movie years back – which i never saw (there are lots of movies i haven’t seen – sigh…) the book was decent (which is all you can expect when you’ve had a book for six years and never gotten around to reading it b/c you don’t think you’ll be interested)

“a christmas carol” – free download with the nook two weeks ago – short, but enjoyable – at least the second time i’d read the book – scrooge came to life a bit more this time

anthology of baseball short stories – a reread, but from like 15 years ago, so i’d forgotten most of it – like with most anthologies, some stories were better than others – although none of the better ones come to mind now… 🙂

“i am the central park jogger” – borrowed from the library – no one had read it – that i could tell – like with most books remotely dark, people avoid it like the plague…

“between a rock and a hard place” – another borrowed library book – and another one not read hardly at all – this time, i think b/c the subject matter was squeamish (the guy had to cut his arm off to save his life) and b/c it was about adventure hiking (it was a large print book, and most people who read LP books aren’t going hiking… 🙂

“san pedro de m—” – book about a small town in the dominican republic that contributes a TON to the major league baseball teams – the book explained why – really enjoyed the read (very ready for baseball and warmer weather – hope springs eternal for this baseball-loving boy…)

canterbury tales – read the prologue and the knight’s tale before today – i won’t finish the poem, collection of tales, any time soon b/c i’m definitely not that into it – read some of the tales my freshman year at bama – i still have no idea what i’m reading – even with the help of translations and professors who write introductions to tell me what to read for – guess i’m just cursed in that way…

you have three journals this week – if you’re reading monday – see you tuesday

maf