“the hobbit” – finished my summer reading with this one – i realized i haven’t watched the last two movies – i guess i need to do that now – i did enjoy re-reading it though – i’ve probably read the hobbit four times now – at least – just a fun book – read easier to me than the last time i’d read it

“class” – book about the gaps between rich schools and poor schools – it’s a fiction book – adult fiction – very outside of my usual reading parameters – but i enjoyed it for the topic it examined – how some schools do without – and others have more than they know what to do with

“the cubs way” – probably the book i wanted to read all summer – THE book – if had nothing else to read – the inside story of how the cubs won last year – really enjoyed it – got a few ideas from it for the classroom – which was unexpected – and nice

“one by one” – book on singleness – by an old person, like myself:) good encouraging read – i tried to share at church but no one was interested

“challenger deep” – returned to YA thanks to ms. fuller – reminded me of the memory of light – although, i personally liked “memory” better – both are very sad books that tackle a tough topic – mental illness – what’s good about the books is that you realize how hard things can be for people – and you don’t learn that unless you read or you go through it personally

j

this would be the post that kicks off summer reading

something tells me that there will be some little sixth grader reading this a couple of months from now, in a quest for extra credit – keep going, little one – you can do it!!!

“shakespeare’s secret” – why do i assign such books? little girls will grow up everywhere believing that the “cool” boy likes them – even if they’re shy – oh well – this book has always just been on the reading list b/c of much ado references

“southern league” – about the 1964 b’ham barons season – i didn’t realize that was the year the team was integrated – enjoyed reading it – was thankful the season passed peacefully for the players – although, it was by the grace of God that it did – racism hadn’t stopped then – or now – did bum me that the writer messed up rickwood’s age – and got the player nicknames wrong

“wednesday wars” – hadn’t read it in a few years – by far, my favorite book of summer reading – ms. baker is awesome

“moon over manifest” – i’d forgotten there was a running tie-in to the book – so just about all my summer reading beyond sixth grade involves running – yeah:) there are times i wonder if i’ve made the list too easy – if you’re keeping track, that’s the third book of the week on the list – i guess it just makes me madder when people say they can’t read them

“gunslinger” – read a biography on brett farve – just b/c i went to mississippi over spring break and wanted to read more about petal – turns out, brett’s not from petal – petal wasn’t even in the book – oops – it was a sad book though – good reminder that fame doesn’t mean everything

j

so, sigh, for all those struggling to read out there… i just read “crash” while waiting to get checked out for the summer – just not a very long book – probably the fifth time i’ve read it – i knew much of it by heart – i always remember the last line – so one book down…

“fall of the house of fifa” – book soccer’s governing body – lots of corruption – just amazing – and living here, we don’t hear a lot about it – so it was a great book – however, the names ran together at times – sadly – so much corruption

“hard to grip” – baseball book – a guy who’s a teacher now – about being in college – about having dreams that don’t come true – made me remember some of my 20s years

“the phenomenon” – another baseball book – rick ankiel – talented prospect who suddenly lost the ability to throw to home plate – it seems to happen more often than we hear in baseball – again, like the other book, a good read about having talent and having to come to terms with its end

“the legacy” – great book – about new zealand rugby – and how they’ve been able to dominate for years – in part, by creating rituals that make team members feel a part of something bigger – of all the books, that one is definitely one i want to use in the classroom

j

nancy atwell – a re-read, thanks to ms. fuller:) reminded me of the importance of reading interest groups – and student choice – for material – it’s always nice to read a book from a friend:)

lefty o’doul – biography of a baseball player who is in the japanese hall of fame – he helped establish relations in baseball between the two countries – and he was a fairly awesome player – started as a pitcher with the yankees before resurfacing years later as a hitter

KL – read about kuala lampur – area my church has sent people to – wanted to know things so i could know a bit more what the people there experience – very diverse city

the death of expertise – great book – although, there’s a touch of angry professor in there:) a book – which started as an essay – on the recent impulse in america to not just dismiss established truth – but to get angry about it and think one’s opinion is just good enough – it’s a very pessimistic view – but honestly, it would be hard to argue otherwise

“michael jackson” – sad book – 700 pages long – the life and death of – very talented musician – very hard time figuring out his place in the world – and loving himself – again, it made me sad to read it

two of them qualify for uppity literary…

“open” – great biography – story of andre agassi – just told in a compelling way – i’m not a huge tennis person, but there were lots of lessons in the book that make it great for gifted

“running full tilt” – new YA title – and it involves a track and xc season so you know i’d push for it – i think most kids would enjoy it – even new to running – definitely recommendable

“run with me” – new YA non-fiction – sonya richards-ross – great track star – great story as well – her peaks and valleys – and the strategy she’s used to overcome – very recommendable

“pride and prejudice – liked it much better than i did in high school – i remembered far more than i figured i would – the question now is whether or not i read the zombie spin-off – i’m not sure i loved it that much

“the handmaid’s tale – i tried – i really did – to read my feminist sci-fi warning of today’s world – i failed totally in my attempt to appreciate it – again, i tried – but not my cup of tea – at all:)

j

“dick allen” – just in time for baseball, a book about a 1970s player – even better, a white sox guy – good book to read and talk about with my dad

“my cubs” – just in time for baseball:) a great and highly recommendable book about the Cubs – and what made last year so special

“shakespeare for freedom” – just in time for… i dunno – anyway, way over my head – but i picked up a couple of things about the concepts that i can adapt to middle school – i can’t emphasize how little i think i know about shakespeare after reading this book:)

“norse mythology” – highly recommendable book – currently a fiction bestseller – by neil gaiman – retelling old norse legends – loki was a troubled one…

“to sparta” – great book about the marathon – and the runner who delivered the message – and the problems of greece today

j