What to Read Next?

What a delicious problem.

My German "mom" sent me A LINE OF BEAUTY by Alan Hollinghurst (Winner of the 2004 Man Booker Prize) for Christmas. There was no note of explanation. I assume that if I read it, I might discover why it was the perfect gift. But not yet.

HP#6 still waits. I didn't stay up until midnight to get it, but I have had it since July. It's still not the right time.

Maybe some nonfiction? A Christmas gift to myself was OAK: THE FRAME OF CIVILIZATION. Soon. Very soon.

I'll do the actual eyeball-reading (as opposed to listening-reading) of CLOUD ATLAS this summer when I have more time. It's not warm enough for flyfishing reading (READING THE WATER).

Here's the pick -- a book AJ lent me (I'm embarrassed to say) years ago: PRINCIPAL PRODUCTS OF PORTUGAL: PROSE PIECES by Donald Hall. The piece he tabbed for me is about learning to read and reading aloud. Yes. This will be perfect. Short pieces. A book that needs to be returned, finally, to its proper bookshelf.

Book Reports

HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE by Chris Roberson is much much MUCH better than TIME TRAVELER'S WIFE.

CRISS CROSS was good, but not a Newbery book, I don't think.

Almost As Much Fun As Frindle

I think it's the Washington Post that has a vocabulary contest every year. You change one letter in a word to make a new word, and write a funny definition to go with it.

I have a nomination from the papers I've been grading: multiplacation. I'm thinking the definition could be: what a kid needs to do when BOTH parents are mad at him/her. What do you think?

:-)

Who said I couldn't have fun while grading papers?!?!

Truthiness

Franki, are you sick of me sending you clippings from USA Today about the "Strange Case of James Frey -- as Dickens might have termed it"?

That quote is from the newest one that is on its way to you through the "pony." ERICA JONG has weighed in as an author who wrote a piece of memoirish fiction that was labeled fiction, unlike Frey's backward approach in which his fictionish memoir was labeled memoir.

The punch of her essay is at the end, when she talks about how "the American language has been utterly polluted from the top down."

Let me know what you think.

On the topic of what to read, you're clearly ahead of me on new kids' books, so I won't even go there. The best adult book I've ever read (audio book-style) that not many other people seem to know about is CLOUD ATLAS. I have a print copy that I could send to you, but I don't know what the print experience of reading would be like. I'm just finishing up KITE RUNNER (way behind the rest of the world I have discovered this story). I would definitely recommend THE RED TENT. I think a culturally sanctioned, once-a-month time out for women is a good idea on so many levels. That's all I'll say. The book is about way more than that.

My January Reading

Well, I finally picked up a copy of CRISS CROSS by Lynne Rae Perkins--the Newbery Award winner this year. Actually, I can already see why it was the winner. Lots of interesting pieces to it. I'll let you know what I think when I finish. I also picked up THE THIEF by Megan Whalen Turner. Have you read it? I saw that the 3rd in the series has a starred review from Hornbook this month and I have been meaning to read this first one. Looks like a great fantasy.

My favorite children's book read in January was WING NUT by M. J. Auch. If I had read it before the awards were announced, it would have definitely been on my list of predictions. A great read. I am thinking that it would make an amazing read aloud for 4th and 5th grades. I may read it aloud later this year.

I also finished SO B. IT by Sarah Weeks. Loved it. I am in a book club to discuss it with some of my 5th graders. From the comments that I am getting before we meet, it is one of their all-time favorites. I can see why. An amazing story with characters I love.

I also read ME, DEAD DAD, AND ALCATRAZ by Chris Lynch. I liked it. It is definitely for middle schoolers. Loved the main character and I like Lynch's writing.

I could use a good adult book. I am hooked on Philippa Gregory but am not in the mood for another of her books yet. Mary Lee, any suggestions? I am thinking about BIRTH OF VENUS. Have you read it? (Tracy Chevalier liked it and I trust her reading list completely!) Also, I still have RED TENT on my stack of next reads--it's been there for years. Have you read that one? I think I'll love it once I can get started.

Time to Read

I feel like I never have enough time to read, but I spend all day reading:

reading the sky -- will it rain?
reading a face
reading a look
reading the situation on the playground -- is it play, or a fight?
reading emails
•reading students' minds
•reading the dog's mind
reading over what I've written
reading the clock
reading my own reaction
reading street signs
reading a recipe
reading the back side of my eyelids as soon as I sit down and open my book

In Honor of the 2005 Newbery Winner

In honor of this year's Newbery winner, CRISS CROSS, I decided to read last year's two-word-title, come-from-nowhere winner, KIRA KIRA. I have just one word to say about KIRA KIRA: yuck. Hopefully I will like CRISS CROSS better. It won't be hard.

For our 2006 edition of the I Have Read The Newbery book club, I am only going to read books that have two words in the title and to which no one is paying a bit of attention.

January Reading

I just finished two great books. A friend recommended THE GLASS CASTLE by Jeannette Walls. What an amazing story. It is the memoir of reporter Jeannette Walls who grew up in extreme poverty and sometimes neglect. But there is this amazing thread of love throughout the book. You come to love all of the people that she writes about. It is a great read! Everyone that I know who has read it, has loved it.

I also read TRUTH AND BEAUTY by Ann Patchett. I am a huge Ann Patchett fan (BEL CANTO is one of my all-time favorite books.) I had purchased Truth and beauty a while back and, for some reason, picked it up to read last week. It is the story of Ann's friendship with Lucy Grealy. A very complex friendship--a hard one to understand. It was another really great book. As a matter of fact, Patchett mentions a few friends throughout the book--other great authors. So, I have picked up a few of their books. You end up finishing the book wanting to be part of this circle of amazing friends, wanting to read their work, etc.

I also just started a children's book called SO B. IT by Sarah Weeks. It is not a new book but one that I have been wanting to read. A group of my 5th graders started a book club to discuss it and I decided to join. They decided to read to page 99 before Friday and I am dying to read more. But, I guess I have to follow the rules of the club since they were nice enough to include me! I'll keep you posted when I finish. I must say that I like talking about books more at the end. I can't imagine where the conversation will go when I am really just dying to read more. I am sure, as always, they'll surprise me with insights I totally missed. A huge reason why I love my work!

Mary Lee and I are going to our very favorite children's bookstore--Cover to Cover--on Saturday. I want to pick up a few of the award winning books I haven't read. Soon, it will be time to start reading the 2006 children's books. There are some good ones coming soon.

Paralinguistic

"of or having to do with factors connected with but not essentially part of language, such as tone of voice, tempo of speech, gestures, and facial expressions." (World Book Dictionary)

Whodathunk that all those little gestures and movements that I add as I read aloud to my students actually have a NAME and their own field of study (paralinguistics)?!?

Even more astounding is the fact that I had never considered the place of read-aloud in the whole scope of human literacy. If storytelling is at the beginning, and reading text silently in one's head is at what we think is the other end (but probably isn't), then read-aloud is a bridge between the completely oral/aural experience and the completely textual experience.

Hmm. Food for thought.

Thank you, St. Charles Parish, LA teachers for stretching MY thinking during our day together yesterday!

Any Predictions Out There?

With the Newbery Award being announced this coming Monday, does anyone else have any predictions? We'd love to hear them.