My Reading Life - Linda Lackey

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys

2012-01-30T09:47:00.001-05:00

I received an advance reading copy of this tender novel last year and was reminded of it when I saw a full page ad for the book in the New York Times book review a week or two ago. I'm glad I dug it out because it sheds light on a historical event that I don't know much about. Ruta Sepetys wrote the novel out of the experiences of her Lithuanian refugee parents. The novel concerns 15 year old Lina, who is snatched by Soviet secret police from her home in her pajamas one morning along with her mother and brother, and taken by train to a Siberian prison camp. I was unaware the Baltic States lost more than one-third of their populations during the Russian genocide. It is a loss-of-innocence narrative that would be interesting and informative for high school readers.

Kayak Morning: Reflections on Love, Grief and Small Boats by Roger Rosenblatt

2012-01-16T07:58:00.004-05:00

I have long been a fan of Roger Rosenblatt's reflective writing. Back when he wrote a regular column for Time magazine, I would turn to the back of the magazine first to read him before any of the headline news. His "Man in the Water" essay is up there with Annie Dillard and Emerson in my book. So I have followed his recent career and read an excerpt from Making Toast, the book he wrote following his 38 year old daughter's unexpected death, that was printed in the New York Times. In Kayak Morning, Rosenblatt describes the cloak of grief and meditates about the business of keeping afloat among the living which he is achieving through excursions in a kayak he bought and has learned to paddle recently. My husband and I bought each other kayaks when we were married. I understand the balance metaphor that Rosenblatt is using in this lovely, little book. Like a paddle in shallow water, his narrative dips into passages of poetry, memories of stories from war zones he covered in his reporting, and daily reflections. This book should be a gift for any dear friend who loses a loved one - or a reminder to the those not enveloped in grief that loss comes without invitation and lingers like a wind on rough water.

Lovely Video if You Love Books

2012-01-10T12:03:00.000-05:00

Stop Motion Animation at Tornonto Bookstore Type

Ten Thousand Saints by Eleanor Henderson

2012-01-02T12:25:00.000-05:00

This book was an unexpected surprise from David for Christmas. I think he selected it for me because it is reminiscent of my son's high school straight edge, tattoo fascination days. The novel begins with the fatal drug overdose of a high school boy, Teddy, on New Year's eve. Teddy and his best friend, Jude, ended up at a party with Eliza, who gives Teddy cocaine and becomes pregnant with Teddy's child before his body is found the next morning. The novel seemed a bit preachy in places - certainly these character lives were messed up, but Hare-Krishna-to-the-rescue did not seem the most obvious solution. The book takes on drugs, homosexuality, AIDS, parenting, adoption, tattooing and the hard-core music scene. I stayed interested to the end - although the last chapter (two pages) seemed a forced conclusion. The book has received much praise - New York Times Book Review – Top 10 Books of 2011; New York Times – 100 Notable Books of 2011;
New Yorker – A Year’s Reading selection; O Magazine – Top 5 Fiction; Amazon – Top 10 Debut Fiction. And it was a great Christmas present.

It Choose You by Miranda July

2011-12-26T12:04:00.000-05:00

I have a bit of a fascination with Miranda July. Her previous movie You Me and Everyone We Know was oddly entertaining, so I was intrigued when I read a review of this new book, published by McSweeney's that arose from her writer's block while working on her new movie, The Future . So David got me the book and the movie for Christmas. The day after Christmas is one of my favorite days of the year - stay in my pj's and read my Christmas gifts - and I sat on the couch and read It Chooses You in one sitting. As July's website below details, she took a detour into the live of individuals advertising in The Penny Saver and spent her days fueling her creative process by meeting and interviewing an bizarrely fascinating assortment of individuals advertising items for sale. The book really informed my viewing of the movie later that night - a movie I may not have enjoyed much at all without the back story. So a wonderful day of this Christmas break was spent with the quirky creativity of Miranda July.

Miranda July's Website

My Abandonment by Peter Rock

2011-12-12T12:01:00.001-05:00

This was our December book club book, recommended by Dave Edmonds because his "other book club" had had such a lively discussion about it. And so did we. Based on a true story of a young girl and her father who were found living in the wild in Oregon, the book only features Caroline's side of the story. We decided her narration is unreliable and discussed the many questions left unanswered by the book. Even those who came to book club convinced that the story was predictable, left with questions. All in all - a great discussion book.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

2011-11-26T11:57:00.000-05:00

I finally jumped on the band wagon and read this one over Thanksgiving weekend, somewhat prompted by the fact that my non-reader son asked for the book for Christmas. After watching the trailer for the upcoming movie at lunch with my colleagues who teach this book to sophomores, I was convinced I would certainly need to read the book before seeing the movie. I wasn't disappointed and will probably read the rest of the series.

Take Your Child to a Bookstore Day

2011-11-22T11:46:00.002-05:00

Text Here

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt by Caroline Preston

2011-11-18T11:43:00.002-05:00

What a unique book. Frankie Pratt's story is told through a series of colorful scrapbook pages detailing her early love life after graduating from Vassar through the travels to Paris where she meets literary legends. I was especially surprised by the archival photographs and connections with Edna St. Vincent Millay and Sylvia Beach's Shakespeare and Co. I had read Gatsby's Girl by Preston a few years back, but this book is a visual as well as literary journey
Caroline Preston Website

Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

2011-11-15T05:56:00.001-05:00

This book came onto my radar because it was a finalist for the National Book Award. It is pure poetry. I read the whole thing while waiting for a doctors appointment.

The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman

2011-11-13T09:53:00.019-05:00

This book creeped my out. Just watch the You Tube trailer and you will already be creeped out. The main character of this disturbing novel is a therapist named Vicky Vick (silly name) who is counseling a patient who spies on people in their homes in order to test the invisibility suit he has developed. The format - unpublished notes, phone messages, and recorded transcripts of therapy sessions - was annoying too. High school students might enjoy the reality TV qualities of the book, as well as the references to drugs, but I don't have many friends I will be sharing this one with.

Niagara Falls All Over Again by Elizabeth McCracken

2011-10-30T09:49:00.002-04:00

I tried to read this vaudeville inspired buddy book a few years back and stopped. When book club picked it for November discussion, we decided to listen to it in the car on our drive to visit Massachusetts college daughter. The opening scene, especially listened to, is funny. The rest was like the highway - long and uneventful. Not a favorite.

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides

2011-10-17T09:47:00.001-04:00

Text Here

I Married You for Happiness by Lily Tuck

2011-10-15T13:02:00.000-04:00

I started this book and almost stopped because I thought it might be too depressing. Nina discovers her husband Philip has died while she was putting dinner on the table, and rather than take action, she sits with a bottle of wine by his body and recollects their lives together. Morbid? Not really. Tender? Very.

Hip Hop Parenting - 10 Years Later

2011-09-29T14:28:00.001-04:00

Here is a link to the Salon.com articleI wrote 10 years ago after struggling with my son over obscene song lyrics on a CD he wanted to buy with his own money.

Ten years later, access to any kind of music is at the fingertips of my high school students 24/7 on their digital devices of the moment. Times change but my commitment to censorship stays the same.

Banned Books Week - September 24- October 1

2011-09-28T08:51:00.000-04:00

Banned Books Week Website

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

2011-09-25T20:03:00.004-04:00

I couldn't wait to blog about this amazing new novel! The Night Circus is the next big book people are going to be talking about - like Harry Potter and the Twilight series. I had heard the hype, waited for my library copy to come in and read the enraged bloggers talking about how Starbucks got them hooked on the free digital download of the first two thirds of the book. I am happy to say, the hype is merited. The Night Circus transports readers to the most lushly described imaginative landscape that I have visited in years. Only appearing at midnight in an undisclosed European city, The Night Circus is a black and white Victorian spectacle full of illusionists, contortionists and fortune tellers. Protagonists Marco and Celia are raised to compete against each other in a contest only one of them will survive. Their slow building love story is the central focus of the novel, but a whole cast of other performers, revelers and circus orchestrators keep the action - which goes back and forth in time - moving at such a clip that it is hard to put the book down, even though you want the story to last forever. I hate to disclose too much, but this book took me to a new world I didn't want to leave - even though I wanted to finish quickly and start spreading the word. I have to start knitting myself a red scarf, because I am a reveur in "Le Cirque des Reves...The Circus of Dreams"

The Night Circus book trailer
The Night Circus

Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

2011-09-18T19:59:00.001-04:00

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ranson Riggs

2011-08-20T15:48:00.005-04:00

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
So the last book of summer - better make it one worth talking about on the first day of school!
On Friday morning, David and I spent our last weekday of summer visiting Lucky's Cafe in Tremont because we had heard about the great breakfasts at Lucky's (which did not disappoint). But we also had the serendipitous adventure of finding a new independent bookstore in Cleveland - just as we were being disgusted by the number of cars in the Border's parking lot for the Going Out of Business Sale!
We happened upon Visible Voice bookstore and (say it ain't so) Wine Bar in Tremont. We went in and admired the space - just the right amount of books for browsing, with a full stock of wine behind the cash register and a side patio music venue. Perfect!

Wandering around, chatting with Mitch who was working behind the counter, I complimented him on the store and added that we do not need any new books. But my eyes were drawn to the cover of Miss Peregrine's Home - a book I had seen on the shelf at Carmichael's Books in Louisville at the beginning of the summer. Written by a guy who graduated from Kenyon College in Ohio and featuring the oddest collection of found photographs, it still called to me, and looked like an easy and intriguing "last weekend of summer" read. A little bit like Lemony Snicket for adults, the book trailer I found is a perfect introduction to the mystery of peculiar children on a mysterious island and a little time travel thrown in for good measure-
Book Trailer on YouTube
Author Explains Photos

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

2011-08-16T14:56:00.000-04:00

The Family Fang: A Novel
As the end of the summer approaches, I panic about which books I most want to spend my last days reading. I had The Family Fang on my library order list, but rather than wait I downloaded the book to my iPad and I'm so glad that I did. The premise of this novel is deliciously nutty - Caleb and Camille Fang are performance artist to raise their two children, Annie and Buster, to accept their gonzo-theatrical lifestyle as "the norm". These characters are crazy, their mad-cap stunts are hysterical, and the issues of family and art at the center of the novel are pretty genuine. Go to the author's website to see his tattoo of the cover art of this book, which even he believes people will be talking about long enough to keep his tattoo in fashion - Kevin Wilson's Blog

A Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlant

2011-08-16T08:55:00.002-04:00

Turn of Mind
There certain books, given the status of my life, that I should not read - and I knew this was one from the start. A crime novel about an osteopathic surgeon with early-onset Alzheimers who may have murdered her best friend and surgically removed four fingers from the corpse is not the best book for a reader who almost daily visits her mother in an Alzheimers facility. But after I tried to convince a shopper at my - then - local Borders that I knew the title of the book he was looking for even though the helpful Border's employee did not, I decided to get it from the library and give it a go. Yes - it disturbed me beyond compare. Yes - it gave creepily accurate descriptions of a residential facility for Alzheimers patients, but it was not a tidy tale. Since the doctor suffering memory loss is the narrator, she is both unreliable and impossible to follow. The mixture of italics and regular typeface that was suppose to distinguish between now and then was confusing, and I think I figured out who committed the crime pretty early on. You probably will too!

This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman

2011-08-07T10:24:00.004-04:00

This Beautiful Life: A Novel
The house of cards on the cover of this novel is an accurate metaphor for what happens to a family when the teenage son puts a sexual video of the girl he shunned at a party up on the internet for his friends to see. As a parent and teacher of teenagers, the subject matter of This Beautiful Life reminds me of the world these kids are really living in and the need to teach and practice cyber-safety.

Ireland Travel Blog

2011-08-01T22:22:00.000-04:00

Our 2011 Trip to Ireland

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

2011-07-27T11:41:00.002-04:00

Mudbound
My cousin has been begging me to read this book for a year or more, so a digital version went with me to Ireland on the iPad. I know totally understand her urging! Mudbound is a Southern saga, told through alternating narrators, of post WWII racism as a black and a white war hero return to the Jim Crow South. The reviewers that compare Hillary Jordan to Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor are right. This is a heart-wrenchingly beautiful book - but it is also an importantly moral book.

The Very Thought of You by Rosie Alison

2011-07-24T11:39:00.003-04:00

The Very Thought of You: A Novel
I received an advanced copy of this novel about the time I decided I needed a paperback for the plane trip to Ireland. I almost never travel with a book I haven't at least read a chapter or two of before departing, in case I want to throw the book into an airport dumpster before the flight departs. The beginning of this WWII love story intrigued me enough to make the cut. Anna Sands is a young girl evacuated from London and placed in a make-shift school aI got To Be Sung Under Water from the library after reading so many favorable reviews. Anna Sands is a young girl evacuated from London to a make-shift school on the estate of Thomas and Elizabeth Ashton. Thomas is confined to a wheel-chair, Elizabeth can't get pregnant, Anna is a very observant youth. Do you see the trajectory of this love story? I did too and was a little let down - especially since the book was short-listed for the Orange Prize last year in the UK. A little too melodramatic.

McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in Ireland by Pete McCarthy

2011-07-13T11:36:00.003-04:00

McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery In Ireland
Such a hoot I don't know where to begin. The last of the Irish books, I finished this just days before our trip began. It is the true story of Pete McCarthy's quest to visit any pub called McCarthy that he came upon in Ireland. As I was reading this book, I laughed aloud at the crazy folks and situations the author described, all the while thinking this cannot be an accurate depiction of authentic Irish pubs and locals. Guess what - it was and it is and it should be a must-read for anyone planning a trip to Ireland. Plus - we saw it proudly displayed in several pubs we visited.

To Be Sung Underwater by Tom McNeal

2011-07-11T11:32:00.002-04:00

To Be Sung Underwater: A Novel
I got To Be Sung Under Water from the library after reading so many favorable reviews. It is a story of adult loss and longing. Judith has an established life with her husband and daughter in LA where she works editing film. The nagging "what if" of her life surfaces when she suspects her husband's infidelity and decides to return to Nebraska to find Willy Blunt, the wild-child love of her youth. It will sweep you under.

The Battle Hymn of Stonewall Nix by Baker Lawley

2011-07-08T11:23:00.001-04:00

The Battle Hymn of Stonewall Nix by Baker Lawley is the best YA novel that you can't runout and read - yet! Lawley sat next to me at AP grading in June. Since he grew up in Mississippi, I started talking to him about the South and blues music and by the end of the week, he agreed to let me read his book that is targeted at young male readers - a demographic we agreed is underserved. Protagonist Stonewall Nix is the son of a rabid Civil War demonstrator in the sleepy town of Pine Bough. He and his best friend Clyde, an African American high school football star who also happens to play in the marching band, lazily contemplate the LCDs - lowest common denominators - of high school and the One More Reason's why life in their dying old lumber mill town sucks. Then, just at the Board of Ed is getting ready to cut marching band from the curriculum, the new girl comes to town. Motivated by teen lust, a share love of, of all things, marching band and American history, and Sadie's red hair, Stoney decides to join his father's reenactors for the first time to impress the girl. Lawley' book embraces the awkwardness of high school, reaffirms the importance of having a sense of place, and, most importantly, is a love song to the blues.

State of Wonder by Ann Pachett

2011-07-06T08:09:00.001-04:00

State of Wonder

I got this book from the library because I was prepared to be disappointed as I was with Pachett's last novel, Run, but challenged myself to read it because it has been described as a modern day Heart of Darkness. And that it was. Dr. Marina Singh works as a researcher for a pharmaceutical company and is sent to the Amazon the unravel the mystery behind a co-worker's apparent death. Once she gets there, she learns the secret of "the work" that has been going on for years. Passages of it are very reminiscent of HOD, as we call it in AP class, but the book was predictable, laden with heavy handed imagery and an ending that is just plain corny.

The Dork of Cork by Chet Raymo

2011-07-01T11:31:00.002-04:00

The Dork of Cork

As I began to wind down the Irish Books Challenge, I decided to get a used copy of The Dork of Cork from Amazon. When the dog eared paperback arrived, the cover didn't suggest a novel of any promise. The central character is 43 year old Frank Bois who is a soon-to-be-published author - and a dwarf! Isolated by his perceived ugliness, Frank nonetheless communicate his love of beauty - of beautiful women who he admires from afar and of the stars. In the end I was glad I made the effort to find and read this little gem.

Brooklyn by Colm Toibin

2011-06-30T07:54:00.004-04:00

Brooklyn: A Novel

Keeping with the Irish books challenge just a while longer, I finished Brooklyn by Colm Toibin. It is a nice story - that seems to be the best word - just nice. Young Eilis Lacey from Enniscorthy, Ireland finds herself following the promise of a job and a new life in America. Her adventure is fraught with the stereotypical obstacles - a manipulative landlady, various gentleman courters, and alarming news that sends her back to Ireland where everything seems - is it too cliche to say, greener! Aside from the fact that her last name is a letter off from mine and I now must find Enniscorthy on the map, it was just a pleasure read.

The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier

2011-06-27T11:28:00.003-04:00

The Illumination: A Novel

I am a big fan of Carmichael's independent bookstore in Louisville, KY. Every year when we go to Louisville to do AP grading, we make a stop at Carmichael's and, since I certainly don't need any books, I only buy one if the store employee can convince me to buy a title I have never heard of. This year's suggestion from Jenn Watson, the Carmichael's clerk, was The Illumination by Kevin Brockmeier. The book is a series of inter-locking stories connected by a mysterious outbreak of physical pain made visible called "the Illumination" and the talisman seems to be a journal of daily love notes left behind after it's owner perishes in a car accident. As the journal falls into different hands, various character's lives are changed. The book is a subtle celebration of the connectedness of our lives.

Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann

2011-06-26T08:04:00.001-04:00

Let the Great World Spin: A Novel/a>

Confession. David and I started this book last summer on our long road trip to Vermont, and although we were both enjoying it at the time, I didn't rush to complete it UNTIL I realized that it qualifies as another Irish challenge book. I shouldn't have waited so long. Let the Great World Spin is a series of interrelated observer viewpoints of the famous tightrope walk between the Twin Tower by Phillipe Petit in August of 1974. Each story is compelling - the Irish priest who befriends a group of local prostitutes, a group of women meeting to mourn sons lost to the senselessness of war, a hippy artist couple, some cell-wave hacking techies and a New York city judge. More compelling is the kinetic thread of connection between them. Frank McCourt - the Irish literary hero of recent tines - reviewed the book with the promise that this is a book you will take off your bookshelf to revisit time and again. I agree.

The Solitude of Prime Numbers by Paolo Giordano

2011-06-24T11:24:00.002-04:00

The Solitude of Prime Numbers: A Novel

This book reminded me a little of last summer's read, One Day, in the way that Mattia and Alice connect as teenagers but live apart - as prime numbers - destined to be alone. I suppose some of the mathematical metaphor was wasted on me, but I love the prose and Giordano's tenderness toward his fragile and flawed characters.

The Borrower by Rebecca Makkai

2011-06-20T18:25:00.000-04:00

The Borrower: A Novel

After the long week of scoring AP essays, I can usually barely get my eyes to focus on the page, let alone read for pleasure, but I had started Rebecca Makkai's The Borrower while my students were testing on the last day of finals and I couldn't wait to get back to it. It is a literary kidnapping novel. Lucy Hull, a 26 year old librarian takes Ian Drake, 10 year old, book-craving library patron on a spontaneous road trip when he runs away from home and she finds him hiding in the library. The writing is clever, the references to beloved children's literature are plentiful, the story is sweet and it can't be the best book I read this summer already - but I have a feeling it might be.

Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee

2011-05-30T21:19:00.002-04:00

Although I'm seriously behind on writing my review blurbs - this will be corrected when school ends next week - I have to give my shout out to an awesome book store we visited while in Milwaukee this weekend for the wedding of a former student. Boswell Book Company is on a cool street that was worth the short drive from our hotel. Stacie William's short story book display caught David's eye, and although we once again had promised we were not there to buy books, Stacie's recommendations sent us home with Volt, a story collection by Alan Heathcock that David started on the plane. Check out their Boswell's book blog.

Senior Tribute First Period

2011-05-25T20:36:00.001-04:00

First Period Senior Slideshow

Senior Tribute Third Period

2011-05-25T13:49:00.003-04:00

AP English Third Period Senior Slideshow

Citrus County by John Brandon

2011-05-25T06:02:00.002-04:00

Citrus County (McSweeney's Rectangulars)

This one took me by surprise. I ran out and got Citrus County from the library when I read that John Brandon had been named one of New York Public Library's Young Lion Award winners and novel is published by McSweeney's. An awkward middle school boy named Toby is the protagonist at the center of this equally hilarious and disturbing tale. I want other readers to have the same reaction I had when I got to the end of the first chapter and realized this book would be a wild ride.

The Uncoupling by Meg Wollitzer

2011-05-13T14:13:00.005-04:00

The Uncoupling
Meg Wollitzer loves to tackle the awkwardness of sexual relationships. Her new novel is about a high school whose production of Lysistrata causes a spell to be cast over the whole suburban neighborhood. Suddenly wives and girlfriends lose interest in sex! Amusing premise and clever characters, especially the husband/wife English teacher team, kept me chuckling through this novel.

No Permanent Scars by Michael Hemery

2011-05-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

No Permanent Scars
Michael Hemery is a former student and very good friend, so unbiased praise for his memoir about growing up in the same town where I teach and live is impossible. Sorry! But I enthusiastically recommend it to any one interested in reliving a lazy summer day of bicycle riding in the suburbs, or the agony of a poorly timed allergic reaction, or the wrath of an evil music teacher. Mike's combination of nostalgia and coming-of-age experiences vividly recreate not only his childhood, but the childhood of any one blessed enough to grow up the only child of loving parents who never sugar coated life's lessons. Perhaps because I am also an only child, the book rings true. The cover photograph only shows the hands of Mike's dad, whose memory the book is dedicated to, and whose wisdom and frankness permeate the vignettes.

Mike Hemery's website

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To by D.C. Pierson

2011-05-02T08:16:00.000-04:00

The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To (Vintage Contemporaries)

Love and Summer by William Trevor

2011-04-26T08:17:00.000-04:00

Love and Summer: A Novel

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell

2011-04-02T14:10:00.002-04:00

Swamplandia! (See all Contemporary Literature)

Because I am a huge fan of Karen Russell's story "St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves", I anxiously anticipated this novel and wanted to love it and rave about it to my friends. Developed from a short story, "Ave Wrestles the Alligator", Swamplandia is the story of an alligator wrestling family that manages the Swamplandia theme park. The plot is quirky, the characters are less than believable and the best I can say is I'm glad I read it but would unenthusiastically recommend it to a friend.

Another Cool Independent Bookstore

2011-03-28T22:37:00.000-04:00

Glad to have found Park Road Books today. Although I walked in saying I didn't need any more books, the great recommendations of Sally Brewster had me walking out with three new ones to add to the to-be-read pile.

Pomegranate Soup by Marsha Mehran

2011-02-26T08:12:00.006-05:00

Pomegranate Soup: A Novel
- book #3 in the Irish Book Challenge - was a delightful read for a snow day in February. Appropriately described on the cover as reminiscent of Chocolat and Under the Tuscan Sun, the book tells the story of the Aminpour sisters, who have fled Iran and opened the Babylon Cafe in Ballinacroagh Ireland. Each chapter of the novel begins with a recipe that figures into the plot of the chapter somehow. At first I thought the book was going to be a fluffed up romance, but the emotional baggage that the sisters have brought along with them makes the book more complex, weaving in the history of the Iranian Revolution. I am tempted to try a recipe or two - especially fessenjoon - a chicken, walnut, pomegranate dish. Also, one of the characters climbs Croagh Patrick in the novel, as did the author, who is married to Irish American.

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

2011-02-19T08:44:00.001-05:00

Skippy Dies: A Novel
- Book #2 of my Irish book challenge - was worth every minute of the time it took to read the 661 pages of Skippy Dies. I would loosely describe it as Harry Potter meets Animal House meets Dead Poet's Society. The setting is Dublin's Seabrook College for boys, and the title delivers it's promise early when 14 year old Daniel "Skippy" Juster dies on the floor of Ed's Doughnut Shop during a doughnut eating contest with his pudgy science-geek roommate, Ruprecht Van Doren. The book, which is sometimes sold under three separate covers, flashes back through the first two books, Hopeland and Heartland, to give readers the background into Skippy's demise - which includes drug-dealers, deluded and corrupt educators and young hormone-racing love. The final section, Ghostland, finds teenages trying to deal with the loss of a friend and sort out the mysteries of death. But the absolute joy of this entertaining story was the literary richness that it offers as well. Robert Graves, Rudyard Kipling, Robert Frost and some engaging history lessons mingle with some beautifully written passages about the redeeming qualities of story-telling to make this a book I won't stop talking about for a long time!

The Outside Boy by Jeanine Cummins

2011-02-02T10:48:00.004-05:00

So as a way to spice up my already over-active reading goals, I have decided to take Laura Miller's suggestion and enter into a reading challenge for 2011. Since we have been talking about making a trip to Ireland, I chose the Irish Reading Challenge and decided on The Outside Boy: A Novel
as my first read because my cousin Martha had been trying to get me to read this book last summer. What a great novel to begin with. Set in Ireland in 1959, it is the story of 12 year old Christy Hurley's quest to determine the real story of his mother's life. He has been told by his father that his mother died giving birth to him - that they only shared 7 minutes on this earth. The story is sweet and engaging but also very informative as I knew nothing about the Pavee culture. Reading this novel led me to research these nomadic Irish travelers who are largely tinkers and constitute 0.5 percent of Ireland's population today.

Deadline

2011-01-19T18:01:00.001-05:00

I have long been a Chris Crutcher fan and bought this book when it came out back on 2009 but hadn't gotten around to reading it until now, when I have to decide which novel to use with my Junior students 2nd semester. This book has everything that high school kids would love, and is a pretty quick and easy read. The premise is a bit far-fetched. Ben Wolf discovers that he has leukemia just before the start of his senior year and decides to tell no one. He spends his year going after the affections of a hotttie girl, trying his hand at football, befriending the local drunk and arguing with his history teacher. The book touches on pretty strong issues - sexual abuse, pedophilia, drinking and drug abuse. I'm going to recommend it to students but not teach it this year. It is a great high school book.

Sunset Park by Paul Auster

2011-01-07T18:11:00.000-05:00

David gave me this book for Christmas and Paul Auster is a great writer, but the story was so-so and I found myself putting it down more often than picking it up. Two stars.

Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon

2010-12-31T15:38:00.000-05:00

Luckily, a Christmas break lunch visit with Salvatore Scibona reminded me that I had purchased Lord of Misrule the day after it won the National Book Award. On a strong recommendation from Salvatore, I started the book on December 27 and read it as much as I could over the remainder of the Christmas break week - stealing time from family visits and getting out of bed to read after everyone else was asleep. Although I didn't think that a book about horse racing would appeal to me at all, the beauty of Jaimy Gordon's prose made the subject matter secondary. Her vernacular was a quirky as the names of her minor characters - Deucey Gifford, Medicine Ed, Kiddstuff, Suitcase Smithers, Two-Tie, and Joe Dale Bigge. I had to read slowly to isolate plot details from West Virginia dialect of stall conversations and metaphoric descriptions. I would describe it as something like the Cannery Row of horse racing. A lovely Christmas present to myself was carving out the time to read this beautiful book.

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall

2010-12-23T15:30:00.000-05:00

My second ibook was a Christmas break comic treat that allowed me to read early in the a.m. by the light of the Christmas tree with my backlit iPad screen. Quite a luxury. I loved the crazy complications that 4 wives and 28 children brought to Golden Richard's life. This book reminds me a bit of a John Irving novel, with plot details that evoke wry laughter.

False Friend by Myla Goldberg

2010-11-07T15:14:00.000-05:00

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa

2010-10-07T15:13:00.000-04:00

Room by Emma Donahue

2010-10-07T15:07:00.001-04:00

I can't say enough about how heartbreaking and lovely this book is.

Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

2010-09-17T15:13:00.002-04:00

Much anticipated and worth the wait.

Labor Day by Joyce Maynard

2010-09-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

Super Sad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

2010-08-16T20:00:00.003-04:00

Gary Shteyngart is the new American satirist. I plan to use sections of this crazy, funny, cautionary novel opposite Brave New World in AP English this winter. It is a super entertaining and pretty spot-on depiction of modern relationships, politics, economic disaster and obsession with technology.

Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman

2010-08-14T19:59:00.001-04:00

A wedding night tragedy opens this novel which follows the lives of the family members of the bride and groom through the next four summers. For some reason, none of the characters really won my sincere support. Waldman is the wife of novelist Michael Chabon.

Strangers at the Feast by Jennifer Vanderbes

2010-08-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

Wow! This one may win the prize for the book that kept me up the latest on a summer night turning pages to find out how Vanderbes' Thanksgiving day tragedy would finally end. The Olson family has plenty of issues - unmarried daughter Ginny's recently adopted, mute Indian child, son Douglas's strained relationship with his wife Denise, and the unspoken wounds in the marriage of the parents, Eleanor (the perfectionist) and Gavin (the Vietnam war-scarred quiet man). Mix in a malfunctioning oven, two angry teenager burglars, and a heavy serving of mayhem with dessert and you have a shockingly violent novel that somehow also had me snickering.

The New England Vacation Blog

2010-08-04T11:58:00.006-04:00

Our Vacation Blog
Just back from 2 weeks and 2,700 miles of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, including visits to several Robert Frost sites and a search through Cornish, New Hampshire for evidence of the late great J.D. Salinger.

The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman

2010-08-04T11:56:00.003-04:00

I wanted this novel to have more connection to cookbooks and less concern with dot-com-computer-tech-post-9/11. Half of the storyline is about one of two sisters - Emily who is the CEO of a start up silicon valley company and Jess who works for an eccentric used book collector. Goodman tries to do too much and I would much rather have had the book focus on Jess's storyline - especially with the lovely cover which is what initially caught my eye.

Half Broke Horses by Jeanette Walls

2010-08-02T19:55:00.001-04:00

Our August book club selection was this fictionalization of the biography of Jeanette Walls' maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith. I am a big fan of Walls' memoir The Glass Castle, and for readers who wondered, as I did, how her parents could have ever become such risk-takers, this novel, at least, fills in the details on her mother's side. Rose Mary, Jeanette's mother, was raised by a renegade horse-breaker, school teacher, no-nonsense ranch wife. We listened to this book on audio tape driving home from Vermont and Jeanette Wall's own reading made it even more enjoyable. I'm looking forward to talking about the book with my daughter who is about to finish The Glass Castle as part of her summer reading for Honor English 11.

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

2010-07-29T11:54:00.001-04:00

After swearing off buying any new books this summer, the cover of this novel sold me, but the interrelated chapters detailing the lives of musicians and spanning several decades made it a difficult novel to follow. The biggest surprise of the novel was the Powerpoint presentation style of one of the last chapters. The novel is clever, the portrayal of aging rock stars is entertaining and the satiric wit is sharp.

I'd Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman

2010-07-25T11:53:00.001-04:00

I enjoyed Laura Lippman's What the Dead Know so much that I was thrilled to score a copy of this novel to review. Although I felt pretty creeped-out by the story of a middle-aged woman who is contacted from prison by the man who she sent there decades before, I turned the pages of this novel pretty quickly to see how the story would unfold. Protagonist Eliza Benedict is busy mothering her own young children when she receives a disturbing message from Walter Bowman, a man who is facing execution for molesting and murdering young women, as well as holding young Eliza hostage back in her teens. Flashbacks propel this psychological thriller.

The Lovers by Vendela Vida

2010-07-20T11:49:00.001-04:00

This was one of my favorite books of the summer, perhaps because of the lovely descriptions of the coastline in Turkey where the main character, Yvonne, goes to try to recapture some of her honeymoon memories following the death of her husband. Although is begins as a story about travel, it quickly becomes a psychological character study and then abruptly turns into an examination of redemption after an accidental death helps Yvonne to reckon with her relationship with her own child. Vida is married to Dave Eggers, and as a literary couple, they are the ones to watch in the next decades.

One Day by David Nicholls

2010-07-15T11:47:00.003-04:00

This novel follows the relationship of Dexter and Emma, beginning on the day they graduate from college in 1988 through 20 years of bad jobs, missed opportunities and love loss. Each chapter is set on July 15th of the next year, and their on and off again courtship made for an easy, entertaining summer read.

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst

2010-07-12T10:05:00.002-04:00

If you are looking for a book to read on the beach or plane tomorrow, pick up this literary mystery. Fictitious author Octavia Frost is on her way to drop off a manuscript at her publisher's office when she sees the television news story about her rock-star son being taken in as a suspect in his girlfriend's murder. The novel is enhanced by samples of Frost's own fiction - endings and alternate endings of her novels between the chapters that advance the storyline of the murder investigation. Apparently, Octavia has a hard time selecting the right ending for her books - no so for Parkhurst.

The Rehearsal by Eleanor Catton

2010-07-09T20:46:00.000-04:00

A high school music teacher is caught having an affair with a student. I wish I thought that was a novel idea. What made this book interesting to me was the character of the saxaphone teacher who functions as a manipulative force in the coming together of several student's lives. I was reminded of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. Eleanor Catton's prose makes this read worth your time.

The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart

2010-07-06T20:44:00.001-04:00

I have finally found a way to score some advanced reader copies of books and this was the first to steal my attention this summer. What a wonderful little story. I had no idea that the Tower of London was used as a menagerie on several occasions throughout history. The novel focuses on the strain created in his marriage when one of the Beefeaters is approached to manage the tower zoo. My favorite part of the novel was the alternate story line concerning the Beefeater's disgruntled wife and her odd co-worker at the London Underground's Lost Properties Unit. Funny, warm and satisfying, this book will be available August 10 from Doubleday.

Old School by Tobias Wolfe

2010-06-29T20:56:00.002-04:00

Our book club selection for June proved to be a quick read perfectly tailored for English teachers. Set at a male boarding school in the sixties, the book examines what it means to be a teacher and a writer. Robert Frost, Ayn Rand and Ernest Hemingway are each visiting authors slated to come visit the school. Prior to these visits, the boys write a contest piece that determines which of them will be selected to have a private interview with the visiting author. I will recommend this book to teacher friends - there should be a lot of book club discussion fodder here.

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson

2010-06-28T20:55:00.001-04:00

We went to see the Swedish subtitled movie of The GIrl with the Dragon Tattoo on Friday night, so I was anxious to finish this last installment in the trilogy. Wow!!!! Up really late turning pages at the end of Lisbeth's trial last night. I love these books!

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

2010-06-22T20:53:00.001-04:00

My official first day of summer break following a week of grading AP English Literature and Composition essays in Louisville was spent reading Aimee Bender's new novel. I am a huge fan of Bender's quirky characters and this book did not disappoint. The main character in this work of magical realism is a little girl named Rose who can taste emotions in her food - from the sadness of her mother's lemon cake to the sterility of school cafeteria food. I devoured the book in one sunny day on the deck - no pun intended.

Elliot Allagash by Simon Rich

2010-06-03T12:38:00.000-04:00

Light Boxes by Shane Jones

2010-05-31T14:19:00.000-04:00

Tinkers by Paul Harding

2010-05-30T14:17:00.000-04:00

AP Senior Tribute

2010-05-28T07:34:00.001-04:00

Everything Matters by Ron Currie Jr.

2010-05-24T19:36:00.002-04:00

I scrambled to order this book from the library when no bookstore around had a copy, then ran out of patience and ordered one from Amazon, which came the same day as the library copy. Was it worth it? For sure. Junior Thibodeau learns in utero that the world will end on June 15, 2010 at 3:44 pm. I had to read it quickly. Junior's family is a mess, his knowledge is pretty weighty and he squanders his youth, perhaps because he knows he will die at age 36. The novel alternates chapters titled with the names Junior's friends and family members with chapters that count backwards to his presumed last minute on earth narrated by the voice (is it God? - probably not) in his head. I got a little tired of the book in the middle section, but when I got the the final section, it kept me rapidly turning pages. If the book is a gimmick book, it was a gimmick that held me - and I think will have enough danger, drugs and derelict behavior to hold student readers as well.

A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick

2010-04-14T08:47:00.000-04:00

What's a vacation without a good audio book for the road? This one is a bit heavy on the melodrama, but a modern twist on a classical love story just the same. Ralph Pruitt's mail-order search for a reliable wife brings Catherine Land to his remote Wisconsin homestead. The mystery of her sensuous past and the deep seated remorse he carries over his past sins makes this almost a bodice-ripper. Almost. I can see this becoming a movie - soon.

Postcards from a Dead Girl by Kirk Farber

2010-04-13T08:42:00.000-04:00

I rounded out my Spring Break reading with this quirky story about a young man, Sid, who believes he is receiving postcards from Zoe, his old girlfriend, sent from all over the world. Since he is a telemarketer for adventure travel packages, Sid departs on a journey of his own and finally the reader learns the reasons for Sid's confusion about life. Also a quick read, I enjoyed Sid's self- deprecating narration.

Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninger

2010-04-07T08:35:00.000-04:00

I picked this up on cover image appeal needing a Spring Break travel book. A kayaker's love story. The novel opens with a tragic death and then flashes back to when Cobb and Mary met at a campsite along Maine's Allagash River. Whoever described it as Henry David Thoreau meets Nicholas Sparks had it right. Have a tissue ready for the end.

Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

2010-04-02T08:30:00.000-04:00

I have only seen the trailer for the movie made recently from this novel. The book was an edge of your chair, page turner. Short chapters, mesmerizing characters and a fast paced mystery plot. I read it in two days and was not disappointed.

Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

2010-02-15T09:10:00.002-05:00

I almost would have taken this long novel back to the library without reading it if it had not been for the full page advertisement in the New York Times Book Review last Sunday for its paperback release with glowing recommendations from John Irving. I read most of the 500 plus pages over this long Presidents Day weekend and wept this morning at the final scenes. Verghese is a medical doctor who also studied at Iowa Writers Workshop, and the novel is so full of accurately described medical procedures that I'm sure I missed a lot. However, it is the best book I have read in the last year. Set in Ethiopia and America, it is the story of love and loss between identical twin brothers and their famous, but estranged surgeon father. Get it in paperback and start reading today. It will be a long time before I stop talking about this book.

Starting Out in the Evening by Brian Morton

2010-02-07T08:58:00.001-05:00

I found this gem of a book at one of our favorite Massachusetts bookstores, The Montague Book Mill, whose slogan is "Books you don't need in a place you can't find". I always find something browsing there and this time I brought home and immediately devoured Starting Out in the Evening. Heather Wolfe is a twenty-something graduate student who locates and pursues the somewhat reclusive seventy-something novelist Leonard Schiller. Her plan is to write a masters thesis on his work that will bring his older novels back into print. I cringed when it looked like it was going to be a smarmy love story, but the novel focuses in the end on Schiller's relationship with his adult daughter, Ariel and her struggles with love. It is a literary novel, with plenty of quotes, allusions and references to other writers and the craft of writing. When I found out a movie was made of this book, starring Frank Langella, and it had gotten good reviews, I couldn't wait to see it - and of course - was greatly disappointed. It did not include one of my favorite scenes in the book, when Frank returns to France to keep a promise to his deceased wife, and the comet scene in the end. Oh well. I should have known the book is ALWAYS better.

The Girl with Glass Feet by Ali Shaw

2010-01-22T08:51:00.000-05:00

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I have hit upon some great fiction for these cold winter Ohio nights. The Girl with Feet of Glass is a magical fairy tale on one level and complicated mystery on another. The fragile young heroine, Ida Maclaird, is a stranger in the icy bogland called St. Hauda's Land. She meets a local photographer, Midas Crooks, who struggles to help her when he learns that Ida is slowly turning to glass.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford

2010-01-18T09:38:00.002-05:00

A lovely read. Ford uses a split narrative to alternate between Henry Lee's childhood in 1942 when he meets Keiko Okabe and 1986, when the Panama Hotel's cache of treasures from interred Japanese families becomes public. Henry is forced by his father to wear an "I am Chinese" button and his growing affection for Japanese Kieko creates family tensions. The two young teens are separated by the war, Henry finds a Chinese bride, but the years do not dull his longings for what might have been. The book is more sweet than bitter.

Floodmarkers by Nic Brown

2010-01-14T09:55:00.000-05:00

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When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

2010-01-10T09:53:00.000-05:00

Under the Feet of Jesus by Maria Helena Viramontes

2010-01-08T09:19:00.000-05:00

Viramontes came to speak last summer at the AP Literature and Composition grading session in Louisville, so I got to meet her and hear her speak about her fiction. I snagged a free copy of Under the Feet of Jesus at NCTE in Philadelphia back in November and read it on one January snow day. Viramontes writes about immigrant migrant workers and has been compared to Steinbeck for her commitment to Californian labor culture. This book is lovely and I was pleasantly surprised when is did not turn toward the tragic ending I foresaw.

Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro

2010-01-03T09:50:00.003-05:00

Also a Christmas gift from David, these stories by Alice Munro offer a sharp contrast to Meloy's clipped plots. Munro weaves her stories - lots of detail, many characters, broad bands of time. I haven't really read much Munro, but I certainly understand why her fiction receives so much praise.

Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

2009-12-30T09:49:00.001-05:00

This Christmas gift from my husband was a lovely read over break. Meloy's short stories are contemporary and moving. I began at the back of the book with "O Tannenbaum", for obvious reasons. The story involves a couple out to cut down the perfect Christmas tree when they encounter another couple, stranded on the side of the road. Coincidently named Bonnie and Clyde, the strangers add an element of danger to a peaceful outing.

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver

2009-12-27T09:46:00.001-05:00

A lacuna is an underwater cave, or a missing section of text in a manuscript, or according to the definition of Lacunar Amnesia, amnesia about a specific event. So, although I am a huge Kingsolver fan, I took a long time getting into this book because I hadn't had the time to immerse myself in it and kept forgetting what I had read previously each time I picked it up. Christmas break gave me the necessary time to plunge into it, and it was well worth the time. Harrison William Shepherd keeps notebooks. These notebooks, published later by his secretary, Violet Brown, who had a hand keeping some of them from being burned, record Harrison's interactions with a cast of colorful historic characters - Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, and Lev Trotsky, to name just a few.

The Solemn Lantern Maker by Merlinda Bobis

2009-11-22T20:38:00.002-05:00

I love serendipitous finds like this book. Browsing the Random House booth at NCTE where they were giving away three free books to teachers on opening day of the conference, I pick this up. It satisfied three criteria - (1) cover appeal, (2) a seasonal message and (3) a jacket blurb that piqued my curiosity - "It's six days until Christmas, and on the bustling streets of Manila a mute ten-year-old boys sells his version of the stars." Magical and riveting book.

Riley Park by Diane Tullson

2009-11-22T20:33:00.002-05:00

I read this tiny YA novel in the airport coming home from NCTE. I was sent on the mission by colleagues at SHS to find a new book for 10th grade basic students; I think I have found it. Recommended in a session at NCTE about new books for teens, Riley Park details the after math of a party in the park that ends in violence.

NCTE Annual Convention

2009-11-17T11:30:00.001-05:00

Philadelphia
NCTE Annual Convention

Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing by Lydia Peelle

2009-11-17T11:28:00.002-05:00

This book of short stories is amazing.

The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller

2009-10-17T11:26:00.001-04:00

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore

2009-09-06T11:24:00.000-04:00

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

2009-08-21T15:48:00.003-04:00

When it comes time to choose the last book of the summer, I am always torn. So little time, so many books - as the saying goes. But when I read an article in Southern Living Magazine about the new Pat Conroy novel set in Charleston, South Carolina, I went out and bought the book the day it went on sale. I'm a sucker for Conroy's blowsy prose. This book is supposed to be Conroy's love song to Charleston, and it is. The plot drags on, the characters are caricatures (the Southern debutante, the first Black Police Chief, the buxom film star), but my friend Anne once said reading Conroy is like reading whipped cream. So put a cherry on the summer! It has been a great summer for reading.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2009-08-10T15:43:00.001-04:00

A fitting bookend to our summer civil rights pilgrimage seemed to be The Help, which is currently #2 on the NY Times book. The title refers to the African American house servants who made many lives so comfortable for Southern women in the early 1960s. Stockett is a graduate of The University of Alabama and this book is her way of making peace with the women who aided her childhood, and who she never really thought to interview about their own lives, as her main character does in this wonderful, realistic novel. This will be an addition to book lists for my students in the future.