Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - Read this book NOW

David gave me this book for Christmas and I read it straight through. It is AMAZING and the new must-read suggestion on my list. It is a story of friendship and family set against the backdrop of political events in Afghanistan. I was enlightenend and reminded that children are children everywhere. My son's best friend is named Amir, and so is the main character in this book. I wish I could get both of them to read this book.

Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

This was my December audio book choice. I listened to it while I ran in the park as the snow fell on a lovely Sunday morning and finished listening to it through headphones on the couch next to the Christmas tree on December 22 while sleepover kids were raising a ruckus elsewhere in the house. I haven't seen the movie, Christmas with the Kranks, yet, but the book was fun.

How I Paid for College

This book is so, so funny. I really enjoyed his sense of humor, especially since I know many high school aged drama dorks who have similar interests and styles. The author is hailed as the "gay Dave Barry" on the cover flap. His plot concerns a kid who wants to get into Julliard. He and his friends spend the summer before college trying to raise money to make their dreams come true.

The Usual Rules by Joych Maynard

I liked this novel so much better than I thought I would. I bought it at the National Council of Teachers of English National Conference in Indianapolis. Joyce Maynard was at the conference signing copies of her book, which has a 13 year old protagonist whose mother was killed in the attacks on September 11th. The story revolves around the way she reshapes her life and definitions of family. She leaves her stepdad and brother in New York to live for a time with her father in California. I love the way Maynard weaves titles of books into the novel. By the way, Maynard lived for a short time with novelist, J.D. Salinger when she was a teenager and he was in his 50s. She has a great website with links to information about her life.

After by Claire Tristram

This is a book I ordered from the library way back in the summer. It is written by a Salon contributor and it is her first novel. The plot concerns a woman whose husband was recently murdered by Muslim extremists. She decides to cleanse herself of his memory by taking a Muslim lover, so she meets a stranger at a trade show and they plan to meet at a motel. The narration alternates between the point of view of the man and the woman. It is very erotic and very disturbing. I read it in two nights.

Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl

I am rereading this book because David gave it to me for our second anniversary last week. It is a food memoir, told through the eyes of a little girl whose mother was a terrible cook (from the "taste this and tell me if it is spoiled" school) but whose life was blessed by the presence of wonderful servants who cooked. The book is full of recipes, too. Right now I am looking forward to a time to try making Baked Apples. Actually, the sequel to this book is called Comfort Me with Apples.

The First Desire by Nancy Reisen

This is an interesting novel told from the perspectives of various family members. Each is trying to piece together the reasons for their sister's disappearance. It is a novel about love and loss and separation.

Our Lady of the Lost and Found by Diane Schomperlen

I had read about this book a long time ago in the book catalogue Bas Bleu. It is about a visit from the Virgin Mary paid on an average woman in the suburbs. There are large sections of historical Mary background in this novel, but it is cute and the main character is a writer. Mary makes her promise she wil never write a book about her visit.

Stranger Than Fiction by Chuck Palahniuk

I read this book of essays over the long NEOEA weekend. The book includes Palahniuk's family stories, and some background on the writing of FIght Club as well as a hysterical story about his trip to Los Angelos to work on the movie, when his head was infected from using a men's dipilatory product.

The Motorcycle Diaries - Ernesto Che Guavara

David and I went to see the movie of The Motorcycle Diaries this weekend - in keeping with David's plan to only see movies that have motorcycles in them. It is the story of Ernesto Che Guavara and his friend who took a motorcyle trip across South America. It is based on Che's diaries. The story was very moving and it was beautifully filmed. Plus we got to go to the Cedar Lee theater, which is an experience in and of itself. Oh, and the movie is in Spanish.

Americas Women by Gail Collins

I bought this book a year ago and had read bits and pieces. It is the history of the country told through the changing roles of women. I actually had my students read about 6 pages of the section about the women of Salem, Massachusetts during the witch trials. The more I read, the more I am convinced this is a great book for women of all ages.

Sweet and Vicious by David Schickler

My latest running while reading audio book. Since my teaching colleague Kim has decided I should runa half-marathon with her in November, I have started doing longer runs to see how far this old body can go. Twice in the past week I have run over 7 miles. That means an hour of book!! I am really enjoying this funny book by David Schickler. I had read his collection of short stories, Kissing in Manhattan, a few years back. This book is the story of a jewel thief/thug named Henry Dante who crosses paths with a young, born-again Christian woman who is saving herself for the right man. She convinces him he is the one, but first they must marry and dispose of the jewels. I am laughing out loud.

Desire by Lindsay Ahl

This is a book that I ordered from the library very early in the summer after reading a review of it in some publication. I had almost forgotten about the book when it can in at the library. What a surprise - as I am teaching Heart of Darkness, I am surprised with a new novel set in 1975 in Kenya. Against the back drop of the ivory black market, a woman revisits her youth to solve a mystery that has kept her mind in the past. I liked the book alot. Very poetic sentences. There is a page of facts I will use in class about how many pounds of ivory were needed to make piano keys. I had never put pianos into the ivory equation. It is chilling.

I am also intrigued by the publishing company, Coffee House Press, which is a nonprofit outfit that takes submissions. Again, I should be writing a novel instead of reading so many of them.

Garden State - Movie

This weekend David and I went to see the movie Garden State. Although it has a predictable plot, it is very engaging. The story is about a young man who returns to his home town in New Jersey for his mother's funeral. He revisits old friendships and finds a new chance to love and believe in happiness. And this movie had a motorcycle with a sidecar!

Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

Students often wonder whether I re-read a book everytime I teach it. Because Heart of Darkness is such a slim volume and because I felt like last year I did the best job teaching it that I had ever done, I am trying to do even better this year. It is so difficult to get students into this book. I am teaching from this Dover edition.


Some of the other recent cover art is really cool.

Atonement by Ian McEwan

Tonight is bookclub at the home of Mary Brooks, retired teacher friend. We read Atonement by Ian McEwan, a book I had read quickly a few summers back. At the time, I was interested in the first section of the novel, which is about a little girl who wants to be a writer. Then the second section moves to WWII, where the girl is serving as a nurse. I confess, I read the ending very quickly and the book didn't have much of an impact on me. This time, I really enjoyed the ending, which is a sort of writer's alternate ending to the horrible reality of her life.

Danny Deckchair and George Plimpton

We went to see the movie Danny Deckchair which I had read about in the New York Times this summer. It is an Australian movie about a shiftless cement worker who dreams of escaping his boring life. He ties helium balloons to his deckchair in the middle of a backyard "barbie" and takes off for a new life in a new town with a new woman. The movie was a hit with David because it has a motorcycle in it. This story had been on my classroom bulletin board for the first day of school as an example of the American Dreamer. The coincidence is I have taught this story before. I originally read about it in Robert Fulghum's book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. It is the story of Larry Walters who really did tie 42 weather balloons to a lawn chair and shoot up 16,000 feet into the air. Now Larry's flight is the cover story of a book of previously published essays by George Plimpton called The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair. We bought this book Labor Day weekend and David read it.

The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters by Elisabeth Robinson

On the last Saturday morning of the summer - the morning of my daugther's 10th birthday - I began reading The True and Outstanding Adventures of the Hunt Sisters. This novel is the last library book I save from the pile before I return the other books I won't be getting to this summer. I think I save it for the cover. It shows a little girl with a magic wand and I want to use it to erase the reality of the coming school year. It is the story of a young film maker who is called back to Ohio from Los Angelos to be with her sister while she suffers from leukemia.

The True Story of Hansel and Gretel by Louise Murphy

While on vacation with the kids in Toronto and Montreal, I read The True Story of Hansel and Gretel. This novel was recommended to me by my cousin's wife, who is Jewish. She read it this summer and thought it should be taught in schools. It is the story of two Polish children who escape the Nazis by hiding in the woods with a wild woman who is believed to be a witch by the people of her village. It is obviously a parable, based on the Hansel and Gretel Fairy Tale. I had a hard time getting through this whole novel because it is so disturbing. It opened my eyes to a lot of practices that took place during this horrid time in history.

And Then There Were the Audio Books

Before leaving for Virginia in June, we subscribed to audible.com. As David and I drove to Virginia back in June we listened to T.C. Boyle's Drop City - at least part of it. We couldn't quite figure out how to get the Ipod to go back to the part we had missed, so we listened to the first 12 chapters or so and then got "dropped" into the middle of a chapter 100 pages or so beyond that point. I don't have a real clear feel for the middle of the book, but it is about a group of drugged-out hippies in a commune in California who decide to relocate in Alaska.



My other goal of the summer was to begin running 5 miles. I had previously been running 2 -3 miles each time I ran. I have been running in the Metroparks with my audible book and enjoying doing two things at once. The latest for me is Carl Hiaassen's Skinny Dip. This funny book tells the story of a woman who was pushed off of the deck of a cruise ship by her husband on their anniversary. She is rescued by a retired cop who proceeds to help her spook her husband who, of course, believes she is dead.

Some Things That Stay by Sarah Willis

This is another gem of a novel with an innocent young narrator. Her parents move every spring to a new furnished house in a new remote location so that her artist father can have a new landscape to paint. Her mother, who never complains, has been hiding her tuberculosis through several moves, until it becomes so bad that she is sent to a sanitarium. The narrator decides it is time to stay in one place and hold the family and their lives together.

National Book Festival

Here is the information about the National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. This year there will be a great gathering of authors. I would love to go see Joyce Carol Oates, since her work is the subject of my Masters Thesis.

Reader's Bill of Rights

I found a great little book a few years back called Better Than Life by Daniel Pennac. This book includes the following
Reader's Bill of Rights. It is interesting food for thought.


1. The right not to read.


2. The right to skip pages.


3. The right to not finish.


4. The right to reread.


5. The right to read anything.


6.The right to escapism.


7.The right to read anywhere.


8. The right to browse.


9. The right to read out loud.


10. The right to not defend your tastes.

The Center of Everything by Laura Moriarty

Here is another interesting comparison between the covers of the hardback and paperback editions. I had seen this book at the bookstore and ordered it from the library. When I went to the library to pick it up, the cover art seemed so much more serious looking than the book I was expecting. It is a dellightful story told by an innocent 10 year old narrator who interprets everything in her world - from her mother's unexpected pregancy, to the evolution versus creation debate at her school, to the difference between God and Jesus. I really enjoyed the narrative voice.

Books About Books - Or Getting Ready to Teach

Ruined by Reading by Lynne Sharon Schwartz
This book was the first I read to prepare for my first day AP English Summer Reading presentation. Schwartz has many opinions about reading that I agree with. She describes herself as an addict and tries to explain the reasons for her addiction to reading.


So Many Books by Gabriel Zaid
This book is full of observations about the world wide literary condition. Zaid is a Spanish writer who lives in Mexico.