Charity's Reading Log

Back to Work, Back to Reading...

Since school has been back in session I've had the opportunity to commit myself to reading a little more. Here is a brief snippet about each book I've read during the first month of the new school year:

1. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult - As much as I couldn't wait to read this book, I was a bit dismayed that I could see early on how it was going to play out in the end. Usually, Picoult is able to maintain the suspense up until the very end and this is the first book I've read in which that hasn't been the case. Nonetheless, the plot and the characters were classic Picoult...controversial and well-developed. The issues of the death penalty, organ donation, religion, and child abuse are all masterfully combined in this book. Once again, Picoult alternates points-of-view with each chapter, revealing the story through the eyes of each character and bringing it, again, to one controversial and regretable end.

2. I Heart You, You Haunt Me by Lisa Schroeder - YA title written in verse, it has been highly popular with my students so I thought I'd give it a quick read. Although nothing I got excited about, really, the message of love and loss was a poignant one for young adults. What happens when the love of your teenage life dies? Does the world stop or does it move on?

3. Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones - I picked this book up simply because Great Expectations is one of my all-time favorite books and this one had Pip in the title! Once I got into the book, I struggled a bit to see the correlation between the Dickinsonian life in London and the small, desolate island environment in which the plot takes place. I was a bit confused at many points in the book but did take away a very important lesson...books can transport you anywhere, from a remote island to London, when you immerse yourself in them and allow yourself to listen to what the charactes have to tell you.

4. Eleven Seconds by Travis Roy - Recommended by someone who means a lot to me, I actually read a book about HOCKEY...and enjoyed it! This is a memoir written by Travis Roy about one tragic event, a span of only 11 seconds, and how it changed the course of his life forever. An outstanding hockey player at Boston University, Travis sustained a spinal cord injury in the first, and only, game he ever started...and in just the 11th second. His hopes and dreams has been pinned on getting to the NHL and making a name for himself. His entire life revolved around the sport. In this book, Roy documents his childhood as well as his injury and recovery. Although devasting his physical aspirations, Roy portrays the spirit of a fighter and retakes his life and, at the end of the book, is back in school at Boston University.

This book made me curious about where he is today...I may need to do some further research!