The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - My wonderful sister, Corina, let me borrow this book, and it sat on my shelf for quite some time as other books weasled their way past its spine and into my hand. Being a dog lover, I picked the book up several times, but each time replaced it, unread. I just knew the book was bound to be sad, and there are few things I look forward to less than another sad book about a dog that dies (thanks to Gordon Korman!). I'm not sure what occurred that finally made me grab the book and commit to it (probably the impending need to return it to its rightful owner), but I finally sat down with the book and that was all it took. This is a GEM of a book, even if I did have tears in my eye by the end of chapter one.

This book is told from Enzo's point of view. Enzo being the dog, you can see how this might seem a bit, pardon the pun, far-fetched at first. However, one can only distinguish Enzo's non-human status by the events he relates, not in the way he relates them. Chapter one was hard. Enzo is at the end of his life and realizes that his "time" is indeed approaching. From there, we take a ride through Enzo's life, from the day his master picked him from his liter. He is on a journey with him, through his marriage, the birth of his daughter, his car-racing career, and all the tragedies (both big and small) that accompany a life well-lived. The love and admiration Enzo shows for his master is compelling and heart-warming. And the love that he is given in return is nothing less than the same.

This book gave me a new and fresh perspective on what it means to truly love and admire those you are closest to in life, be they dogs or humans. Love is unconditional, and your best friends should always be your biggest fans, no matter what bone-head moves you might make along the way. One of the most lasting lessons I learned from this book is to, in the words of a cherished friend, "Live each day so that I'm as good of a person as my dog thinks I am."

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman - One of my goals for the year is to read as many award-winning YA titles as I can. That said, I've not been doing a great job! However, The Graveyard Book was last year's winner of the Newbery Award so that sounded like a super place to start.

I'd compare this book to Hugo Cabret in that there are some wonderful pencil sketches that supplement the reading throughout. The story was on the YA side of the spectrum and I didn't really find it all that compelling. Set in a Graveyard, the story tells us about a young man named Bones who is an orphan being "raised" by the ghosts of the graveyard. When he was a child, Bones' entire family was murdered as he narrowly escaped the knife of a man named Jack with the help of the ghosts. Taken under their care, he grows into an inquisitive young man who thrives under the "freedom of the graveyard" until he becomes restless to explore the world outside its gates. When he does, he learns of the true story of how he came to live there, and vows to avenge his family's death and rejoin society in the process.

A good, escapist read. One I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to a 4th-7th grade student, but not necessarily one I'll be singing the praises of as I speak with my colleagues!

Looking for Alaska by John Green - So, I honestly think I am the last school librarian to read this book, and I don't know why I haven't done it until now. Honestly, it's one I've recommended to SO MANY of my guy readers over the past two years. It's a book that hooked several boys, and even has become a favorite among many of the reluctant readers I'd struggled to find a book with which they could identify. I cannot keep this book, or his subsequent books (An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns) on the shelf. It wasn't until I learned he would be attending and speaking at the annual ILF Conference did I force myself to get it read. I mean, I can't be non-conversant about such an important book and author, can I? Really, now....

Miles is a smart, if not socially inept, young man. Feeling stifled in his virtually friendless but not unhappy life at home, he sets off to the boarding school his father attended, to the Great Perhaps inspired by the poetry of Fracois Rabelais. Culver Creek Boarding school isn't exactly what he had evisioned. First, he had not envisioned that Alabama would be hotter than Florida (it is). Second, he didn't envision himself as the nickname type (this skinny kid is apparently a "Pudge"). Lastly, he didn't envision himself falling head-over-heels for an unpredictable, screwed-up, clever, and amazingly beautiful girl (her name is Alaska, and he does).

This is a wonderful book. If you cracked open the head of a sixteen-year old boy, this is the stuff that would come seeping out. So, consequently, it may not be appropriate for the younger kids! However, it is a great read for high school boys and adults who can remember what it was like to be a teenage away from home for the first time and falling in love.

Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult - I had to wait until summer to read and review this book. Summer...when all the books would be back on the library shelves, ready for me to finally get to select all the books I'd been intent on keeping in students' hands during the school year. I selected a whole slew of books, both fiction and non-fiction, and started with the highly anticipated new book to hit the shelves by Jodi Picoult.

Much like My Sisters Keeper in tone, I felt Picoult was back to her previous stellar writing in this book. The story of Willow and her family, the book chronicles Willow's fight with a rare genetic disease known as OI, a disease that leaves her bones brittle and breaking at the drop of a hat. In order to deal with the mounting financial repercussions of Willow's disease, her mother sues Willow's doctor for wrongful birth asserting that she did not warn them of Willow's disease soon enough. That if she had, they may have opted to abort Willow. However, Picoult's plot can never be that easy. To complicate it, that doctor happens to also be her best friend and Willow's Godmother. Even more complicating is that her father does not want to sue so, instead, sides with the defense. All the elements of classic Picoult are there....the troubled sibling, the public servant father, the friendship in peril, the parents in disagreement, the court case.

I think I'd like to see this one turned into a movie as well. This weekend I saw My Sisters Keeper and, although I felt it was not at all like the book, I was enthralled by it.

People of the Book by Gwendolyn Brooks - Our last Rival Reader selection of the year and another New York Times Bestseller, I was ensnared in the web the author so vividly creates as she tells the story of one small book over the course of the history of an entire people. A little known book, a little known culture, and a well-known people combine in a story of historical fiction that had me learning a lot more than I had expected.

The Haggadah, a Jewish prayer book, is the piece of art we follow across Europe through the eyes of Hannah, the Austrailian book perserver hired to document its history, as well as each person the book came into contact with during its long and vivid history traveling through Europe. Each item and stain Hannah finds then results in the story of how that particular item came to be a part of the book. From Italy to Sarajevo, the book traveled with its people, following them through the persecution in each place the settled.

Brooks took a little known subject and made it come alive for me. Although the persecution of the Jewish people has been well-documented, their persecution outside of Germany has not been. It was incredibly enlightening to learn more about how the Jews have always been an outcast people, not just in Germany.


Three Little Words: a memoir by Ashley Rhodes-Courter - Finally! A book I've been waiting to read since I purchased it! Having read my last book club selection for the year, I devoured this memoir in just one day. The story of a young girl who is shuffled through the foster system in Florida, this is a compelling story of her overcoming the incompetence of the system to become a successful and well-adjusted individual. Not all stories wind up like hers, and over and over again she points that out through the stories of others she met along the way, even through the story of her brother. Ashely finds a home and is adopted by a loving and nurtering family. With their help and love, she fights back against the system and those who harmed her most, and became a positive role-model for other foster children. Through her deft ablitity to write and speak, she gained a forum to reach many across the nation to inspire them to take action and find children homes instead of just shuttling them in and out of unqualified foster homes.

Outliers: The Story of Success

by Malcolm Gladwell

Having read both of Gladwell's earlier profferings, Blink and The Tipping Point, I anticipated an insightful and thought-provoking codex that translated seemingly mundane data and information in a way I'd never before contemplated. Gladwell surpassed all of my expectations with this book and has added his name to my list of favorite non-fiction writers to date.

As Gladwell immediately points out, the American ideal of success entails someone who comes from the "wrong side of the tracks", works hard, and makes a name for oneself. However, idealistic this might be, he quickly begins to refute the supposition by outlining the various ways in which age, location, opportunity, and even luck affect the success of even the most intelligent of individuals. Would Bill Gates have been BILL GATES if he had been born 15 years earlier in Juaraz, Mexico? Probably not as he would have missed the birth of the computer and wouldn't have been in a location to have taken advantage of unlimited computer usage at such an early age. Gladwell provides example after example of successful people who, although undoubtedly smart and incredibly talented, wouldn't have made a name for themselves had they not been placed in the perfect situation at the right time.

After a lifetime of hearing that if you just work hard enough your dreams can all come true, this book made me think in more realistic and practical terms. The crux of success lies in opportunity, and whether given to sought out, without it success will most likely remain illusive to the vast majority of people.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak -

A Michael Printz honor book, I honestly hadn't given a lot of thought to reading this YA title until we discussed it in our adult book club. One of the members was looking for a new novel to use during her study of Anne Frank, so we decided to read this book as a group to assist her in making her decision. It took me quite a long time to read as I'd kept it at work and read a bit at a time. Honestly, I didn't get too interested in the book until I was about halfway through (there are a lot of characters and it's a bit tough to keep it all straight initially). However, when I hit that point, I could hardly put it down. In retrospect, I think this book affected me in many ways, and I've already recommended it to many students who enjoy this genre!

With a narrator like Death (a.k.a. the Grim Reaper), this novel takes on the traditional Nazi novel and wins hands down. So often when you read a book about this time in history, it is written from a Jewish perspective or an American perspective. I can't recall ever reading a book written from a non-Nazi German perspective. That is the case as we meet Liesel, The Book Thief. A young German girl who is given up by her mother, she forms deep and intense bonds with her new foster parents, non-Nazi Germans who are doing their best to survive without being noticed. Along they way we meet so many people in the book, from Rudy Steiner, her best friend on Himmel Street and her partner in crime, to a Jew that Liesel's family harbors in their basement. We watch Liesel experience Nazi Germany from the outside and we see her love of reading and books develop as she realizes the power of words in a time when words were used for so much harm. With the theft of her first book (The Gravedigger's Manual), we see her procurement of books throughout the book and see how each one came to her with a story...a story that impacts the action of the book every time.

It's hard to speak about this book without giving anything away! I can simply say that this book is unlike any other you've ever read or will more than likely ever read. It is one that MUST be on your list!






Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen and David Oliver Relin -

I had purchased this book A LONG time ago and put it on my "one day I'd really like to read but probably never will unless it's for a book club" stack (let's just say it's a really, really large pile!). Well, thankfully our Rival Readers book club chose this book as one of their spring selections, because it was one of the most informative and thoughtful books I've read in quite a while. Having a keen interest in the Middle East at the moment, the setting for the book beckoned memories and knowledge from books like The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns. However, the fact that this was a non-fiction title that for once I could understand about this topic, I really feel much more informed about the area of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

A memoir about Greg Mortensen's humanitarian work in these areas, the reader gets an inside view into the deplorable situation of the education system in the remote areas of the Middle East. Meeting in open fields and scratching their lessons in the dirt with sticks, girls were the most neglected group. Mortensen, who had been sheltered and cared for by the people of the Baldru area of Pakistan after a failed attempt at climbing K2, vowed to bring schools to the children of this area. This book chronicles the fulfillment of that promise and the unbelievable magnitude to which this one small promise grows throughout his life.

I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone, students and adults alike. I learned a lot while reading this book, and feel much more aware of just why terrorism is rampant in the Middle East.







Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significanceby Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker -

In Dungy's second book, he takes the unusual opportunity to reflect upon what it takes to achieve significance in one's life. Regarded by many as the epitome of the success and significance that is highly valued in our culture, Dungy also works on a daily basis with young men who are trying to excel through football to achieve all that goes along with a professional athletic career - such as money, power, and celebrity. Not a stranger to this type of success, Coach Dungy passionately believes that there is an alternate path to significance, a path marked by attitudes, ambitions, and allegiances that are rare but rewarding. Uncommon delves into lessons about significance that Dungy has learned from his parents, his athletic and coaching career, his mentors, and his journey with God.

I enjoyed Dungy's first book as well, but honestly enjoyed this one more. Less autobiographical and more informational, there were many things that I could take and immediately relate to my own life in a practical way. Even if you're not a young man, this book has many lessons that would indeed be valuable to you, too!

For Elementatry Visits on 3/6/09....

http://www.jeopardylabs.com/play/loogootee (East Jeopardy Link)

Found by Margaret Peterson Haddix - I love M.P. Haddix, especially her Shadow Children Series, so when I saw that she had a new series I was quite excited to read the first book. This series begins with a stirring Prologue where we learn about a plane full of babies, 36 in all, that mysteriously appears out of nowhere. The first chapter then jumps ahead 13 years and we meet our main characters, Chip and Jonah, who are both adopted. Jonah's family had been open about his adoption from the start, and his parents are the picture of parental bliss. They do the right things and say the right things are very supportive of him. Quite "by the book" if you will. Chip's parents, on the other hand, are the exact opposites of Jonah's, not telling him he was adopted until he confronts them after receiving a mysterious letter, just like Jonah had received. As the plot progresses, Jonah and Chip, along with the help of Jonah's sister Katherine, begin to be caught up in the mystery of how both of them were adopted and how their adoptions relate to the plane full of babies, time travel, and the "missing children of history."

Walking on Glass by Alma Fullerton - A short story written in verse, this book is a moving account of a lost young man. We don't learn his name, but we learn so much more as, in the first few pages, he reveals that his mother is lingering in the hospital on life-support. As the book progresses we come to understand that his mother more than likely suffered from some sort of mental illness, and eerily we infer that our main character my well be suffering from this same affliction. He struggles with peer pressure and is able to step away from the downward spiral of his best friend, Jack, in order to do the right thing. Caught between a mother who he could have saved from suicide if he had "just been 5 minutes earlier getting home" and his father who can't make the hard choices of an adult, he does what he knows is right, despite his own fears.

Genesis Alpha by Rune Michaels - Josh and his brother Max are close, closer than most brothers. Not only do they look alike, sound alike, and have the same interests, but Josh was genetically formed in order to save Max's life. An interesting mix of science fiction, murder mystery, and cyberspace, the novel revolves around the murder of a young girl and the suspicion that Max is the murderer. Many revelations have dire implications, not only for Max, but also for Josh.

I enjoyed this book a lot as the issue of Josh being born solely to save Max's life reminded me of My Sister's Keeper. I think this is a great option for guys especially, and won't hesitate to recommend it!

Compoundby S.A. Bodeen - I picked this YA title off of the book fair as it looked like a good "guy read" to have as a recommendation. Boy, was I ever surprised. Not only would this title make a good "guy read" but it was a great book that even girls are sure to enjoy.

The book opens with Eli and his family in the Compound, a place where Eli's father took them six years prior when there was a nuclear attack, or so Eli thought. Although the Compound was just as comfortable as their home above ground was, the situation has become increasingly dire as they are starting to run out of food. Eli's father, a billionare computer whiz, accounted for everything, or so he thought. Eventually, Eli begins to suspect that maybe his father isn't telling him the entire story and is secretly able to get a wireless Internet signal through which he makes contact with his twin brother Eddy who wasn't fortunate enough to make it into the Compound with the others. Through this contact Eli realizes that there was no nuclear attack and that the entire Compound was an experiment concoted by his father. A confrontation ensues and the novel resolves itself with much action and suspense.

I really enjoyed this novel and would suggest it to any YA!

Home to Holly Springs by Jan Karon - I have had this book since early last year...I was so excited to buy it and read it. However, I've been so busy with other books that I haven't had the time to get to all the ones I've wanted to read for ME...such is life. But, finally, I had the time to read for me and the book was well worth the wait!

Another offering from Karon in the Home in Mitford series, Father Tim and Barnabas venture back to Holly Springs, the town of his childhood, recalled to the Southern utopia by a vague note. Father Tim goes home in search of answers and finds them, both by making new friends and by uncovering old memories.

Although this is a series that doesn't really reflect my reading tastes, I can't seem to get enough of the innocent plots and true-to-life characters that Karon creates in this series.

The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir - Historical fiction can be enthralling when written well, and this tale of Lady Elizabeth falls into that catagory. Having been to London I could visualize many of the locations referenced, and it was interesting to juxtapose my view of the Tower of London with the one described in the book. I learned quite a bit about the English monarchy while reading this book, and finally came to understand how and why religion played such a huge part in many of the decisions throughout this period. At the end, I felt like the book was really just getting ready to start, but not in a bad way. I'm ready to read the next book from Ms. Weir that, hopefully, will follow Elizabeth through her reign as Queen of England.

*** After reading this for our Rival Reader book club, my interest was so piqued that I picked up The Other Bolyen Girl. I'm in the midst of that now (along with a few other books!) and am enjoying the immersion in royalty for a bit longer.

New Year, Not Much Reading - So far this year I really haven't had much of a chance to read. Before Christmas I finally got around to reading a book for myself...the 14th Janet Evanovich book...which I bought way back in June. I know, how sad is that? Anyway, right now I'm reading a few books, trying to stay ahead of the book clubs and such. Here's what's on my desk right now:

Ready, Fire, Aim: the Bill Cook Biography - reading because I'm incredibly intrigued with Mr. Cook's success and character.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier - reading for my adult book club

The Lady Elizabeth - reading for the Rival Readers book club

Beowoulf - reading for English Academic Team, along with a lot of other Norse literature that perodically causes my brain to go into spasms.

As you can see, I have enough to keep me busy on the reading front. However, I keep adding to the list of books I really, really, really want to read. Here are just a few...

World Without End - Ken Follet's sequel to Pillars of the Earth. This book may have to wait until summer as it is huge and I know I'll never find the time between now and then!

Outliers: the Story of Success - what can I say about Malcolm Gladwell? His books intrigue me and really make me think...a lot.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - even though this book is on Oprah's list, I'm still leaving it on mine. Oh the shame...

Moscow Rules - not usually the type of fiction I read, but after visiting Russia a few years ago, the entire culture of Soviet times fascinates me.

The Art of Racing in the Rain - recommended to me by my sister, this one was already on my list. A book written from a dog's perspective might help me figure out my own hound!

A Lion Among Men - the third volume in The Wicked Years and the follow up to Son of a Witch, I thoroughly enjoy Gregory Maguire's work (see entry for Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister below) and can't wait to read this one.

As you can see, most of these books are bound to wait until the summer when I have so much more time to read. Actually, this summer I am hoping that will be the case, so be prepared for LOTS of updates to my blog!

Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire - By the author of Wicked, our Rival Reader book club recently chose this book as a selection. I was, at first, a little skeptical of their selection as the language and the content seemed way too different from our usual reads. However, having read Wicked, I knew the story would be good and was thus excited to get my read on!

The story of Cinderella from one of her "wicked" step-sister's point-of-view, the book unfold and gives us a new version of an old tale. What if the "wicked" step-sisters weren't really all that bad, and what if Cinderella really did all those house chores and dressed in rags out of choice? Well, then, we'd have a completely different story, wouldn't we?

I really enjoyed this book and contemplated, at length, about perspective and point-of-view, not only as far as a novel goes, but as it occurs in life in general. Thought-provoking about the aspects of love and beauty, among a wide array of other things! I'd certainly recommend this book to anyone and, watch out for his new book, a re-telling of The Wizard of Oz through the eyes of the Cowardly Lion!

It's Not About the Bike - Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins - I've really been more interested in cycling (not biking!) as of late, and I'd heard really great things about this biography. I finally decided to shun book club titles while recovering from a recent surgery, and I was very pleased with the choice! This book briefly recounts Lane Armstrong's rise to cycling fame but then focuses most closely upon his fight with cancer and his quest to not only defeat the disease but to also regain cycling glory by winning the Tour De France as a cancer survivor.

I think I enjoyed this book so much because it talks so intimately about overcoming obstacles, not just in sports, but also in life. It really put my measely ankle surgery in perspective!

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - I struggled with actually being able to type what I am about to type. As a librarian, the words that follow carry a weight outside of themselves when I repeat them to others, so I do not use them lightly...this book is, quite possibly, the best book I have ever read. It was difficult for me to get into this book, to really sit down and embrace it, as I was busy and distracted throughout the first half. That is never the way to read a book. This one deserves to be savored, each and every word of it, and I fully intend to go back and read it in order to give the parts I took lightly the respect I failed to give them initially.

I can't really even describe what this book is about as it is about so many things, it is the story of so many people, and it is the story of a city...Barcelona. On the facade, it is a book about a book. But, once inside, the reader finds that it is really a book about how books affect us, emotionally, spiritually, and physcially. How a book can reach out and grab us and take us down an entirely different road than we had anticipated. That is all I am going to give you about the plot of this book...if you don't take my recommendation simply on its own merits by now, then anything I write about the book won't sell it to you. READ THIS BOOK....

Run by Ann Patchett - Our first Rival Readers' novel of the year was a well-written dissappointment. Although the author has a wonderful skill in portraying her characters almost perfectly through her prose, she failed to capture my attention by making the plot too uneventful and predictable.

The story of twin brothers adopted from poverty into prosperity, Tip and Teddy Doyle grew up in the priveleged atmosphere of Bostonian wealth. Their adoptive father Bernard Doyle, a mayor of Boston in their youth, gave them every opportunity to excel, and excel they did. The book, which takes place over a 24 hour period, finds them in the midst of their college years, each finding his own path. An eventful car accident on a snowy night throws the Doyle family into turmoil, something they've not had to experience. A mother, a sister, and a long-lost brother all join the book during the short night. In the end, we find out more about Tip and Teddy's past, but all in an unremarkably uneventful way.

Hopefully, our second book, Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory McGuire, will be much more interesting!

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!

Long Summer....Few Books :(

This summer was filled with lots of writing and lots of dog-sitting, but not enough reading for my tastes. However, just to keep you up-to-date, I will tell you a bit about the books I did get the time to read...

1. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett - Our Rival Readers Book Club Summer Selection, this book seemed like a daunting endeavor when I began because it was 1,000 pages long! Even so, Follett introduces so many different characters up front in his novel that the reader wonders how in the world he is ever going to weave them together into one story. However, he does it and does it amazingly well. The story, set in 1200s England, tells the tale of many people, from the prior of Kingsbridge Priory who is struggling to build a cathedral, to the many knights, builders, and common people of the day. Follett provides the reader with a lens that transports them back in time and envelopes them in the medieval lifestyles that led to our current day architecture and culture.

*** I am now reading the follow-up to this story, World Without End. It's also very long, and a little intimidating, but so far the writing is just as masterful!

2. Don't Make Me Choose Between You and My Shoes by Dixie Cash - Oye. Not my favorite book as I saw from chapter 3 exactly what was going to happen. I HATE that when it happens! I endured only because it is the first book for our new book club...Wonder Writers and Rebel Readers. I'm excited about our new adult book club, even if I wasn't so thrilled with the first book!

3. Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster - IMHO, Jen Lancaster is the funniest person on the face of this planet. No Lie. This memoir, written as she struggles to lose weight...specifically for the book. Her accounts of attempting first Jenny Craig and then Weight Watchers is nothing short of bitingly brilliant. I was in stitches the entire time I was reading, at times because I could relate and at time because I was dumbfounded at her antics!

Diary of a Wimpy Kidby Jeff Kinney - Okay, so not something we'd hold in high esteem if we were judging LITERARY value, but, hey, the kids are reading it so I did, too.

I could not help but think of any one of a number of past students as well as my nephew Sam when I was reading this book. If one was to split open the head of a pre-pubescent boy, I bet something much like the contents of this book were what would come sloshing right out. Innocent and devious at the same time, the main character, Greg, lets the reader see the ins and outs of daily life as a not unpopular yet not cool middle school boy. The layout of the book is unique as well. Not quite graphic novel, the book looks like the reader is actually opening up an actual journal, complete with lots of handrawn pictures and comics throughout the text.

I can certainly see why this book has become a #1 New York Times Bestseller and why it sold like hotcakes at my recent book fair. I'd recommend this book to any middle school boy...or girl...or high school students looking for a light and fun read to fill the time.

Sweet Caroline by Rachel Hauck - Another light and inspirational book chosen especially by my Inspirational Fiction girls. The book, although eerily like many of the others they've chosen this year, ended quite unexpectedly for me.

The main character, Caroline, always seems to feel responsible for others, often sacrificing her own goals and happiness in order to help others or do what she perceives to be the "right" thing. This is what leads her to the Frogmore Cafe, whose owner's recent demise causes her to become the owner of the dilapidated cafe that has become a local icon. Turning down the opportunity to pursue her own dreams in Barcelona, Caroline stays to save the cafe and its loyal staff from disaster, while at the same time facing the return of her first love, country boy turned Nashville star Mitch. As Caroline and Mitch are reunited, she faces her insecurities about her past, love, and her faith in God. In the end, as the reader would suspect, Caroline again does the "right" thing, but the reader is pleasantly surprised with just what that "right" thing is.

I really enjoyed this book as it didn't really fit the cookie cutter form of many in this genre. The choices Caroline makes throughout the book are admirable and often self-sacrificing. However, the point the author makes with the ending is that there comes a time for everything....and everything happens according to God's time, not ours. How very, very true.

Bird By Bird by Ann Lamott - I've read this book, or at least parts of it, a long time ago. I even had my own copy. However, when I was given a new copy to read for an upcoming class, I figured I'd better re-read it. A practical guide to the craft of writing, Lamott, herself an acclaimed author, gives useful, witty, and often downright hilarious advice on everything from creating characters to getting published. She minces no words and doesn't try to sugarcoat anything. Writing is hard. It is lonely. It is an obsession. Often, it just sucks. However, everyone has a story and everyone has the ability to tell that story. Will everyone be published? No. Should everyone be published. HECK NO. But, that is not the point of writing. The point of writing is to tell the story that only you can tell. And that is worth more than anything being published could every hope to do for you.

The Penny by Joyce Meyer - I was very interested in reading this inspirational fiction title after hearing Sue talk about it. My book club girls decided to switch books with Shoals' girls to save some moola so I had the pleasure of actually, for once, reading a book I wanted to read for work!

The book is truly a gem. Not only does it have a compelling plot, but it is also well-written and offers the reader periodic nuggets of quotable wisdom...my favorite! The main character, Jenny, is a young girl in a tough spot. Living in the more economically depressed part of St. Louis in the 50's, her family situation leaves much to be desired. She has an abusive father and a mother who refuses to confront the abuse within her own family. When Jenny stops one day to pick up a penny...a simple penny, her life changes forever when she sees how much life can change in the blink of an eye. The simple act of stopping to pick up this penny brings Jenny a friend from the "wrong" side of the tracks and the opportunity to see what the "right" side of the tracks looks like when she is hired by an eccentric socialite to work in her jewlery store. Throughout the book Jenny learns that "People who are hurt are the people who hurt others," and that her life is indeed worth fighting for...and saving...one penny at a time.

I would recommend this book to anyone (my mom has already read it, even!). The message that God sees no one as inconsequential and is always acting in your life no matter what your circumstances is a valuable lesson for everyone.

Plainsong by Kent Haruf - Not the type of book I would pick up if I were choosing for myself, but since I was reading it for a book club, I was a lot more open-minded, and, honestly, I am glad I was.

Set in rural Colorado, the setting was foriegn to me. Farm life influences all of the characters, and the author does a great job of describing, in too much detail at points, the day-to-day things farm life brings. Written in successive chapters from different characters' points-of-view, we see how the surroundings affect everyone, from Victoria Roubideux, a pregnant 17 year-old girl turned out by her mother, to Ike and Bobby, two young boys also abandonded by their mom. Through the quirky yet sincere love of two old bachelor brothers, the McPheron brothers, Victoria finds a true home for the first time in her life, and Ike and Bobby find a stronghold in the face of uncertainty.

Written without quotation marks for dialogue, it was hard to get a grasp on the action of the story at the start. However, the language and descripton Haruf uses puts the reader at ease and makes a real connection between the reader and each and every character. It is very apparent, in retrospect, why this book was nominated for a National Book Award. Well worth your time...with an open mind!

Although I have not read it yet, I cannot wait to read Change of Heartby Jodi Picoult. By far the most popular author with my students, Picoult rocks the writing world right now. So, you can imagine my excitement when, for my birthday, I receive a package with a personally autographed copy of this new book from my best bud Jessa who lives in NYC! Now, if I can just find the time to read it!

Below is a picture of J at the book signing:

No Need for Speed by John "The Penguin" Bingham - Geesh...has it been a long time since I've read a running book or what? With all of my book club books this semester, I've had no time for reading for my personal enjoyment let alone for my addiction to running. This book, although filled with lots of tips for first time runners, was great for renewing my spirit and reminding me just what running SHOULD be about. Since I've started this marathon thing, I've lost a lot of my perspective on running...constantly training and losing the sheer enjoyment I used to have when I laced up my shoes and headed out to run. Bingham reminded me that my goals should be realistic, that frustration leads to improvement, and that failure is often an illusion that results from unreal expectations. With the Indy Half-Marathon sneaking up on me and the Chicago Marathon looming in the fall, these bits of information in this book will go with me on the road...literally!

Sisters, Ink by Rebeca Seitz - Sometimes, you pick up a book and feel as if the author did his or her research by spying on your life. It is just like reading a chapter from your life with each turn of the page. This book was just that experience for me. Chosen by my Inspirational Fiction book club, I wasn't sure I'd get into it as scrapbooking is one of the major themes that runs throughout the book. Anyone who has met me knows I am in no way crafty, and each "scrapbooking" experience I've had has been nearly disasterous.

However, as I read and the plot unfolded, I began to feel the eerie feeling of connecting with a book so completely that it was frightening. The main character, the same age as me, returns to her hometown to find her high school beau has also returned from the military and started a business. As their new relationship unfolds, they find out that although they are nothing like the teenagers they once had been, they still are the loves of one anothers' lives. Pair that story line with an untraditional family (parents with four adopted daughters from tough backgrounds....and different ethnicities), and you're awfully close to what my life looks like at this moment.

I'd recommend this book to those who enjoy Karen Kingsbury or any type of inspirational fiction in general. The author does not brow beat you with the faith and religion aspect of the book, but weaves in the importance of faith and family well along the way.

Chance Murphy and the Battle of Morganville by Josh McClary - Although cussing like a sailor and an opening scene in church do not necessarily seem to go together, McClary makes it work and, in the process, provides the reader with some gut-busting laughter to get his novel off to a rip-roaring start.

Chance Murphy has some issues...okay, lots of them...but it's his idiosyncracies and, mostly his down-right crazy hate for all things German (err...Hunn) that make him lovable to me. Growing up in small-town Indiana made this book real for me, and Chance's obession with Bob Knight and Indiana basketball made this book a hands-down winner for me.

Honestly, reading this book made me feel like the author took any one of many of the boys I've taught over the years, cracked his head open, and laid out all his thoughts, uncensored and as real as they get. From Chance's description of his father's girlfriend ("trash") to his detest for his best-friend's girlfriend, it just feels real and unscripted.

Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier - Although I'd seen the movie quite a while ago I needed to read this book as my English Academic team is reading it for our upcoming competition. And, much to my surprise, the movie doesn't even hold a candle to the book. I enjoyed the movie so I knew I'd enjoy the book. However, the writing and the language in this book is so outstanding that, with each turn of a page, I feared getting to the end. Frazier paints picture after picture of nature, each clearer and more precise than the one before. He addresses so many issues, from Civil War to friendship...lost love to respect for nature.

If you haven't read this book, I highly recommend doing so. The literary value alone is well worth the experience!

The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard - This book is one that once you start reading, you just won't be able to put down! It took me a mere two days to fly through it, unprecedented for the usually slow reader. A very well-written and suspensful mystery, Pickard creates compelling and believable characters that her reader can't help but come to love. Her small-town setting, where everyone knows everyone, lends itself to the intimacy and closeness of all the characters. Each action of each character results in profound consequences for the others.

Set in Kansas, this is the story of many people. Rex, Abby, Mitch, and "The Virgin". Upon the discovery of the naked girl, dead, in a snowstorm one dark night, the town of Small Plains is changed forever. No one knows who she is, but the town embraces that and gives her a proper burial. Eventually she comes to be revered as a miracle worker who heals those who petition her. Many years later, old wounds are opened, questions begin to be asked, and the identity of the girl is revealed at a high price to many....especially those you would never have suspected.

Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer - This book affected me more than any book I have read in as long as I can remember. With highlighter in hand, I found myself marking passage after passage, from quotes by Thoreau to incredibly poingant lines of text from the author. Although I've lived a relatively unadventurous life, I've WANTED to live out many adventures and still have hopes of doing so. This book made me really think about what it takes to actually throw caution to the wind, to disdain the opinion of friends and loved ones, and strike out on a "great" adventure of one's own.

This book is an eloquent and engrossing narrative about the perils Chris McCandless, a stubborn and idealistic young man who takes nature head on and loses. Not just a book about McCandless, the author documents other fool-hardy men who have done the same and attempts to draw both parallels and differences between them. Truly a gripping account of misplaced genius and idealistic misfortune that will put your life, the good and the bad, into perspective.

Code Orange by Caroline Cooney - The first book that my Young Hoosier Book Club chose was a fun, witty, and adventurous one. Set in post-9/11 New York City, I enjoyed reading about places I've been...Columbus Circle, the Upper West Side, Riverside Drive, the Hudson River. I was envisioning the setting without having to make up anything as I went along!

Mitty, the main character, is an unambitious high school student who goes to a yuppy private school. He's very priviledged and wants for nothing. When he's assigned a research project on infectious diseaes, his life is turned upsidedown when he actually chooses to do it. He chooses to research vitriola minor, or smallpox, and at once his life is thrown into a spiral when he risks infection and, ultimately, worse danger than he had ever imagined.

This was my first Caroline Cooney book, and I can see why she is so popular with young adults. Her book left me wanting to read more!

The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick - This year's Caldecott Award winner, this is, hands down, one of the most enjoyable books I have read in my life. Not just a book, more than just a story, Selznick uses words and pictures to tell a fantasic story set in turn-of-the-century Paris. The black and white pages with sketches that not only illustrate the story but ADVANCE it, are artfully drawn and are interspersed at just the right time.

The story is of a boy, Hugo, who is an orphaned clock keeper inside a Paris train station. His quest to find not a way to fix an automoton that his father had once attempted to fix leads him to a filmmaker, his god-daughter, and, eventually, a home.

READ IT. Sure, it looks like a kid's book and it is. However, no adult should miss out on the experience this book creates.

Frustration beyond all frustration is what greeted me as I picked up my much anticipated copy of The Ultimate Life, the sequel to Jim Stovall's wonderfully inspiring book The Ultimate Gift. Both the book and the movie that followed were some of my favorites during 2007. I spent several months looking forward to finding out how Jason Stevens planned to manage his great uncle Red's fortune. However, upon settling down and cracking open my copy of The Ulimate Life it took only two pages....yes, just TWO PAGES, for me to slam the book closed in disgust.

Here's the rub: In The Ultimate Gift Stovall set the entire story for us. Red is Jason's great uncle. I understand fully that movies often change content, say by changing the relationships between certain characters. Okay. Fine. I am smart enough to know that. On the other hand, it is totally unacceptable, ever, for an AUTHOR to change the relationship between his OWN CHARACTERS in a sequel! In The Ultimate Life, Jason somehow becomes Red's GRANDSON, not NEPHEW, just like in the movie! I was aghast. Stricken. Speechless, even. One of my book club students came in shortly after I had discovered this fact and, together, we lamented the state of affairs in writing today. Okay, a little dramatic, but true.

Final recommendation: Readers Beware! Read it if you want, but be prepared to lose some of my respect in the doing :)

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You by Peter Cameron- Technically a YA book, this offering by Peter Cameron would be of interest to any adult reader. Sarcastic and sardonic, the protagonist struggles with nearly every aspect of his apporaching adulthood, from the expectations that he go to college to his sexuality. A loner, James Sveck, the Manhattan-bred 18-year old soon-to-be college freshman, can't seem to connect with anyone, least of all his therapist.

Throughout the book there is great commentary and insight into modern-day urban life, something many of my students will struggle to identify with, but with which I was enthralled. Cameron will make a large portion of his audience, especially those who look for relief in books, feel excitingly understood. Maybe his book will help many of them find an itch to write.

Restless by Rich Wallace - One of this year's Eliot Rosewater books, it's a wonderfully written YA ghost story. Not scary ghost story, mind you, but believable ghost story. It reminds me quite a bit of Acceleration which was on last year's Rosie list. The author has the language and euphemisms of today's teenagers nailed down. One of the main characters, Herbie, is a tough nosed athlete trying to play football and run cross-country at the same time. This book would appeal to those fringe readers who sometimes find it hard to find a book that they'd enjoy reading...think guys...think guys who don't like to read.

One Mississippi by Mark Childress - Another Rival Reader selection that makes my recommendation list! I laughed out loud most of the way through this book, but was also rendered speechless by a few of the events along the way. I didn't grow up in the 70s, but could identify with many of the cultural references and descriptions along the way. Since the story starts out in Indiana, it hooked me from the start. When the setting shifted to Mississippi, it had me with the hilarity of it all, from the moving incident to the Frillingers and Prom Night.

The relationship between the two main characters is very compelling, and the author gives away just enough along the way to clue the reader in to the fact that whatever happens in the end is going to be big. He certainly does NOT dissappoint, either. You might be able to see the end coming, but how it unfolds will leave you with more questions than answers!

A Three Dog Life: A Memoir by Abigail Thomas - Thank God...back to good writing, and in a memoir at that! I'd admit, the name of this book is what hooked me (a friend of mine has three dogs, thus the connection). Sometimes I choose books like that. Sometimes I am greatly dissappointed, sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. This book provided the later of the two.

This is the memoir of Abigail Thomas, more specifically her memories centered around the traumatic brain injury of her husband, Rich Rogin. One night, Rich took their newly acquired dog out for a walk on the Upper Westside of Manhattan and was hit by a car when the dog darted into traffic. The dog came home, but Rich didn't. Abaigail writes skillfully about the pain, confusion, and acceptance she experiences throughout the years following the accident when Rich lost his memory and became a totally different man. Unable to care for him at home, she writes about her visits with him in the hospital where he lives and their weekly visits when she takes him home. Although traumatically injured, many of his words seemed prophetic, as if he were seeing the world from a different plane.

Thomas is an artful writer who is able to write lucidly about a completely heartwrenching part of her life.

Shoot the Moon by Billie Letts - A Rival Readers Book Club selection, I was a bit dissappointed with this book. Written in the same style of her first book, Where the Heart Is, there are several very unique characters who she does a wonderful job of making the reader love and hate. With names like O Boy Daniels, Nicky Jack Harjo, Teeve, and Rowena Whitekiller, the reader can't help but get wrapped up in their individual stories.

Set in Oklahoma, we get a good idea of what this town and its residents are like from the beginning. Letts tells us a TON of important information about the characters in the first chapter...which was a bit overwhelming. From there the story unwinds. There's a murder and a lost child who is presumed dead but returns 25 years later looking for his real mother. When Nicky Jack Harjo, now Mark Albright, returns and finds that his mother was killed and he was stolen and then adopted, he sets his sights on uncovering the truth surrounding that day. Along the way he falls in love, barely misses being shot, and sets a small Oklahoma town topsy turvy before finally getting the answers everyone had been needing for so long.

The plot was suspenseful with enough mystery to hook the reader, but Letts' writing style was very plain and simple. Although I'm a sucker for a good story, I prefer good writing...and there she failed terribly.

I haven't had the chance to read much over the past few weeks with finishing my marathon training and traveling a bit more. I have read plenty of running magazines, though no one will be much interested in those. I should have a reading update very soon though as I'm reading our first book club book of the year and it looks to be awfully interesting! Check back for updates soon!

Bright Lights, Big ___(err...backside) by Jen Lancaster - Jen Lancaster is the writer I'd be if I had any writing talent whatsoever. Crass, sardonic, and downright catty, I'd love to have my own personal tete-a-tete with her. I mean, she SO could be me if I had been a sorority girl,liked pearls, or wasn't totally freaked out by pitbulls. We both adore Fox News. We both love to read Janet Evanovich. And if I hadn't sworn off cursing, I could SO see us sharing some awfully interesting discussions about certain liberals (aheemmm...Hillary Clinton....).

Her first book, Bitter is the New Black had me in tears. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the second memoir at Barnes and Noble. It was like manna from heaven. And this one did not disappoint, either. She's just as snide as ever, taking on everyone from her neighbors to the city aldermen. I'd have to say that the chapter about her love of Target had to be my favorite, closely followed by the chapter recounting her "love" of her personal trainer. Been there, doing that my friend!

Take the time to check this book out. I don't have it on my shelf at school, but it will forever be on the one at home!

Fade to Black by Alex Flinn - My second Eliot nominee this week was well worth the time. The nominees for this award usually confront current, edgy issues, and this was no exception. Flinn takes on several stereotypes and issues in this book, chief among them being teens living with HIV. Pair that with said teen being Hispanic, and you have the ingredients for an edgy book full of tense interactions between teens who are too young to fully grasp the meaning and gravity of both their words and actions.

Geography Club by Brent Hartinger - This was the first title I chose in my quest to read all the Eliot Rosewater nominees for this year before I actually have to sell them to my Senior English students at the start of second semester. This one would border on the controversial, so it seemed like the ideal place to start! Here's a link if you'd like to read more about this book. If you're open-minded, Hartinger has written a thought-provoking and compelling book that is worth your time (recommended for mature readers only!):

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/book-reviews/Geography-Club.html

Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier and Quiet Strength by Tony Dungy - These were two memoirs I'd been wanting to read all summer and finally had the time to sit down and spend time with this week. Both men are wonderful examples of not only African-American men who've broken out of the typical stereotypes of their peers, but they are wonderful examples of intelligent men who've stuck by their convictions through adversity and have reaped the rewards for having done so.

Although similar in focus, these books were very different in scope. Poitier's writing was much more thought provoking on an intellectual level, while Dungy's book encouraged the reader to be more introspective from a spiritual standpoint. Both men recounted the experiences, both positive and negative, of their lives while asking the reader to go further and also examine their own lives and values at the same time.

I'd highly recommend either of these books to anyone who enjoys reading memoirs, biographies, or autobiographies. Sports fans and Christians alike will be inspired by Dungy's book, while anyone willing to take a good, hard look at society and all its ills and shortcomings will be thoroughly surprised by the wonderful books these two mean have created.

While in Europe over the summer, I had the chance to do a few geeky librarian things like visit the British Library (where all kinds of cool, original manuscripts like the Gutenburg Bible are kept), The Globe Theatre, Kings Cross Station (Platform 9 3/4 even!), and Shakespeare and Company. I'll post a few pictures over the next few weeks so all the literary types like me can enjoy!

FINALLY....I finished it. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It only took me four weeks and a lot of late nights, but I savored it along the way and, in the end, was incredibly happy with the last installment in J.K. Rowlings series of books that are all bound to be classics one day.

I won't divulge a lot of what happens in the book as I know many of you haven't read it yet. However, I will give away just a small bit that I was extremely pleased with. That is near the end of the book when Dumbledore's Army (along with all of the other "good guys") battle all of the Death Eaters (and all of the other "bad" guys). This, to me, brought the entire series to one final, common point and wrapped everything that had strung out along the way into a nice, neat package. The ending was more than I could have hoped for!

The end of summer is upon us, and I haven't written once about what I've read! I guess part of that is because I haven't read a whole lot, and what I did read was while I was on vacation. It's time I take a few mintues to catch you up with my reading world!

While on vacation I read the following books:

• Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Miakelson. This book had been on my list of YA books to read for quite some time, but I decided to use it as our summer school text and needed to get with it. It's a really, really good YA book, especially for the more troubled of the lot. The main character, Cole Matthews, has been through the legal system and finally pulls his last straw...severely beating a fellow classmated. His last chance at avoiding jail is to take part in a new program derived from the Native American form of healing called Circle Justice. Cole decided to take part and is banished to a remote Alaskan island where he confonts not only his own ghosts, but a mythical bear called the Spirit Bear.
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Honestly, I only selected this title because it was on Oprah's Book Club list (I know...pretty lame!). Usually I am happy with the books she chooses, but not this time. I respect McCarthy as a writer, so I was a bit surprised that I didn't take to this book at all. There were a few good lines ("Each was the other's world entire" -- good writing!) but the tone of the book was just way too dark for me...especially for a vacation read. Father and son survive a nuclear winter and attempt to make their way in a world that is totally foreign to them, attempting to allude other survivors who mean them harm. The ending didn't dissappoint; it was just as dark as the entire tome!
• A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseni. Again, I was anxiously awaiting this book by the author of The Kite Runner. His first book was an Eliot Rosewater nominee and an all-out excellent book. This one lived up to my anticipation, and was, I think, possibly even better than the first book! This is the story of two Afghan women who are both wives of one Afghan man. Their hate for one another turns into friendship and their seemingly diverse and hurtful pasts are woven into one life that, like those of most Afghan women, takes a tragic turn that tests the bonds of their friendship and love.
• The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. We selected this as our next book club title and I'm really excited for our group to discuss it next week. It's a memoir, and not just any memoir...it's funny. Gotta love that! Alas, most of the humor throughout comes from the insane (literally) antics of the author's parents who, honestly, are just not mentally stable enough to be raising one kid let alone four. From putting the kids in the back of a U-Haul while moving to "checking out" of the hospital by jumping into an ideling car, their parenting skills leave much to be desired. In the end, her parents wind up homeless (but happy), living their eccentric lives with the same passion and flair as always.

It's the end of the school year....and I haven't read a book in what seems like ages! I guess it's only been a few weeks, but when you're a reader who can't find the time, a few weeks seem like forever!

Regardless, today is the LAST day of school, so that means my reading time will increase by leaps and bounds. My reading plan for the summer: read at least half of the nominees for the Eliot Rosewater Book Award for next year. That means 12 books. I think I can do that. Currently I am about halfway through Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This is our next Rival Readers book club selection. I'm enjoying it even though the tales of some of the more seedy parts of the circus sideshows are enough to make a girl like me blush! I'll be back soon with a full review of this book...and, hopefully, at least one more!

Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult - Another title (that's all I seem to have the time to read these days) for the Rival Readers Book Club, and yet another outstanding book by Picoult. I was more than a bit apprehensive at our group choosing this particular title. Picoult is a great writer, and I suggest her works to students all the time. However, this club is about reading things outside the traditional "school" box, so when they chose it, we had to acquiesce.

Picoult always seems to be able to take a current, edgy issue and weave it into a wonderfully compelling story that has you on the edge of your seat the entire time. This time the reading experience was no different. This book's issue: a child abused by a priest...but, as always, it's not nearly that simple when Picoult starts to examine it. Nathaniel's mother is a District Attorney and knows that the legal system will not do her son justice. He will have to testify and will undergo further trauma, possibly even worse than the abuse he's faced already. The strong woman she is vows not to make him undergo the process, so she takes fate into her own hands and murders the priest in cold blood...in open court...in front of the entire world. As characters enter the story, Picoult creates a cast of characters that are both incredibly real and vulnerable at the same time. The twists and turns of the book keep the reader guessing and, even at the end, you're not entirely certain that you know yourself.

I've recommended this title to several students and teachers alike after reading it myself. Now, I can't wait to get my hands on Ninteen Minutes, Picoult's newest title featuring a character from Perfect Match.

Self-Reliance by Ralph Waldo Emerson - One of the classic tomes of western individualism, this essay struck several chords with me while I was reading. Those of you who know me know that I am a "quote girl", so I'm just going to share a few from Emerson's essay that might inspire you, too:

• Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.
• Society everywhere is in conspiracy against the manhood of every one of its members.
• Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.
• What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.
• Insist on yourself; never imitate.
• The civilized man has built a coach, but has lost the use of his feet.
• Nothing can bring you peace but yourself. Nothing can bring you peace but the triumph of principles.
• Nothing at last is sacred but the integrity of your own mind.

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne - This book has been on the NYT best seller list as well as the most popular lists at Barnes and Noble and Borders. It's been on my shelf for a while as I just didn't know about whether or not it was worth the time. On that note, I decided to pick it up and see for myself what all the hype is about.

Here's the thing...I think this book has A LOT of good ideas about "The Secret", which is essentially that in order to have what you want in life you must attract it to you through your thoughts and feelings. I was able to glean plenty of good thoughts from the text. Here are a few examples of things I took to heart during my reading:

• "It is impossible to bring more into your life if you are feeling ungrateful about what you have."
• "The good news is that the moment you decide that what you know is more important than what you have been taught to believe, you will have shifted gears in your quest for abundance. Success comes from within, not from without." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
• When you do not treat yourself the way you want others to treat you, you can never change the way things are.
• "What you resist persists." ~Carl Jung

That said, I still have some issues with this popular book. The first and biggest is that The Universe is credited for being the supreme guiding force in what does or does not come back to you in life. As I was reading, I started inserting God. I believe in divine intervention so it was hard for me to not take the omission of God to heart. As an example:

• "You are God in a physical body." (uh, no...I am not)
• "All power is from within and therefore under our control (again, not in my world)

Generally, this book did have some valuable things to offer, but only if you're able to take the good and leave the bad. I wouldn't recommend it to a student who isn't able to do that.

A few quotes from books I've recently read to help fill all that empty space between books....

"Literature is no one's private ground, literature is common ground; let us trespass freely and fearlessly." - Virginia Woolf

"A true friend will stab you in the front." - Oscar Wilde

"Cruelty is only the passing on of a wound from one person to another." - The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole

"A journey may be long or short, but it must start at the very spot one finds oneself."

"It is a wealthy person indeed who calculates riches not in gold but in friends."

Sole Sisters: Stories of Women and Running by Jennifer Lin and Susan Warner - An inspirational book that focuses on the bonds created when women run together, for health, for competition, or just for friendship. This collection of stories can make you both laugh and cry, but any woman who has ever run with a group can identify with the emotional connections examined in this book. From a woman who lost her husband in 9/11 running her first marathon in his honor to a group of new moms in town looking for friends, the power of being accountable to a group and of the emotional bonds that are formed through running are evident.

Any woman who runs will be able to relate to various stories in this book. I've often wondered why it's so much easier to run with my friends than it is to run alone....why it just hurts less. I don't think this book answers any of the physiological reasons for that, but the phsycological reasons are quite apparent...I am a woman. Enough explaination.

>u>I Run, Therefore I Am -- NUTS! by Bob Schwartz - If I'd have my choice, I'd always choose a funny book first. This book fits the bill because I laughed my way through it, but didn't learn a thing. It was just FUN....and we all need more of that, especially when we're taxing our bodies way past the point of any sensibilty.

One portion of the book that did hit home with me was when the author humorously talked about looking to your gene pool and facing (and accepting )the facts:

"My pragmatic philosophy is, inspiration is good. However, perspiration will take you only so far - if you want to be a speed demon...you'd best be selective in choosing your parents. The gene pool my legs were wading in wasn't exactly full of the fastest currents in the water. My parents were like Tommie Turtle and Sally Snail."

The Non-Runner's Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais - There isn't a lot of humor to be found in running (or as far as I'm concerned), but this author was able to not only find the humor, but was able to give it life and make the reader laugh out loud with the turn of every page.

I mean, seriously...if had any sort of writing talent whatsoever, this is exactly the type of book I'd write. Both helpful and hilarious, I could hear myself talking while I was reading. It was as if everything she was writing was something I had either said myself or, at least, had contemplated but thought better of actually putting into words. She is my hero for having the courage to write about how fat her butt looks in spandex....but what's more...that she no longer cares because, after all, it's all about comfort! I almost DIED laughing when she wrote: "Yeah, they were running the last mile TO the race to warm up. Why not just poke your eye out with a stick, it would make about as much sense." I think I have actually uttered those words before...maybe even recently!


If you're a runner, or not, and just want a good laugh with some insightful information to boot, I highly recommend picking up this book. It is well worth the time and the side stitches you'll get from laughing your way through it!

The Complete Book of Running for Women by Claire Kowalchick - I know, I know....enough with the running already. But, when so much of your time revolves around something, it's natural to read more about it. However, you'd think that I'd become a better runner with all the reading I'm doing about it. Then again, you'd be wrong. I think I very well could be the best-read, bad runner there is!


The Ultimate Gift by Jim Stovall - An uplifting, quick read that happens to be the second book our Rival Readers Book Club selected to read. As it happens, it came out as a movie with James Garner and Brian Denehey just this past Friday, and I hadn't even a clue it was a book until early last week. Bad librarian...

Anyhow, the book tells the story of Jason and his great-uncle Red. The book opens with Red's family awaiting the details of his will. Red was a wealthy Texas oil and cattle man and had, through his hard work, become a billionaire and had provided well for his extended family, taking care of their every need during his life. In the end, Red saw the error of his ways as his family became spoiled and lazy. Through his will he vowed to remedy some of those mistakes by taking Jason under his post-mortem wing and molding him into the person he should be. This happened through a series of lessons, or quests, that Jason undertook. At the end, if he succeeded, he'd get his "ulimate gift". Along the way, Jason learns many of the valuable lessons that living a life of leisure had robbed him of: The lesson of hard work; the lesson of friendship; the lesson of gratitude. Twelve lessons in all help Jason win his "ultimate gift" and, in the end, become the man he was always meant to be.

Eleanor Rigby by Douglas Coupland -"I'm the one Scrabble tile with no letter". Have you ever felt that way? Like you're the only one no one really notices? As if you could simply dissappear without a trace and no one would sit up and take notice? Liz Dunn is a 42-year-old, over-weight spinster, and desperately lonely. Her narrative tone, however, is lively and engaging, as she tramps back and forth in time to tell her dramatic and eventful story.

While recovering from dental surgery in her utilitarian Vancouver condominium, Liz receives a call from the local hospital. A young man, resuscitated after a near-fatal overdose, has her name on a bracelet on his wrist. It is her son Jeremy, who she gave away for adoption at the age of 16. If this weren't enough of a life-changing encounter, it happens that Jeremy is dying of multiple sclerosis, and has a short time to live.

Liz's sudden, belated, experience of being a mother in this extreme situation is all the more moving for being lightly handled. Jeremy is a charming and lively character, and his demise is described without much ado, and even has the unusual comic touch.
Throughout the book one feels a certain glibness to Coupland's treatment of his tragic material, but this is compensated for with the heartfelt material and the lightness with which the heavy stuff is handled.

Although this book was well-written, I did have a hard time following some of the dialogue, especially between Liz and Jeremy, and in the end, between Liz and Klaus. However, I would recommend this book simply for the language. Coupland writes well!

Thunderstruck by Erik Larson - The best-selling author Erik Larson writes books that weave together multiple plots based on actual events. His best-known book is The Devil in The White City, about the architect who built Chicago's World's Fair and the serial killer who preyed on women drawn to that city. I was enthralled with this particular book and simply could not wait for his next book to come out. Narrative nonfiction is really my most favorite genre, and Larson has a narrative style that captivates the reader.

In his new book, Thunderstruck, Larson examines the North London Cellar Murder, writing about a notorious crime that happened in the city early in the 20th century. Essentially, like his previous book, it's a tale of two men, this time Harvey Hawley Crippen, a seemingly mild-mannered doctor who murdered his wife to run away with his mistress, and Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor who created the wireless telegraph -- the device that helped capture Crippen as he fled over the Atlantic with his lover. The progression the book takes, from the initial seed of the idea of the telegraph, to the eventual use of the technology to capture two fugitives, is really quite captivating. Throw in the drama and suspense of the murder and the chase, and this book is, at once, both informative and memorable. Unlike many nonfiction and history writers, Larson is able to keep the reader yearning for the next chapter!

Better Single Than Sorry by Jen Schefft - The author was on both The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and twice turned down men she'd "won" on those shows. Sounds like an authority on the subject to ME, so I thought I'd read what advice she could offer someone who's perilously close to 30 and still single (do not read desperate) herself.

Most of the author's profferings were simple common sense, or maybe they were common sense to me after spending the last decade of my life meeting Mr. Wrong after Mr. Wrong. One perspective that she addressed and that I'd recently adopted of my own volition, was that the men you meet along the path to finding Mr. Right all have something to offer, and, thus, you shouldn't see them as failed relationships. I certainly agree with her. She also asserts that you shouldn't go out with a guy if you simply don't feel into it, even if you have people telling you, "Hey, if it's only a free meal, and a night out, it's worth the trouble!" I can buy my own meal, thankyouverymuch...and I'd rather spend my evening at home alone, reading, or meeting up with my friends, than discussing politics with a liberal (EGAD!) or, even worse, a Purdue fan!

All in all, a quick, fun read to clarify why I'm happy being single and why, ten years from now, on the cliff of turning 40, I'll still be happy as long as I haven't settled :)

The Greatest Man in Cedar Hole by Stephanie Doyon - Sue and I started a new book club with our students this month, and as a group they selected this book as our first book. It's actually funny how I even noticed this book. One of my students selected it on our last book-buying trip to Barnes and Noble, and, feeling pressed to find suitable books from which to choose, pulled this one off the shelf. Not the Marian the Librarian way to do it, but hey....it worked because this book was a wonderful, wonderful read!

I won't divulge much more at the moment as our book club is yet to discuss the book and I'd HATE to give anything away. Rest assured, though, that this book is well-written and witty, with characters which will both inspire you and make you laugh all in the same page!

Marathon: The Ultimate Training Guide by Hal Higdon - Back to the running books! I PROMISE the next book I read won't have a THING to do with running. You can only read so much about one of the most elementary activities known to man, right?

Actually, there's a lot more to running than one might think, and this book was quite helpful in spelling out the preparation required to truly prepare one's body and mind for the rigor of a marathon. Before I became a "runner" I didn't know how much time and training actually goes into preparing to run 26.2 miles (and 325 yards!). After my first official race this weekend, I am not certain that I could ever achieve THAT distance, but if I do decide to shun my social life and start to train for a full marathon, at least now I'll know what I'm getting myself into!

101 Things NOT to Do Before You Die by Robert W. Harris - Based on the idea that there are too many books telling everyone what to do, this witty, subversive guide tells readers that for actualized, satisfying lives, they don't need to do more, and that fulfillment can be found in "selective inaction." Witty and insightful, most of these 101 items are actually really smart ideas. Over and over the author pleads with the reader, "Don't do it!" From running with the bulls in Pamplona (#5) to never buying fake wood furniture (#35), you'll gain insight into those endeavors in life that really AREN'T worth either your time or effort. Sensiblity always prevails, including #76, Don't use a paper clip to do a binder clip's job, and #88, Don't embrace the $1 coins (because we really shouldn't reward the government for doing pointless things with our hard-earned money).

If you're looking for a humorous, light, and quick read, this one will do your soul good, if only because it validates your own common sense!

Beyond Basketball: Coach K's Keywords for Success by Mike Krzyzewski - Anyone who has a clue about anything involving basketball today knows who Mike Krzyzewski is. For many years, Duke's teams have found themselves at the top of the college basketball ranks, and they owe much of that success to the wisdom, discipline, and dedication of their coach. Coach Krzyzewski knows that one sentence, beyond any other, can inspire in his players the determination to succeed: "I believe in you." In life--whether it be academics, athleticism, or anything else--knowing that someone believes in you can make the difference between losing and winning. Coach K. knows that, and so do his players.

BEYOND BASKETBALL is broken down into numerous short "chapters," focusing on the words that most directly affect success and at any endeavor. From Adaptablity to Work, the words in between will leave the read with wonderful examples, both from basketball and beyond, about what it takes to be a truly successful individual. Whether you're a follower of college basketball or not, BEYOND BASKETBALL is a fitting book that deals with working hard, playing hard, and dedicating yourself to whatever goals you set for yourself.

How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen - "Reading has always been my home, my sustenance, my great invincible companion...I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth."

In this much too short book by one of today's more recognizable authors, Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Anna Quindlen writes nostalgically about her life-long obsession with books. From a childhood spent with Nancy Drew and Heidi--when reading could often be more pleasurable than anything else--to her recommended reading lists, including a list of which 10 books she would save from a fire, Quindlen eloquently defends the practice of compulsive reading, whether of the great classics or the popular literature of the day. Throughout the book she makes clear that her profession as a writer, as well as her liberal inclinations, came directly from her love of books. Her stirring appreciation is a persuasive document that should warm the hearts of readers everywhere, and re-assures the reader that reading simply for the sake of reading itself is indeed a worthy endeavor.

During this time of year, reading is something that I get little time to do. Over the past few weeks I've been a reading bum, reading only magazines and 10 or 15 pages of books without committing to them. I did read a book about women's running, but I doubt anyone besides me (and Sue) cares to hear about it so I won't write a review here. I am determined to read a few of the new YA titles my students selected on our Barnes and Noble trip before Christmas. The more appealing ones are checked out (as they should be!), so I might just have to stick to my mindless magazines for a while longer!