Happy New Year!

Finally finished the Suzanne Collins trilogy and each book got more violent. I couldn't put down The Hunger Games, but I really had to force myself through the last two books. These are not for the faint of heart. Gabriel and I reread "The Blue Moose" by Daniel Pinkwater. Pinkwater is a delightful writer and who can resist a moose (with table waiting skills) who brings culture and happiness to a small town. Hope Santa brought you some new reads. Let me know about the good ones!

Time flies. . .

How is it November already? I just got a box of books in the mail today--okay, well they're really books for John, but I want to dig in as soon as he's finished. We got the first set of Guardians of Ga'hoole by Kathryn Lasky which looks really fun. I have always loved owls, and these books have gotten good reviews. We also got the sequel to Saavy called Scumble. I wasn't bowled over by Saavy, but many of the students in the classroom were, so I'm going to give Ingrid Law another chance. Eleven by Patricia Reilly Giff and When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead are two of the best books that I have read in the last few months, so I bought copies for John's class. Hope you are finding great books to curl up with on these longer, darker nights.

If you started now. . .

The first of The Deathly Hallows movies is releasing in November. Wouldn't it be a great time to re-read all the HP books? I wish I had the time. My friend Evalyn and her family like to read them aloud like reader's theater. They also have several versions; she likes the British one.
I finished Frankenstein and thoroughly enjoyed it--what a great monster Viktor created. Too bad the monster was rejected so painfully by society, he would have been a fabulous English teacher. He definitely needs a name though. I agree with one of my students, "Who would work on a creation for two years and not name it?"