An apology, and reading beyond the book

I realize it has been OVER A MONTH since I've posted anything on this blog!  I apologize to anyone who has wandered over this link as of late.  In my defense, I have been blogging on my professional website, www.ChristineMargocs.weebly.com .  I've also moved my eldest into college five hours up the road, seen my youngest start his last year of middle school, and somehow managed to work about fifty hours a week at my paying job.  It's been a busy time in our household!

Needless to say, reading longer texts has gone by the wayside, as I tend to nod off not long after my head hits the pillow at night.  What I have been reading: articles and notes from the facilitator of my online learning, professional and personal interest magazines, picture books and a chapter book with my students, teacher manuals, emails, Facebook  and Twitter and blog posts, beginning-of-school-year parent forms, and catalogs.  In the educational field, we refer to this as "environmental text"--stuff we have to read to get by, get informed, get connected.  If there are parents reading this post, please do not ignore this type of reading with your children!  It is an essential life skill; after all, we want them to know how to take their medicine, which bathroom to go to, and whether they should push or pull on a door.  And if there are students reading this, know that reading occurs EVERYWHERE!  It can be the words on your favorite bag of snacks, the directions on your video game, the scrolling announcements on your classroom TV.

Just for today, think about all the ways we read beyond a book...and remember to thank a teacher or parent who helped you figure out what all those letters and words mean.  Oh, and please, ask your librarian about Banned Books Week; one of your favorites may be on that list!  Take another moment to think about the importance of being able to read whatever you want, and why that matters in our democratic society.  Hopefully there will be some book discussion in my next post!




Door image courtesy of Simon Howden / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Freedom image from http://www.stabenow.com/2012/09/30/it-is-banned-books-week-in-america 

Avoiding the inevitable by reading just a little more...

I am a teacher.  At this time of the year, I should be going in before my work calendar officially starts, like all my good teacher friends are, and setting up my classroom.  I should be shopping in teacher supply stores, and finishing up last-minute summer projects at home. But what am I doing instead?  READING, of course!  (To be fair, I did accomplish some online teacher stuff shopping this morning.  But back to the reading part...)

My college-bound daughter had a dorm-room preview day last weekend, and so the whole family loaded up in the car on Friday for the five-hour trip.  Luckily, my neighbor had loaned me John Dunning's The Bookman's Promise, a "Cliff Janeway Book".  I needed another "grownup book" in my repertoire for this summer, so I brought it along for the ride.  I was unfamiliar with Dunning's work, but I have to say, this was a nice introduction!  Janeway is a cop-turned-bookhunter/ bookseller, and in this novel, he makes a promise to an old woman on her deathbed to find the books she believes were stolen from her family.  I'm not schooled in the ways of bookhunting (but obviously, I like books!), so the glimpses into the world of rare and antique book markets were interesting.  There was a historical section that I ended up skimming through because the pacing was a bit slow for me, but the main storyline moved along nicely and had some unexpected twists and turns.  A little romance, a lot of mystery, and some cop drama made for a good read that I finished by the time we got home.

Another Amazon box arrived today, this one containing Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (a fellow Austinite!), Underwater Welder by Jeff Lemire (a graphic novel), and the hardback edition of the Academy Award-winning animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore.  I can't wait to read Ready Player One along with my teen son, who is really into his video games.  It's also a fantasy/scifi book, which is up my alley--finally, a book we can both appreciate!  The Fantastic Flying Books... short was just so great when I shared it with my students last year, that I just had to be able to hold it in my hands as well.  

I got Underwater Welder on a whim, and read it in one sitting (okay, I was really lying on the couch).  It's a belated coming-of-age story about a 33-year-old  underwater welder who is expecting his first child with his wife.  This major life event, coupled with the upcoming Halloween holiday, is enough to trigger a Twilight Zone-type experience in which he has to deal with ghosts from his past--mainly, his deadbeat alcoholic father.  The pictures truly tell the story, with only minimal precise wording to focus on the feelings of the characters.  A good "guy read" for late middle school on up--younger readers might not have the background to truly "get" the story and its delivery.

So now there's another book on my growing to-read pile.  Hoping that since grad school is now out of the way, I'll get a bit more reading done outside of the classroom this year!  

Summer's winding down--cramming in the reading!

Today is basically my last "day off" for the summer; I have workshops both real and virtual taking over most of the last two-and-a-half weeks before the official first day of my teaching calendar.  So what have I done the last two weeks?  Reading!  Still haven't finished my self-help nonfiction selections, but I'll get there.  They were put aside for some fun kid/teen books:

The Hunchback Assignments by Arthur Slade was originally picked out by my middle-school-aged son, who then said he wouldn't have time to read it, so offered it to me.  It's a steampunk story (though light on the steampunk) that incorporates British history, fantasy (a morphing main character), a bit of Jekyll/Hyde, a bit of "Hunchback of Notre Dame", and some good old-fashioned undercover work.  While making connections with the stories of Jekyll & Hyde and the Hunchback were great, it's not necessary to know them to enjoy the plot...and may entice readers to explore the classics.

I do tend to favor sci-fi novels, and Black Hole Sun by David MacInnis Gill was a fun read.  Set on Mars in the very distant future, it's about an outcast teen soldier-for-hire who adheres to the ethics by which he was trained, which results in his agreement to defend a ragtag band of miners from a cannibalistic horde.  Twists and turns along the way as well as a lot of action keep the story moving, with some surprise details thrown in towards the end.  Corporation corruption, some wacky characters, and the bleak Mars landscape reminded me of a mix of Dune, Star Wars (without the interplanetary travel), and the Wild West.

Picture books!  At a friend's recommendation, I had to get my own copy of Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen (remember I Want My Hat Back?), and Stuck, by Oliver Jeffers.  Extra Yarn reads like a good folklore story, and would be great to discuss character traits like generosity and greed with students.  Stuck is just outright fun silliness; it will be interesting to read to my classes and see how quickly the students figure out that they are smarter than the main character, discussing his inept problem-solving strategies.



To add to my collection of books about libraries and librarians, I purchased a copy of I Know a Librarian Who Chewed on a Word, by Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton and illustrated by Herb Leonhard.  Instead of the fly and other items swallowed by the old lady in the classic rhyme, the librarian swallows a word, then a book, then the book cart....It keeps you guessing what the word is, until the very end.

Today's library day, but I think I'll return my books and focus on my home to-read pile rather than check any more out.  Back to school soon!

Fairy tale time!

Just for fun, I joined in on SHSU's Library Science Goodreads bookclub selection this month, The Grimm Legacy by Polly Shulman.  I found it to be a fun, "light" read--you know, the kind you can put down at the end of Chapter Three on Monday, then pick up again on Thursday and not be too lost going into Chapter Four.  The story centers on a high school girl who is living with her father and stepmother (fairy tale detail number one), writes a report on The Brothers Grimm for her history class (detail number two) because she and her now-deceased mother read fairy tales together (number three), and gets asked by said history teacher if she wants a job at the "New-York Circulating Material Repository", where they just happen to store "The Grimm Collection" (bingo!).  Without giving too much away, there is history, magic, romance (though not too much to gross out younger readers), and intrigue. Definitely a fun summer choice for readers from fourth grade on up!  It might even spur some interest in reading traditional fairy tales; there were a few mentioned in the book with which I was unfamiliar, and may have to add to my reading pile!  I read this one on my Nook, but with the library connections, it may have to be added to my print collection for sentimental purposes.  

What else is being read in the Margocs household?  My college-bound daughter satisfied her Stephen King penchant by checking out Misery from the library, and my eighth-grade son is making his way through video game magazines like Nintendo Power.  (He gets his magazine reading habit from his mom!)  And a trip to Salado yielded yet another small-town organization cookbook (see post from June 4th to read about my cookbook collection).  And while I do still have the Mount Everest of books waiting to be read, I think I'll give my eyes a break and indulge another favorite hobby--crocheting--for the rest of today.  The books will be waiting for me at bedtime! 

Happy reading!  

The right book at the right time

My wonderful husband gave me the gift of a solitary weekend hotel getaway for my birthday back in March, and I finally had the time to cash in on the offer this past weekend.  So off I went to Salado, TX for the first time, knowing that there was shopping and eating to be done there, but bringing along books nonetheless.  As usual, I brought more books than I knew I could read in 36 hours, but I wanted a selection to suit whatever mood I happened to be in during my stay. 

I have a penchant for self-improvement books, so in went my new copy of Wishcraft by Barbara Sher (a classic, never out of print, and edited for its 30th anniversary in 2009).  I also revisit the topic of feminism from time to time, and so my repeat reads of The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd and Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh landed in my bag. 

It's been at least a year since I picked up the last two, and the first I have never read.  I'm not one for remembering specific passages from a book; rather, it's the feelings I get from a book that stay with me, and that's why I chose the last two books as traveling companions--they resonate in a positive way, even if I can't say specifically why.

So which book did I ultimately take out of the bag and out to dinner both nights in Salado?  Gift from the Sea (Pantheon, 2005)--and it couldn't have been a more perfect choice. Anne Morrow Lindbergh wrote this book while on sabbatical on a Floridian island, taking a break from the demands of marriage, children, home, and work.  She speaks about the fragmented life we lead, split between the tasks that come with our ever-increasing connectedness and global awareness.  Her solution for restoring balance to this crazed existence is regular periods of solitude:

"Solitude, says the moon shell.  Every person, especially every woman, should be alone sometime during the year, some part of each week, and each day. .....But women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves:  that firm strand which will be the indispensable center of the whole web of human relationships." (pp 42, 44).

And there I was, sitting in an old inn, eating a solitary dinner in total peace, feeling comfortable in my solitude, with Anne Morrow Lindbergh telling me I was just where I needed to be.  What amazes me about this book is that it was originally written in 1955, yet Lindbergh's observations are still relevant, the needs of women still ringing true almost six decades later.  Truly a classic volume, and the right book at the right time for my weekend getaway. 

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Of course, I can't stay away from children's books this summer.  My two latest purchases are Jon Klassen's I Want My Hat Back --a Geisel Honor Book-- and Karen Cushman's Newbery winner, The Midwife's Apprentice, which I picked up in a musty old bookstore in Salado.  If you haven't read these books, PLEASE do so ASAP!  The first is a picture book, and so entertaining that even my teens love it; I can't wait to use it for an inference lesson in my classroom.  The second is another classic, short read (I finished it in two hours on the couch last night).  I was transported to 14th century England during that time, where Cushman gently described the harshness of everyday life before literacy and modern-day medicine were commonplace.  What we do have in common with those times are our human issues:  foibles, doubts, and the highs and lows of relationships.

Off to do more reading--enjoy these summer days with a book in your hand!  Here's hoping you find the right book, at the right time, for you.

February follow-up,summer reading, and freedom!

After talking to some friends today about my blog and extensive discussion about Donalyn Miller's The Book Whisperer, I went back and re-read my post on the book, and realized I had not reported on the changes I made in my language arts class in February.  I am happy to say that I was pleased with the results of my project!  Overall, my students' reading enjoyment, perceptions of themselves as readers, and amount of reading done all increased.  Even if the changes were small, they were still heading in the right direction.  I was encouraged enough by the results that I'm going to start at the beginning of the year with the same systems in place, and see how far we can get in a full school year!


Summertime, and the reading is easy.....yay!  Aside from a brief six-hour stint of madly cramming for my certification test (I will know the results in a few days!), I have been reading for fun EVERY day!  Sometimes it's just a magazine, sometimes it's professional journals (yes, they can be fun to read!), and sometimes.....gasp.....it's a book!  I finished reading The Iron Thorn by Caitlin Kittredge on my nookColor e-reader, and downloaded the next in the series, The Nightmare Garden.  This is a young adult steampunk story set in the post-Korean War era.  Not as much history interwoven in these as was the case with Leviathan by Scott Westerfield--maybe because there are fairies, elves, ghouls, and "nightjars" (vampire-types) lurking about the settings!  A strong girl protagonist is at the center of the story--and people who know my bias know that I like that!

My daughter and I went to the public library last Friday, and of course I had to check out some books there, too.  One is on home spas and relaxation tips for women (ahhhhh!), and the other is Wally Lamb's I Know This Much is True.  If any kiddos are reading this, the latter is a grown-up novel!  I don't know if my attention span has shrunk, or I'm in a lazy stage post-graduation, but I could not read the book cover-to-cover.  So I scanned my way through, finding the bits that were diary entries (they were in a different font), and read back-and-forth among the important events of the storyline.  When you are reading "for fun", it is okay to read a book any way that makes sense to you!  If I'm not sure that I'll like a particular book, I will often read the ending, and decide if it's good enough to go back and see how the characters and storyline end up there.  Remember your readers' rights!  http://www.walker.co.uk/UserFiles/file/Rights%20of%20the%20reader/NYOR_ROTR.pdf

Speaking of readers' rights....during my studying, I came across the "Freedom to Read" statement endorsed by the American Library Association (ALA).  I went online to find out more about it, and discovered the Freedom to Read Foundation, affiliated with the ALA.  I am proud to say that I am now a member!  Here's the foundation's webpage, should you also be inclined to join:  http://www.ala.org/groups/affiliates/relatedgroups/freedomtoreadfoundation

Think I see some couch time with a good book in my very near future!  Read on.....

Read to cook!

I promised some friends back in April that I would  blog about some of my favorite cookbooks, but with two graduations in our house (mine and my daughter's), a funeral (my grandpa's), and the usual end-of-school-year tasks, it's taken me this long to get around to doing so!

I've written before that much of my reading is done outside of books--and cookbooks are a big part of my "outside reading."  I like to plan my family's dinner menus every two months, which means pulling out a few of my dozens of cookbooks to help with meals and shopping lists.  There are certain cookbooks I only use for certain seasons (I rarely cook stews in the summer, for instance).  I usually use five or six of them each time I plan, and spend a couple of hours a day for two or three days to finish the process. 

How do I know what's in each cookbook before I plan?  Because as I collect them, I usually read through each one.  Yep, I have even been known to read cookbooks before I go to sleep!  That doesn't mean that I read through each and every recipe; I just go through the sections, and read the ingredients and directions for the recipes that sound good and/or interesting.  I usually tag the "good" ones with sticky notes for future reference.  After I've tried a recipe, I write notes in the books themselves, and give one to three stars for how well they are received by my family.

Now, I don't advocate writing in all your books, but I like writing notes in my cookbooks, and I LOVE finding old cookbooks with someone else's notes written in them.  It's a connection with history, kitchen to kitchen.

So enough blathering....let's get down to the cookbooks.  My latest purchase is The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Drummond.  I read it during our recent roadtrip; it has great passages about life on the ranch and living with real, honest-to-goodness cowboys.  Not to mention some great recipes picturing every step along the way!

My all-time-favorite slow-cooker cookbook is The Busy Mom's Slow Cooker Cookbook, by Jyl Steinback.  We use the pork meatballs-and-sauerkraut recipe every New Year's Day!  There are vegetarian options, side dishes, bonus recipes...and each and every recipe has a SHOPPING LIST!  Thank you, Jyl, for making my life that much easier!

An oldie-but-a-goodie is the 1981 edition of Better Homes and Gardens' New Cook Book.  It has my go-to recipes for chocolate chip and spritz cookies, lemon curd, and how to cook cuts of meat with which I'm unfamiliar.  I even got the 2006 edition...but I haven't used that yet!

I was addicted to Gooseberry Patch cookbooks for over a decade, and their seasonal cookbooks still get pulled out four times a year.  The two I use year-round are Country Quick & Easy and In the Kitchen with Family and Friends. 

 

Another all-time favorite, especially during the school year:  The Four Ingredient Cookbooks.  Literally four ingredients per recipe...doesn't get much easier than that!

Magazine cookbooks are usually pretty good, too.  I like the Woman's Day Cookbook, and keep meaning to use the Investment Cooking section sometime (cook all weekend and freeze a bunch for later).

Last, but not least, is an example of my favorite kind of cookbook:  the organization publications.  You know, the ones that churches, bowling leagues, fraternal groups, etc. publish for fundraisers.  You can find the best home cooking recipes in these!  I get them at garage and estate sales, plus I've inherited a few.

I've got over three bookshelves full of cookbooks, and collect even more recipes from magazines.  They make for good reading, and even better cooking!  Hope you've enjoyed this little foray into my kitchen and my "outside reading"!