Reading Busy Bees

Well, I've really enjoyed reading all of your blogs since the last time I posted. Many of you are reading  very interesting books. For now, I'll torture you with some books that I've been reading lately before I get to the part I know you're all looking for.....STUDENT SHOWCASE!

In the past few years, dystopian works have been hot hot HOT in young adult literature. With the advent of The Hunger Games trilogy, tons of other works about futuristic societies have appeared to much popularity. Lately, I've been reading a few dystopian works as a comparison to my much loved Hunger Games. Here are a few:

1. Divergent - Set in a futuristic society composed of factions. Each group represents a human characteristic (search for knowledge, peace, battle, selflessness, honesty). When you turn 16, you choose which faction you want to join..sometimes forsaking your family to never see them again. The main character, Trish, must decide which faction to choose which is a difficult task for her as she has a quality known as Divergence. Read it to find out more! I enjoyed the premise of this book, and I found it to be exciting. I liked it so much I read it in two days and immediately began the sequel.

2. Insurgent - The sequel to Divergent.....great continuation of the story. I can't wait for the third book in the series to come out in March.

3. Unwind - This is bar far one of the creepiest books I've ever read. It's about a futuristic society in which parents can decide to have their children "unwound" between the ages of 13 and 18. This means, the body parts of their children will be harvested to be donated to others. They don't technically "die," they just enter what they call the "divided state." Super creepy, but also incredibly exciting.

4. Unwholly - This is the book I'm currently reading. It's the second in the Unwind trilogy. So far, it's interesting. I just followed a boy named Starkey who avoided being unwound. He may have met up with some characters from the previous book, but I don't want to tell too much for fear I'll spoil the first book for you!

As you can see, I've been reading a lot of young adult lit lately, and it's been fun. Now, to the part you've anxiously awaited. In case none of those books sound interesting to you, check out some books that your peers are reading in the STUDENT SHOWCASE!

First up is a student who has been vying for Student Showcase for quite some time. Joel has been reading a book that seems to deal with a lot of issues high school students face. Check out one of his reviews of Out of the Pocket.

Check out Joel's blog here.

Next up we have Izzy who is reading a memoir that sounds incredibly interesting called My Lobotamy.

Check out Izzy's blog here.

Since I missed out on some Student Showcases last week, I'm including a couple more interesting books that you may be interested in picking up and reading. Now, we have Anna who is reading a book called Lock and Key. Another student is reading this book and enjoying it, so if it sounds right up your alley, you should check it out!

Check out Anna's blog here.

Last, but certainly not least, we have Hannah who is reading a book about bounty hunting and adventure, 11 On Top. I loved her humorous summary of the book. Check out her blog, but don't read her spoiler!

Check out Hannah's blog here.

Find a new book and check it out today!! As always...happy reading!

Our first blog postings

Hey All!

Last week was our first foray into blog posting. I hope you all are enjoying sharing your books (although I know some of your are thinking, "Ugh!!"). I've enjoyed reading your thoughts about the books you're reading, and I hope you all find at least one book you enjoy this semester. This past week, I've been reading a teacher-y book (Productive Group Work), so I won't bore you with the details other than to say it's been very informative.

I will, however, share a blog I really enjoyed from all of you from this past week in our first...

...Student Spotlight!!!

Kailee wrote a fantastic blog about the book she's reading The Truth About Forever. I'm very intrigued to see what will happen next in her book. Mostly, I really enjoyed how she had a sort of "conversation" in her blog weaving information about the story with what her thoughts and connections were with the book. If you're interested in her book, be sure to check it out!

You can check out Kailee's blog here.

I also wanted to point you to Aaron's blog. He has an interesting set up to his blog as he offers the opportunity to do a Q & A for commenters. Check out his blog, leave him a question, and I'm sure he'd respond!

You can check out Aaron's blog here.

Keep blogging!

Welcome Back....and some Summer reads

Hello to all who have found my blog from our class webpage! I want to welcome you all to school, and to you freshmen, welcome to AHS! I'm so thrilled to be back at school this year, and I'm looking forward to all we'll learn together. To orient you to this blog, I'll be posting responses to books I'm reading, as well as recommendations from students. I also enjoy showcasing student blogs to give you an idea of what your classmates are reading; they may be future books you might want to read.

As I said, it's great to be back at school, but I also had a great summer of reading. I tried to pick up as many books as I could, but as always happens, the number of books I read didn't put a dent in the long list I had going into summer. Here's a quick preview of a few books I read:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
I'd never read Frankenstein, but I'd been encouraged to read it for quite some time. I really found it fascinating as the original story is totally different from the "Hollywoodified" versions that exist. The story is haunting, heartbreaking, and incredibly thought-provoking. While it's a difficult read, if you would like a challenge (the wording is very "old school"), I'd definitely recommend picking up this book!

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway
My husband had read this book the previous school year and had recommended the book to me. I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. It's basically the tale of Hemingway's time in Paris in the 20s - a truly fascinating era. You make acquaintances with all sorts of artists and authors such as Stein and Fitzgerald. If you've seen Midnight in Paris, it definitely reminded me of this book.

Numbers by Rachel Ward
While I normally read a lot of Young Adult fiction, this is one of the few YA novels I read this summer. It's the story of a girl who sees the date a person will die when she looks into their eyes. Ever since realizing what the numbers mean, she has secluded herself and avoided people. She finally makes a friend, and they get into a very sticky situation together. I don't want to give too much away in this book (sorry for the broad plot points) in case you'd like to read it. Personally, I disliked this book. It was actually pretty depressing despite the interesting concept.

Currently, I'm reading Everything Asian by Sung J. Woo. I picked it up at a book sale at the IRA conference in the Spring. I admit that I was drawn to it because it was written by a Korean author, but I'm actually really enjoying it. The writing style is fascinating, and I love getting into the minds of many of the characters (each chapter is written in the POV of one of the characters). The book is about a young boy, his sister, and his mother who move to the US to be with his father who had been making a living in the US for years. The story is all about acclimating to a new culture and getting to know family who you don't remember. It's a great view into the mind and heart of an immigrant.

Well, I hope that some of my mini-book reviews enticed you to pick up a book and read. I'm looking forward to seeing what books you discover this year that I may enjoy as well.

Happy reading!

New Books, New Blogs

I recently read two books on the Lit Circle book list: I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak and Looking for Alaska by John Green. I loved both of them, but I'll be sure to blog about both of them!

I Am the Messenger

I've read another book by Markus Zusak (The Book Thief) that I found absolutely phenomenal, so I was really interested in reading this book. The book is about a 19 year old taxi-driver (Ed Kennedy) who one day receives a playing card in the mail - an Ace of Diamonds - with a list of addresses on it. I won't go into too much detail on the plot, but basically, Ed needs to figure out who is sending the cards as well as how he can help the people he is sent to on the cards. Mostly, I loved reading this book that blurs line between ethical and unethical when it comes to the well-being of other people. I enjoyed the suspense, the characters that you became attached to, and the excitement of the plot. The ending was great as Ed learns about himself as well as what he wants for his future, but I probably need to re-read the ending more carefully in order to really enjoy it (I was just racing to the finish to see what happened in the end). All in all, I definitely recommend this book, but be warned before you pick it up - there's definitely adult content in it!

STUDENT SHOWCASE: Here's a blog from Alex on his progress and thoughts of the book thus far:

Check out Alex's blog here.

Looking for Alaska

This is a wonderful coming of age book about a group of friends at a boarding school. The group is drawn together by their desire to live life to the fullest (i.e. pranking those around them). The main character, Miles (aka Pudge), is on a quest for what he calls "The Great Perhaps." He falls in love with a girl named Alaska Young - the most adventurous, beautiful, craziest girl he's ever met. The friends navigate through school, authority figures, and love together - growing as they go. The beginning of the book is entitled "Before," and is a countdown to something. The second half is entitled "After." This book is beautiful, tragic, enlightening, and hilarious. John Green definitely writes a true-to-life story aimed at young adults, and I'm sure everyone would enjoy this book. Again - be warned of adult content!

STUDENT SHOWCASE: Here's a blog from Austin about his enjoyment of the book thus far:

Check out Austin's blog here.


Happy reading, everyone! We only have two more Lit Circle discussions to go!

Student Feature!

Today I wanted to feature a student blog. Colin read a book called Spacer and Rat, and I thought some of you might find it intriguing. Check it out!

Let's get back on this thing!

Hey All!

Well, as all of you know, it's been a crazy couple of weeks, so it's about time I get back on this blog. How is everyone's blogging experiment going? I've seen some great posts, and I've read about some great books that I want to sample! Keep up the good work! Some of you are still having trouble publishing. If this is the case, PLEASE talk to me about your issues.

Today, I'll be featuring a couple of student blogs, so be looking forward to that!

Happy Blogging!

And so it begins...

Hey fellow readers! I'm looking forward to updating you on what I'm reading as well as getting recommendations from your reading. Here's what I plan on including in my blogs:

• Updates on the book I'm currently reading.
• Recommendations from past books that I love.
• Blogger highlights: I'll highlight some of the wonderful posts that you, the students, write.

I'm really looking forward to our class blogging experience. As you begin your blogging, be sure to customize your blog, so you make it uniquely you! Feel free to follow each others' blogs as well as subscribe to posts. Make comments and encourage each other as well. 

Happy reading!