Traveling is great for reading...

16. Read 30 books I haven’t read before and blog about them. (17/30)

Sometimes there's nothing better than a captive audience, and that's what I am when I have to fly somewhere: my own captive audience.  I bring reading I want or need to get done - and it gets done!

For this week's short jaunt out to Colorado (for work), I brought along a few schoolbooks and one library book.  I figured that this would be the only opportunity I'd get to read the library book without feeling guilty that I wasn't doing work for school or teaching prep instead.

In order to relax on the way to CO, I decided to first read the library book: Best Friends Forever by Jennifer Weiner.

I've read a few of Ms. Weiner's books and, while I sometimes have issues with a few elements in them, overall I tend to enjoy them, speeding right through - and this one was no different.  I started it after we took off in Newark and finished it as the wheels touched ground in Denver.

Ms. Weiner's writing really feels like it takes a step forward in this book.  The plot is a bit more intricate and the character development felt more mature and even more interesting than previous tomes of hers.  The story follows two women who were best friends as children, but who had an unpleasant falling out their senior year of high school.  Now one is a semi-famous local weather reporter and the other works as an artist out of her home.  I don't want to give up much more, though, because I really enjoyed how the plot unfolded.

If you enjoyed Good In Bed, you'll enjoy this one - possibly even more.

But that was it for the fun reading - or, actually, not quite.  I won't generally be counting my school reading on my 101 in 1001 list of 30 books to read unless it's a novel, probably (which I don't expect to read too many of since this is an Education program and not a straight English program).  However, I was assigned The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie and have to add it to the list because it was so enjoyable.

This book is written at, I'd say, an eighth to tenth grade level.  However, because the topics covered are quite deep, it is still a rewarding read for an adult.  Sherman Alexie is an American Indian (although I was recently informed they prefer to be called "Indian" - not American Indian or Native American - I had no idea).  He writes fiction and poetry based on his own life experiences growing up on the rez (reservation).  As many people are aware, rez life involves a lot of alcoholism and many troubled families, and the book does not shy away from the hardships that the people who live on the rez must confront as a part of their daily lives.  Yet, he does it with humor and wraps it in a fascination, well-told, quickly paced story.

In school we're talking about lesson plans for high school students based on this text.  It's a bit basic for me to use at the college level; however, I think I might consider it if I were teaching a basic skills college reading course.  There's a lot of great material to dig into.

I also did some other reading for school, but nothing that would enthrall too many people outside the world of education.  And that is what I will continue to do today, along with laundry and various other household activities.

I wish I could just sit and relax today but there's just always so much to do - tons still to read, tons of lesson planning to do, and a super long week at work starting Monday.  If I can make it alive to next weekend, I will consider it an accomplishment.  (And there's a built-in reward: next Saturday is poker night and next Sunday is a trip into NYC to see Alton Brown!)

Comments

[Nadia]

Alton Brown = <3. Seriously. I am so jealous!