Mine has been fairly smashing so far, I must say. :) I've gone to Austin to see some college buddies, tube a river and soak in Barton Springs, done some hiking with Miss Mia, gone to see a movie or two, gardened, played a little tennis (not as much as normal-- I've managed a couple of injuries that have really curtailed my normal playing time-- big bummer!), and I've read some really interesting books. What's to come? Maybe a trip to Dallas in early July for my brother's birthday, a definite trip to Duxbury, MA to see my Auntie and my cousins, and possibly a trip to Yellowstone in early August-- all sprinkled with my normal BoCo activities. All in all, a very fun and relaxing summer. Just what the doctor ordered so that the batteries are recharged for '11-'12.
What are you guys up to? Do tell!
As some of you know, I am in two YA book clubs this summer, so I picked out 12 books to read. First, I read Coraline by Neil Gaiman. Loved it. It's short, but good and creepy in a very British sort of way. Next up was Unwind by Neal Shusterman. I would only recommend this book to very mature middle schoolers, but to them, I recommend it highly. This book blew me away, stuck with me for weeks and I couldn't stop talking about it. But it is very, very graphic in parts and it definitely requires a mature mind to process all the topics. Now I see why it was a Blue Spruce nominee! The third book I read was The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan, a gothic/romance tale featuring zombies. Don't sound like they go together, right? :) It was good brain candy, albeit a bit dark after Unwind... I must admit, my dreams were disturbed for a few nights! After that, I finished What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell which I was very excited to read and a bit disappointed with when finished. It won the National Book Award and has had tons of praise heaped on it, but it just wasn't my style. I could see some girls really liking it, though! Right now, I'm about halfway done with American Born Chinese, a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang, and I'm really enjoying this one. It won the Printz Award for YA Literature. I was recommending it to my friend Ms. Luchies who teaches at Silver Creek, and she says, "I know! I teach that book." Well, blow me down. :)
So that's where I am with my reading so far. What are you guys reading? Anything good? Anything awful?
Post away!
:)
Mrs. P
5 comments:
My summer has been pretty relaxing so far! I've pretty much just hung out, but July is going to get crazy! I'm going on a roadtrip to Yellowstone with my church and then after that I go to Germany for a family reunion! I'm really excited to go! I'm sad to say I havn't read as much as I do during the school year :(. I'll have to try some of the books you suggested Mrs. Pulley! I did finish an amazing book called House Rules by Jodi Picoult though! I absolutely love all of the books I have read by her and highly recommend it! I also recently read Going Bovine by Libba Bray and enjoyed it! It was a bit different than what I normally read, but I was pleasantly surprised! It does include some mature content, so I would recommend it for more mature middle schoolers. Can't wait to hear what the rest of you are doing! Everybody needs to post!
-Kaari
Well, I guess my post never posted, but I'm having a great summer! It's been packed with swimteam, but it's really fun. My family and I have gone to Mexico and today we're driving back from Keystone. We have many more things to do though! :)
I've only read two books so far. I've just been reading some easy and fun ones. I read the first book in the Dork Diaries Series, but it wasn't that great. I do looove The Lying Game by Sara Shepard! I finished the first book, and I'm waiting for the second one to come out in August. I'm also waiting for The 9th Pretty Little Liars, which came out today! Finally! I can't wait to get it!
Hey, Ms, Pulley!
I'm reading too much, as usual. Like Kaari, I enjoyed some Libba Bray and read "Beauty Queens", which has a little mature content, but I think it's Bray's best work yet. "Going Bovine" was a little over-the-top, but Bray really can settle into her satirical voice in Beauty Queens.
I'm rereading a ton, like the Abhorsen trilogy and Ender's Game, and finally caught up on Rick Riordan (I really want Son of Neptune!). I'd also recommend Leviathan, a new series by Scott Westerfeld, which is also accompanied by amazing illustrations by this one guy whose name I've forgotten. But it's steampunk, and I love anything steampunk. I didn't really like his Uglies books, but I am enjoying Leviathan.
Also a book worth reading is "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow. Because he's an advocate of CC, the "Creative Commons License", all his work is available online for free! But if you're like me, and only like reading actual books, I'm sure the public library has a few copies.
Ms. Pulley, if you see this, I sent an email to your stvrain.k12.co.us account. I hope I spelled your name right and that you will receive it!
A Past Rattler, Lulu ;)
Great to hear everybody is doing well...
My summer is just starting....
Baseball season is over, so i have the next month to myself. I got to go back to Virginia for a few days in June for my sister's wedding at George Washington's River House (what a beautiful location) That was a good time. I also got to go to Durango, CO with me wife for a weekend. We did some rafting down the Animas River and shot some guns at the firing range with the police officers. I think we will go to Lyons for a weekend trip to a cabin soon.
I have done a lot of reading for Mrs. Pulley's reading club. I would recommend "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. I am also enjoying my read of "The Maze Runner" so far. Not done yet, but soon. Enjoy the rest of your summers and I look forward to seeing you all soon!
Mr. Custis
Lulu! Awesome to hear from you. :) I'll respond to your email, but we love hearing from you here. This next Bookies crew is going to have to learn how to blog; that's all there is to it. :)
Happy... oh my, is this your junior year? No way!
:)
Mrs. P
Post a Comment