Meeting Tomorrow

Well, we will be meeting tomorrow IF there is school. Many seem to be crossing their fingers for that gift of winter, a SNOW DAY. I have started to read some fascinating books that I hope to share at the meeting. Should we pick a book as usual or should we fan out and all pick a different book for december to share about in January? What do you think?

November Reads--Great Choices!

I loved reading _Marcelo in the Real World_. What did you think? It was great to get inside the thinking of someone of high intelligence who thinks so differently. It made me wish we had more Marcelos in the world. _Enrique's Journey_ is a book that you won't forget long after you read it. It is hard to imagine that children are in such desperate circumstances right in our own hemisphere. It makes me wonder if some of the money that we spend on the illegal immigrant issues in our country could be better spent. What if we could help these young mothers start small cottage businesses in their own coutries so that they wouldn't need to come here? Happy reading!

Meeting on September 30th--Books to Read

I stopped in the Cooperative Children's Book Center CCBC library to talk to Megan schliesman about books that she would recommend and also stopped at the public library to see what books are available to check out en masse. After all of that there ARE books that would be great to read: Hunger Games (maybe when it comes out in paperback); Feed, The Book Thief, American Born Chinese, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landaou Banks and Impossible. There has been two choices from the Early lunch group so far: Feed and American Born Chinese. I can't wait to start these books--I have not read either one yet!

Look for our Table at the Club Org Fair on Friday

Mrs. Grams will be there letting students know about our group. What shall we read? It is always a challenge to select a book that is available to everyone (at the public library, for example). Most people seem to enjoy reading books that they otherwise might not read. I managed to read a number of great books this summer and I can't wait to hear about books that you all have read.

Reading _Things Fall Apart_ by Chinua Achebe

I have read this book previously, but wanted to read it again as I have just received a grant to work with several classes of students and their teachers on a project that includes this book. The story takes place in Nigeria. We learn about that culture prior to the influence of colonialism in the first part of the book. It is a wonderful story

Reading While Traveling

I am heading off to a National Computing conference in Washington D.C. soon and I have a great book that I have started to read to bring with me. It is _Graceling_ by Kristin Cashore, a lovely read. Katis in an intriguing character with a special "grace" of being able to kill people. This grace is put to use by the king to control his subjects, a task that Katnis despises. She meets her match with another graceling, Po. He helps Katnis realize that she can determine how her special powers are used. This is the first book in a series; the second book has just come out -- _Fire_ and I have heard that it is even better than the first!

Reading _Hunger Games_

I am almost done reading _Hunger Games_ and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story. What are you reading?

Summer Reading

We had a good discussion about _Stormbreaker_. Everyone seems to agree that reading books outside of our normal reading zone is a good thing to do. I enjoyed this book a great deal, myself. It makes me want to actually see a James Bond movie (I never have)!

There were a number of suggestions about what to read over the summer--ah, a lovely problem to have. For a complete list please go to the book club web page. Please feel free to keep making suggestions and telling us about what you are reading. Some of the suggestions included: Books in the Midnighter series by Scott Westerfield, _The Other Boleyn Girl_ by Philippa Gregory, _A Long Way Gone_ by Ishmael Beah, books from the Sookie Sackhouse series by Charlaine Harris, books by Randall Ingermanson such as _Oxygen_ and _The Fifth Man_ and the book _Congo_ by Michael Chrichton as well as a number of other suggestions.

Final Book Club Meeting of the School Year

Tomorrow is our final book club meeting of the school year! We have managed to read a number of interesting books and have had the chance to move beyond what we might normally read on our own. Hopefully, people will come tomorrow with some ideas about summer reads. I just finished two great young adult books: _The Graveyard_ by Neil Gaiman and _Jellico Road_ by Malina Marchetta. I would highly recommend either of these books!

Stormbreaker

Everything is winding up (or down, depending on how you look at it) just before Spring break. Students and teachers seem ready for some R&R. We chose _Stormbreaker_ by Anthony Horowitz for our next book. It came highly recommended and we are an adventurous bunch! A number of people have told me that the good thing about being in a book club is that you read books that you might otherwise never read on your own. Expand your horizons! There are a number of copies that you can get through the public library (you may have to order them). I want to put in a plug for the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison this coming weekend (April 2-5).

Books to Read

OK here is the fun part--what to read? Here are some books that have gotten the thumbs up from a number of students (in fact, we can't even keep them on the shelves because they pass from one person to another):
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Impossible by Nancy Werlin

Books by Eoin Colfer

I started Artemis Fowl and so far the jury is out for me. All of the types of characters seem to jump around and it is hard to keep track of who is who. That said, I am forging ahead. Here is Eoin's official website. What are you reading?

Books by Jody Picoult

Those of us in the first lunch group decided that we could read any book by Jodi Picoult. I am reading My Sister's Keeper. It's great so far--very captivating. I try to imagine what it would be like to be born to keep my sister alive. What are you reading? Here is Jodi's official website.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian was a big hit so far from those I had a chance to talk to about it. It is both funny and sad. It seems to be based on his own life, doesn't it? How else could he so clearly describe the situtations and people in this story? Most people told me that they read it in one or two days. I listened to the story on a Playaway (a small listening device) as this recording had rave reviews and won at least one award. It probably changed the story in some important way as I hear the narrator's voice in my head when I think about this book. Also, I found it funnier than those who read the printed book. Maybe we can listen to an excerpt at our next meeting on April 1