Book fair!

So today was the opening of the book fair at school. I absolutely love book fairs and I picked out $70 worth of books in about 20 minutes. Then I spent another 15 trying to pare down the stack to something more manageable. Woohoo!

I bought:
The Young Man and the Sea, Rodman Philbrick
Heroes of the Holocaust, Allan Zullo and Mara Bovsun
The Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan
New Boy, Julian Houston
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney
Vocab Rock, Defined Mind
Sam and the Tigers, Julius Lester

I'm still reading Allegiance, but it's a little slow going, just because I've been so busy. It's good, though. :)

What am I up to?

Just as an update:

I'm reading Allegiance by Timothy Zahn. It's good, but much slower going than the Legacy books. Still, it's nice to return to Han, Leia, Luke, and Chewbacca's youth and (relative) innocence and their struggle against the Empire. And to meet Mara Jade.

Also, I'm taking I Am Legend home with me this weekend. Yay! Which reminds me: I am spending all my good reading time driving this weekend, as I am in Greensboro for a wedding shower. Fun, but not much progress toward 100 books.

The Golden Compass, Philip Pullman

I finished The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman a couple of days ago. My internet has been down, so I couldn't post about it. It doesn't count as one of my 100 because I started it in 2007. However, I wanted to post it since I read it for a specific reason.

So there's a big controversy about this book. Apparently the author is a "self-proclaimed" atheist and he doesn't mind sharing his negative opinion about the "established" church. Or Church, as it may be. I read the book to give it a fair chance and to find out for myself what all the hubbub is about.

Check out Random House's webpage for the books here.

Also read Snopes.com's take on the controversy here.

I don't know what I think, honestly. I was drawn into the story by the ideas, but the ending was quite disturbing to me, even though I know it's only the gateway into the next book in the series. I can definitely see the reasons for the uproar. I think that the book does paint the Church (specifically the Catholic Church, although no alternative Christian Church is in evidence in the novel) in a decidedly negative light. It even directly refers to the imminent return of the Council of the Inquisition, of course one of the most horrific chapters in the Church's history. All in all the Church is represented as a domineering, rigid, secretive body which involves itself unwelcomely in the affairs of the world.

The problem, in my mind, comes in at the intentions of the reader. If the reader approaches the book as a fantasy rooted in the real world, it is possible to enjoy the book for its intrinsic value. If, however, the reader enters the book on the alert for a religious message, it will most definitely be an anti-Church message. Some readers may be seduced by the fantasy and lured into believing these negative ideas about the Church, while others will not delve that deeply into the undertones or find their opinions changed. It all goes back to what each reader is looking for.

That said, parents must always monitor their children's book choices, read with them, and discuss the ideas and messages in each story. In this way, religious parents can protect their children's beliefs and parents who do not affiliate themselves with a particular church will have a point for discussion with their children. If nothing else, it makes ample fodder for debate.

On a final note, I don't think this particular book is a "children's book" anyway. The ideas, language, and style of the book are simply too advanced for most young readers. I spent some time looking up some of the vocabulary and concepts for my own edification and I don't think that many of the young people I have taught or encountered in my teaching career would understand them.

3 - Fury, Aaron Alston

I thoroughly enjoyed this Star Wars book. It did a really good job of developing all the characters equally, which hasn't been happening so much in the last few books. I didn't realize how much I missed Han and Leia and Jaina until they were back in such force in this book (no pun intended).

I must say, I'm glad that Han and Leia finally know the truth about Allana's father. It has made me crazy for them! But Allana and Tenel Ka are in increasing danger because now there are 4 adults in the world who know Allana's parentage. As the numbers creep up, so too do the dangers. We shall see.

I think this is one of the better books in the Legacy of the Force series. I'm glad the Jedi are starting to act instead of simply react (to use a Jedi phrase) and I LOVED how they dealt with Centerpoint Station. Very exciting.

Yay! On to the next thing now.

Another poem I love

The Riddle of Strider

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.

-JRR Tolkein

Poetry Anthology

The third quarter begins next week, and we'll be studying poetry for the whole quarter. I am planning to have my students create individual poetry collections, complete with explanations about their choices. In preparation, I am going to create my own poetry anthology as an example.

Poems I'm Considering:

• How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. (Sonnet 43), Elizabeth Barrett Browning


• Jabberwocky, Lewis Carroll


• Annabel Lee, Edgar Allan Poe


• There is no Frigate like a Book, Emily Dickinson


• We Real Cool, Gwendolyn Brooks


• Mother to Son, Langston Hughes


• Batty, Shel Silverstein


• Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments (Sonnet 116), William Shakespeare


• American Pie, Don McLean (Yes, song lyrics are allowed.)


• Carolina in My Mind, James Taylor


• The Song of Hiawatha, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (probably an excerpt)


• Paul Revere's Ride, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (also an excerpt?)

Mom gave me two wonderful books of poetry for Christmas. One is called Poet's Corner: The One-and-only Poetry Book for the Whole Family and it's compiled by John Lithgow. The best part about it, which I haven't explored yet, is a CD of famous people reading the poems included in the book. The other is Early Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay, obviously by Edna St. Vincent Millay. I'm excited about this one because she is a poet I'm not very familiar with.

Any suggestions for poems to include? I'm vaguely considering the poem I wrote years ago, Starstruck, but I'm not at all sure I'm willing to open up that much to my crazy kids. We'll see.

2 - The Choice, Nicholas Sparks

Mom is right when she says that all of Nicholas Sparks' novels are fundamentally the same, but I still enjoyed this one. I'm a sap, after all. :)

I love the romance of it, honestly. I love the falling in love, the courtship, the passion. I love being married and consequently I enjoy reading about happy marriages. See, I'm a sap.

I have to admit, the beginning of Part Two was surprising. Without giving anything away, I thought something completely different from what was really going on. I don't know what I would do in Travis's situation. It might be something I need to talk to Matt about. It reminds me of the debates in Bioethics class in college. Like Travis, I guess everyone has to ask themselves "How far will you go in the name of love?"