Welcome to #IMWAYR, where bloggers share the books they have been reading in the past week. If you follow these links, Jen from Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers, you can find many great reads.
I have had better reading weeks.
I finished listening to Fairest by Gail Carson Levine. At first I enjoyed the voices singing. However, by the time I got to the end, I was sick to death of it. I understand that singing was an integral part of this story, but I really would have preferred more variation in style in the music. Aside from that, I like that this retelling of Snow White takes a hard look at cultural attitudes towards beauty. I love how complex these main characters are. There are still aspects of the gender relationships that irritate me, but aside from the singing, I liked this book. It might have been a better book for me if I had read it with my eyes instead of my ears.
The star in my week was Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton by Matt Phelan. I started it one afternoon at school and couldn't stop till I had finished it. This is a stellar book that combines stunning watercolour artwork and a compelling storyline into a work of art that begs to be read again and again.
I discovered a copy of Mr Poppers Penguins in a box of donations. I've been meaning to get around to reading it since we have a literature circle set at the school, so I downloaded the audiobook from the VPL, and started listening. There were moments that charmed the heck out of me, but mostly I was irritated by the patriarchal tone of this book.
Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff just didn't work for me. I wanted more for Albie from the adults around him, and they just didn't deliver. I won't get this one for our library, but I think it is an important book for adults to read as it demonstrates the many ways we fail the children in our care.
At this time I'm listening to Because of Mr Terupt by Rob Buyea. So far I'm loving it.
Waiting for me to read with my eyes this week I've got On a Clear Day by Walter Dean Myers and Also Known as Elvis by James Howe. I can't decide which to start first. I've got a collection of new audiobooks waiting, but I think I am going to start with one of the Timmy Failure books by Stephan Pastis next.
I was so-so about Absolutely Almost when I read it to myself, but then my son asked me to read it aloud to him, and I had a very different response reading it aloud and talking about it with him. I always think that's so interesting how books can change when they're being shared. (This often happens to me with picture books too. Sometimes a book I really don't get or like will change completely when I'm reading it aloud and watching another reader's very engaged response.) Isn't Bluffton marvelous? Same thing happened to me--picked it up and couldn't stop til I finished. The art is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThanks Elisabeth. It always amazes me that there are books I love, and the kids hate them, or books I hate, but kids love them. I'm glad to hear that your son enjoyed it. One of our teachers has a copy, (mine was from the local public library) so I will ask her how it goes with her students.
DeleteI loved Bluffton, too!
ReplyDeleteI find the narrator (and audio style) makes a huge difference in audio books. I'm currently listening to Feed and only barely making it through. I really dislike the narrator. I think I would have liked this book more reading with my eyes as well.
I agree. The narrator can make a world of difference. I loved listening to The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The True Blue Scouts of Sugarman Swamp as much because of the narration as because of the story. I find that listening to anything scary, like I tried with The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo, is a disaster.
DeleteI'm reading A Tangle of Knots right now and I love it.
ReplyDeleteLisa
LisaTeachR'sClassroom
A Tangle of Knots looks interesting and might be a better read since it is fantasy.
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