My Reading Frenzy

What I've Read - What I am Reading - January 25, 2021

I thoroughly enjoyed Amanda Gorman's inauguration poem and have listened and watched it on repeat. I have written about it for my Library of Congress Teacher's Corner post this month. 

 

Read:

• Just Last Night (egalley) by Mhairi McFarlane - I enjoyed this as much as I have McFarlane's other novels. It was certainly more sad than the others, but still contained a health dose of satisfying romance. 
• Brain on Fire by Susannah Cahalan - I think my expectations were high, which may explain why I was somewhat disappointed overall. What happened to Cahalan as documented in the book was a medical mystery for weeks at the beginning of her illness. The segment of the book chronicling her downward spiral and the early attempted to diagnose her illness were interesting. After that the story plodded along through her treatments and return to regular life activities. I would be surprised to discover that teens stay engage all the way through.
• This is the Story of a Happy Marriage (eaudio library book)  by Ann Patchett - This is a collection of essays, one of the which is the title essay, written over a decade and published in a variety of magazines. I think Patchett may be as engaged an essayist as she is novelist. BONUS: Patchett does the reading 

 

Reading:

• Gideon the Ninth (purchased book) by Tamsyn Muir - I am close to finishing, but one night, right before bed I read a few chapters and realized when I tried to pick up the next day that I had forgotten important details. This is why I try to avoid reading right before bed or when I am sleepy. I should finish within the next two days. Then will move immediately on to the next installment, Harrow the Ninth, to avoid losing the momentum of the first book. 
• Angel Mage (library ebook) by Garth Nix - I have not read any more of this than I had last week, because life got busy and then the book was due back to the library. I have put it on hold again and am first on the list for when it is available again. 
• In the Presence of the Enemy (elibrary book) by Elizabeth George - I had this once from the library then it was due, so when it popped back up again I moved it to the top of the TBR. I am not sorry to have done so. George mixed things up a bit by delaying the murder until almost half-way through the book, taking us slowly into the story through investigating a kidnapping before a murder occurs. The focus also begins with Simon St. James, rather than Lynley. This is the 8th Lynley mystery, but I have also read the 6 most recent works. I started over at the beginning and have 6 to read after this to catch up. I hope she has something new in the works too, I don't want to run out.  

 

Listening:

• The Best of Me (audiobook purchased from Audible) by David Sedaris I mentioned this one a few weeks ago, but had to skip it in favor of the Patchett book that came in from my library holds list. But after finishing that this one rose to the top. As expected I snort laughed a number of times already. Luckily I was by myself in the car so I didn't get any funny looks from strangers.

 

 

What have you read? What are you reading and listening to?

 

 

**A note on the picture. I always use an image from the Prints and Photographs collections of the Library of Congress. I like these because they are interesting, and freely available because they are in the public domain. I mainly choose images of people reading. If you click the image in any of my posts you will be able to see the Library's bibliographic record which includes whatever they know about the image including its creator. There are also usually links to other similar items or to the collection the image is a part of.***

Who are the Top Authors I Would Like to See in Person?

A few weeks ago I wrote about the authors I have seen in person (or virtually).  

Today I want to share some authors I would like to see if given the opportunity and others who are long gone, but who I think would have been great in person.

• Phillip Pullman - I have been reading Pullman since the His Dark Materials series in the 90s. As far as I have seen, he does not do book tours or festivals. I respect this if it is his preference, but I would enjoy hearing him talk about his work. Especially now that he has been writing another trilogy (The Book of Dust) set in Lyra's London. I have also read his Sally Lockhart mystery series.
• Connie Willis - Given my feelings about her time travel books, Willis is an author I want to have tea and a good chat with. I'd also like to see her talk about her work. 
• Erin Morgenstern - I rarely read books more than once, but I have both read and listened to The Night Circus. I haven't yet read her second novel, The Starless Sea, though I have owned it since it was released in the spring. I know I will be sorry to have waited, but there isn't a bad time to read a good book.
• Jason Reynolds - In reality I have seen Reynolds speak, but it was in his capacity as the National Ambassador for Young People's Literature, not in connection with his own writing. This is a goal.
• Tana French - The more mysteries I read, the more I am intrigued by mystery writing. 
• Ann Patchett - The first of her books I read was Bel Canto, the most recent was The Dutch House. In between I have never been disappointed. She is one of this generation's greats. AND she owns an independent bookstore!
• Glennon Doyle - I so enjoyed listening to her book Untamed recently. I am on the wait list for Love Warrior. I connect to her real voice because she sounds like a friend and to her written voice. She says things that make sense and encourage me to look inward.

I could probably write all day about authors I would like to hear talk about their work, the world, philosophy, life, but these are a few of the top who I will seek when there is again an opportunity for in person events. Until then I will look for virtual events, like the National Book Festival, which begins tomorrow.

 

 

I also made a list of authors who are no longer living who I would like to have had the opportunity to see and hear in person as well. They mainly include authors whose work I have taught, but in most cases I chose works I loved or found merit in so the authors are those I respect and whose work I would love to hear more about.

• Oscar Wilde - I love his satire from The Importance of Being Earnest to The Picture of Dorian Gray. I visited his resting place in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, France. It is a beautiful memorial to a favorite writer.
• Edgar Allan Poe - Poe's work is attractive to students and therefore fun to teach. The short stories are masterful examples of the power of brevity. Despite his final resting place being in Baltimore, I have not visited, an oversight I hope to rectify soon. 
• The Transcendentalists and their friends - After visiting Concord, Massachusetts last summer for a National Endowment for the Humanities educator workshop I came to know this remarkable group of writers and philosophers more deeply than I had from only their writing. Seeing the places they wrote and spent their time offered insights that have made their work more meaningful to me. The writers I include are:
  • Henry David Thoreau
  • Louisa May Alcott
  • Ralph Waldo Emerson
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Margaret Fuller
• The poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson - 2019 was the 100^th anniversary of Whitman's birth. The Library of Congress had a special open house during which were displayed rare works and special publications. The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City had an exhibition as did the main branch of the New York public library. I was able to see all three.
  • I consider Dickinson and Whitman to be parallel poets, whose words resonate with me in similar ways. I have participated in an all day reading of Dickinson's poems to commemorate her birthday and visited her home in Holyoke, Massachusetts.
  • I think a walk in the park with the two of them and some time on a bench in conversation would be intellectually stimulating  and nourishment for my creative soul.
• Zora Neal Hurston - Because she was a groundbreaking writer, a talented folklorist, and Their Eyes Were Watching God is one of the most gratifying novels I have ever taught because of the ways in which almost all students find a point of connection with Janie Crawford's story.

There are certainly far more authors I could add to this list as well.

 

What authors do you want to see in person? Who are you sorry to have missed?

 

 

 

 

Poetry and My Worries About our New Executive Branch

Every month I write a blog post for a government agency with a focus on using poetry in the classroom and library. January has been a tumultuous month for me with the Presidential inauguration and the far more satisfying Women's March on Washington and around the country and world as it turned out. Because of my heightened emotional state I wrote this month's post about the inauguration and march and ways in which teachers and librarians might use poetry to help students talk about these events. Today I received a phone call that my post had been declined. This is not a surprise, nor am I offended, instead, I am frightened. Frightened that we now live in a nation where we are afraid of the repercussions if we speak out, or even hint that we are less than thrilled with this administration. Journalists are being harassed, rights are being curtailed, and bloggers are being hushed. But a bloggers gotta blog. So here is my post...make your own judgement about its content. All I ask is that we all start thinking about where we stand and what rights we are willing to concede.

 

Over the past few days, living in Washington, DC, I have watched or participated in historic activities. First, was the Presidential inauguration, then the Women’s March on Washington the next day. Both events made me think about the power of poetry, whether because I was remembering inaugural poems of the past or thinking about the strong emotions of these events that may have already inspired poems.

Students around the United States and the world are also aware of these historic events. They may be dealing with their own feelings as well as those of family, friends, and their community. Reading and writing poetry can inspire, spur, and engage them, helping students to connect with feelings about current events and build empathy or sympathy for those who walk in different shoes.

Reading the poetry of others may help students begin to talk about their reactions to and feelings about current events. Think about sharing using Poetry 180 - A Poem a Day for American High Schools, Hosted by Billy Collins, U.S. Poet Laureate, 2001-2003. Another approach is to select specific poems with themes appropriate to recent events such as “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers” (314)  by Emily Dickinson. Listen to a reading at the Library of Congress during this day long reading on December 8, 2014, celebrating Emily Dickinson’s 184th birthday at time marker 2:20:34. Also consider something more provocative to spark discussion among students about their political concerns. Here, Naomi Shihab Nye reads Lisa Suhair Majaj’s “Guidelines.”

Writing poetry is a way for students to proclaim these thoughts, feelings, and political concerns in a concrete way. Asking students to record ideas in poetic formats promotes literacy by encouraging writing in multiple formats.

As an educator I feel I can support students when I offer opportunities for discussion prompted by poetry, only one of the ways in which Americans express themselves.

How do you prompt students to discuss current events?

 **Photograph: [Chief Justice William Rehnquist administering the oath of office to Bill Clinton on the west front of the U.S. Capitol, January 20, 1993]