Okay! I finished reading two more books over break!
I read "Search for Bliss" and " Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" but I am way too exhausted from racking to write about either right now....
but I will soon!

Well, I finished reading "The Way of a Ship" by Derek Lundy. I don't think I can ever truly understand the adventure that rounding the Horn of South America in a wind-driven ship must have felt like, but this book did a pretty good job of taking me right into the action.

Based partly on his own experiences as a deep-water sailor, and family history and lore, Lundy researched the history and trends of wind-driven four-masted barques, bring the past and the present together in a well written read.

If you want to round the Horn without risk of limb or life, this book is a great read!

Oh Boy!
It is Educator Appreciation Week at Barnes and Noble! That means teachers get a 25% discount on all of their purchases...oh...wonderful!

I met up with my fave collection of co teachers for shopping and lunch (KVD, DM, and CH, plus my own two captive children...who are also on break). We had a blast, and were very supportive about our purchases, but we are so similar in how we approach books, we all like to own our own copy! So even if I had a copy to lend or give of a particular title, others in the group still wanted to buy their own! It was quite a scene, piles of books and the fast happy patter of readers in lust with titles and covers. I am pretty well read, so it was fun to chat about books that others might enjoy, and it made me remember how wonderful it was to read some of those titles, fave authors, genres, etc. Delightful!

Here is what I purchased today:

The Writer's Toolbox by Jamie Cat Callan. This little box contains all sorts of cards and devices designed to end writer's block. It is a delightful toolbox that I cannot wait to put into practice in my own classroom.

Teaching Writing That Matters: Tools and Projects That Motivate Adolescent Writers by Chris W. Gallagher and Amy Lee. Here is a book designed by teachers for teachers all about the teaching and study of the craft of writing. Not prompts t get the kids to write, but ideas and tools and tips to have kids become better writers, writers who understand the process of writing, not just the product.

The Geography of Bliss by Eric Weiner. KVD recommended this title to all of us today, and all three of us, CH, DM and me bought our "own copy", and have turned it into our April Break read. This novel has a subtitle of "One grump's search for the happiest places in the world." Sounds wonderful, silly, and truly profound.

The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A shocking murder and the undoing of a great Victorian detective by Kate Summerscale. True crime just makes me shiver. I love to read about real people, and what they are capable of. This title refers to a brutal murder in 1860 in Victorian England. The Scotland Yard Detective-Inspector Jonathan Whicher is credited with being the creator of forensic science, and the character of Sgt. Cuff in Wilkie Collins' novel The Moonstone, the first of the detective genre novels, was based on him. I love nothing better to escape into than a brutal crime scene...as the crime has already been committed, I feel safe!

The Dalai Lama's Little Book of Wisdom by His Holiness The Dalai Lama. I seek wisdom, comfort, reassurance in my chaotic and unbalanced life regularly. The Dalai Lama allows me a chance to reaffirm my feelings and faith, without committing to organised religious practice, something I am not interested in any longer. I am also attending his teaching seminar in NYC this May, so I don't want to enter into my learning space with a master, without having an understanding of his teachings. This is the second title of his that I have delved into in the last couple of months. I am building an understanding, one page at a time.

That's what has been added to the reading pile! I will report out on titles as I read them!
Keep reading!

Okay, I am going to focus this blog on what I always intended it to be: my thoughts on books, since reading has always been the most important skill that I have ever learned and embraced in my life. Reading is one of my main passions and it has has given me the life I have today, and I cannot envision a life without books.

Here is a list of what I have been reading recently:

The Monsters of Templeton by Laura Groff
Beautifully written with strong characters and strange plot twists, Templeton is based on the town of Cooperstown, NY. James Fenimore Cooper and baseball, as well as a Loch Ness monster all appear in this well crafted and enjoyable novel that combines truth with fiction.

A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
This book was suggested to our staff at the high school during a teacher workshop presentation.
Dealing with skills that translate into success in the future, it is sold as a "business" book, but is easy to read and isn't focused on tips for the "bottom line", instead the premise is about how "right-brainers" , artistic and creative thinkers are truly the wave of the future. I found it wonderfully reassuring, as a right-brain thinker, to recognise that I bring a workable set of skills to my job that might not be instantly recognizable as skills.

The Way of a Ship by Derek Lundy
This fascinating book is a must read for any and all armchair sailors. Part family memoir, part nautical history, this book allows landlubber the chance to be part of a Square-Rigger crew in the sunset of wind-driven ships. Square-Riggers are four masted ships that hauled coal and other supplies around the world in the late 19th century, rounding the Horn and bringing much needed supplies from the Old World to the new.

So many books, so little time!