Thursday, July 3, 2008

Blog Fodder?

Eric finished his first year of teaching, and I finished my first semester. Insanely, it feels unsettling to me, but I think I was learning a lot and feeling more myself in the classroom when the year abruptly ended.

This is kind of boring, but here's my summer reading list. I figure I need a place to record this so I can actually try to read what's on my list and not forget about it. I get distracted easily by eye-catching covers at the library.

In no particular order:
Picasso's War- Russell Martin

The Odyssey- Homer
My students from this Spring are going to be ashamed of me for not having read this before. But my freshmen in the Fall won't know the difference when I teach it to them. Can you believe I made it through all of my higher education without reading it? Or that I never had enough personal interest to read it myself?

Shopping For God: How Christianity Went From in Your Heart to in Your Face
- James B. Twitchell
Still reconciling my many feelings about Christianity, religion, spirituality. The branding of faith has always made me queasy. I wanted to read this last summer but didn't get around to it.

Grendel- John Gardner and Beowulf- Anonymous
Also for the 9th graders. Also never read them before. I'm ashamed.

The Last Happy Occasion- Alan Shapiro
Hoping that to re-read this will be to stimulate my writing. We'll see.

When Kids Can't Read- Kylene Beers

Any volume of poetry that excites me. It's been too long.

Anyone have something to thrust into my hands as a must-read? I'll add them to the list. And maybe since it's summer I'll blog more. Or maybe I'll have nothing to say.

Update: I forgot America America by Ethan Canin. I loved Of Kings and Planets.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

You should read Atonement. It was really good. When i give it back to you, consider it added to your list. :)

Weinkle said...

close enough I say.

I didn't know a lick of history and look at me now! I'm more fun at cocktail hour!

Steve said...

I recently read the Zahir by Paulo Coelho and really enjoyed it. I'm a big Alchemist fan though, so if you are too you'll like this.

You've probably already read Life of Pi, but I got around to it after all these years and I loved it.

see ya soon

Milla said...

sounds like I good list to me.
I had to read the Beers book for a class, it was pretty helpful.

I want to read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. it seems as if everyone I know has read it and loved it. I'm reading a book of short stories by the same author (Junot Diaz) and I really like them so far.

I miss you. hard. core.

plastic said...

your hardcore fans missed your hardcore blogs, hardcorely.