Tuesday, August 19, 2008

New for 2008-2009

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As hard as it is to say good-bye to summer, many great things are lined-up for our 2008-2009 school year. I just posted a list of events and and new items on my library wiki. Of the many things to look forward to, one of the events I'm most looking forward to is a lunch-time book club, giving students and staff an opportunity to share what we're reading. Have you done much reading this summer? Hope you all managed to read some good books in addition to your required reading.
Here are the books I enjoyed this summer:
  • Before I Die by Jenny Dowham: a real tear-jerker, but none-the-less entertaining (it's one of this year's Reading Olympics books)
  • In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez: Wow - what a powerful book! My first Julia Alvarez book and definitely not my last! (also a Reading Olympics book)
  • The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr - a true story about the missing Caravaggio painting, The Taking of Christ; quite interesting stuff
  • The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein - another tear-jerker, but a book with a message of the self-fulfilling prophecy: life is what you make of it!
  • Life As We Knew It by Susan Beth Pfeffer - An apocalyptic book which will get you thinking about how fragile our little plant really is (also a Reading Olympics book)
  • American Born Chinese by Gene Yang - a graphic novel which looks at Asian cultures as well as the desire to fit in (yet another Reading Olympics book!)
  • Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum - a heart-wrenching, mesmerizing novel about a young German woman during World War II. We've read much about the awful, unimaginable suffering of Jews. What were German citizens thinking and doing while these innocent people were being tortured and murdered? This book is not for the soft-hearted! It's a difficult, painful read, but beautifully told.
  • And Then You Die by Iris Johansen - because every summer deserves one light book which requires little from your mind. :-)
Enjoy the last weeks! See you in September!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Countdown to Twilight



I'm looking forward to picking up the fourth and final novel in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series, Breaking Dawn. Anyone out there who went to the midnight release Friday?

Something else to look forward to is our school book discussions which lead up to the release of the movie, Twilight on December 12. We will be having after school book discussions on 10/28, 11/18, and 12/9.