Tuesday, October 12, 2010

What I Have Read, What I'm Reading, and What's on Deck

September reading

Seeing a Large Cat, The Ape Who Guards the Balance, The Falcon at the Portal, and He Shall Thunder in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters (novels from the Amelia Peabody series that everyone in the whole universe should read immediately)

4 Sherlock Holmes stories by Arthur Conan Doyle: "The Speckled Band," "The Adventure of the Copper Beeches," "The Stock-Broker's Clerk," and "The Red-Headed League" (I like "The Speckled Band" best cause it's so exotic and morbid.)

Prologue to Confessio Amantis by John Gower (Absolutely loved it. Must get to the whole thing one day.)

Piers Plowman by William Langland (Meh. Enjoyed seeing the portraits of the 7 deadly sins. Portrait of gluttony made me quit smoking.)

The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African-American Students by Gloria Ladson-Billings (Didn't agree with everything, but found her insight and the insight of the master teachers into the needs of African-American students helpful. Made me want to learn more about African-American English, so I may take a class.)

The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkein (Nothing need be said about this marvel of the modern world. Even the elves didn't have anything this good.)

By the Shores of Silver Lake by Laura Ingalls Wilder (How the Ingalls family gets settled on their final homestead. Adult Almanzo enters story. Yay!)

about a million articles about composition theory and pedagogy that I don't think any of you care about but were very edifying

Things I am Reading Right Now

The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Rebecca by Daphne DuMarier (Wow, this is depressing, but her psychological state is really well written.)

The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein (More perfection surpassing even the works of the men of Westerness.)

Writing About Your Life: A Journey Into the Past by William Zinsser (Half Auto-Biography, half how to write aut0-biography.)

Talking to Tweens: Getting it Right Before It Gets Rocky with Your 8- to 12- Year Old by Elizabeth Hartley-Brewer

The Story of the World:History for the Classical Child: Volume 1: Ancient Times by Susan Wise Bauer

about a million articles about composition theory and pedagogy that I don't think any of you care about but will be very edifying

What I Have on the Shelf to be Read

Between Parent and Child by Haim Ginott

A Yank Back to England: The Prodigal Tourist Returns by Denis Lipman (won this at Dragon Con for answering a Shakespeare question correctly)

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters (a NEW Amelia Peabody, and this time she's in Palestine!)

Archaeology by David Hurst Thomas and Robert L. Kelly (My mom took a course in archaeology, and this was her text. Livy and I are both very interested, so I thought this might be a good starting place.)

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach

Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan (a new series about the Egyptian gods from the author who gave us Percy Jackson)

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (recommended by nerdy librarians at Dragon Con in the Young Adult Track)

More Sherlock Holmes stories (probably chosen at random)

First Test by Tamora Pierce (another YA Dragon Con recommendation)

The Original Mother Goose (with all those old and beautiful illustrations)
about a million articles about composition theory and pedagogy that I don't think any of you care about but will be very edifying

What have you read lately? What's on your shelf?

3 comments:

Daniel said...

I've read a bunch of books on marketing and entrepreneurship of late, just finished a book called Seized: A Sea Captain's Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World's Most Troubled Waters, and am reading The Objectivist now.

katherine said...

I have a bunch of books going right now.

I am currently reading:

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (again)

Common Sense Economics by James Gwartney

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen And Listen So Kids Will Talk by Mazlish and Faber

Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me) by Tavris and Aronson

Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain

On my shelf are:
The Paleo Diet by Loren Cordain; The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf; The Vegetarian Myth by Lierre Keith;
Raising Your Spirited Child by Mary Kurcinka; and many more.

I read mostly non-fiction, but I'll have to find a new fiction work for my bedtime book once I've finished Anthony Bourdain's book.

Brian Fritts said...

I am currently reading "Winston's War: 1940-1945." It is very interesting look at Churchill as Prime Minister.