Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Rainy Days

While it may have started out relatively clear, it is now pouring rain. I have to admit, even when it is dreary and gray, the sound of rain falling on my back roof is also so relaxing.

Today is one of those days when I got my freelance writing done, so now I'm just waiting to hear if I will need to do rewrites or not. The rest of the day, I can get some reading done. I have a bunch of books pulled out. I'm not sure where to start first, but with it so grim outside, I am in the mood for a glowing, scented candle, and then a number of books. Hey, I may even pull out some more classics... the stuff I HATED reading in high school. Quite a few of them are rather intriguing now that I have a little more experience in the world. :-)

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Children and Reading

A reviewer and I were talking about school imposed reading. Adults will remember those high school days when you were handed a book and told READ IT. This was followed by essays, tests, and lengthy discussions about symbolism, themes, metaphors, etc. I hated being told what to read. Shakespeare--I had no use for him and his speech that always ended with -eth. What he did sayeth never meanteth much to me.

In high school, there are a few books I did keep. To Kill A Mockingbird. I loved that story, just as much as I love the movie with Gregory Peck. George Stewart's Earth Abides - can you imagine being one of a handful of survivors to a major plague? I never minded reading Judith Guest's Ordinary People either.

Romeo & Juliet, I've never understood why we had to read it in both Freshman and Junior year. Worse, my grades on the tests given after reading the book never improved! Same goes for MacBeth or Hamlet.

John Steinbeck, I have all of his books and love reading them from time to time. But George Orwell's 1984 - no thanks.

With this my son is starting his 7th grade year. They have to finish 25 books in order to pass the class in June. To my amazement, I actually heard his teacher announce that they get to pick the books they read. She'll do some anthologies with them, but all of their other reading is on their own. Textbooks, magazine subscriptions (a full year of magazines counts as one book)- they all count as reading. It's ABOUT TIME. My son has two magazines that he will not let me miss - Consumer Reports and X-Box Magazine. He does read and reread these magazines all the time. I can't imagine any teacher saying a magazine counts, but I'm glad someone finally acknowledges it!

So far, my son is almost finished the first book in Phillip Pullman's trilogy. (Can't think of the name - but Golden Compass is one of the books - possibly the first, possibly not). He tends to be drawn to sci-fi/fantasy type books. He's working on The Hobbit in another class.

A question arose though - what books would you recommend to fussy readers?

Here are the answers I've come up with:

Romance -

Try Lavyrle Spencer. Her books are gentle enough to be teen friendly, the historical detail won't overwhelm a young woman, but the romances are incredible. Lavyrle is the writer who introduced me to romance.

General Fiction:

I'm hooked on authors like Steinbeck and Salinger. Not everyone agrees though.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy-

C.S. Lewis hands down. George Stewart of course. Stephen King (though he can be horror too). My son will add Eoin Colfer, and JK Rowling to this list.

Lois Duncan, Judy Blume and Ann Rinaldi are winners for the middle school ages in my mind. Lemony Snicket books are another big hit in my house.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Jane Austen

As a romance reader who also loves a wide variety of other genres, I expected to love Jane Austen. She's touted as the genius to invent the romance, so what's not to love?

I dove into Sense & Sensibility and was instantly making cracks about Fanny living up to her name. :-) Unfortunately, as time passed I found myself become bored in a sense with the writing. Jane Austen and her heroines did not rush to do anything. I can understand it perfectly, but it is not in my lifestyle to slow down sadly. I always run from deadline to school function to errands to appointments in a frenzy of activity. Toss in normal every day things and I don't see how single working mom's ever find the time to breathe! I'm happily married with older kids, working from home, and I still struggle to handle everything on my plate.

Does this mean Austen isn't worth reading? No, I don't think so. I thoroughly enjoyed Lady Susan and her disconcern about polite society's rules. It's a dog eat dog world out there and Lady Susan seemed to be a woman with whom I'd enjoy gossiping!

I do think that what has happened is that in my world of having no time to myself, I want that tidbit of time to be fast paced and entertaining. Jane Austen can entertain, of that there is no doubt, but her pacing was just a little too slow for me to be able to connect with it.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

New Year - Changes Being Made

Starting today, this blog will only be related to books. I'll update when I can. I do some freelance writing, so on some days I'm busier than others.

Today, I want to talk about reading. The school recently sent home a newsletter discussing reading. Children who read at least 20 minutes per night prove successful in school. Is there truth to that?

My children see me with a book in hand regularly. My son and daughter both read nightly. So I am an advocate of reading to or pushing your child to read. However, there are points where I disagree! It is a big thing at school that the kids should pick a different genre every month. If they start with sci-fi, they can't read a sci-fi again until they've read an award winner, non-fiction, general fiction, adventure, human interest, etc.

No child should be forced to read a book. I never agreed that our English teachers got to choose what we read. I hated Shakespeare. Few books ever appealed to me if they were forced into my hands. The only two books that I still keep on my bookshelf - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and EARTH ABIDES. I love and reread those books constantly. As a note to others, if you loved Stephen King's THE STAND read George Stewart's EARTH ABIDES it is the same premise.

Now that I am no longer forced by teachers to read their choices, I have picked up many classics. TWELVE ANGRY MEN is a great classic - short but entertaining. I'm working my way through the complete collection of Jane Austen novels. Those are taking me a while to get into, but once they hit the key element, I can't put the novel down.

At home, my children can read what they want. I don't limit them. Even though some of their teachers don't like that attitude. To me, my son picking up an Alton Brown cookbook (one of his favorite chefs) counts as reading. He is fascinated by this man and will sit and read the cookbook from cover to cover. He does the same with Giada di Laurentiis cookbooks. In fact, he makes the best Chicken Picatta I've ever had. He loves reading cookbooks and I'm not about to tell him that a cookbook "doesn't count." Some teachers need to get over themselves and change with the times. He's also hooked on Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl books, so it's not like he only reads cookbooks. He has other likes.

My daughter loves Junie B. Jones. She has just about every book out there and reads them over and over. I've had teachers tell me that she needs to broaden her selections. I disagree. She's reading and enjoying it, what more does she need?

I will never understand the education systems push to get children reading a different genre every month. Why? There is plenty of time for them to do that when they enter high school and college. For now, let them be kids!