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Whistler in early March on a bluebird day
Sigh. It's September 5th when I'm writing this. I hate that I'm so late with these because I can't remember much from 5 months ago. I remember liking or not liking a book, and I might have a memory or two - an image or a sentence I liked, but I didn't keep great records of some of these. So, peanuts. It's what I can offer!
Above Ground by Clint Smith - This book of poetry was (very likely found) via Padrig O'Touma's Poetry Unbound podcast, where I find most of my poetry books to read. I remember liking this book, but I can't remember anything else about it. Sorry!
Parasitic Oscillations by Madhur Anand - I also remember liking this one. There was nature, grieving the poet's parents, and tension. Darn it I wish I could give you more, but I guess you'll just have to read it and get back to me.
Somehow by Anne Lamott - I will read anything this lady writes. This one was okay. It wasn't her best, but I wasn't expecting it to be mind-blowing. It was depreciatingly funny, with a dash of heartfelt sincerity, a few anti-Trump sentiments, and a low-grade progressive Christian message. I almost always get on board with her about 65% of the time, which is still a majority, but it's not why I read her books. They're like comfort reads and I just 'get' her tone/personality. I like my Aunty Anne and we're gonna be friends someday in heaven.
Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown - I started this book (non-fiction, resource) in 2023 and finished it this year, and I really liked it. If you're a Brown fan - it's very different than her other books. It's not coherent, it's like a dictionary. She gives a map of emotions and describes every single one in depth, what it feels like, and what we might do (how we might act?) while feeling it. I'm not doing it justice in this description, but it's worthwhile in order to be able to articulate to others as we process.
Anne Frank (graphic novel) adapted by Ari Folmon - Again, with the graphic novels. We were reading through WWII and this and the Librarian (below) was very fitting. I had read the original Diary of Anne Frank while I was in high school, and I wondered how the author could boil down sentiment into a very short version. I liked it, but I liked the original better because this one felt less personal, which is kind of critical if you're reading a diary.
The Librarian of Auschwitz (graphic novel) based on the novel by Antonio Iturbe - Although I've never read this novel, I really liked this rendition of the story. It's just a really compelling story, and I think I'd like a long-form version of it, but reading it in graphic format just ensured I'd easily finish it in a day or two, which sometimes...just feels really nice!
Somehow by Anne Lamott - I will read anything this lady writes. This one was okay. It wasn't her best, but I wasn't expecting it to be mind-blowing. It was depreciatingly funny, with a dash of heartfelt sincerity, a few anti-Trump sentiments, and a low-grade progressive Christian message. I almost always get on board with her about 65% of the time, which is still a majority, but it's not why I read her books. They're like comfort reads and I just 'get' her tone/personality. I like my Aunty Anne and we're gonna be friends someday in heaven.
Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown - I started this book (non-fiction, resource) in 2023 and finished it this year, and I really liked it. If you're a Brown fan - it's very different than her other books. It's not coherent, it's like a dictionary. She gives a map of emotions and describes every single one in depth, what it feels like, and what we might do (how we might act?) while feeling it. I'm not doing it justice in this description, but it's worthwhile in order to be able to articulate to others as we process.
Anne Frank (graphic novel) adapted by Ari Folmon - Again, with the graphic novels. We were reading through WWII and this and the Librarian (below) was very fitting. I had read the original Diary of Anne Frank while I was in high school, and I wondered how the author could boil down sentiment into a very short version. I liked it, but I liked the original better because this one felt less personal, which is kind of critical if you're reading a diary.
The Librarian of Auschwitz (graphic novel) based on the novel by Antonio Iturbe - Although I've never read this novel, I really liked this rendition of the story. It's just a really compelling story, and I think I'd like a long-form version of it, but reading it in graphic format just ensured I'd easily finish it in a day or two, which sometimes...just feels really nice!
Read Alouds
Hitler by Albert Marrin - This was another biography (same author as Stalin) and there's not much else to say. Everything you think about this person is probably right on, from the time he was very young (he wanted to be an artist! and kept getting rejected...) to his death. I wish students would read these kinds of books in high school; it's good for them to read history that matters - like people who influence millions - rather than just remembering dates that are meaningless and vague to them.
The Hiding Place by Corrie TenBoom - The three of us loved this story. Wow! It was such a powerful story of Corrie's memoir of the Nazi occupation in the Netherlands where she, her sister, and her father lived and hid Jewish people in their community until they could find 'safe houses'. Five stars.
Hiroshima by John Hersey - We read SO many good books this Spring. This book was originally an entire issue of the New Yorker in 1946, and tells the (true) story of not only the scientific implications (what actually happened) of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but also follows six individuals who experienced it, and what became of them over years. It's harrowing and also should be not only mandatory reading for high school students, but politicians, too. It goes without saying this book is extremely graphic.
Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin - This was a book that left a big impression on me when I was a child (I must have read it when I was an early teen?), and I wanted the kids to read it, too. We read it when we were beginning our Civil Rights unit. This man, Griffin, creates a regimen that makes his skin actually turn very dark for about 6 weeks, and he 'experiences' the African American south as an undercover reporter. What he finds, and then consequently writes in this award-winning book, was race relations, identity, and the truth about being black in America during the end of the Jim Crow era. Fantastic; 5 stars.
The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis - This book is a middle-grade novel about the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist church in the 60s. I wanted to read this book with the kids not only to have a slightly 'lighter' book, but one that was still historically relevant and still excellent (it won the Newbery Award) writing. When we walked through the African American Museum of History and Culture this past Spring, we saw stained-glass fragments from this very event.
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