By: David Elzey,
on 1/28/2008
by E. L. Konigsburg illustrations by Gail E. Haley, Mercer Mayer, Gary Parker and Laurel Schindelman Atheneum 1971 I would have hated this book as a kid. I would never have picked it up. I would have started the first story and felt alienated by the language of it, an almost disjointed voice. I would have jumped around and looked at the illustrations for the stories and would have walked
Posted on 4/28/2007
We're driving north today to watch the ranch dog trials at Hado-Bar Farms, and I'm not much different than I was when I was a kid and we took a road trip -- half of the fun is deciding what reading material and what music to take! The music's a little easier now. My iPod has everything from The Sons of the Pioneers to the LAGQ to The Best of the Chieftains (with some Garth Brooks and Manhattan Transfer thrown in for singing along). When I was a kid, we had to select cassette tapes and make sure the cassette player had fresh batteries. (Our 1960 Ford Falcon only had an AM radio.)
I have at least three spots in my office for books I've bought/received but haven't read yet. Today I'll be selecting from the pile on top of this shelf rather than the pile on the top of that shelf, and rather than that entire shelf over there, or that other 3/4 of a shelf down there.
From lowest to highest priority, this pile includes:
Volumes 6-8 of HIKARU NO GO. I read Volumes 2-5 over spring break. It pleases me that after I finish these, I will have read an entire manga series.
RULES by Cynthia Lord. I know, get with the program.
HOW TO CHEAT A DRAGON'S CURSE by Cressida Cowell. I love this series. I think it deserves more attention.
DANDELION WINE by Ray Bradbury. Last month's book club book. I'm not skipping it, I just couldn't make it happen last month.
LOVE, RUBY LAVENDER by Deborah Wiles. The long-standing literature circle group finally finished THE SECRET GARDEN and they voted unanimously to finish the last two books on our list even though we only have about 5 weeks of school left. RUBY LAVENDER is a nice change after THE SECRET GARDEN. Why is this so close to the top of my pile when I've already read it twice before? I, too, need a change after THE SECRET GARDEN. And a dose of Wiles to get me ready for her new book coming out in August!
And at the top of the pile...
STRENGTHS FINDER 2.0 by Tom Rath. Yeah, I know: yawn. But I got it two months ago at a leadership training seminar for Ohio Casting for Recovery, so it's the one that's the most overdue to be read. I'll take it, and RUBY LAVENDER as incentive to finish it. When I get home, I'll go online and to the Strengths Finder Assessment. It'll be interesting to see how this compares to my Daemon!
