The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

why: I got a strong recommendation from a teacher colleague for this one last summer and I'm finally getting around to it.

when: start 5/30/2013, end 1/5/2014

how: as an ebook on my ipad

thoughts: This is a tome, but it was well worth my time. I started reading it months ago--but I wasn't able to give it the brain space needed by reading it in the 20 sleepy minutes I had before falling asleep on many nights. I put it down after getting about a third into it. I wrote about that here. So once winter break started, I picked it back up again and started at page one. Wow. Loved this book. Chabon makes you work for it. The writing is gorgeous. The characters are wonderfully complex. The heartbreak is real. This is yet another book connected to the holocaust and that has a carney element. Not sure why I keep getting drawn by these kinds of books. But wow. This definitely explores what the devastation of the holocaust can mean to an individual who escapes. This explores the golden age of comic books in America. This explores love and devotion and magic. I definitely recommend it, but be ready to work. Chabon will not coddle you. You've got to pay attention.

Click on the book image to go to the wikipedia entry for this book.

review haiku:
heartbreak and heartbreak
how many ways to escape?
read this book to see

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

Why: book club

When: start 3/10/13 end 3/28/13

How: as an ebook on my iPad

Thoughts: Okay I kind of loved this book. The voice is just awesome. And Oscar--unique character. Loved his geekiness. Loved his passion. Loved his single-minded dedication to his vision of happiness, despite all obstacles. Loved the window into a cultural world I'm not familiar with.

Click on the book image to read the wikipedia entry for the book.

Review Haiku:
Thank you Oscar Wao
for being simply just you
despite the fuku

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Why: my 3rd hour class chose for us to all read this together to start off second semester.

When: Start 1/11/13; End 2/4/13

Thoughts: This book is beautiful and painful and terrifying. Truly terrifying. The world of this book and me being lost in it with my child to protect is literally my nightmare.

How: I'm reading the copy I bought when I first taught this book a few years ago. It looks just like this image here, though my students' books have a still photo from the recent movie on the cover. I actually hate it when books do that. Then you're stuck with the movie maker's image of the characters in your head.

(click on the book image to get to the wikipedia entry for the book)

review haiku:

we all have a road
the trick is to stay true and
carry the fire