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

MIss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

why: Ms. Maytum (my student teacher) suggested this one

when: 12/2/13-12/4/13

how: I read the hard copy that Ms. Maytum let me borrow.

thoughts: I just discovered this will be a 2015 film directed by Tim Burton. Fun! One review I saw said that this was the next Harry Potter type adventure. I don't agree so much. This book can stand all by itself in its own class. What was cool is that it seemed everything was normal in the world of this book until it just wasn't normal anymore. Surprising. Mind bending in some ways. There is a sequel in the works but I'm not sure I'll read it. And I was somewhat surprised that yet again another book comes to me carrying with it WWII and the holocaust AND carnies. These topics keep coming up in books I pick up. Not sure what that's all about.

Click on the book image to learn more about the book.

review haiku:
peculiar children:
see the levitating girl
she's real I kid you not

The History of Love by Nicole Krauss

why: recommendations from our librarian and from students

when: start 4/1/13 finish 5/4/13

how: as an ebook on my iPad (from the local bookseller of course!)

Click on the book image to see the Wikipedia entry for the book.

thoughts: I loved this book. The moment I finished it I immediately went back to page one and started reading again! (Didn't read the whole thing again, just the first few chapters). There's a bit of mystery to it, and there are several different characters on seemingly different paths who eventually come together (I always love that). And yes, it is essentially about love and what it means in our lives. Loved it.

review haiku:
The history of us
history of all of us is
The history of love