Saturday 30 August 2008

Sunday Salon: A Review of my Recent Readings



It's back to school for me tomorrow, I have two days of meetings to sit through (I'm like a kid with ADHD in meetings so this will be hell for me!), and then the kids are back on Wednesday. I look forward to seeing all my teacher friends again and seeing (most) of the kids again as well as gaining a lot of new classes. But also aprehensive as I'm teaching a lot of groups with high levels of learning and behavioural difficulties, and one top set who I will be with till their final exams in two years, they'll be challenging because of the high ability level and also as they have a few very naughty kids in there! I'm also starting a new position with more responsibility and a new course for my own brain cells.
Anyway, I thought I would look back at the books I have read over my 6 weeks holidays and do a mini round-up as next week I'll probably be back to one book a week.

Over the 6 weeks I have notched up 22 reads, which is fairly good, I've had a few big ole chunky books, a few graphic novels, and a handful of YA fiction as well as all my usual reads.

Ihave also completed 5 challenges: July Book Blowout, Graphic Novel Challenge, Unread Authors II (I've read 6 new authors but will add too till it finishes), What's in a Name Challenge, Southern Reading Challenge, which sounds fantastic, but as a seemingly challenge addict I've joined 4 challenges: RIP III, Short Story September, 2nds, , The New Classics Challenge.

My favourite read has to be Gone With The Wind, with Neverwhere coming in second jointly with the excellent graphic novel Blankets.

Now I'm looking forward to the autumn, reading with a blanket and a big cup of hot chocolate, and the huge tbr pile stacked up beside me next to the equally huge pile of marking. I need to aim to get through all the bookrings which keep falling through the letterbox so I can concentrate on my challenges, and setting up my first challenge for the new year (reading Latin American fiction).
Short Story Sunday
Ray Bradbury - Skeleton
I found the Mp3 of this story for free here, and it's well worth a listen.
Skeleton tells a story of a man whose bones ache and bother him terribly, as a hypercondriac nobody really listens to his complaints.
He goes to a bone specialist, who tells him he is not ready yet for the treatment. The aching in his bones becomes an internal struggle between the skeleton and the man, the more the man worries the more weight he loses so the more the skeleton wins. He believes the skeleton is trying to escape, to control him. As the pain gets more and more the struggle continues, until in a moment of desperation he calls in the bone specialist to fix up the problem.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I miss a great many things about teaching but one thing I do not miss at all is that pile of marking that has to be read when you would much rather be reading something else. Actually a bit of marking with a reasonable amount of time in which to do it is OK, but it doesn't come in small quantities and the powers that be always want it back yesterday. Good luck with the new year.

gautami tripathy said...

Good luck with your teaching!

Do check on my reading plans

Bellezza said...

I didn't know you were a teacher, too! (This is my 24th year in elementary school; I can so relate to your first paragraph!) Congratulations on so many books read, while working on a tough (but rewarding!) day job. :)