Book #5

Book #5 (although I think this should count for way more than just one book, because it's 959 pages long!)  Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin.

This is book 5 in the Game of Thrones series. I picked up the series in the summer time, and rolled through all of them.   I didn't realize the 4th book and the 5th book overlapped quite a bit.  For example, book 4 is from February to October in Washington, and book 5 is from January to December in Hawaii.  OF THE SAME YEAR.  It's weird and was hard for me to wrap my mind around things (book 5 mentions things that happen before book 4 takes place). Anyway, all in all a good book. It's a great series as long as you know that all of the characters die. =)  4 out of 5 stars.

Books #3 and #4

Book #3: Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie

My colleague gave this to me as a book to read while recovering from surgery.  She said it was one of her favorite books and that she thought about reading as a read aloud to her 1st grade class.  I had a difficult time getting into it.  It was an easy read, but a bit non-sensical and a lot of play on words.  It reminded me of the book Phantom Tollbooth, and how it plays on words (although I like Phantom TB better). =)  2 1/2 out of 5.


Book #4:  I'd Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza.

I heard about this book through some magazine I was reading, and put it on reserve at my local library. As a teacher, I was curious to know what he learned while teaching English at a high school.  It was interesting, but not necessarily a book I would recommend for others to read.  I'm glad he learned what he learned, and for someone who doesn't know anything about the education system, I think it would be enlightening, but for me it was just alright.  2 out of 5 stars.  

Hm... What to do....

Seeing as my last entry was in FEBRUARY (geez, how embarrassing), I'm going to start from #1 all over again and see how far it takes me. =)

 Book #1: The Perks of Being a Wallflower  by Stephen Chibosky.  A colleague (middle school librarian) recommended this to me while I'm recovering from surgery.  Easy read, easy to put down (it's written as a whole lot of letters to someone).  It was a bit darker than I like (although she did give me that warning too), but I made it through.  There's a movie version coming out shortly.  Probably won't see it.  2 out of 5 stars.

Book #2: The Last Chinese Chef by Nichole Mones (same author as Lost in Translation).  This was recommended to me by one of my favorite parents.  It's about food-- how can you go wrong?  I really enjoyed this book.  I learned a little bit about Chinese history and Chinese food, and have a great respect for REAL Chinese food.  Easy read. 4 out of 5 stars.

Book 26 and 27

Whoo hoo! Book #26, finished in 1 day (plane trip to Oahu). Brad Paisley is one of my favorite country singers, and when I found out he was coming out with a book, I immediately put it on reserve at my local public library. It was pretty good, but I don't recommend it if you don't care about Brad Paisley. =) 4 out of 5 stars.

Book #27: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collns. I loved this book the first time I read it, and I loved it again. It's my next book club book, and the movie is coming out, so I figured I'd read it one more time (I think I read it last year?) GREAT book. Absolutely amazing writing. Hard to put down, even the 2nd time around. 5 out of 5 stars.

The Passage

Book #25 (but I think it should count for at least 3 books because it's so long!)
The Passage by Justin Cronin. This is a book I saw on E's bookshelf. She hadn't finished it, but was really enjoying it, and it was recommended to her by my brother in law, Ryan. Now first, WHY Ryan doesn't recommend books to me, I don't know. =) But if two people I like recommend the book, I figured I'd give it a shot. Dustin and I just got our library cards for the Edmonds Public Library, and low and behold, it was sitting there on the shelf (it was the only book on the shelf-- it's that big. Nah, joking). =) I liked the book. It hopped and skipped over chunks of years, which threw me off, but I stuck with it. It's about a kind of "vampire" that was made by the army for fighting purposes, but it got out of hand. Interesting twists. Unfortunately it's an INCOMPLETE series, but I don't know if I'll remember what i read in this book to read the next one (and there's no way I'm rereading these 750+ pages). 4 out of 5 stars.

Two Months Later.....

Book #20: The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller I read this book early Fall, but I don't think I wrote it down on my blog yet. It was recommended to me at a reading conference, and I absolutely LOVE it. It reaffirmed what I do in my classroom and gave me some wonderful strategies as well. I have it on my kindle, but also have a hard copy as well because I loved it so much. (Fantastic strategies for 3rd-6th grade teachers.) 5 out of 5 stars.

Book #21, #22, and #23: The Wolves of Mercy Falls Trilogy by Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver, Linger, and Forever). I read these books because they were free for me to read on my kindle. I finished a book and a half in a day. It's definitely a teeny-bopper book about werewolves. I got through half of the first one and didn't love it, but I had access to the other ones, and I was on vacation and needed some light reading. I wouldn't recommend it, unless you had time to kill and were really bored. =) 1 1/2 out of 5 stars.

#24: Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts. I read this a few months ago, and enjoyed it. The plot kept me interested and it was hard to put down. 4 out of 5 stars.

I'm sure there were others, but I can't recall them..... Drat, only at 24 and it's been 5 months....I have to pick it up!

Oh Drat! It's Been a Month!

Oh drat! It's been a month since I last updated this blog and I KNOW I've read books between now and then. Let's see....

Book #15 and #16: Rick Riordan's Heroes of Olympus The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune. I loved Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so I figured I wouldn't be disappointed with this one. These are fantastic books. They were hard to put down and I finished both in a few days. I love how he's incorporating Percy Jackson into this new series, but it's also introducing a whole new load of characters. And a VERY interesting view of Gaea, aka Mother Earth. =) 5 out of 5 for each.

Book #17, #18, #19: Nora Roberts The Sign of Seven Trilogy. These were a great easy read to take my eyes off of the TV screen, but didn't involve a lot of thinking. =) Very interesting super natural component, loved the characters. 5 out of 5 for each.

Hm.. I'm SURE I read other books, but I can't think of them. I HAS been a bit busy since work started and the house hunt picked up.....