1 - Zamba by Ralph Helfer

I haven't blogged in three and a half years.  I apparently stopped when I got pregnant with my daughter and haven't been back.  Sadly, I also pretty much stopped reading around that time.  I mean, I read to G, even before she was born, and I read stuff online occasionally.  But mostly I stopped reading books.  Which does not mean I stopped buying them or receiving them as gifts.

So, I recently left my job and I have more time at home.  I want G to see me as the voracious reader I have always been.  Some of my best memories of my elementary and middle school years are of curling up with a book, often next to my mom, who is also a reader.

I don't know if I'll make it to 100 books this year.  The main purpose of this blog is just to keep track of what I've read and how I felt about it.

Zamba: The True Story of the Greatest Lion That Ever Lived by Ralph Helfer was an incredible book.  I've been cultivating an appreciation for well-written nonfiction as I've gotten older, and this was beautiful.  It's the story of a man, Ralph, who worked to train exotic animals (lions, Bengal tigers, alligators, chimpanzees, elephants, and so many more) for Hollywood.  He pioneered a new way of training called affection training, in which animals are never cruelly beaten, contained, or starved.  He raised Zamba the African lion from a tiny cub and had eighteen years of astonishing adventures with him.

I discovered this book in the spring of 2010 when I taught an excerpt from it to my class of sixth graders.  I vividly remember thinking that this was a book I wanted to read.  I immediately added it to my ongoing Amazon wish list and it turned up as a gift at some point.  Then it sat on the shelves for years, just waiting to be read.  I'm so glad I picked it to start 2015.

In the book, Helfer casually name-drops some of Hollywood's biggest stars from the 1960's and 1970's.  My favorites were Elvis Presley and Mae West, but the list was huge.  Helfer worked tirelessly for decades to create a reputation as the best and most reliable animal trainer in the business.  He changed the way animals were treated in Hollywood, and Zamba was his biggest success.  He raised his daughter alongside Zamba and tells of them curling up with a bowl of popcorn to watch cartoons after dinner.  Not many parents would trust their child around a fully grown male African lion, and not many lions would be worthy of the trust.

The excerpt I taught turned out to be one of the very last chapters of the book.  From there to the end, my throat was full and my eyes were teary.  Zamba was certainly a special lion, and this is a special book.

Page count: 258
Find it on Amazon

Diversity in YA Summer Reading Challenge!

The ladies over at Diversity in YA have issued a challenge. This summer, they would like to see readers reading books with LGBT characters or characters of color. Readers who do this and write an essay by September 1 will be entered in a contest to win a whole bunch of books!

I love books with diverse characters.

I am always interested in a way to win a whole bunch of books.

This is a perfect challenge for me! So...of course I'll be reading this summer. Some of the books I may read:

• Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
• The Last Herald-Mage trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
• Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare
• tithe by Holly Black
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Sheperd

I'm sure there are others, but that's a start. You can find information about the challenge at Diversity in YA's website.

There is a great list of LGBTQ YA Novels with Characters of Color if you're interested in hitting both aspects of the challenge in one book. I haven't read any of the books on the list, but I've enjoyed other books by Alex Sanchez (The God Box and Boyfriends with Girlfriends made the list), whose LGBTQ hispanic characters are fantastic! I adore everything I've read by David Levithan, whose Love is the Higher Law made the list. I'm also excited to get my hands on some books by Steve Kluger (My Most Excellent Year) and Malinda Lo (Huntress). Happy reading!

Another NF book...

I want to read She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall for two reasons:

1. Madeleine L'Engle wrote the foreword. That's enough, right there.

2. Cassie died at Columbine High School, just as Rachel Scott did. My school is hosting the Rachel's Challenge program this week, which I am very much looking forward to. I think this would be a heartbreaking, amazing story.

Christmas Gifts Abound!

I am so blessed to have friends and family who invariably choose wonderful books for me! Not as though I have any trouble choosing books for myself, as you can see by the last part of this list. :) If I read just the books on this list, I will have matched my total for 2010. Wow. I should get on that.

From Mom:
Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card
My Reading Life by Pat Conroy
Millenium Falcon by James Luceno
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
Jedi Twilight by Michael Reaves

From Mandy:
Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

From Lindsey:
The Maze Runner by James Dashner
Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stahl

From Sandy:
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

Other books borrowed, bought, or discovered on shelves:
Graceling by Kristin Cashore
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Shiver by Maggie Steifvater
Linger by Maggie Steifvater
Paper Towns by John Green
The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Shepard
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
Homebody by Orson Scott Card
Welcome to the Ark by Stephanie S Tolan
Flipped by Wendelin Van Draanen
la línea by Ann Jaramillo
The Queen's Governess by Karen Harper
The Death and Life of the Great American School System by Diane Ravitch
Fallen by Lauren Kate
Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz
Abyss by Troy Denning
Order 66 by Karen Traviss

Another nonfiction title!

I read an excerpt from Beauty of the Beasts with my remediation students today and now I want to read the whole thing! The author, Ralph Helfer, writes with a lyrical, revernt voice that I really enjoy. I'll have to hunt down a copy.

10 - Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver

It took me a couple of months to read this. Usually I would probably finish a book of this size in a a couple of weeks. However, I was fascinated and inspired by this one! My fascination slowed me down, causing me to pore over each passage, sometimes rereading or going back to find a reference to something in an earlier chapter. I would stop to daydream about recreating something Kingsolver describes in my own yard. I would call Mom to discuss what I'd read.

My inspiration led me to a plethora of other books, blogs, and activities that limited my time with Kingsolver's memoir. I picked up a second Michael Pollan book (Food Rules, which I devoured), investigated books on gardening (and gave one as a gift, The Backyard Homestead, which I also own), visited the local Farmer's Market, and subsequently started eight tomato plants, nine herbs, and a variety of salad greens on my back patio.

This is such a phenomenal book. I've said several times lately that I know I'm an adult now. I'm reading and loving nonfiction. I have always shied away from nonfiction, reading with reluctance if not actual distaste. However, several books lately have captured my attention and held it. Mom is surely relieved that I'm not going to spend my entire adulthood reading "kiddie books", as she calls my beloved YA lit.

Perhaps, as I rhapsodize about the book, I should pause for a moment to explain the premise. It's a memoir of a year in Kingsolver's life during which she and her family (husband, teenage daughter, and third grade daughter) lived and worked on a farm in southwest Virginia, eating only what they grew or could buy from their community. They became locavores. And they made it seem so normal, as though the average American could manage it easily. While I know that truly I lack the time, skills, inclination, or money to support myself entirely from my own labors, I know that I could at least attempt many of the things she describes.

• I could make cheese and yogurt.


• I could have a garden.


• I could support local farmers by shopping at the Farmer's Market.


• I could choose organic, heirloom breeds of fruit, vegetables, and meat whenever they are available.


• I could discover and frequent restaurants that serve local foods.


• Someday, maybe, I could even raise chickens (birds are pretty creepy, though), or even a cow or pig.


• I could teach my students about the value of gardening and the joy of knowing where one's food comes from.

These are things that I could do which would support my local economy, make me and my husband healthier, and positively influence future generations, including my own (as yet hypothetical) children.

5-9

From reading my poor blog, one might conclude that I haven't opened a book since January! This is far, far from the truth, but I have been a bit on the busy side. I submitted my National Board portfolio over spring break, took my students to a Science Olympiad competition, and helped my husband survive another play at his school. It's been a busy busy spring. But enough about me...on to the books!

Scat, Carl Hiassen - Every time I read a Hiassen YA book, I want to go out and buy one of his adult fiction pieces. I absolutely love the way he writes. I enjoy the blend of nature and psychology and 100% believeable characters. This one in particular has a boy whose father lost an arm in Afghanistan. He binds his arm behind his back to more accurately experience what his father is experiencing. It's a very moving gesture and it makes him seem very human. The environmental side of this story is intriguing as well! I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

Science Fair, Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson - This is another fantastic collaboration between these two authors. I loved Peter and the Starcatchers and look forward to getting around to the rest of that series. Science Fair takes off in a completely different direction and never stops. It's the story of three middle school science geeks who struggle to keep the bumbling spies from Krpshtstan (in Eastern Europe, sandwiched between some other "-stan"s?) from taking over the world by taking over their school science fair. Throw in a guy who dresses like Darth Vader (D. Arthur Vaderian) right down to the voice distorter, a levitating frog, and some really stinky cheese, and you've got a hilarious good time!

Wixard's Holiday, Diane Duane - I like this much, much better than A Wizard Alone. It's completely cool! I loved the world that Kit and Nita visit, and I loved the changes their friendship begins to experience. I am really, really anxious to get my hands on the eighth book, and the ninth book came out today!

Max, James Patterson - This installment of the Maximum Ride series made me inexplicably happy. I suppose in truth I'm just a terrible, terrible sap and I liked seeing Max and Fang start to fall in love. I can't wait to get my hands on Fang, but I am hesitant to buy it in hardback...these books aren't worth quite that much.

Food Rules - An Eater's Manual, Michael Pollan - This is such a clear, distilled version of In Defense of Food. It's fantastic! The rules are so easy to follow, and even if you only choose to incorporate a few of them, you'll immediately be healthier and save money.

Thoughts

I think there is something wrong with me. I keep buying books, even though I can't possibly keep pace in reading them. :)

My most recent acquisition was In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan. I haven't read much so far, but I love his mantra: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. I'll post again when I finish.

I've been working on cataloguing my books at Shelfari. I've got 145 so far, and still tons more to go. Then maybe I'll tackle my classroom library. Hmm...definitely need a barcode scanner for that project. :)

Reset for a New Year!

I read so much from September to December!

I discovered a wonderful series of books that's as old as I am: the Young Wizards series by Diane Duane. I devoured the first four books (So You Want to Be a Wizard, Deep Wizardy, High Wizardry, and A Wizard Abroad) and came up short just before Christmas because book five was checked out of the school library. After a fourteen year hiatus, a new book (ten, I think) is due out sometime this year.

I pored over the unusual syntax and lofty vocabulary in Cormac McCarthy's The Road. It was easily one of the most challenging books I've read in quite some time. The movie was excellent and very faithful. However, I appreciated that they left out some of most graphic images, which are easier to digest in print than on screen.

I developed a strong hatred for Darcy Rhone, the selfish, self-absorbed protagonist of Emily Giffin's Something Borrowed. Even though she redeemed herself in the eyes of her friends and family at the last possible second, I still hated her for her selfishness and complete disregard for others' feelings throughout the story!

I revisited a childhood friend in Return to Hundred Acre Wood by David Benedictus and Winnie the Pooh by A A Milne. I LOVED both, but I never realized that the Hundred Acre Wood was a socialist stronghold. Rabbit especially talks a great deal about the greater good and even proposes a census and a subsequent tax! Eek! :)

I prepared for an early-2010 movie by reading How to Train Your Dragon by Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III (and translated by Cressida Creswell). It's cute, but I don't think, from the previews, that the movie will be very faithful. Also, it's geared toward intermediate students: fourth and fifth grade boys, specifically. However, I don't think that most students in this age range will be intellectually ready to understand the linguistic jokes and puns which make this so much fun to read.

I know I read other stuff, too. I started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which I am struggling through. It's somewhat compelling, but extremely depressing and I can only handle it in small doses. I also started Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead and it's a struggle. I'm not really enjoying it all that much, especially considering it's about Robin Hood! :( Finally, I'm still slogging through Inkdeath, which I think I started in 2008 and definitely blogged about finishing on March 22. It's just so...drawn out. Kind of like Breaking Dawn and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, it feels like there was such pressure to publish as soon as possible that the process of cutting and slimming down the text was skipped over entirely.

For Christmas, I received Bruce Feiler's Walking the Bible: A Journey by Land Through the Five Books of Moses, which is absolutely amazing. I don't usually read nonfiction for pleasure, but this is interesting! I desperately want to visit the Holy Land myself. Someday, maybe...