Tuesday, August 4, 2009

What I've been reading

Summer has been a little harsh on the writing schedule. It gets like that when you have kids. Not that I haven't been writing, but certainly not as much as I do when they're in class. Anyway, one thing that hasn't gotten away from me is reading and I feel like reading is always accomplishing something as long as it's a good book.

A couple weeks ago I read Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson http://www.writerlady.com/chainsh.html and it was great. Amazing and intense historical fiction from the POV of a young slave girl. I look forward to reading more of her material.

I also took on some Orson Scott Card and read Ender's Game http://www.ender.com/ender/ and the parallel novel Ender's Shadow http://www.sfsite.com/04b/es126.htm, both of which I immensely enjoyed as did my husband. I usually foist my favorite reads upon him and/or my ten-year-old with great success. My son, though, was not inclined to read Ender's Shadow as he was afraid it might contain some gory violence as did the first novel. He is acutely aware of his limits and rightly so. The novels were stunning for their character development but definitely on the sophiticated end of the spectrum when it comes to categorizing them as YA novels. Advanced but young readers wilfind it satisfying, though I would recommend parents read them first or alongside for the great opportunity to discuss so many issues with your kid.

Currently, I am reading Wringer by Jerry Spinelli http://eduscapes.com/newbery/98d.html, and Whales on Stilts by M.T. Anderson http://www.sfsite.com/10b/wh210.htm
both very enjoyable, though wildly different from each other. Check out the links to learn more.

That's the upshot about summer. I may have the kids more and less time to hide in my office pounding on the keyboard, but it's a lot easier to get some good reading done than to lug the laptop to the park or beach. Not to mention that it's still getting something accomplished (even if it's not the laundry).