I'm sorry to hear that about Vinegar Hill- I'm not far enough in yet to know if I will enjoy it or not. I will quit if I do not like it- there are not enough hours in one's life to read bad reading material. Which makes me think of good reading material, and your mention of Primo Levi. I thought that name looked familiar- and sure enough, I had Other People's Trades buried in my piles of books. I moved it to the top of the heap, based on that great quote you posted.
I've started the oldest daughter on the Norton anthologies- I think I stole my mom's Nortons when I was a little younger, but my daughter hasn't exactly been starved for reading material (her book pile is almost as big as mine is). You know, I don't know why my parents didn't buy me more juvenile books- or at least young adult books. I sort of went from children's books, to pilfering their books- and many of their books just weren't suitable, or were too complex, for a young reader. Of course my parents were quite old, for parents, and I don't think they really had any idea of how to raise a child- since neither of them had experience with children, or had younger siblings- so I think I'll just have to be grateful they did as well as they did. They were, at least, both very interesting people- and that's a good thing to have in a parent, but I digress (as usual). Life as a series of digressions....
I love Disobedience- so read that one first. I think I like Truth, but it's my car book, so I'm not as far ahead in it as I am in my other books- since I only read it when I am stuck waiting in the car.
I test my students next week to see if their reading scores have improved. We really concentrated on reading in my class (and also on writing the 5 paragraph essay, and on research techniques and papers). Since I tried many new strategies for reading this year, I am looking forward to seeing if they have borne fruit. Some of my students are certainly much more enthusiastic readers- and that alone is cause for celebration, but I hope they are more proficient as well. There is so much joy in reading widely and reading well, I want them all to have that, and they know I want them to have that- which helps as well. |
