Challenge: 50 Books discussion

Starting from the actual beginning of the year is an exciting change of pace!

1. Black Orchid by Neil Gaiman

2. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead

I'm definitely still processing that last one. It was a very different book from the one I was expecting. At a superficial level I loved the main character Miranda's love of A Wrinkle in Time.

3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

I think with all the hype surrounding this book I expected it to be the best book ever written. Don't get me wrong; I really enjoyed it, but it's not one of my favorites.

4. Rice Boy by Evan Dahm

Rarely do I read a book and then immediately start reading it again. It's online at http://www.rice-boy.com/ and blew me away.

5. The Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer

6. Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere by Mike Carey

Sea of Trolls was pretty enjoyable. Recc'd by Angie, who likes fantasy more than I do.

As for Neverwhere... I think this book is one I had created my own (really specific) imagery for, so it was kind of disconcerting to see it in a different way. I'm guessing that the illustrators kept a lot closer to what was actually written in the book than I did though. Still, I like my pictures.

7. Fire by Kristin Cashore

I didn't like this one as much as the first. It was slow to start, but did get better as it went on. Something never quite gelled for me though.

8. ADD-Friendly Ways to Organize Your Life by Judith Kolberg

9. From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris

Two books in one weekend, can you tell it is spring break? I'm trying real hard to get some work done before starting on the next one. It's calling to me...

10. Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris

11. Proserpine and Midas by Mary Shelley

I had forgotten about Proserpine and Midas - I read that one a week or two ago. It wasn't bad, but certainly not life-changing.

Dead and Gone was good, and I really want the next one to be out now now now. As you can see, I did not get much work done before starting the next one.

12. Fables: The Mean Seasons by Bill Willingham

13. Jack of Fables, Volume 1: The (Nearly) Great Escape byBill Willingham

Both awesome, I am so glad I have time to read two books in two days again (even if they are just graphic novels)!

14. Fables: Homelands by Bill Willingham
15. Fables: Wolves
16. Fables: Arabian Nights
17. Fables: Sons of Empire
18. Fables: The Good Prince
19. Fables: War and Pieces

20. Jack of Fables, Volume 2: Jack of Hearts by Bill Willingham
21. Jack of Fables, Volume 3: The Bad Prince
22. Jack of Fables, Volume 4: Americana
23. Jack of Fables, Volume 5: Turning Pages

24. Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris


Obviously I had some catching up to do. Almost at the half-way point, but I've only read 10 different authors. I need to mix it up a little for sure (though I do have my eye on the sequels of the Farmer and Collins books).

25. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

Forgot this one, whoops! Wasn't bad, but I still like Percy better. Yay, halfway.

Wow have I needed to update for a while.

26. A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold
27. Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
28. A Seaside Practice: Tales of a Scottish Country Doctor by Tom Smith

These three were all recommendations that I am glad I read. Seaside Practice was definitely the most entertaining, while Farm City and Sand County Almanac were in the same vein. Both fiercely believe that we need nature in our lives, but where Leopold's book was almost nostalgic throughout, Carpenter's was fiercely forward-looking as she shoe-horned farming into her inner city existence.

29. The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
30. The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
31. The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart

I loved these three, but I am not sure when I will be getting to the next two in the series (which were written much later). I loved Merlin's voice so much I'm not sure I want to change POV.

32. Truth is the Soul of the Sun - A Biographical Novel of Hatshepsut Maatkare by Maria Isabel Pita

This was a firstread that I finally got around to finishing. I guess since I started it last year, it doesn't technically count? Eh, close enough.

33. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins

I liked it about as much as the first. Fun to read, but not an enduring favorite.

34. The Great Expectations School: A Rookie Year in the New Blackboard Jungle by Dan Brown

This book was so-so. It felt a lot like other first-year teaching books I have read where a privileged white person teaches in an inner city school. It is clear that Brown deeply cares for his students, but something about the narrative left me a little cool.

35. Making a Good Brain Great: The Amen Clinic Program for Achieving and Sustaining Optimal Mental Performance by Daniel G. Amen
Meh. A lot of this was common sense stuff that I already knew (exercise, eat well, don't drink yourself stupid).

36. Strangers in Paradise, Fullsize Paperback Volume 3: It's A Good Life by Terry Moore

37. Time Enough for Love by Robert A. Heinlein
38. Methuselah's Children by Robert A. Heinlein

I'm glad I read TEfL first, because Methuselah was simultaneously boring and irritating to me.

39. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Reading this for the first time, I really enjoyed it, but I'm not sure why it is so widely assigned in elementary and middle school classes. I'm not sure I would have found it very easy to relate to as a child in the Midwest.

40. Why Don't They Learn English: Separating Fact from Fallacy in the U.S. Language Debate by Lucy Tse
Tse makes a compelling argument for maintaining and improving students' heritage languages. As someone who isn't terrified of immigrants overrunning the country, I found myself agreeing completely with her first couple chapters and wishing she would get on to the good stuff.

41. The Surgeon by Tess Gerritsen
I like the medical aspects of the book, less so the gruesome violence against women parts.

42. Bilingual Education edited by Janel D. Ginn
Very cursory, but it does cover a lot of ground in one slim volume.

43. The Power of Reading, Second Edition: Insights from the Research by Stephen D. Krashen
Loved it. It's like reading the assumptions about reading I had cobbled together from my own experience written out and researched to the gills. I wish my library had more of Krashen's work; I would devour it.

I need to update more frequently. This is ridiculous.

44. Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
45. The Guns of Avalon
I enjoyed both of these immensely. I have a habit of starting series and then not completing it immediately, but coming back after months or years to finish it. I probably have a dozen outstanding series that I mean to finish, but other books come up. This wasn't my MO as a child, but I think it helps me savor the worlds in the books.

46. The Apprentice by Tess Gerritsen
This is a series I won't be finishing. I loved the first season of the series, but the first two books just creeped me out.

47. The Wretched of the Earth by Frantz Fanon
I read this because Friere's Pedagogy was apparently based on it, but I think I found this one to be more compelling. I am definitely planning to reread it. It was not an easy read by any stretch.

48. The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith
Again, I didn't like this as much as the TV series based on it. Maybe it was the additional story that glorified white people in Africa and had little to do with the main plot...

49. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
I had heard so much about this book that I felt like there wasn't a lot of new material by the time I actually sat down to read it. I would be interested in reading some of his other work.

50. The First R: How Children Learn Race and Racism by Debra Van Ausdale
This book was fantastic, as much for her approach to research involving 3- to 5-year-olds as for her analysis.

51. X-Men: The Complete Onslaught Epic Volume 3 TPB by Peter David
Somehow I requested the 3rd volume rather than the 1st. Whoops.

52. What If the Earth Had Two Moons?: And Nine Other Thought-Provoking Speculations on the Solar System by Neil F. Comins
Awesome science book!

53. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art by Scott McCloud
This book was recommended to me, and I'm glad it was because I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise. It was fascinating and engaging all the way through.

54. Promethea: Book One by Alan Moore
55. Swamp Thing Vol. 1: Saga of the Swamp Thing
Both of these were great, but I was drawn into Promethea more. I'm kind of surprised I hadn't heard of it before.

56. Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life by Bryan Lee O'Malley
This was such a cute story. I need to remember to request the next one from the library.

57. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Loved it! Katniss is such a vital character, I'm sad to see her story end.

58. Living Organized: Proven Steps for a Clutter-Free and Beautiful Home by Sandra Felton
Ugh. It had some good tips in it, but the approach was so annoyingly sexist and heterosexist that it was tough to push through.

59. The 13 Clocks by James Thurber
This was a beautiful, amazing book. It was also the 700th book I put onto my goodreads read shelf. Woohoo!

60. Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
I'm still processing this one, but I enjoyed reading it.

So much for updating more frequently. It should be easier now that my reading is slowing down with the semester (and soon job hunting!), but we will see. Now that I met my fifty, I'm aiming for 75!