Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

 With teaching the way it is in 2021 (aka I've worked 50-60 hour weeks since August), I haven't had much time to read. Hopefully, that will change over fall break, but I'm not holding my breath. I did just finish reading The Great Gatsby and A Monster Calls with my students this term, and I still love them just as much as I ever did. I'm currently reading: The Inheritance Games (I LOVE THIS BOOK! I loved it from page 1) A Torch Against the Night I will be getting ready to read Code Name Verity  and Warriors Don't Cry  with students this coming term. I also need to read Cemetery Boys  for book club. We'll see if I make it to my reading goal on Goodreads this year or not haha. Hopefully, I'll be back soon with reviews of a couple of new books!

So sorry for the absence of reviews. I caught up with what I had finished, and I've started back for a new school year, so things are super busy, but I finally finished  Slaughterhouse-Five . This once again as a book club read. The BBC has a list of 100 books that they bet most people haven't read, and this is one of them. I had never read this book, so this was my first time through. Billy Pilgrim is unstuck in time. As the story progresses, it is quickly established that the story is nonlinear. At times, Billy is in Germany as a prisoner of war. At other times, he's in his house in 1950, talking with his daughters. At other times, he is on an alien planet called Tralfamadore. These memories all lead up to the firebombing of Dresden, Germany, a real event that Kurt Vonnegut himself lived through. This book is very complicated. It is clear that the nonlinear structure of the novel is very intentional. The order of the experiences we read is exactly how Vonnegut meant them.

 As an active World of Warcraft player before the Battle for Azeroth expansion, this was almost required reading. BFA is over and the next expansion came out like a year ago and I'm just now finishing this book. That should tell you all you need to know about how I feel about it. Before the Storm  by Christie Golden tells the untold story of what happens in the aftermath of the Legion's invasion of Azeroth. Faced with the death of his father, Anduin Wrynn must regroup the Alliance. Sylvannas has become ruler of the Horde, and with the discovery of Azerite in Silithus, she begins her plans. Neither faction can afford a war, and yet it is brewing on the horizon. Can Anduin bridge that gap and establish peace between the Horde and the Alliance? I... didn't like this book. Pretty much at all. I wanted it to answer more questions about why Sylvannas did what she did, but we STILL don't have all the answers to that, even an expansion later. It didn't answer my pressing qu

 This book is one of the more popular YA fantasy reads out there, and after reading it, I can see why. I would definitely recommend this to older and more mature readers based on the content. An Ember in the Ashes  by Sabaa Tahir follows two characters: Laia and Elias. Laia has lost everything; her family and her home. Her brother has been taken to prison, and Laia's only option to save him is to work for the Scholar Resistance. She is sent as a slave to the most dangerous woman in the Empire, the Commandant, the leader of Blackcliff School. Elias is a Mask. He is of the ruling class in the Empire, a student at Blackcliff, training to become the Empire's most feared weapons. But he feels trapped. Disgusted by the things he must do, Elias finds himself abandoning his plan to flee the Empire and fighting to be its emperor instead. Will Laia be able to save her brother? Will Elias ever be free? Overall, I loved this book. Tahir has woven a stunning tale full of twists and turns, t

 This is my second time through Artemis . I read it before resurrecting this blog, so here I am, reading it again to review it. Artemis by Andy Weir imagines a society on the moon. Jazz Bashara has lived in Artemis since she was six. She has a successful smuggling side hustle alongside a legitimate porter job. Artemis is full of all kinds of people, from the very wealthy to the very poor. As Jazz says, "I'm one of the little guys." That's all about to change when Trond Landvik, one of the very wealthy, offers her a million slugs to pull a job. All she has to do is sabotage the mining operations of the city's oxygen supplier, Sanchez Aluminum. After a botched job, and a double murder, Jazz finds herself far over her head and the next target of a powerful crime syndicate. Can Jazz outwit O Palacio and mend broken relationships to save Artemis? This is a fun story. Jazz's narrative voice is hilarious. I love her personality and her depth. I love the amount of sci

 I really enjoyed The Paper Magician and was excited to read on in the series. If you'd like to see my post for the first book, you can click here . The Glass Magician  continues the story of Ceony Twill, picking up almost immediately after the conclusion of The Paper Magician. Ceony and a group of apprentices go on a tour of a paper mill. The tour quickly turns deadly as they're suddenly evacuated and witness the mill explode. Events only darken as after a lunch date with Delilah, a glass apprentice, Ceony finds herself face to face with Grath Cobalt. Grath is the most feared excisioner, a long-time enemy of Emery Thane's. Will Ceony be able to outwit Grath? This book was amazing. I loved it far more than I liked The Paper Magician.  While the first novel got a little repetitive, this one did not. This novel had very few "down times" and I enjoyed the pacing far more in this one. I loved seeing Ceony's character grow and change, and I love her narrative voice

This is another book that I use in my classroom. My 10th-grade students enjoy this story. I've read this book a few times, and I enjoy it more every time I read it. Warriors Don't Cry  by Melba Patillo Beals tells the true story of her experience integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. Melba was a normal teenage girl. She had friends, went to class, got good grades. She had a tight-knit family at home. Her life was forever changed when she put her name down on a list of students to possibly integrate Central High School. Melba went from a normal school to what she describes as a battlefield. She had to be escorted to every class by a soldier from the U.S. military, she had to watch every corner and staircase, she was beaten, spit upon, and yelled at, and even had segregationists calling her home to try and scare her out of going to school. This book is another narrative that is particularly sensitive in the current climate of racial tensions. I also think this

 I love Elizabeth Wein and Code Name Verity (see my post here ). Since reading Verity , I discovered that there are more books in the series, and while not completely related (you can read them in any order), I've been excited to read them all. Rose Under Fire has been on my tbr list for AGES, and I finally got around to it. Rose Under Fire  by Elizabeth Wein shines a light on the darkness of Ravensbruck, the Nazi prison camp for political prisoners (at least at first). Rose Justice was an American who went to Britain to help with the war effort. While there, she met Maddie (one of the perspectives of Code Name Verity ), a pilot for the civilian ATA. After a ferry trip over France, Rose is intercepted by Nazi fighters and is forced to fly deep into Germany. Once there, she's sent to Ravensbruck, the infamous work camp for political prisoners. Wein spares no details in showing the horrific conditions of prisoners in the camp. What will happen to Rose and her friends, the Rabbits

 This was yet another book club read. This is not usually my first choice in books to pick up. The Husband's Secret  is a gripping tale of lies and intrigue. Cecilia is an extremely successful woman. She has the absolute perfect life: three girls who light her life, an adoring if forgetful husband, she's amazing at selling Tupperware, and she even is the PTA president at her school. Tess thought she was happily married to Will, before Will tells her that he's in love with her cousin and basically best friend Felicity. Tess uproots her son and moves back to Sydney to live with her mother at the revelation. Rachel works at the same school Cecilia's girls (and now Tess's son) go to: St. Angela's. Rachel is the secretary and basically keeps the place afloat. Rachel's daughter was murdered twenty years ago, and she has no idea who did it, but she certainly suspects Connor Whitby the school's P.E. teacher. These women's lives are intricately linked by one

 This is a book that I read for the first time around four years ago when I first started teaching. This novel is one that I have loved ever since then. The Book Thief  by Markus Zusak takes place in World War II in Nazi Germany. Liesel Meminger is not quite an orphan, but she is placed in foster care because her mother can't provide for her. Liesel goes to live with Rosa and Hans Hubermann, and they completely change Liesel's life. On her way to the Hubermann's, Liesel's younger brother dies on the train. In the graveyard where he was buried is where Liesel steals her first book: The Grave Digger's Handbook. Hans teaches her to read it, and inspires her love of the written word. The Hubermann's will then hide a Jew in their basement for a time. What will become of that hidden Jew? What will become of Liesel? What will become of Himmel Street, her friends, and her family in the wake of a violent and terrible war? This book is probably one of my all-time favorite

 I saw the limited series on Netflix. I was intimidated at first, because I don't know anything about chess except the very basic rules. But the show was extremely well done, and even though I didn't know the moves or anything about the matches, the show did an excellent job of explaining what was going on. My brother then gave me the novel the show is based off of for Christmas. I was excited to read it! Netflix's decision to make it into a miniseries was wise, in my opinion. It allowed them to adequately adapt the book to film, and it was fun to compare the two. The creators of the series definitely took some license with the novel, but in the end, I was really impressed with both works. The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis follows the orphan Elizabeth Harmon. Elizabeth starts out at an orphanage upon the death of her mother. While there, she is taught to play chess by the janitor while she's supposed to be in class. Around the time Beth turns thirteen, she is adopt

 This book came highly recommended from one of my coworkers who loves this novel. I have a goal of trying to read every novel in my classroom library, and since I had this one, I decided to give it a shot. Bless Me Ultima  by Rudolfo Anaya follows the story of Antonio Marez as he grows into adolescence. Antonio lives in New Mexico with his family. His family has a divided past, and Tony must pick which direction he wants to go. Will he be a priest like his mother desires? When Tony is six, Ultima comes to live with them, a curandera, who heals with herbs and magic. It is Ultima who often guides Tony through his battle between his mother's Catholicism, and his father's desire for freedom. This book is hard to review. On the one hand, I really enjoyed the mysticism and the magic and devils. The story is beautifully described, and the characters are deep and fascinating. The battle Tony fights between what his parents each want for him is also particularly poignant, even though I&

 This is once again a book that I teach with my seniors, and it is one of my all-time favorite books. There is also a film version of this book that is every bit as good as the novel; in fact, Patrick Ness had a significant hand in creating that film. Conor O'Malley is 13. His life is not normal. His mom is horribly sick with what we assume is cancer, and this fact has completely altered every aspect of his life. Conor is determined that his mom is getting better. He is determined that the treatments are helping her. It isn't long before at 12:07 AM, Conor is woken from an awful recurring nightmare by a monster. Conor finds that he is not afraid of the monster, much to its surprise and annoyance. The monster tells Conor that he will tell him three tales, and once he is finished, Conor must tell his own tale, and that tale will be the truth. Can Conor face the reality that faces him? This book is amazing. There are no other words to describe it. The illustrations in this book ar

 I got I Am the Messenger  from a Christmas book exchange, and I was excited to read it. I loved The Book Thief  (and have decided to reread it), and I was hoping this book was every bit as good. Ed Kennedy is 19. He's an underachieving cab driver in an unknown city and country. Ed has no prospects, no future, and he's not even supposed to be driving a cab since he's underage. All of that changes when he and his friends inadvertently stop a bank robbery and help the police capture the robber. Shortly after the incident, Ed starts receiving playing cards in the mail. Each one has some sort of clue written on it, leading to a person in desperate need of help. Can Ed figure out what each person needs? This is a hard review to write. On the one hand, I absolutely loved The Book Thief , and I was really hoping this book would live up to my expectations... but it didn't quite get there. Don't get me wrong, this book was highly entertaining. Ed is hilarious and I loved his

 This was another book we read for our book club. The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller follows the independent and murderess Alessandra. Alessandra has been overlooked her entire life, including by her first love, Hector. But, Alessandra has a plan to change everything: convince the Shadow King to fall in love with her, then kill him and take his throne. As she moves to the palace and gets knee-deep in the intrigue, things change. Will Alessandra go through with her cunning plan, or will she give in to her heart and marry the most powerful man in the world? Truthfully, I desperately wanted to like this book, but I just... didn't. It was shockingly sappy and incredibly predictable. I had Alessandra pegged from the very start. She wasn't going to kill the Shadow King, and she was certainly going to fall in love with him. While the journey to get there wasn't as obvious, I knew the outcome from the very start. Murdering Hector and the subsequent discovery of his body c

 Again, this is another novel that I read with my students. I LOVE this book. I always thought that it would be scary, and initially, I was terrified to read it. Everyone paints it as such a horror story, and of course, we all have Halloween. Frankenstein  by Mary Shelley is considered the quintessential horror book. Victor Frankenstein had what he considered a perfect life. He had a happy family and close friends in Geneva. Victor was fascinated by the sciences from a very young age and pursued the philosophies of the alchemists. After being mocked mercilessly by a college professor, Victor eventually gives up these beliefs, but not for long. He discovers the secret to life. Creating a being out of the remains of the dead, initially, he is thrilled by his creation, but once he finally bestows the spark of life, he is terrified at his creation and abandons it. The monster is then left to fend for itself, learning morality from works like Paradise Lost , and observing a French family li

 After reading The Kite Runner  a couple of years ago, I have really found a love for Khaled Hosseini and have been dying to dive into some of his other books. I have had a fascination with the Middle East since I studied it in college, so I've loved these novels. And the Mountains Echoed  is a gorgeously written novel flowing through a multi-generational story of a villager from Shadbagh, Afghanistan. Each section of this novel is told through the perspective of a different character - first from Abdullah and last from his daughter Pari. Abdullah describes traveling to Kabul with his father, Saboor, and sister, Pari (who his daughter is eventually named after) where Pari is left with the wealthy Wahdatis to be raised. Pari never truly knows the truth about her former family until she is an adult when she is contacted by Markos Varvaris, a Greek doctor doing humanitarian work in Kabul. Markos rented the home in Kabul that once belonged to Mr. Wahdati. Markos received a letter from