Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

 I got to go to the bookstore by myself recently. I picked up a couple of books that I really wanted, and one that I need for book club. Up first, I got Brandon Sanderson's new book (with Peter Orullian) called Songs of the Dead . This book has beautiful sprayed edges, and I'm excited to read this one! I also picked up a pretty edition of The Fellowship of the Ring  that matches my pretty copy of The Hobbit . It also has sprayed edges, a fabric cover, with silver embossed details. It's beautiful and I'm so excited to have it as part of my collection. I'm so excited to have these as part of my collection!

 This was a really popular fantasy pick a few years ago, and I picked it up at the bookstore at one point, but never read it. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  follows the story a French girl named Addie. Addie grew up in a small French village called Villon-sur-Sarthe in the early 1700s. Addie is promised to an older man, and despite her best efforts, she cannot get out of the marriage. Eventually she summons a dark entity in a last ditch effort to avoid the wedding. This entity promises her that she will live as long as she wants, but the promise has a dark side. She can live forever, never aging or changing, but no one will remember her, and she will be able to make no marks on the world. She can meet a person, but as soon as she leaves their line of sight, they will not remember seeing her. She cannot speak her name. She can't write, or draw, or alter the world in any way. Then, in 2014, she steals a book from a used bookstore, but when she goes the next day, the clerk re...

 I rolled this as part of my mystery rolls. When it finally came in from being on hold, I was able to finish it pretty quickly. The Mysterious Affair at Styles  follows the story of Arthur Hastings as he stays with friends in a village called Styles St. Mary. The friend, John Cavendish, lives with his step-mother Emily Inglethorp, his wife, his brother, his step-mother's new husband, and a host of servants. One night, while staying at the mansion, Hastings and others in the household are awoken to discover that Mrs. Inglethorp is in significant distress. She has been poisoned. Hastings summons his friend, also living at Styles, Hercule Poirot. Poirot is a Belgian detective, and he quickly steps in to help solve the murder. Will they be able to find the murderer? This book is certainly a product of its time, and the language felt like 1920 when the book was written. It took a little bit to get used to the writing style of the novel, but once I did, the book went quickly. This i...

 One of my trainings this summer was by the author of this book. We ended up buying the book as a full department, and I read it as I started to get ready to work on planning. Re Envisioning Rigor pursues the thesis that rigorous teaching is not complicated, and comes down to routines used consistently with students to push them to learn material effectively. Furthermore, McDowell argues that learning is not hierarchical, and that students need transfer, deep, and surface learning in some combination in order to effectively grasp material. The book provides strategies to integrate consistent, effective routines that will help students learn. I found this book easy to digest, and easy to read. The strategy pages are really helpful and have a consistent dashboard layout that's easy to follow. I was able to bookmark several things that I plan to implement next year. I rated this book ⭐⭐⭐⭐

 This was a book club book choice for this month. This was a really quick read. It took me about 45 minutes to get through. Carlos and his family live in rural Cuba, on land that their family has owned for centuries. Carlos's grandparents and aunt are next door, and Carlos loves spending time with them and his friend, Alvaro. Then, Carlos's father wins the lottery, and moves the family to a big city. He starts a woodworking business that becomes very successful. But things change drastically for the family when Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries take over Cuba. First, I had a hard time rating this book. It was good, so I gave it five stars, but I'll admit it didn't blow me away. I did like that it was about a time and place that I didn't know much about. The autobiographical nature of the story made it really personal. The story itself was pretty simple and fast paced. There was not a lot of exploration of some of the deeper topics of the story. I think the thing ...

 OK, once again, I'm back through the rotation. Fantasy:  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  by V. E. Schwab (61%) Sci-Fi:  Legend  by Marie Lu (32%) Realistic Fiction:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Saenz (70%) Brandon Sanderson:  Isle of the Emberdark  (19%) Nonfiction:  The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt (100%) Classic:  Les Misérables  by Victor Hugo (17%) Mystery/Thriller:  The Eye of the Crow  by Shane Peacock (100%) Historical Fiction:  Apeirogon  by Colum McCann (12%) Audio:  An Ember in the Ashes  by Sabaa Tahir (11%) English Department Book Club: We didn't pick anything for the summer... Neighborhood Book Club: How to Say Goodbye in Cuban  by Daniel Miyares Husband Buddy Read: The Hero of Ages  by Brandon Sanderson (7%) I've also got to read a couple of books for work: Code Name Verity  by Elizabeth Wein A Visual, St...

 Now that I've finished Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece , it's time to roll again for an audiobook to read. I rolled a percentile D10, and a regular D10, and got: 84 on my list is An Ember in the Ashes  series! I'm on book 3. I'm really, really excited for this one. It's been a while since I read book 2, so I'll need to do some research to remember what's going on, but I'm super excited to get to continue this series.

 I picked this one up on Audible because it sounded interesting, and I thought it was nonfiction before. Turns out, it was fiction, but it ended up being an interesting read. The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece follows the story of the development of a fictional (but I think based off of a real) film. From the creation of the source material, to the writing of the script by director Bill Johnson, to the casting of Wren Lane and others, the book follows the entire production until a screening of the final film in New York. The film is based on a series of comic books. These comics were a fictionalized story of his uncle who was a flamethrower in World War II. The character, Firefall, becomes a villain in a new installment of a blockbuster super hero franchise. This is another complex story with a lot of moving parts. It has a very large cast of characters and sometimes it's difficult to keep them separated. There's also not a whole lot of development on many o...

 OK, this was our book club book this month. It's another middle grade kind of book. Tiph is new in town. Her parents (well her dad and step-mom) are occupied with her two younger siblings. While on a walk, Tiph comes across an elderly woman who seems to be struggling to walk her dog. Offering to help, Tiph discovers that the woman is alone and recovering from an operation. Tiph helps her, and finds herself with a job working for the old woman. Tiph loves dolls and has been eyeing one in a shop in the town (incidentally, where she also came across the old woman). The shop owner doesn't like kids much, and Tiph isn't allowed in his shop on account of being suspected of stealing a clock from the shop some months before. When she accompanies her new friend, Néni (Aunt) Szilvia, she steals a doll she has been eyeing for some time. Will this theft change her relationship with everyone? OK, this summary doesn't really do the book justice. There are a lot of moving parts in th...

 I have a portion of this series in my classroom library, so I've added it to my mystery reading sheet. I obtained the first book from the library, and was able to read it really quickly so the person who had it on hold could get the chance to read it as well. The Eye of the Crow  follows a 13 year old Sherlock Holmes. Sherlock is ditching school and reading the papers, looking at crimes and investigations. It is through these "sensational" papers, that he sees the murder of a woman in the Whitechapel neighborhood. Sherlock sees the primary suspect be arrested, an Arab boy only a little older than Sherlock himself, who whispers to Sherlock "I didn't do it!" Driven by this, Sherlock begins to investigate the case, only to find himself in the cell next to the Arab, accused of being an accomplice to the murder. Can Sherlock solve the case and save himself and the Arab? This book was fairly quickly paced, and while the ending was kind of predictable, I enjoyed t...

 This book came highly recommended from a former coworker of mine. I picked it up on Audible, and then ended up buying a physical copy somewhere along the line, and got to the physical copy before the audiobook. I've been really interested in this topic as a parent and a teacher. Like Haidt, I've seen progressively alarming trends in student well being and mental health in recent years, and it was accelerated by the pandemic. The Anxious Generation  discusses what happened to teens in the wake of the transition away from flip phones to smart phones starting around 2012. Haidt discusses the effects of social media, and how these apps are designed to be addictive. He discusses solutions that parents, schools, and governments should take to help build resilience in our children and teens and protect them online. First of all, I thought this book was very thorough. I felt that Haidt addressed so many aspects of this discussion. I think it was helpful that he presented his research...

 OK, I'm back through my rotation again. Here's where I'm at with everything: Fantasy:  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  by V. E. Schwab (59%) Sci-Fi:  Legend  by Marie Lu (21%) Realistic Fiction:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Saenz (49%) Brandon Sanderson:  Isle of the Emberdark  (11%) Nonfiction:  The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt (76%) Classic:  Les Misérables  by Victor Hugo (10%) Mystery/Thriller:  The Brothers Hawthorne  by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (100%) Historical Fiction:  Apeirogon  by Colum McCann (9%) Audio:  The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece  by Tom Hanks (16%) English Department Book Club: We didn't pick anything for the summer... Neighborhood Book Club:  The Winter of the Dollhouse  by Laura Amy Schlitz (26%) So I finished The Brothers Hawthorne , so I need to roll for a new mystery book. I rolle...

 Since I finished the Psychology of Zelda , I need to roll for another audiobook. I rolled a percentile and a D10 and got: But, bad news... 59 doesn't appear on my sheet. So I re-rolled and got 28! This time that's on my sheet. 28 is The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece  by Tom Hanks. I think I originally thought this was nonfiction, but as I'm looking at it now, it's definitely fiction. I still think it'll be really interesting, and I'm excited to read it. It is a bit longer (almost 16 hours) than some of my last reads, so it'll take a bit for me to get through.

My husband really enjoys The Legend of Zelda games, and I've liked watching him play them, though I'm not as interested in them as he is. I found this book on Audible (I think it was included with membership) and thought that it sounded really interesting. The Psychology of Zelda  is a collection of essays from various people (mostly with doctorate degrees in psychology and related fields) about how The Legend of Zelda  games are impacted by psychology. From topics ranging from projection to the stages of grief, this book picks apart the games, the music, the characters, and the players to show why the games are so impactful and popular. This book was interesting, and was generally easy to follow. I didn't fully know what I was getting into when I bought the book, so I didn't realize that it was a collection of essays. Still, that didn't overly bother me, except that it made the audiobook version a little hard to follow. I couldn't keep track the author biograp...

 OK, I finished Sunreach , so now it's time for another dice roll.  I again rolled a percentile for the tens place and D10 for the ones place. I use 00 as nothing in the tens place, so this roll is 8. On my list, this corresponds to: The Psychology of Zelda . It's a collection of essays diving into why The Legend of Zelda  games are so satisfying.

 This was a result of my roll for audiobook. The audiobooks split the novellas into separate works, but I also have the book in which these novellas are included. Sunreach  follows the story of FM, Rig, and Jorgen on Detritus while Spensa is off exploring her Cytonic powers. FM is the viewpoint character, and after the battle where the Delver appears, becomes the keeper of the slugs - the little creatures like Spensa's Doomslug. They quickly discover that these creatures are the secret to hyperjumping and long range communication. Can they gain allies against the Superiority with this new knowledge? I personally really liked this novella. I thought it was short and sweet, and was purposeful in continuing the Skyward  storyline. I liked FM as a viewpoint character and how she was contrasted against Spensa (who I also love as a character). This is particularly seen as the novella explores FM's budding relationship with Rig. That little hint of a romance was cute, and I like...

 I've been loving this series, so I was very excited when I got to roll for mystery books and this is what I got. I was definitely eager to continue the series. Jameson has found a secret in Prague, but not one he's willing to let Avery in on just yet. As they're in London, Jamison is approached by his father, a British nobleman who has a request: join the mysterious, underground club: The Devil's Mercy, and win back his ancestral home. Do Avery and Jameson have what it takes to beat the odds? Can they get into the Most Dangerous Game? Meanwhile, Grayson finds himself in Phoenix, Arizona trying to break his half sister, Gigi out of prison. Once there, he finds his father's real family in deep financial trouble, and on the brink of ruin. Unable to leave the situation alone, guided by Gigi's digging into her father's whereabouts, Grayson finds himself tangled up in a complicated family battle. Can he protect his sister's while also staying loyal to his Haw...

 OK, it's taken me a bit to get all the way through my rotation again. I've had to focus down a couple of books in order to be ready for book club. So, here's where I'm at. Fantasy:  The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue  by V. E. Schwab (46%) Sci-Fi:  Legend  by Marie Lu (16%) Realistic Fiction:  Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe  by Benjamin Alire Saenz (8%) Young Readers:  The Fledgling  by Jane Langton (100%) - I'm eliminating this category from here on out. Brandon Sanderson:  Isle of the Emberdark  (2%) Nonfiction:  The Anxious Generation  by Jonathan Haidt (67%) Classic:  Les Misérables  by Victor Hugo (6%) Mystery/Thriller:  The Brothers Hawthorne  by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (63%) Historical Fiction:  Apeirogon  by Colum McCann (7%) Audio:  Sunreach  by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson (54%) English Department Book Club:  Death of the Author  by...

This was another book club book for my neighborhood book club. It's our middle grade choice, and I found the title and summary for it really intriguing. Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, live on a refitted school bus they've called Yager. They drive across the country in search of any adventure with the exception of Washington state. Washington is a "no-go." It was in Washington, five years earlier, that Coyote's two sisters and mother were killed in a car crash. In a weekly phone call with her grandma, Coyote finds out that the neighborhood park is about to be paved over. It was in that park, five years ago, that Coyote, her sisters, and mother buried a memory box, a time capsule that they promised they would dig up in ten years time. Can Coyote get Yager and Rodeo across the country without Rodeo knowing. I really enjoyed this book. It was cute, emotional, and funny. I found Coyote to be a really fun main character. She was witty, well-read, and sarcastic. I very much ...

 OK, I'm combining this... Man... two bad rolls in a row 😭 OK, I have the same issues with this adaptation as I did Treasure Island , which I was worried about when I started. Neither of these experiences are what I'm looking for in an audiobook. I'd rather listen to the full text novel than a dramatization. I'd rather watch a movie than listen to one. This book felt that way, and it is called an audioplay, so I can't even blame myself for not realizing it. Maybe I'll come back to these, but for now... this is a DNF. I swapped dice sets, and now I'm back on a roll. I again rolled a D10 and a percentile. 47 is the result. 47 on my list is ReDawn  by Brandon Sanderson. This is part the Skyward  books that I've been meaning to read, so I'm excited for that. I'm actually going to start with the first novella Sunreach  though. I didn't realize that I needed to read them in a particular order. I've fixed that on my sheet.