Sunday, December 21, 2008

Fall Into Reading Wrap up

I cannot believe that it is over already! I wish that it could keep going because I just arrived at the beach armed to the teeth with books to try and catch up from the few days last week where all I did was cross stitch and try to finish my sister's Christmas present by Friday when we celebrated Christmas.

Katrina suggested a few questions to answer so I will use those questions as the framework for this entry.

Did you finish reading all the books on your fall reading list? If not, why not?
For once I did actually finish all of the books on my original list. In past challenges either the library did not have the book when I needed to read it or I became so disgusted with the book that I chose not to finish it. Neither of those situations happened this time. (Perhaps because I got my requests in early this time. :D)

Did you stick to your original goals or did you change your list as you went along?
I did stick to my original goals and as always had in mind the idea of adding more books later as I read them and after I read all of the books on my original list. I got a little nervous towards the beginning of December when I hadn't finished everything on my list but as my reposted list at the bottom of this post shows I was indeed able to add books not originally on the list.

What was your favorite book that you read this fall? Least favorite? Why?
I would have to say that my favorite book that I read this fall was Backwater by Joan Bauer. See the question below for more info. I have a couple least favorites. The first of which was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The second was The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. I won't elaborate here on why I did not like them because I already did that in my review.
*Disclaimer* The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a strikingly beautiful book. I just hated how it ended.

Did you discover a new author or genre this fall? Did you love them? Not love them?
I actually did discover a new author this fall... Joan Bauer. I wish that I had encountered her books when I was in junior high and high school. Granted, I still thoroughly enjoyed the two that I read this fall but they are so good that I wish I had discovered them earlier. Great books!

What was your favorite thing about the Fall Into Reading challenge?
For me personally, this reading challenge kept me reading during a semester of school when I probably would have let it fall by the wayside in favor of other projects and things. Having the list and the internal motivation to finish by yesterday kept me reading.

Would you like to participate in another challenge here this spring?
Most definitely. I love these reading challenges. My spring list though will probably be even shorter than this fall list. I have to focus on real life and my student teaching after all. :D


Found by Karen Kingsbury (09/26/08)
Family by Karen Kingsbury (09/27/08)
Bachelor's Puzzle by Judith Pella (09/30/08)
Death's Door by Betsy Byars (10/05/08)
Disappearing Acts by Betsy Byars (10/10/08)
Randall's Wall by Carol Fenner (10/04/08)
The Ransom of Mercy Carter by Caroline B. Cooney (10/11/08)
Shattered Justice by Karen Ball (10/25/08)
The Great Bridge by David McCullough (10/28/08)
Blue Like Jazz by Donald R. Morris (10/18/08)
The Washing of the Spears by Donald R. Morris (11/06/08)
The Revealers by Doug Wilhelm (11/07/08)
Ice Story: Shackleton's Lost Expedition by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel (11/19/08)
The Living Stone by Jane Orcutt (11/08/08)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz (11/14/08)
Hitch by Jeanette Ingold (11/17/08)
Secrets of a Wildlife Watcher by Jim Arnosky (11/07/08)
My Face to the Wind by Jim Murphy (11/02/08)
Hope was Here by Joan Bauer (11/18/08)
Backwater by Joan Bauer (11/21/08)
The Haunting by Joan Lowery Nixon (12/04/08)
A Family Apart by Joan Lowery Nixon (11/25/08)
A Place to Belong by Joan Lowery Nixon (11/24/08)
Circle of Love by Joan Lowery Nixon (12/03/08)
A Dangerous Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon (11/29/08)
In the Face of Danger by Joan Lowery Nixon (12/01/08)
David's Search by Joan Lowery Nixon (12/02/08)
Nobody's There by Joan Lowery Nixon (12/05/08)
Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (12/11/08)
Last Shot by John Feinstein (12/10/08)
A Separate Peace by John Knowles (12/09/08)

Books added after the contest started
Brisingr by Christopher Paolini (12/09/08)
What Jesus Demands from the World by John Piper (12/09/08)
Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal by J. K. Rowling (12/10/08)
Social Studies in the 21st Century by Jack Zevin (12/12/08)
My Heart is on the Ground by Ann Rinaldi (12/12/08)
Rain Song by Alice J. Wisler (12/15/08)
A Rush of Wings by Kristen Heitzmann (12/16/08)
We Are Patriots by Kristiana Gregory (12/20/08)
The Edge of Recall by Kristen Heitzmann (12/20/08)
Little Wizard Stories of Oz by Frank L. Baum (12/20/08)

Friday, December 12, 2008

On... The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

I had already added this book to my list before my Social Studies Methods professor highly recommended it so I added the book to my Fall reading list. When I heard about the movie coming out soon based on the book I definitely looked forward to reading the book.

Disclaimer: There is such a twist at the end that my review might be rather cryptic because learning about this twist would definitely ruin the rest of the book.

I knew that there was a twist at the end but thankfully had not found out the details. Unfortunately I kept trying to figure out throughout the book just what that twist might be. Boyne still managed to surprise me.

The main character, Bruno, narrates a move that he was none too happy about from the family home in Berlin to what he and his sister suppose is the country side. Bruno is more than disappointed when he learns that he has to leave his three best friends and that there seem to be no other children around for him to play with.

That's when Bruno meets a boy born on the exact same day and year and strikes up a friendship.

As I read I kept getting sadder and sadder as I realized all of the details of the book that nine-year old Bruno simply misses because of his innocence. Case in point: Bruno pronounces the name of his home as Out-With. It took me quite a while to figure out his mispronunciation.

Boyne writes a beautiful story even with all of the sadness mixed throughout the entire book. I do not recommend this book if you do not like sad stories. I do recommend the book to those who want to read good literature.

Thursday, December 11, 2008

On... Last Shot by John Feinstein

I thought I would enjoy this book. After all I love college basketball and especially March Madness but this book disappointed in many respects.

At the beginning of the book I held out high hopes because Feinstein set up a rather intriguing premise. Now, perhaps I started to develop a little bit of antipathy towards him because of the main character's anti-Duke bias. Of course I don't mean that literally but anyway.

While this book is a mystery I do not condone the rather unethical actions that Stevie and Susan Carol took to solve the mystery. Added to that the resolution of the mystery took quite a cliche turn and rather farfetched turn at that.

I don't recommend this book.

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

On... a Separate Peace by John Knowles

I knew nothing about this book before I started reading it but it still managed to disappoint me.

Knowles enticed me at the beginning with well-written reminiscing about a long ago summer during WWII but as I continued to read I failed to discover Knowles purpose in writing this book.

The protagonist, Gene Forrester, narrated the story in a meandering, aimless manner that lacked the focus he supposedly had as a student. Even though at the end Knowles threw something unexpected in at the end I still could not see the purpose of the whole book. Gene seemed to make epiphanies throughout the book but sometimes those epiphanies contradicted each other and really made no sense at all.

On top of all of that Knowles felt okay with throwing in the occasional expletive although the frequency increased as the end of the book approached.

I do not recommend this book at all.

On... Joan Lowry Nixon

I recently read several books by Joan Lowry Nixon and after the first few which were part of the Orphan Train series decided to write one review rather than one for each book.

I have mixed feelings about this author. All of her books that I read that were part of the Orphan Train series disappointed me. The writing was not bad. In fact I actually admired Nixon for her ability to avoid sinking into cliche literary techniques. Unfortunately the plot ideas for all of those stories I have read before. Because of this disappointment I did not hold out hope for the other two books of Nixon's that I had yet to read.

These other two books, The Haunting and Nobody's There impressed me perhaps because the bar was set so low. Now I reserve judgment on the supernatural aspect of The Haunting but the story captivated me especially with the historical aspect of the old Louisiana plantation house.

Of all of the Nixon books that I read I enjoyed Nobody's There the best. Nobody's There is a simple young adult mystery with appealing characters such as crochity old Edna.

I definitely recommend Nobody's There but can't say the same for the other books.