Just dug into Thirteen Reasons Why, which was recommended to me by a middle school teacher. I am about halfway through and am pretty hooked. It's definitely a quick read, great high school stuff. By Jay Asher, the plot focuses on a high school boy who receives a set of cassette tapes in the mail that were made by a girl who committed suicide two weeks ago. He has to listen to them and then pass them on. Each side of a tape focuses on one person whose choices in some way effected the life of the dead girl. So far, she seems fairly angry and bitter, so I'm hoping that this doesn't lead to a "blame everyone else" story, but it came highly recommended. Very realistic in dealing with high school issues.

Book Lovers Favorite Site!

I just discovered librarything.com, a great site for book lovers! It allows you to create a catalog of all of the books you've read. Then, it cross-references those books with other members' catalogs, or libraries, as they're called. It allows you to post comments to these members, view their libraries, etc. Also, it gives recommendations, both random and targeted to your tastes. There is a possibility of reviewing a book on early release and writing a review for it, although I haven't been able to try it out yet, since they were closed for the month. Let me know what you think.

Only a little over a week till the Twilight premiere! I bought my tickets last night.

Scotland, PA

Having taught Macbeth more times than I can count over fifteen years in the English classroom, I was fortunate enough one year to have an exceptional student recommend the movie Scotland, PA to me. At the time it was only available on Amazon or through Netflicks. I bought the movie after I saw it once. It's totally not appropriate for the high school classroom, but a great modernization of Macbeth. It involves the fry cook at a fast food restaurant with dreams of taking over the operation, the owner's pothead son, who's supposed to be Malcolm, and nearly every other character from the original story. The themes are largely the same, and the changes in characterization are really effective to produce the story. My husband, who didn't know the Macbeth story, had no trouble following the movie and thoroughly enjoyed it. While some may argue that nothing beats the Polanski Macbeth, it is showing its age now. This is a great, witty alternative.

On Re-reading Parts of Breaking Dawn

Yesterday, I re-read a few chapters of Breaking Dawn. I'm impressed by the obvious progress the Meyers has made as a writer, although I didn't enjoy this text as much as the previous book. Some of my colleagues have a hard time with this book because of the unlikely scenerio surrounding Bella's pregnancy, but quite frankly, I think we all had to suspend our tendencies of disbelief throughout the series! It is an interesting comment though, and it highlights Meyer's ability, like J.K. Rowling, to write with a fantasy subject in a very realistic fashion. These kinds of book defy classification, as they aren't true "fantasy" novels. If someone asks me if it's a vampire story, I hesitate, because that implies that it takes place in a fantasy setting, which it does not. Likewise, Harry Potter is so thoroughly a typical teenager, that those stories don't truly fit in the "fantasy" category, either.

Ways with Words

Introduction

What inspires us, moves us to get out of bed and go through routine motions each day? What do we want to get out of our days, months, years here? Each a different tale. For me, searching for the answer to this question has become part of the journey. I am particularly excited to wake up when there is a good book on the horizon, or a good movie for inspiration. These inspirations drive me to my own creative endeavors, and in the end, the pursuit of expression is important to personal fulfillment for me.