Sunday, August 24, 2008

The Sunday Salon - 24 August 2008

Hello, fellow Saloners! School started two weeks ago, and I've been busily planning lessons, grading papers, and trying to keep my sanity - hence, the lack of posting recently. Teaching is great; I love my students, but I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing. And all the drama is crazy, too. It's a big change, and I'm starting to feel (*gasp*) like an adult with a real career, which is an amazing feeling.

Moving on...I have managed to do a bunch of reading, in-between all the teacher-related stuff. At school, we have a required 20 minute reading period, so during that time I'm reading The Once and Future King, by T.H. White. I haven't gotten very far into it, but I love it! We have to do a King Arthur/mythology unit at some point, and I'd like to incorporate it in that.

I also got my first ARC in the mail, which was incredibly exciting! It's Superpowers, by David J. Schwartz. It was actually released in June, but I hadn't heard of it until it showed up in my mailbox. I read it in three days, which is impressive considering the lack of free time I have right now. The book is about five college students who have a party with homemade beer and wake up the next morning with various superpowers. There's a flyer, a telepath, a speedster, a superstrong girl, and an invisible girl. The book is set in the months leading up to September 11, 2001, so I realized pretty early on that was going to factor into the story, but just not in the way that I thought it would. I really liked it; it purports to be a true story, and I think it's a pretty realistic look at what would happen if people really had these kinds of abilities. As realistic as it can be, I suppose.

The other books I've been reading are ones that my sister left at my apartment - mostly Fear Street, and a few other YA series. I'm terribly behind on my challenge books, but I'll make more of an effort with those after I get my lesson plans straightened out. I like having the cheesy YA books on hand, because I can speed through them and not worry about really paying attention to plot, characterization, etc. They're great for when I'm trying to sleep at night or want to take a break from grading.

And now I'm off to do more teacher stuff. Happy reading!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

When I was teaching primary I would have gone mad without those daily twenty minute sessions. And they really pay off with the children as well, because they see you reading and pick up not only the notion that reading is a really good thing but for books to read.

The Bookworm said...

summer seemed to fly by...its hard to believe it's back-to-school time already.

enjoy that ARC!

http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

John (@bookdreamer) said...

Once and Future King is a great read. And Its Superpowers is now on the wishlist!
My Holiday from Hell and Books from Heaven post.