Blankets, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Graphic Novels (and Comic Books)

Yes, I stole the title from a movie, but you'll all get over it.  I'm in a weird mood, and taking a break from my grad school final (paper and presentation for Thursday) to update my blog.  I'm currently sitting at the wine store, because I find coming here an hour or two before my scheduled shift and grabbing coffee, I get a lot more done.  Change of scenery, perhaps; maybe Andrew's iTunes jazz selections, or just a nice surface to spread out with, whatever the reason, on slower days in town I like to come in to get work done.  It's less distracting from being at home -- plus, this non-fat pumpkin chai latte is soothing my soul.  What will I do when pumpkin season is over?  And when does that even end?  Why haven't I even gotten to the actual point of this post?

Okay, so although it's been some time since my last post -- I ate myself into a turkey induced coma, if you must know my whereabouts -- I've been reading.  And by reading, I mean reading.  I've sailed through a few books, some for class, others for pleasure, but Blankets is the one I feel most drawn to, and what I think will make the most interesting topic.
I didn't get into graphic novels or comic books until college, really; the summer reading for incoming freshmen at McDaniel College my first year as a peer mentor was Persepolis, an autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi.  As a peer mentor, it was expected that I would participate, and the nerd in me happily agreed.  Plus, they gave us copies of the summer reading for free, so what wasn't to like?  I wasn't sure what to expect, but I don't think I realized until that point how engaging -- and literary -- graphic novels could be.  I was used to seeing Manga (I almost typed 'mango,' how embarrassing that would have been) and didn't really see any literary merit in them, but Persepolis was interesting and well-written, even with the use of graphics to tell part of the story.  It was done completely in black and white, which added another level of analysis to the plot. It turned a political situation -- the story takes place in Iran during the Islamic Revolution -- into a backdrop to a traditional, relatable, and well-told coming-of-age story.  I was hooked.

Don't you remember what this was like?

A year late I had to read American Born Chinese for my Young Adult Literature class, and again, I was pulled into a multi-layered analysis of a story.  And last year, in my Memoirs class, we read 100 Demons, which was another excellent graphic autobiography.
And now we come to Blankets, a Craig Thompson coming-of-age graphic novel, also done in black and white.  Although there are several plot lines to follow, it is essentially a beautiful rendition of falling in love for the first time, and the heart break that comes with it.  There is also family drama, and questioning of faith and religious belief, which to anyone who was ever 15, much of that is a true part of growing up.  The thing I loved most about Blankets was how long it was; the book is around 600 pages long, but I read the entire thing in about 45 minutes.  Ahhh, the beauty of illustrations.

At least it's better than that green monster with bolts in his neck...

I've discovered that I do, actually, truly, really enjoy graphic novels.  There are a number of graphic novels that have gone on to make really excellent and successful movies and TV series (The Walking Dead, anyone?) and a few TV series and movies turned into spin-off graphic novels.  Coheed and Cambria has a series of graphic novels/comics that parallel the stories they tell in each album, which is another reason why I love that band.  Classic literature, canonical literature, has been turned into graphic novels; Poe and Shakespeare seem to be the most popular, but other works by Dickens (vommm) and, for my weirdo English friends out there, Frankenstein, and there are companies that specialize in creating graphic novels out of classics, presumably to be used in a classroom setting.  After all, don't all kids want to read books with pictures?
In theory.  In theory, graphic novels should be regularly used in the classroom, but the problem is the lack of thought put into these publications.  A true graphic novel should have illustrations that can be analyzed and add to the story, instead of just illustrating what's happening.  Really, they just need to have a point.  And that point should not be because kids would rather read a picture book.  When an author uses illustrations, it's like a director of a film making choices about camera angles and lighting, the editor choosing what can stay or go.  It's all significant.  Or it should be.  If it's not, what's the point?

Remember, if you want to join our International Reading Club, we're currently reading One Day and our first discussions will start December 10th.  Join us!

Hemingway hated women, but I love me some Diana

For those of you who don't know my relationship with Diana, it probably sounds creepy that I keep mentioning her in all my blog posts, but a simple explanation is she's my sorority sister, college friend, and secret Hispanic girlfriend (novia), which comes from a long story about a bar night last September and a pilot named Javier wanting to take us flying.  I'm laughing while typing this, she's probably laughing while reading it, and the rest of you are probably confused.  That's okay.  We all have best friends that mean the world to us, and although I count myself lucky enough to have more than one -- and my lovelies know who they are -- since she's in France and we've been having an awful lot of book talk recently, she's been on my mind.  Also we're facebook chatting right now, so get over your jealousy.

All digressions aside, the International Reading Club came from her journey to France (I've linked her blog about her teaching experience in Dijon in the post below, so check it out) and I spent some time yesterday searching for a book she wanted but couldn't really find.  The best part about it is I can read the book first, and then send it her way, and she won't mind.  I'm often guilty of that.  If I've ever bought you a book that I hadn't read previously, if you notice the spine was slightly creased, I probably read the book before you received it.  Sorry I'm not sorry about it.

The book she was looking for was A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway, an author I absolutely love (and love to hate), but I've actually never read the book.  It's ridiculous that I haven't, though, because it's Hemingway -- love -- it's a memoir -- love -- and it's from my favorite period of American Literature: the Modern period.  My favorite class to teach (when I was teaching, in Maryland) was Modern American Literature.  Mostly 11th graders, so that perfect age range of a-hole and hilarious.  Seriously, I get why people don't care for high schoolers because they are frustrating and horrendously annoying at times, but MAN are they funny. And bright, when you put them in the right context.

So finally, we get to Hemingway.  Hemingway is one of my all-time favorite authors to teach, because he resonates so well with adolescent readers.  If you've never had the pleasure of reading Hemingway, his writing style is very straightforward and sparse.  There's not a lot of unnecessary 'stuff' thrown in; descriptions are limited; if we don't need to know what color hair a character has, why tell us? And truthfully, the simple style and limited vocabulary is what makes him an easy author to teach. No offense to any students who may be reading, but sometimes big words and scary sentences are intimidating. Hemingway is an author who, when you put some work in, makes any reader look and feel intelligent.


I also do not believe in the New Criticism idea of the work being separate from the author, so I always teach about Hemingway's life before we read any of his works, so I start out by saying "Ernest Hemingway is a drunk, misogynistic author that I love."  And it's true.  He hates women and he shot himself, but MAN did he has an interesting life.  I can't wait to read A Moveable Feast, then send it off to Diana, and then discuss.  Isn't that what friendship is all about?

Remember, our International Reading Club is currently reading One Day by David Nicholls, and you can join the discussion at our LibraryThing group page.  We currently only have 2 members, but our facebook page has more, so be sure to log in to the website.  It's really a great site for anyone who enjoys books.

Heroin, Sexual Deviants, Chelsea Handler, and my intense failure at being intelligent.

Naked Lunch is destroying my soul.  That’s right, I said it.  Maybe I’m not intelligent enough, patient enough, or f*cked up enough, but that book is running me ragged.

A few posts ago I wrote about a trip I took with boyfriend to the library.  It was on that trip that I checked out the book Naked Lunch, thinking I’d have a month to read it before it needed to be returned.  Although I hate not having my own classroom, subbing does have its benefits when you’re working through graduate school and a blog project that revolves around reading.  I read an entire book today during a 1^st period exam and the teacher’s normal planning period.  Don’t be jealous of how awesome I am, because none of this matters when I can’t finish a damn book.

Naked Lunch is about drugs.  I think.  Maybe it’s not.  I think I’m right.  Really, I’m sure it’s about drugs, but there’s also a lot of sodomy and deviant sexual behavior. But everyone is on drugs, thinking about drugs, or selling drugs when these acts are taking place.  You know I’m not a fan of banning books, but the amount of times things are shoved up someone’s butt in the book is ridiculous.  I would NEVER teach this to high school kids.  Well, I wouldn’t be able to teach it because not only am I tremendously confused, I also haven’t finished it.

That’s right; I gave up and returned the book.  Say what?

I couldn’t help it.  The book was insanely overdue (I paid 6 dollars in late fees for three books.  SIX DOLLARS) and I knew I wasn’t going to touch it again for some time, so I returned it.  I’m not happy with myself, and I know as part of my goal, I’ll have to revisit it, but for now I needed to put it down.  Maybe it’s because I’ve never done heroin that it didn’t make sense.  I’ll have to find someone who has and ask, because I’m not willing to try it just to understand what the hell Burroughs is writing about.

I like to think I’m a moderately intelligent human being, and when it comes to English (and music) I’m slightly above average, but that’s only because I studied both of those subjects in college.  I have more education in those subjects than your average person.  So is my intelligence fabricated?  Am I really just a slave to the educational system?  Can I not interpret literature without a professor to guide my thoughts, classmates to help verbalize my insights, critics to paraphrase and cite in essays?

Or am I reading too much into things?

Literature is hard; anyone who’s read a book that was outside of his or her comfort zone can attest to that, but as a teacher, I feel like I should be able to get things.  And I don’t, not with this book.  Other novels and books have lacked depth without engaging in discussion, but this one makes no sense.  I broke down enough to return it and take a respite for now; when I check it out again, probably over Thanksgiving break, or maybe I’ll put it off till Christmas, I might break down even more and simply Google it.  I can’t be the only person out there who was bewildered by this book.

I understand a lot of things, but I’ve had excellent guidance along the way.  AP Lit was there when I read The Sound and the Fury for the first time – I’ve never forgotten La, our teacher, reading the beginning of Benjy’s part in a slow, monotonous voice, exaggerating his mental abilities so we could understand why his section read the way it did – or Mrs. Dalloway or even Their Eyes were Watching God.  I had amazing teachers and professors to help me along the way.  So now I’m stuck, floundering in my own shortcomings.

In order to make myself feel better, I picked up (literally, I found it on a shelf in a store as one of those take one, read it, pass it on type books) Chelsea Handler’s My Horizontal Life, thinking it would be a nice, easy read to take my mind off of my own failure.

GOD that book was awful.  One review compared her to David Sedaris, which is so far from the truth, I can’t even believe it was a thought.  He is brilliant; she, on the other hand, is self-indulgent and really, it reads like an attempt to rationalize her sleeping around for years and years.  It doesn’t scream feminism; rather, as a person who generally enjoys Chelsea Lately, it seemed like a bunch of crap.  The best part?  When she mentions William Burroughs being bored by her attempt at comedy and writing and shooting up heroin in order to take his mind off her lack of entertainment.

At least she’s remotely well read.

Remember to check out our International Reading Club if you want to participate in an internet based book club, and to like my facebook page for updates on anything and everything.  Including how I’m dealing with the amount of drugs and butt sex in my current literary state.

Tasting emotions and reading across borders

We’re kicking this off a little late, but nevertheless, the second great experiment of this blog will begin!

For class this week we had to read a unique and rather odd book called The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake.  And I have to admit, I liked it but I also found it very condescending.  The basic plot line was interesting; our narrator, a little girl named Rose, can taste emotions in food.  She can taste how the person who made the food is feeling, almost like an act of mind-reading.  It causes a lot of problems, because who wants to taste the stress their mother is feeling about paying the bills, or the disassociation of a father, but the overall idea is so intriguing.  Obviously there’s a lot more that goes on, but trying to describe it would be pointless.  It would just sound like a bunch of garbled nonsense, although I think a few of you would really enjoy it.

Although the author seemed like she was trying too hard, there was an underlying message of how modern society is losing it’s ability to connect.  We spend so much time on facebook, twitter, and texting with one another that we forget what it’s like to have a real conversation.  Now, I’m not one to bemoan modern technology.  I text an unhealthy amount, I have a love-hate relationship with facebook, and I skype with friends who live far away, but I understand the idea of missing connections.  We should be using the technology to make interacting even more in-depth, but instead we use it to build a barrier of what we want our projected life to be.

A few months ago I started toying with the idea of starting a book club that would work through a variety of mediums in order to keep in touch, literary-wise, with my friend who is currently living and working in France (Check out her blog here!) and my friends who are currently spread too far apart to meet for a traditional book club.  Out of that idea, the International Reading Club was born.

The idea is simple; we all read a book.  Then, on a specified ‘read-by’ date, we will open up discussion on a website called LibraryThing.com (thanks, Brittany Cooper).  The rules and regulations are posted in our group, but you will need to create an account with the website to access certain features.  Trust me, it’s a great website, so you shouldn’t feel exasperated at this extra step.  The link for our reading group is here:International Reading Club

Our book for this month is One Day and anyone and everyone is welcome to participate.  The ‘read-by’ date is December 12^th, which gives you just under a month to finish, and some extra time after the Thanksgiving holiday.  Really, you have until the end of the month, because we won’t pick another book until after Christmas, but you don’t want to be too far behind.

What I’m hoping we can accomplish with this idea is to bring people together regardless of location.  Obviously you can hold a discussion on the topic boards, commenting and responding, but I’m idealistic; perhaps from this experiment will come people exchanging skype accounts and email addresses, or even finding you want to talk further with a person you don’t even know.  I have friends from all different parts of my life, and to bring you all together in this way is something I find really exciting.  Pass this along to anyone you think might be interested in participating, because reading a book shouldn’t be all you do.  Engaging with literature through social connections is the best way to make sure we never lose sight of what is important.  We can use technology to strengthen the bonds between people, but it will only work if people are willing to try.

If I can’t sit down in a room with my favorite people and have a book discussion, then I am willing to try it out in a chatroom or through a discussion board.  And we’ll just have to see how it goes.

           

Fall, Football, and Flu season

Although I have been MIA from my blog and facebook page, I promise I've been doing what this blog is all about; reading!  And whether it's for my list or for grad class on a deadline, I've torn through a few books in the past two weeks.  I don't even know where to begin.  I had plans -- big plans -- about the topic of blog posts, but since I procrastinate like a mo-fo, now they simply seemed backlogged and pointless. Even right now I'm at work, which is the last place I want to be considering I think I caught whatever it was that my mom and dad both had; I was going strong until the third quarter of the football game last night, when all I wanted was tylenol and sleep.  I thought I'd be fine once I got some rest, but I woke up this morning feeling worse than ever with no one to cover for me at work, so here I am, wishing to be anywhere else but here, attempting to update my blog so that somebody will read it, but my head is making it difficult for me to concentrate on any logical thoughts.

Instead, I'll give you the run down on what I've read recently with some short blurbs of drawn out pontification  That's a fancy way of saying I'm going to just say whatever the hell comes to mind.  Enjoy!

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - This was a book I had to read for grad class in the category of Popular Fiction and we had to determine if popular always equals good (which we all know it doesn't) and does being a popular novel limit the teaching of said book?  My dad loved all three of the books, but I don't know if it was the looming critical reader punching me in the back of the head as I read (my fellow English majors can agree, it's hard to read a book and avoid accidental analysis) or the nagging questions of translation and credibility, but I didn't enjoy the book as much as everyone thought I would.

It wasn't that it was a bad book; to the contrary, I can see why people would love the books, and I'm almost disappointed that I didn't love them.  They are the type of book I love for an easy beach read, but really, the analysis part of it ruined the simple enjoyment of reading a thriller.  I saw too many other books in there, and as a side note, if you like the book, try Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

My other issue (well, more question) regarding the book was translation.  The book is translated from Swedish into English, and I always wonder how much credit is really due to the translator.  The original title was even changed from Men who Hate Women to the well-known The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  And let's be honest; the original title would not have sold well in America.  Can you imagine any significant percentage of the male population carrying that book around?  Not so.  Probably a good marketing choice on the publisher's part.

Yet another reason I had trouble with the book was the marketing part of it.  Obviously an author wants his or her book to sell, but these were published posthumously (that means he was DEAD for those who are confused by multisyllabic words, like Keanu Reeves) so his aim was not to make money.  Instead, the books seemed like they've been turned into a corporation.  There is an obscene amount of product placement in the novels, especially concerning up-to-date technology, always a flaw in literature that is trying to stand the test of time.  It's fine to mention someone driving, for example, a VW bug (preferably one that is red and named Lola), but when you give specific details of the certain make of her laptop, down to memory and serial specifications, you loose the timeless nature and narrow your focus too much.

It's hard to read a book thinking that you are being sold a product instead of a story.  And I'm the first to admit my love for some 'product' type series or books (heck, even Harry Potter is a franchise) but maybe I'm becoming cynical in my lack-of-job-living-at-home-again early 20's.

The Swallows of Kabul - This was another book assigned for grad class.  It takes place in Afghanistan and as part of our final project requirement, it is translated into English.  Oddly enough, it was written by a soldier under a female pseudonym which really threw me at first.  Dealing with a culture that demeans women is a rough story line, but his treatment of the issue, as well as my reading it thinking it was a female author, was disturbing in some ways.  The novel starts with a woman being stoned to death, and although we have one female character who rejects the idea of the burka, there is still no positive to any of the female characters.  They do exactly as the men as even as they are claiming to be more forward minded women.

I am a big proponent of multicultural literature and education, but not in the way most public schools like to teacher the genre.  I'm sorry, but the curriculum at my old job for multicultural literature was a joke.  We taught Night in Multi.  And you know how much I love that book, and true, the majority (meaning all but one) of my students had no background or associations with the Jewish faith, but if that's multicultural, then I want that class to read books in the vein of Queer Theory and Feminist Theory.  How do we define minority and multicultural literature?

Teachers and students and schools (and readers, in general) have become the comfortable medium of literature; yes, it's a culture different from our own, but not so much that we are disturbed or forced to question our reality.  We're too middle ground in most of our entertainment choices.  I didn't love the book, but I love how I am forced to question why I don't love the book, and really examine a culture I am very removed from.

Our final project for class is a multicultural assignment, hence the reading of The Swallows of Kabul as a class assignment.  I struggled with finding a book, sent the librarians on a whirlwind search (they have the best search options on their computers, I wish they had it on the catalogue computer) and finally found a book called Border Town.  The assignment is to read a non-Western European book by a non-Western European author.  I went for Asian because I feel like I know more about Middle Eastern cultures than Asian cultures.  Already I can feel a divide in what I know and what is foreign, but I find that in the descriptions and reviews of the book, Shen Congway is always compared to William Faulkner and Pearl Buck.  He wrote before Faulkner!  Why do the Americans always win?
 
 I also read Food Rules: An Eater's Guide, The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, and Blankets, but I feel those books deserve their own attention.  For now, the ramblings of a not feeling so hot girl who really just wants to go lay on the couch and sleep.

Philosophical Thinking and The Hunger Games

How the F*CK did I not read The Hunger Games until now?  I'm honestly furious with myself for somehow pushing this book series to the side, and I can't believe I went this long!  The first book in the trilogy was published in 2008, and now, almost 4 years later, I finally read them.  And it's because of a homework assignment!  That's right, my homework for grad class this week was to read The Hunger Games (just the first book) and I know, all of you are insanely jealous.  What fun homework she has!

Seriously though, brought the book with me to work on Friday night, finished the whole book Friday night when I got home (it was a late night), started the second book on Saturday, and finished the second and third book on Sunday morning.

I just owned up to my nerdiness (is that even a word?) for all the world to see.  (Listen, I read the 7th Harry Potter book in just over 3 hours, so I don't think it's a big secret)

Point is, I finally got around to reading a book -- well, 3 books -- that had been suggested to me over and over but I simply hadn't thought much into them.  I didn't even know anything about the books, other than that it was a Young Adult novel and it was about a dystopian society (okay, Blogger's spellcheck is off, because I know I spelled that word correctly!).  What I didn't know is how engaging and interesting the books would be -- and how many moral, philosophical, ethical, and logical questions the books would raise.

Young Adult literature is an interesting world, and I know I've been beating this idea to death, but since it is the focus of my grad class, it's somewhat unavoidable.  Last week we read Of Mice and Men, a classic in the high school canon, but our discussion seemed to focus on how, in the hands of a bad teacher, that book could go horribly wrong.  Any book that ends in that way (spoiler alert: don't read ahead!! one of the character kills another, raising the debate on mercy killings) is going to need a true teacher touch to manage the debate at the end.  The Hunger Games is in a similar vein, as The Games in the books are actually a fight to the death with 24 children (ages 12-18) being put in a very futuristic, sci-fi based 'arena' and left to fend for themselves until only one remains.  The catch?  The Gamemaster is in complete control of all things that happen in the arena (weather, predators, etc.) and the entire thing is televised for the population to watch.  There's obviously a whole heck of a lot more going on, but it comes down to the basic survival instinct; kill or be killed.

Our main character is also a female, which is rare in novels that are targeted to no specific genre.  Most books that are not meant as 'girl books' have a male protagonist because (and this has been studied, this isn't just me pontificating) males have a harder time identifying with a main character who is a different gender than they are; girls have an easier time.  There is something to be said about the idea of empathy vs. sympathy.  Sorry boys!  But honestly, think about it -- of the major popular young adult books that appeal across sex and gender divides, our protagonist is generally what?  Now in all fairness, our female lead has very masculine tendencies, as she is the head of her family (her mother isn't capable) and she hunts, trades, and is a volunteer to fight in The Games.  Is this a real decision the author made?  A female lad, but make her more boy-ish to appeal to the masses?

That aside, I appreciate a YA author who is willing to try and change the way teenagers read books.  The protagonist switch is only part of it.  She also raises those questions, and, similar to Steinbeck, asks when is it ever okay to kill another human?  Would you do it to survive?  And how many people does it take to change the way things go?  When you see wrong, is it just as bad to say nothing as it is to participate?

With all that's happening in our world today, I think these messages are important for young adults to not only see in literature (and tv and film and music) but to question and consider.  So often we read without engaging all of our mind.  It might drive me crazy that I can't read even trashy lit without bringing an English major and teacher perspective to the text, but I get more out of what I read when I keep thinking.  When the book ends, my analysis does not end.  That's why I love book clubs and grad classes; I love to discuss and question and learn more.

So, as a final plug, we're going to be experimenting with an International Book Club over the next few weeks.  Our book is One Day, and the next update will outline how it will work.  Be sure to join the Facebook Page to add your feedback and keep up with the final plan.  And as always, book suggestions are more than welcome :)

Toddlers, Tiaras, Books, and Anderson Cooper

I feel like a cliche right now; I'm sitting on the couch in my PJ's and a cardigan (hello, turning into my mother) drinking coffee, working on grad school homework, updating my blog, and watching Anderson Cooper.

Okay, the Anderson Cooper part is a little off.  Let me explain...

On Monday I attended a taping of Anderson with three of my favorite gays (my mother was concerned that there were no girls going with me... I'll just leave that one alone) in New York City.  It was ridiculously fun, and Anderson Cooper is even better looking in person -- and much more pale, which I didn't think was possible -- and is clearly well-read and very intelligent.  Yum, yum.  Anyway, since the taping I have been shamelessly watching the show to see myself in the promos for upcoming episodes, but today's episode, well, I actually have been watching bits and pieces.  I'm almost ashamed to admit it, because the episode has on those Toddlers in Tiaras people.  Is it rude if I say the one mother is INSANE?  Probably, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that opinion.

Normally I think people are entitled to do what they want to do, but this pageant stuff seems out of control.  The money put in, the shift in values... I have to admit, growing up my mom and I watched Miss America almost every single year, and I loved it, but these are little girls, and the focus is on looks.  Where is the focus on education?  Many pageant girls win college funds, but for these mothers in particular it seems that there is no emphasis on education.  We skip the importance of reading and instead focus on that performance aspect.

Well, no wonder our society is falling apart.

My problem with today is that what's most accesable for kids and young adults is not education and literature, but television, video games, makeup, and other distractions.  Why aren't parents encouraging education and reading anymore?  I bought a book for grad class the other day that is a young adult book, and when I finished reading it, I gave it to a 12 year old boy, but I don't know if he'll get any outside encouragement to read it.

Why does our society lack support for the self-proclaimed nerds?  Why shouldn't we be proud of our kids for just enjoying school and learning?  Why do we need tangible rewards for success?  If we awarded trophies and had more banquets for getting an A on a test, or reading an entire book in a week, would more parents encourage their children to focus on education?  For a lot of people, the simple joy of finishing a book isn't enough anymore, and for parents in a society that wants to see the physical results of competition, it isn't enough, either.

What a shift in morals and views of the world.  Oprah did something right with her book-club.  When people can come together in a social setting and bond over a book, I'm happy.  That's why I'm trying to get an online book club together, to bring a group of my favorite people together over miles and time zones and oceans.  We're attempting to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is difficult when one member of the experimental book-club is in a non-English speaking country, but the main goal is just for us to have a bonding experience over a book.

And really, what more could you want?

Making Choices (no, this is not yet another post about Sophie)

First and foremost, I now have a facebook page!  Please go check it out and 'like' me... if you like me in real life, you can like me on facebook :) Leah Reads. And reads. And reads.

I hate being an adult.  That's a lie; being an adult has a lot of benefits, such as the legality of drinking and having the freedom to make more of your own decisions.  I'm only half kidding about the drinking part...  Unfortunately, being an adult in this day and age is a lot more stressful than time prior, and I think a lot of people don't realize that.

So while I look for teaching/subbing positions and work part time at the wine store, I'm trying to focus my attention on other things, too.  Graduate school, for one, has been a pleasant and necessary distraction.  I'm a huge nerd who has always loved school -- maybe not all of my math classes, although I'm a beast at geometry -- and taking classes is something I wish I could do for a living.  This blog and my reading project has been another.  And although I can't control what happens with my employment, to a certain extent (I can just apply and be the best candidate I can be, but they make the final decisions) I can control a lot of other aspects in my life.

My first choice at the moment is for what and how many graduate class(es) I will be taking for the spring semester.  Ideally I'll be able to start subbing after my application and interview tomorrow -- I'm also making stops at several Bucks County schools' Central Offices tomorrow with papers in hand looking fabulous and attempting to convince them I would be the greatest English sub ever -- and can afford to move into Philadelphia and take two grad classes.  If not, though, I have to decide between the following:

• Readings in American Literature: 19th Century American Captivity Narratives
• Readings in British Literature: 20th Century British Literature and Modernism
• Composition and Rhetoric Studies
• Cultural Studies: Contemporary Drama and Religion

I have to be honest; 19th Century American Captivity Narratives sounds god awful.  I assume it'll be a lot of slave narratives (Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, anyone?) which is all fine and dandy, but complete overkill.  I've read parts of Incidents in what feels like a million different classes.  American Lit, Lit by Women, 11th grade English, in the class I peer-mentored as a sophomore... I can't deal with an entire semester of that type of literature.  Does that make me a bad person? Nah, I'm just going to play to my strengths.  Which means probably avoiding Contemporary Drama and Religion (I've also heard not so great things about that professor) and focusing on the final two selections.

My freshman year of college I took a class called 20th Century Brit Lit with one of my favorite McDaniel professors (my fellow people from the Hill can assume) and it was terrifying but also a really excellent class.  Becky likes (oh, crap, I just gave it away) to talk about sex and vaginas a LOT and as my first English class of my college career, I felt very stupid compared to the upperclassmen with brains and experience.  I was smart enough to place out of both intro classes, but it took a while for me to feel comfortable sharing in class.  Composition and Rhetoric, on the other hand, would be a new venture for me, but I can't shake the feeling that I would miss out on a literature class.

My program is 10 classes in total, and I have to fulfill certain categories and take 4 classes at the 600 level.  Technically I could avoid Composition and Rhetoric completely, if I wanted, but I do need a British Literature class.  If I don't take 20th century, I could wind up with a different era of British Lit, which could be more painful.  Like the 19th century American Captivity Narratives... I'll wait for a Modern American Lit offering to get that requirement out of the way!

Whatever I decide, I'm sure it will be a really excellent class experience.  If anyone would like to contribute to my grad school fund so I can take both classes, let me know!

Hot Hot Heat!

Am I allowed to use that as a title?  Isn't that the name of a band?  Do you think I should stop asking rhetorical questions?  I say that because as soon as I ask a question I get on Google (gotta love the internet) and look it up.  According to Wikipedia, Hot Hot Heat is an indie rock band from Canada -- you may remember their 'hit' Bandages from back in the day.  Or you might not remember it, because really, who cares about yet another indie rock band from Canada?  Anyway, I don't think they'll be offended that I stole their name for the title since they haven't really been up to much recently -- although again, Wikipedia tells me that they like to experiment with 5/4 time.  LOVE IT.

Okay let me refocus.  Remember when I had to get an eBook for my grad class?  I almost had to go down that road again.  My mom got in touch with one of the middle school librarians last week about my next book for class, but texted me just now saying she couldn't get a hold of it and I was on my own.  Okay, no problem.  I got on the Bucks County library website to look for a copy of the book Heat by Mike Lupica.  Unfortunately my work schedule and the distance to each of the locations doesn't work.  I refuse to drive 30 minutes for a copy of the book.  So I looked on the electronic section yet again, hating myself for it, but they don't have an electronic copy.  They have an audio copy for download.

Here we go again. 

You'll recall a few months back when I foraged into the world of audio books with The Historian on my drives to and from Maryland while moving home.  I wasn't thrilled with it, but desperate times call for desperate measures.  I'm not even sure how I'm supposed to listen to it, because the format is strange.  It can't be burned to a CD, and it may be only compatible with an iPod -- and sorry, Steve Jobs, I don't own any Mac products -- but it can play through my computer.  And I may be able to transfer it to my MP3 player (I'm an iRiver girl, personally) but if not... does that mean I'll have to sit at my computer and listen to the entire book? Thank goodness it's a Young Adult book, so it isn't very long! 

Just kidding, it's still apparently 6 hours long.  *sigh* I may just have to order the damn book at this point because 6 hours is quite a bit of time.  Regardless, I'm sure you all have something to look forward to in a later post after I try with this audio book.  It's a book about baseball, which I'm sure will make me happy at least.

Just kidding.  This baseball season stinks.  Oh well.  Heat, here I come!

Gossamer (what a great adjective!)

Dear world, it's past October 1st.  The deadline for my project was October 1st, and although I'm disappointed I didn't make my goal, I am trying to be understanding with myself.  It's been a rough year, all things considered, and I accomplished a number of other things in that time frame.  Although I wish I could say I read a book-a-week, the truth is other things got in the way.  I won't make excuses for the time I spent watching Jersey Shore instead of reading (everyone needs a little trashy TV from time to time) but I will say I wish I'd buckled down a little bit more.  In honor of Diana (Check out her blog about living in Dijon here!), c'est la vie.  I think that's how it's spelled.

Last night I read Gossamer.  Seriously, the whole book in one hour, but it's a kids book, so I'm not sure that's really as impressive as it might seem at first glance.  It's a Lois Lowry book for my grad class, and although I loved The Giver and Number the Stars, I was less than impressed by this book.  I felt like it was too cliched and didn't hold the same power that her earlier books have.  Nevertheless, it was cute and a fast read.  But this post isn't about the book, per say, it's about how I came to have the book in my possession.

At the start of class our professor told us not to stress about purchasing books for the semester.  Instead she encouraged borrowing and library check-outs, even suggesting going to our local book stores and sitting down with a copy of a book and reading it (scandalous, I know).  I located most of the books through libraries and friends, and the fact that my mom works in an elementary school doesn't hurt, either.  So when I needed to read Gossamer for class today, I asked my mom about it.  It was a 5th grade Reading Olympics book, so she knew it was in the school library somewhere.  Well, time passed, and the new librarian at her school was over stressed, so finding the book became more of a last minute situation.  As of 11am yesterday, I still didn't have a copy of the book. I wasn't concerned with finishing it in time (I'm a speed reader extraordinaire) but just locating a copy in time.  I didn't want to buy the book, because I knew I'd never use it again, so I turned to the library.

The Bucks County Library system now offers e-books as a check-out option, so I decided to explore that option.  After a slight difficulty figuring out how to work the electronic books section (don't tease, I was confused!) I located a copy of the book and downloaded the book to my Kindle.  Well, I didn't download it to my Kindle, I downloaded it to the computer and then had to connect my Kindle with a USB and transfer the book to the Kindle.  Then I had to change my settings so the book would show up in my reading list.  Then I proceeded to look at other options for e-books from the local library.

Then I stopped myself.  What was I doing?  In previous posts, I've espoused on my feelings toward electronic books.  Remember that trip to the DMV? (Excuse me, the MVA.  I still hate you, MVA).  Stupid Kindle.  But I was desperate and needed a copy of that book.  I honestly was planning on swinging by the library, but the closest location was almost 30 minutes away, and I needed to get to work.  So I just found it online.

How lazy are we?  Are we getting to the point where we barely have to leave the house or interact with other humans to accomplish certain tasks?  We can order clothes, medication, house-hold items, even groceries online.  We have food delivered at all hours -- depending on where you live, of course -- and now we can even check out library books online and have them electronically delivered to our e-Readers.  Where do we go from here?  What happens to the printed word?

I'm a firm believer in the longevity of real books.  Regardless of technology changes, I truly feel that books in the printed form will always have a dedicated following.  Literature brings people together in ways that other forms of media cannot.  The simplicity of e-Books has a certain draw but for those of us who love the feel of a book in our hand, a Kindle doesn't bring that same sensation.

I found a website recently called Read the Printed Word (You can find the website here) and I've become a supporter.  Even though this blog is online, I hope that it encourages people to go out and read a book the way books were meant to be read -- as a complete sensory experience.  The feel of paper, the weight of the book in our hands, the smell of the pages, the history and story behind that publication.  It's all significant.

Until I'm in a time crunch and really need to get my homework done.  I guess we all have our faults.  Reading an e-book is only one of mine.  Jersey Shore is definitely another.

Happy National Coffee Day!

This is now officially my favorite week, even though I'm antsy for October to arrive.  The view from my bedroom window is simply stunning (I tried to take a picture, but it's a little blurry because I didn't open the window) with the fall colors and the way the sun shines right after it rains.  Even better than fall?  Coffee Day!

Almost a year ago I wrote a post about how much I love curling up with a book and a cup of coffee.  I wish I could do that today, but I have class this evening (and they don't encourage coffee in the library) and my mom is off work so she's on a cleaning rampage.  I'm staying in my room for the time being working on homework and, apparently, updating my blog instead.  Perhaps I will spend some time at the local starbucks with a pumpkin spice latte before heading to the city for class, but until that time, he's a link for you.

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/221993/20110929/national-coffee-day-2011-where-to-get-free-coffee-thursday-sept-29.htm (thanks, Kara)

It lists some free places for coffee.  7-11 is probably out by now, and we don't have a Caribou around here, so I'll probably end up paying, but go celebrate!  Coffee and a banned book; what could be better??

Happy Banned Books Week!

I feel like in honor of this celebration, I should start off the entry with something controversial.  DAMN.  Now I feel like Holden Caulfield...

The last week of September is celebrated as Banned Books Week -- we in the know refer to it as BBW -- and it's not only a recognition of banned and challenged books, but also a celebration of our freedom in this country to write and read the things we choose.  Yes, there will always be people who dislike a book for some personal, political, religious, etc. reason, but as readers (and as teachers!) it is our duty to expose ourselves and others to things that push our limits.


As a firm believer in the First Amendment, I find the idea of banning books to be ridiculous.  I think a parent has a right to tell a child he/she cannot read something, but for a school board or government to decide that a book is so indecent that no one should be able to read it is ridiculous to me.  In some places it's taken to the extreme.  Teachers have been fired for assigning certain books to classes, and I even received a scathing email from a parent who was furious that I was teaching To Kill A Mockingbird to my class due to the use of the word 'nigger' throughout the book.  When I later called to explain my reasons for teaching the novel and how I approached the use of that term, she told me she'd never actually read the book, but had seen the word over her daughter's shoulder.  Interesting.

If you read further, you'll find that many accusations against books are leveled by people who have never actually read the entire book.  I've had the same problems when teaching The Catcher in the Rye.  Is the language in that book gratuitous?  Not at all!  Holden is a teenager, and if you've ever overheard a conversation between two 17 year olds, you'll realize that Holden censors himself quite a bit.  Okay, it was 1950 so the language uses aren't as extreme, but who are we to deny art that mimics real life?

Banning books goes beyond simply removing a book from a library or a curriculum. Certain authors have faced expulsion from their homes, political strife,  even death threats (most notably, Salman Rushdie, who is on my list of 52 with his novel Midnight's Children).  Banning books stifles the creativity of the author, but it also makes a society with strict limits on personal agendas.  What bothers you probably doesn't bother me.  There's a lot of sex in the book?  Then I probably read it in a Becky or Dr. Mary class in college -- if you are a reader from the English department at McDaniel, you know what I'm talking about.  Someone curses?  It questions the stability of a democratic government, questions religion, questions the history of a country?  Then that's a book I want to read.  Why would I settle for white-bread literature when I can read a novel that means something.  I don't have to agree with the view points set forth, but my god, could I possibly learn something from stepping outside of my own boundaries?

The ALA (American Library Association) has a really great website on this week, including a list of the most commonly challenged classics.  Many of the books on the list are books I read in school or assigned to teach.  Some of the books have caused teachers to be fired.  The list is below. Those in bold are books I have read or taught.  See where you stand on the list, and then I encourage you to step out of your comfort zone and read a book that clashes with your standings.

1984, by George Orwell

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess

A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles

All the King's Men, by Robert Penn Warren

An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser

Animal Farm, by George Orwell

As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner

Beloved, by Toni Morrison

Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley

Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh

Catch-22, by Joseph Heller

Cat's Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut

For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway

Go Tell It on the Mountain, by James Baldwin

Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote

Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence

Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov

Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs

Native Son, by Richard Wright

Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey

Rabbit, Run, by John Updike

Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie

Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison

Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence

Sophie's Choice, by William Styron

The Awakening, by Kate Chopin

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London

The Catcher in the Rye, by JD Salinger

The Color Purple, by Alice Walker

The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck

The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair

The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer

The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway

Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller

Ulysses, by James Joyce

Women in Love, by DH Lawrence

Going to the Library with Anthony (and other stories)

Let me just start by saying how much I love libraries.  And book stores.  I just love seeing shelves and shelves of books in any one location.  Libraries are wonderful for a variety of reasons; mainly that they are free, unless you have a bad habit of losing or forgetting to return books.  I spent at least 4 days out of the week in the library when I was in college, and even now, I love getting to campus early to sit in the library and work.  There is something really relaxing, for me, about being surrounded by books.

Libraries are great because every book has a story -- a story within a story, if you will excuse my horrible attempt at saying something erudite -- but it's true.  Each book is there for a particular reason; some have been donated, others purchased for some event or by a particular person, and the best part is each book is used.  That might seem like a strange thing for me to love, but nothing makes me smile more than opening a library book and finding someone else s receipt (I can judge them based on what other books were checked out) or seeing things left behind.  Someone else wanted to read this very same book, for whatever reason, and in that way our lives are interconnected.  I may have checked out the book because I need to read it for a class, another may love that author, another still may have enjoyed the picture on the cover, or picked it up on a recommendation, but each book has its own story.

I went to the library by boyfriend's today to check out a few things.  I plowed through Memoirs of a Geisha (really, anything after Sophie's Choice would seem like an easy task) and I was hungry for another book.  I picked up On the Road, The Naked Lunch, and Food Rules: An Eater's Guide.  And I made Anthony go with me.

Now this may not seem like a big deal.  He was off work and I didn't have to leave for class until 3:30, so we went to run errands together.  (Side Note: Do not take me into discount stores in any way shape or form when I am on a time and budget crunch.  I spent about 10 minutes in Kohl's walking around in 5 inch glitter heels trying to rationalize when and where I would need them.  They were on sale!)  The library was the first stop, and I was amazed to find that some people actually don't have library cards.  Nor do they know the way around the library.  Nor do they want to even go to the library. Nor (I know that's too many nor's) had they ever even been there.  I'm not judging; school libraries are where most students go, but to never have been to the library down the street?  I asked him if he really meant he'd never been to his library, and he replied something along the lines of "what do you mean MY library?"

Am I weird for being surprised by this?  As it turns out, most people do not love libraries to the intense degree that I love libraries.  The way I sometimes talk about MY sports teams (We played horrendously last night, I'm so glad we signed so-and-so) is the way I often talk about books, authors, and apparently libraries.

Growing up I spent my summers at the Jersey Shore, and going to the library was always a treat.  It was air conditioned, and since the house was hot as, well, hell when a west wind blew and the heat index crept up, going to pick out books was a perfect way to spend a few hours. Yes, I said a few hours.  There's just such simplicity in the way a library works.  You 'share' books, but instead of just with friends or family, you share them with an entire county or school or even state, depending on how your (there we go with possessive pronouns again!) library works.

I have class in a bit, so I'm cooling off and relaxing in the library.  I don't like it as much as McDaniel's library, which was beautiful and huge and I stayed in there after hours (I mean, the library was closed and we weren't actually supposed to be in there) several times, but it's my place.  I even have a chair I always go to, and if someone is here one afternoon, I might have to cut a bitch.  Just saying.

Back to school... Or not.

I miss teaching.  There's really no way around it right now; every time I even explain something to another person (even when it's far removed from anything English related) I realize how much I miss being in the classroom.  My subbing paper should finally be in order (stupid PA people who can't keep track of anything may have gotten something right finally) and that will hopefully lead to something.  For right now I have to be satisfied with my grad class, which does have an education focus, and explaining wine to people.  That's educational... in a way... right?

One thing that has made me smile is this blog; I post links to the blog on both of my facebook accounts, so I have a few students that read from time to time, and a few have even left comments (don't think they go unnoticed, kids).  I love when I see that my kiddos respond to a blog about books, which they spent most of the time in my classroom complaining about.  The fact that my darling Thomas (yes, you) told me he read an entire series of books (The Hunger Games) makes me even more excited to read them.  That and the very drunk girl who came into work last night (her name was Lisa, we're besties now, according to her) and talked at length about how much she loves those books even though she hates reading.  Mostly I love that a handful of my students give me book recommendations.  I had a facebook message the other day from a former student, now graduated, with a quote from a book that used one of our vocabulary words.  I responded, and we've been conversing through email about this book.  He's really into it, and I love seeing former students (really, any teenager) find and engage with a book.

My reading for class this week is two short stories, "The Cask of Amontillado" and "Young Goodman Brown," both stories I read in high school and then worked with in various ways in college classes.  Our focus is on different types of reading.  There are three for our purposes:

• Casual
• Critical
• Pedagogical

Each type of reading brings a different perspective, but my own questions have been about the value of each; does a casual reading offer the same enjoyment as a critical reading?  And if a critical reading is making outside connections, is a casual reading ever truly possible? Don't we always approach readings with our years of memories, education, and experiences?  Can we ever read something in its true form if we are always influenced by something, whatever that something may be?

Am I getting too philosophical about reading?  Probably.

Really, it's because I'm still working through my study of Post-Structuralism and what it means to be a reader of a text.  Sometimes I hate learning things like this because I get very cognitive about my reading process and find it hard to just READ.  Anyway, we're reading the two short stories looking at these three types of reading processes, and I just find myself getting so distracted by all the other things I've done with these stories.  It makes me feel pretentious because I do feel like I have an advantage when it comes to Poe; he was the focus of my senior sem, after all, and he is totally my dead literary boyfriend (I think he'd like that, since he was in to the beauty of dead women).  But all this study of criticism is clouding my perspective on things.

So here's my new experiment for the next book on my list, Memoirs of a Geisha.  I hope my students are reading this, because they'll love it.  I'm going to actively read the crap out of the book, really paying attention to my own personal process of reading.  How does the literary theory fit in, and how much of my reading is casual, critical, or -- because I can never shake being a teacher -- pedagogical?

I'll be sure to get back to you ASAP.  For now, I'm looking for more book recommendations to keep my list growing, and I'm working on my other blog project.  It should be up for the initial viewings soon, so I'll put a link up when it's ready to roll.  Back to Post-Structuralism and the damn French literary critics.  Diana and Pauline are the only Frenchies I will ever love, it seems...

September 11th,,,

I finished Sophie's Choice on Tuesday.  My library books were due back the 7th, so I plowed through the last quarter or so of the book.  And let me say, her choice? I was COMPLETELY wrong about it.  Seriously though, the book is massive and what her choice is doesn't even get revealed until almost the very end.  I understand it's a literary technique, not revealing everything up front, working on the suspense and the build-up, and I understand it parallels Sophie's own mental state, where she can't tell our narrator everything up front, but it seemed like there was so much additional pointless stuff in the novel.  I guess the one really great thing about it is that now I can finally watch the movie, which is supposed to be excellent.  Maybe the movie is short...

I'm pretty sure that book spanned almost 2 months of my life.  I will say I'm glad I didn't give up on it and made it through to the end.  I know I'm not going to meet my goal of 52 books in a year, but I will read every book on that original list, even if it kills me, like Sophie almost did.  The next book is Memoirs of a Geisha, which I started many months ago because it happened to be laying around, but I didn't want to take it on vacation (the Kindle was a much more logical choice for a cruise) so it fell by the wayside.  Now it's back!  Maybe when the 52 books are done, I should plan a movie marathon weekend/week/month and watch the film versions of these books; Dorian is recording on my DVR right now, actually, watch Sophie, and I think Memoirs of a Geisha is a movie, too... Perhaps if we get a massive snow storm like the past two winters, I can look into that.

Today is also September 11th, and it's been a decade since the historical 9/11.  That is our generations' JFK shooting, for sure.  Most people around my age remember where they were.  I was in gym class in 9th grade at Newtown JR high and I remember they wouldn't tell us what was going on, we just didn't have to get changed for gym. I was very excited about that. Most of us were, actually, because we didn't know what was happening.  Now, looking back, I think those gym teachers did us a disservice by not telling us.  They didn't think we were mature or old enough, but other teachers turned on the TVs in classrooms to watch all of it live.

Aside from my own personal family connections to that day, it's a powerful day for most Americans.  Books upon books have been written about that topic, and in an extensive google search (I put in work for my readers! Okay, I really just typed in 9/11 books and went to a few links... whatever, guys, it took extra effort) I found some decent lists.  One of my favorites, which I will now attempt to find, is actually a children's book called Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey.  It's based on true events of an out of commission fireboat that helped save people during the attacks.  The illustrations are great, and it's a good teaching tool for younger children.

I read some reviews on goodreads, and I have to say, a few parents really bothered me with their comments.  One woman complained that the book needed a warning label because it included deaths, which "can be hard to explain to those little kids."  Then she went on to say maybe she should have read the book before giving it to her son, but it was a picture book, so she shouldn't have to.

Wait, WHAT?  This woman is in for a rude awakening if she thinks all pictures books are appropriate for her young son.  Is this woman going to give her child a graphic novel and assume it's all fine and dandy?  Sheesh.  And damn right she should be reading them first!  She should really be reading them with him, since I got the impression her son was pre-school age.  Anyway, besides that idiot woman's review, every review said the book was wonderful, and I imagine if you have to teach or explain the events of 9/11 to children, this can be a good way to go about it. 

I think I'd like to add a 9/11 themed book to my list, other than the children's book.  Any suggestions?