40-43: Thank Goodness for Book Clubs

With the onset of another school year starting, I see a trend...I read for book clubs and not for personal selection as time becomes just too full when August approaches...and ends.

Books 1, 2, and 4 were all read for three book clubs...and selection 3 was one I had been reading for some time during the mornings during my Quiet Time.

1. Fourth Down and Inches:  Concussions and Footballs Make-or-Break Moment by Carla McClafferty
2. Already Home by Susan Mallery
3. The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Curtis Higgs
4. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

All of these, I  definitely recommend...all, though, a different genre.

1. Fourth Down and Inches:  Concussions and Footballs Make-or-Break Moment by Carla McClafferty - This one is a nonfiction that I read with other teachers across the state as the author joined us for the Arkansas Reading Association Book Club.  This one was a bit scary with the facts that surround football...which my students so enjoy and look forward to each week.
2. Already Home by Susan Mallery - This one was just a light read for the Paper Chase Book Club (local book store)...where we meet once a month.  I just so enjoy meeting with them, unwinding, listening, commenting.  Good times.
3. The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Curtis Higgs - To celebrate 25 years of writing, author Liz Curtis Higgs is leading an online discussion and chat about one of her books each month.  This one took me a while to complete as I read several pages a morning (as I had time) during my Quiet Time.  A Bible study of the book of Ruth...I loved it!  So good.
4. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black - A young adult novel, the first in a trilogy, this one goes to the land of fairies and such.  Very interesting.   I will definitely recommend this one next week to my students who will very much enjoy this series.  Now to check out and read the second one!

This past Tuesday, our faculty book club met.  While there, one of my peers said that after reading The Handmaid's Tale, she had not read another book, that it turned her off reading.  What?!  

That saddened me.  One, I would never want a book we read in book club to turn someone off reading!  That just defeats the purpose!  Two, she is an avid reader...and she needs to be reading so she may recommend books to her students, also.

I immediately began book talking books...especially The Cruel Prince...and our next read The Chemist by Stephanie Meyer to her!  I am a reader on a mission!  Definitely!

On Monday evening, the ARA Book Club begins a discussion of Penny Kittle's and Kelly Gallagher's new 180 Days.  Now...to finish chapters 1-2 and write the discussion questions!  Much to do in the land of reading!

What are you reading good?

Summer Reads 2018..So Far!

Don't you just love summer...for the additional time this season brings to read more books?

So far, over this summer break, I have read the following:

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Sleepers by Darcy Pattison
3. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
4. A List of Cages by Robin Roe (AR Teen Read)
5. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance
6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson
7. Submerged by Dani Pettrey (checked out from Ind County Library!)
8. Shattered by Dani Pettrey
9. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
10. Silenced by Dani Pettrey
11. Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey
12. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)
13. Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh (Kindle) - July
14. Take Off by Joseph Reid (Kindle) - July
15. Still Waters by Viveca Sten (Kindle) - July

Nine of these were for books clubs (should have read more!  But...I over committed myself, and I am okay with that.  Those others will sit...and wait...on me to pick them up.  :)

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood - BHS Reads Faculty Book Club - So interesting. And a bit scary, for I kept thinking...could this really happen?
2. Sleepers by Darcy Pattison - Arkansas Reading Association Book Club
3. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao - Talks with Teachers Book Club
4. A List of Cages by Robin Roe - AR Teen Read
5. Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance - The Paper Chase Book Club
6. Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson - Book Love Book Club
7. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork - AR Teen Read

Once I began this series for Women's Bible Cafe Book Club, I could not stop!  AND...I am so excited to say that I checked out all these books from the local library.  Go, me!  (I have such an addiction to books...one from which I see no hope of recovery.  None.)

1. Submerged by Dani Pettrey  - I so love beginning a series that is already complete...and reading right through to the end.  Fun!
2. Shattered by Dani Pettrey
3. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
4. Silenced by Dani Pettrey
5. Sabotaged by Dani Pettrey

Two I read for the Arkansas Teen Award...am a bit behind as I had commited to read eight of these books this summer!

1. A List of Cages by Robin Roe (AR Teen Read)
2. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)
3. The Hate U Give...just started this one a few minutes ago...:)

Please feel the excitement!  During my recent 12 days on the road and eight airplane flights, I read three Kindle books!  That's right...right there on my phone.  I have always said that I like the paper...the real...books better, but....but...I did enjoy diving into these books and not having to carry the books around.  Hummm...

1. Glimmer of Hope by Steve McHugh (Kindle) - July
2. Take Off by Joseph Reid (Kindle) - July
3. Still Waters by Viveca Sten (Kindle) - July

Not intentional, not by design...four book dealt with human/sex trafficking.  This stirs many emotions within me, none of which are pleasant.  I do appreciate these three for ever increasing that awareness.

1. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
2. Girls Burn Brighter by Shobha Rao
3. Stranded by Dani Pettrey
4. Disappeared by Francisco X. Stork (AR Teen Read)

Quite the variety this summer!  I recommend all.

I still say the beauty of books clubs is that I read books outside of my reading box...and that is a good thing.

So good news!  Summer is not over!  Much reading still remains (although school approaches quickly with five days of in-service before our start date on August 15...with much to do before we begin again.)  Yes, what I am attempting to parlay...time to read may be limited over the next few weeks...uh, oh!

Happy reading!  What has been your favorite (or not favorite) read this summer?

23: Bread of Angels

Tessa Asfar has done it again!  Through these pages, one journeys back..all the way back to New Testament times, to re-meet through the genre of historical fiction the lovely Lydia, the maker of purple. 

My third Afshar read, I continue to be amazed at the Biblical connections, the adherence to history, and the characters who come alive in my head...and heart.   For these reasons, I now know to clear my calendar for the hours I will need to devote to the immersion into the culture of the times and characters. Always a great journey!

In Bread of Angels, Lydia endures much as she fulfills her destiny as the first documented Christian convert.  Wow!  And what an example she is!  Learning from her mistakes, the reader witnesses the maturation and leadership of one who lived, learned, and learned on the pages of the Bible...and in Afshar’s novel. 

Afshar enlivens this novel even more as she introduces Paul, Silas, and Luke...and others, embedding the prison scene that involved an earthquake. Remember that one?  I enjoyed the shaking!  Well written this scene is. 

As a testament to how much I enjoyed this and the other Afshar novels, my selection for my local book club will be Bread of Angels.  I look forward to the discussion!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ = 5 Stars!

Enjoy!  Happy reading!

22: Thief of Corinth

Tessa Afshar, award-winning author of Harvest of Gold and Pearl in the Sand, does it again:  she captures a Biblical narrative and paints the details of these people's lives onto the pages for the readers to get to know, creating a masterpiece, humanizing those mentioned within the chapters of the books of the Bible.

In the Thief of Corinth, Afshar introduces fictional characters Ariadne and her father Galenos, who in some ways takes on the theme of Robin Hood, as Ariadne soon learns, after coming to live with her father, that he is the Honorable Thief of Corinth.  Quickly, she becomes involved in his adventures, soon meeting Paul and continuing to struggle with the decisions being made and her increasing knowledge of the message Paul shares, who message assists in bringing healing to the torn relations among the family members, including foster brother Theo and biological brother Dionysus.

A stand-alone and one that requires little Biblical background, this novel keeps the read engaged with vivid details and descriptions as the culture and setting are experienced firsthand through the lens of Ariadne, who also trains much for a race in which she will enter, resulting in more than one raised eyebrow.

What a grand journey to travel back into time and learn more about first century Corinth, so, yes, plan some time to dive into this one, for reading cover to cover quickly becomes the goal as adventure, danger, travel, and mystery all wrap around the characters.

21: The Forgotten Road

Review coming soon!

20: Dead in the Shadow of Doubt

Such a fun read...for two reasons (and more)...this one was written by my creative writing teacher in college...and the setting is our hometown (renamed...to protect?...!)

More review coming...

How Challenging Should a Good Challenge Be?

This year, I have challenged myself to average reading one book a week.

As of now, I have read 18 books; therefore, I am one book short of my goal thus far.

But...my goal, too, was to read an average of one book EACH week.  That I have not been able to accomplish for a couple of reasons:  busy schedule and too much time spent on my phone(!)...I actually do read much on my phone, but this is just not the same as picking up one of my books!

Back to my question:  how challenging should a good challenge be?

The answer:  any challenge that encourages us/anyone/me to read is a good challenge.  Right?  Absolutely!

I take this same approach with my students:  better to read a little than to read not at all, for, hopefully, a little will become more which adds up to completing a book!  Success!

BUT...challenges do encourage me, motivate me to read more that I would have.  Just as creating my reading lists here encourages me to read more. 

May I encourage YOU to keep a list of what you read, week by week, month by month?  Amazingly, this time passes and quickly adds up to  year!  Then, the years roll by, and you have all kinds of data about your own...probably changing...reading habits.  Pick up a notebook, create a blog, add the titles to a calendar.  For you, as this has been for me, will become a challenge that is just right for you!

Start now, today, this week.  Just start!  Challenge yourself!   Good luck!