summer reading

Let’s Talk about Books, Baby

Warning. Super nerdy post ahead. I have spent the last several days combing the annals of the Internet in the land of Children’s Literature, which has sent me into several rabbit holes of memories the way only books can do. I’ve spared you the walk down memory lane, but I did compile my annual summer reading list of kids books. And I’m totally game to share this list with you.

John and I used to be ridiculously committed to reading to Eliott and Carter, every single night before bed. When I say “committed” I mean we never didn’t do it. I realize now that the single largest contributing factor to our zeal at the time was the fact that we did not own a TV. But I would also submit that because I was a working mom until Carter was a year old, we also lacked toys and time together. There was just something easy and sweet about snuggling up every night together with some books.

Current Reality

Fast forward a little less than a decade, subtract a salary-paying job, add a couple more kids, school, literacy, actual homework, activities, friends, sports, and the rest of life, and suddenly, the sweetness of book snuggles has been traded for the success of eating dinner together as a family. And by the time dinner is on the table, Netflix is looking a heck of a lot snugglier than a book and my actual eyes and mouth still working after a day spent with kids.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m still a huge reader and my kids are too. All four of them. I’m not lying nor exaggerating when I tell you that several times during an average week my kids are banished to the couch to read books and they actually do it. Even the youngest do it, and they don’t know how to read yet, which makes me think all hope is not lost. I’m mildly ashamed to admit that right now, we don’t read to our kids nearly as often as we could.

Twaddle

The truth is, there is a lot of noise out there when it comes to children’s literature. Like. An inordinate amount of noise. One early educator, Charlotte Mason, labeled such noise “twaddle” and for obvious reasons, I’m letting the word stick. If you are a mom and fancy yourself a reader, you know this. You also know that the TV perpetuates the biggest bulk of the crap out there. And of course that is the first thing my children want to grab when we are at the library. Spiderman easy readers (twaddle), My Little Pony & Barbie (twaddle), and, Disney anything. All of it twaddle.

But this isn’t just true for the little ones and the plethora of picture books out there. This is true for my elementary readers as well. Eliott has read the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series at least three times and please don’t get me started on Judy Moody. Just for the record, I do not completely hate these books or others like them. Generally speaking, I’m pretty much game to let my kids read anything that interests them. Of all people I understand the meaning of reading for pleasure.

But this shouldn’t be the only thing my kids are consuming. And–and this is huge–these are not the kind of books I enjoy reading with them. Last summer we were visiting my parents in Tennessee and one of the kids grabbed my mother’s old copy of Winnie the Pooh and asked me to read it. It was fantastic. I mean, fantastic in that juicy way where you just know you are digesting something worth consuming. Even Isaiah, at four years old, giggled through the entire thing. I want more of this in my life, and the lives of my kids.

I daresay, we need more of this in our lives. But where to start?

Books Worth Reading

Next year, three out of our four kids will be attending a Charlotte Mason school. Because of this, I’ve recently reread For the Children’s Sake, a book I first read in a college education class. At its core, the Charlotte Mason approach is a classical education focusing on age-appropriate liberal arts with a heavy emphasis in literature. Among many of her educational theories with which I wholeheartedly agree, a driving principle is that children must read what she calls “living books.” These would be the opposite of twaddle.

I love it. And I’m all in.

So this summer, I’ve done my homework, and we are reading again. Together. As a family. Good books. Worthwhile books. I’ve scoured Goodreads, Barnes and Noble lists, and a plethora of homeschool blogs. I’ve compiled titles I remember, with others that showed up time and again, with others that I know nothing about. I actually started with all the Newbery winners from 2017 down through the dawn of the Newbery award, and I do believe any author on that list can be trusted to be worthwhile.

The Ultimate Summer Reading List for Kids

Essentially, this is a list of books that will pull us out of the cycle of so-so books. These are books every kid should read. Books that I read as a kid and loved. Chapter books and picture books. Classics and modern books.

Quick note: the list is extensive and I by no means plan to read every single one of these books aloud to my kids. For me, it is a guide. A goal? Maybe a challenge. But I also want to encourage my big kid readers to tackle many of these on their own.

Note two: many of these titles are the first of a series, others I listed as the common title for the series. I apologize there isn’t a lot of uniformity. I mostly went with what I know. Also, I am positive there are many many many great books that didn’t make the list. It is a work in progress. But I promise you, it is also too much to tackle in one summer.

You know I made a printable list with check boxes. And I’m sharing. No strings attached. As a thank you, I’d sure appreciate a comment below about some of the books you loved as a kid, or love reading now to your kids.

Enjoy!

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Books, College, Things I Said, Writing

Summer Reading: Tips for High School Students

You might remember that once upon a time I was a high school English teacher. And a damn good one at that.

I just ran across something I posted to Facebook five years ago (also the final year I was paid to stand in front of a classroom). It was a note to my students of my thoughts on the list their school (not me) sent for summer reading choices.

Look at me, still using the public library like it's my job. — Look at me, still using the public library like it’s my job.

I got a chuckle out of it today and I think it is worth reposting here. Feel free to pass this nugget along to any high school student you know who still hasn’t thought about that summer reading assignment due August 24th, especially if that assignment came with a list of classics to choose from.

* * * * *

Ok. Enough of you have written looking for my summer reading suggestions – so here are my PERSONAL thoughts. These are by no means endorsed by anyone but me. My final word is read whatever you want, but read the actual book. Don’t just read a Google summary.

I have not read (or even heard of) all the authors on your list, but it should be noted these are not ALL classics (yay) and many of these authors are still alive (hooray). Not that I don’t support the classics (hell-o, I’m an English teacher.) However, I believe classics are best studied in a group, not read independently – as it is difficult to know exactly what is so great about them without the aid of someone smarter than you telling you what to look for. If you wish to tackle the classics, you are awesome but I encourage you to read one with a friend and discuss together. Just don’t get burned-out and cease to love reading because classics are dense and difficult.

Anyway, I’ll do my best to comment on those I know personally, those I recognize, and those which are popular enough that I should probably get to know them.

Three lists:

#1: Probably worth your time:
– Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street is pretty good. Short, easy read and good.)
– Toni Morrison (One of Oprah’s heroes, hah – she writes “out of oppression” type stuff, but she’s generally considered good.)
– Alice Walker (The Color Purple is fabulous and also easy to read. Deals with some tough subjects ie: rape and black oppression, but I think I read it in 8th grade so you can handle it. There’s a copy in my old classroom.)
– Willa Cather (I love O Pioneers, if you are into Little House on the Prairie her stuff is is similar.)
– Cormac McCarthy (The Road is currently on my to-read list. We’ll see. His stuff is often made into movies. I think he’s a little dark and somewhat heavy. Probably a good one for guys. But he has several books published that have all been fairly popular – and I figure, if the general public is reading it and liking it, it can’t be too hard to understand. Come on. Not everyone went to private school.)
– Ian McEwan (similar popularity to McCarthy – also lots of books made into movies – though I’ve never read him my sister loved Atonement and she and I might as well be intellectual twins.)
– Jane Austen (She isn’t as obvious as Nicholas Sparks, but her romance is as endearing, if you can get through the Elizabethan Language. You might try her now, and come back to her in college, because you’ll love her more with experience. Trust me.)
– Flannery O’Connor (I loved Moll Flanders the movie. The book is probably good.)

#2: LONG and DIFFICULT (and worth considering in college because) I loved them anyway:
– Dostoevsky (on a HS reading list this is nuts… he’s Russian and the translation of his books makes all the difference in the world on readability, but even then he’s a toughy. Crime and Punishment GOOD; The Brothers Karamazov. GOOD. The Idiot. GOOD. He is fabulous when you are ready to tackle him.)
– Richard Wright (well, Black Boy is easy to read, and good. The rest of his stuff is a little racy and again, probably better in college. I will say this – Native Son involves a man killing a woman and cutting her up and putting her in a furnace and I had to read it for three different college classes, if that entices anyone.)
– Dickens (better studied with others, but again, I love him)
– Melville (Moby Dick is LONG and much of it takes place at sea, which, ulgh… not for me, but I really liked Billy Budd in college.)

#3: Shorter does not necessarily equal better (in short, snoozes) (no pun intended but don’t I rule?):
– Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness. Painfully short.)
– Hemingway (he’s a hit or miss with me, and usually a miss – personally. Old Man and the Sea? 100 pages? You might never finish it. No I’m serious. It’s another fishing book. Shoot me.)

Anyway, feel free to let me know what you pick. I’m always interested to hear what you are reading.

LOVE YOU ALL,

Mrs. Wait

Books

Summer Reading 2014

I had high hopes this summer for my newly-literate 7 year old, and all the summer reading rewards programs she’d be accomplishing.

It isn’t that she’s not reading.

I’m just not keeping track with all of it. And I’ve sort of stopped caring. The truth is, for everything I complain about when it comes to Eliott, I should probably consider myself pretty lucky that she enjoys school, works independently, and with the exception of handwriting, is probably above average on the relative intelligence scale. I hope she hasn’t spoiled me so much that when it comes to her siblings and homework, I have no will to fight. (Oh please oh please oh please, let me have given birth to only dorky little teacher’s pets like myself.)

Meanwhile, I’ve also taken this summer to check off a few books that have long been on my to-read list. For me, summer reading is mostly about entertainment. Obviously I don’t want to do much thinking, and I also want to feel a sense of accomplishment. More often than not, this means creating a list of library holds on the books that popular movies have come from. And, more often than not, most of these books include the kind of young-adult fiction that carry undercurrents of mind-numbing teenage romance to what might otherwise be perfectly acceptable story lines.

Okay, I admit it. The romance helps.

Book #1: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky

This book was a little weird, but definitely held my interest. Honestly, I think if I had read it in high school or college I would have felt like I was secretly holding the key to the world in my naive and sheltered little hands. Subjects ranged from popular music, to whiskey, to drugs, and sexual orientation, and because it was all told through the first person perspective of a socially awkward (and way too good with words for his age) narrator, it definitely had a tone of pseudo-intelligence.

A few of my former students chimed in when I posted it on Instagram raging about this books “greatness” and how it changed their lives (and continues to). And I can see where that might be true if I were also still a virgin.

I give this one a my classic “entertaining” stamp. It wasn’t a waste of time, but it certainly didn’t change my life.

Book #2: Running with Scissors, by Augusten Burroughs

I’ve picked up and attempted to read the book more than once, but this time I finally got into it and through it. It took about three days. It was a quick read, and so completely strange, I couldn’t put it down. When I say strange, I actually mean straight twisted. Half of me was thinking, “There’s no way this is true,” while the other half argued with, “There’s no way someone could make this up.”

It was a lot like picking a mildly painful scab. I continued reading, knowing that it wasn’t really going to get better, but not being able to stop. And to be honest, I didn’t hate it. It is a memoir, and I didn’t hate the author/main character. In fact, as easy as it should have been to hate some of the characters, I liked all of them.

It is difficult to recommend this book, however, because it goes down some dark roads and some takes some seriously sexually explicit turns. To recommend this book is a risk in offending someone or opening myself up to a series of judgmental questions. So whatever. Read it if you want to. Just don’t make a personal character judgement on me after you read it if you hate it.

Personally, I liked it.

Book #3: Divergent, by Veronica Roth

Oh man. This one is hard to review. I want to say I liked it. The beginning definitely sucked me in and most of it held my captive interest. It was certainly a new idea (very much in the same vein as The Hunger Games, obviously) and one that was different enough to make me think.

But I just didn’t love the characters. And when I don’t love the narrator, it is hard to say I love the story. And parts of it were tedious and bothersome, though because I’ve been away from a classroom for going on four years, I can’t state specifically how. I think the climax resulting from a conflict not even introduced until the final third of the book might be one place to start. And then, just a ton of rabbit holes for characters who ultimately end up not even making it until the end of the book. Why suck me in to a potential story line only to kill it a few chapters later?

Again. “Entertaining.” Not life changing. I’m a little annoyed that it is an entire trilogy because I certainly don’t have high hopes for the next two getting better as time goes on. This author gives me the sense that the bang! idea she started with was pretty much all she had in her. But I do desperately want to see the movie (and actually think it might be better than the book).

Book #4: Let’s Pretend This Never Happened, by Jenny Lawson

Yes. Let’s.

Oh Lord. I got through about twenty pages of this book and I just had to be done. I had forgotten why/when I put it on my list. It is written by a blogger who calls herself “The Bloggess” and though I don’t actually follow her regularly, I’m guessing there must have been a time when I was finding one or two of her posts relatively entertaining and funny.

To me, this book was like having a person in the room at a gathering who will. not. shut. up. That person who is generally making very little sense, except to assert the obvious desire that everyone be listening to her all the time, no matter what drivel is coming out of her mouth, and no one has the ability nor the courage to cut her off so everyone just sort of shudders every time she interrupts the conversation again. (I actually consciously try to make sure I’m not this girl anymore. I fear there was probably a time when I was.) The book even reads like she was aware she’d be losing her audience and so, mid-sentence or mid-paragraph, she actually types the kind of conversational insecurity that is so common to teenagers and older women who I try to avoid.

Just. Too high on the word count, and way too low on the intelligence/entertainment scale. I rarely put books down that I know I will never pick up again. This is one of those books. Sorry Jenny. I really did want to support you and promote you, but I just can’t. (Oh, and fire your editor.)

Book #5: The Shack, by William P. Young

This is the current choice for my church women’s group summer reading. We very often do book studies. I very often reluctantly plug through them, and try very hard to have something positive to say during the discussion that I admittedly only attended for the fellowship and the food.

I’m not actually finished reading this book and I’m wondering if I will make it through. It isn’t a terrible book. It really isn’t. It is just terrible for me.

First, I hate allegories. I’m not sure if there is such a thing as a non-Christian allegory (I’ve never read one), but I especially hate Christian allegories. I mean, the very purpose of an allegory from what I recall of 9th grade English (as a student not a teacher – I’d never teach an allegory) is to put a complex or an abstract subject into a tangible and visible form so that it is easier to understand. I guess maybe my problem is that I don’t, and never really have, struggled with the ambiguities of the Christian faith, the unanswered questions about God, or the ability to just accept something for what it is without molding it into a play-doh shape that I can display on my window sill.

I’m okay with going through life asking the difficult questions and never fully answering them.

Apparently, from the looks of the best-seller list, I’m a minority in this thinking. C’est la vie. I’ll chug through it and I’ll keep an open-mind during discussions. After all, I do so enjoy the company and the dessert.

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Books, Confessions, Eliott

I had high hopes this summer for my newly-literate 7 year old, and all the summer reading rewards programs she’d be accomplishing.

It isn’t that she’s not reading.

Okay, I admit it. The romance helps.

Book #1:

I give this one a my classic “entertaining” stamp. It wasn’t a waste of time, but it certainly didn’t change my life.

Book #2:

I saw this movie several years ago. I remember nothing about it, except the scene where Augusten and Natalie decide to bust a sky-light into the kitchen ceiling. I think maybe that was the only similarity between the movie and the book.

Personally, I liked it.

Book #3:

Book #4: