08.04.09
Julie and Julia
Has anyone read this book, Julie and Julia by Julie Powell? I just finished reading it here, in Italy. I am on vacation and spending a good deal of time on planes, trains, buses, and in a car. This is time which I am content to spend looking out windows and watching the rolling hills of Tuscany and soaking in the various iconic and historic sites of Italy, but it is also time that I am very happy to spend reading…my nose buried in a book…my mind far, far away from Italy.
Julie and Julia was a very fun read, but it was so much more. While it certainly took me far away from the public transportation systems in Italy, it also took me a little too close to home. I felt that I related to Powell on so many levels, and because of this, I found myself analyzing aspects of my life as she shared her life with us readers. I marvelled at her project and wished that I had thought of such a thing. I cheered for her through the book, and as the book ended, I found myself wanting to cheer for me too. But, I don’t have a project like Powell. I actually don’t know where to begin.
My blog was started about a year ago. In Julie and Julia, Powell writes about her own blog…which of course was the vehicle and catalyst that led to pretty much everything else that unfolded for her afterwards. Thinking about her blog (and how she was a little compulsive about checking for responses from her “bleaders”), I decided to check my own. And, would you know, that very day there was a new comment from a reader??? I had not posted anything on this blog since January, but as coincidences have it, there was a comment the same day that I contemplated working on it again. I took it as a sign.
Now, I am determined to come up with a project. Maybe it has to do with Italy, maybe Powell and her book, and maybe it is all a coincidence. But, I am determined.
Melissa 
ps…has anyone seen the movie?
01.28.09
Readers and Writers Networking Sites…
In this constant struggle of mine to find (make) time for reading, writing, and discussion, I have joined a few sites online. (As well as two book clubs which is a whole other story!) I am not sure if these sites will help me find more time or less, but I guess that only time will tell!
Reading:
GoodReads - www.goodreads.com (keep track of the books you read, suggest books for others)
Writing:
New Jersey Writer’s Society - www.njwriters.org (local writer’s groups, online discussions)
Anyone have any other sites that they would like to share for reading or writing?
~Melissa
12.08.08
On a blustery, cold night
There’s really nothing quite like a good book, a warm blanket, and a hot cup of tea on a blustery, cold night. (Knowing that I don’t have to get up for work tomorrow is nice too!)
Wishing you all a relaxing evening.
~Melissa
10.01.08
There’s a storm…
There’s a storm approaching the New York area. I think the news said that it would hit New York City around 5pm and it seems to be right on schedule. I can hear the thunder rumbling every so often and the sky has gotten dark pretty quickly in the last half an hour or so. I love this kind of weather (always have) and really wish that I could be sitting in my window seat, not a care in the world, drinking a cup of tea and reading the new Nicholas Sparks novel, or writing a story of my own.
Instead, I have to read and take notes on a chapter about the Articles of Confederation for my social studies class tomorrow. I also have a ton of thesis work to get done tonight. Oh, and I have summer reading projects to grade. (Speaking of which – if you visit my classroom blog missmorrisblog.wordpress.com there are some student posts that would love to receive comments!) There’s just a lot to do.
I can hear the rain now; it’s bouncing off the hoods of the cars below my window. It’s steady and I think that if I sit here any longer I’m likely to fall asleep!
I hope that those of you in the New York area can enjoy this little storm that we are having and if you are in other areas, that the weather is to your liking as well.
~Melissa
There’s the thunder again.
08.30.08
New book by Nicholas Sparks
I have been a huge fan of Nicholas Sparks since his first book, The Notebook, was out in paperback. It was funny how I learned about the book because I was actually given a free copy from a book vendor who sold books to pharmacies. (I think that I also got a reference book about vitamins, a book of baby names, and a book about diabetes that day.) I was still in college and learning to write and enjoy writing much more than I ever had before at this time. I was learning how to tell stories and relished in reading a book by a good story teller. I read The Notebook out on a hammock in my parents’ backyard one summer afternoon. It was a glorious and memorable experience because Nicholas Sparks is a wonderful story teller. I smiled and cried through the book.
I think that most of the people I know who consider themselves fans of Nicholas Sparks feel the same way or have a similar story. We have some kind of a sense of “ownership” about him and feel like we each have a unique connection with him that no one else understands. (It is the strangest thing, but I have gotten in near-arguments with friends over his books.)
For me, any time that I wanted to relive that experience of The Notebook, I looked for a new book by Nicholas Sparks. Ironically enough, each time I checked the bookstore or the website, there was a new book about to be released. It was like some kind of synergy and was always a very cool feeling to know that there was another book whenever I needed one. Well, a few months ago I was having a particularly rough time with some things and hoped that there might be a new book coming out soon to cheer me up. I checked the website, but there was nothing posted about a new book. I was disappointed and re-read a little from one of the older books, but it just wasn’t the same as knowing there would be a new story.
Then, due to the wonderful world of blogging, I learned that there is actually a new book coming out this September. I can’t wait to get it and will probably pre-order it soon. I have all of Nicholas Sparks’ books in hardcover now, even The Notebook. (I lost the free paperback copy when I lent it to friends and had to replace it with a hardcover to complete the collection.)
I’m looking forward to the book, The Lucky One, and hope you will check it out too.
~Melissa
PS…Nicholas Sparks has a website with information about all of his books, plus some helpful thoughts and advice on writing. www.nicholassparks.com
Stargirl
Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
I promised a review of this book in my recent reading post, and here it is.
I loved this book very much. I have to say that right away. I had heard about it for a while and knew that Jerry Spinelli was a good writer, but never really thought that I would be interested in the story. Maybe because the only other people I knew who did read it were very reluctant and struggling readers in middle school! I was evidently wrong because I read the book in one sitting (this was back when I could lounge by the pool for the afternoon) and couldn’t put it down. It was one of those books that I was sad to see end. (The good news is that there is a sequel.)
So, enough about me, let me actually tell you about the book. In this novel by Jerry Spinelli, we meet Leo, a 16 year old high school junior. He had been a transfer student to the school, but made friends and fit in nicely at the start of the book. A new student, Stargirl, comes to Leo’s high school and she is unlike anyone that the rest of the school has seen before. The other students are uncertain of her, then they are enamored and inspired by her, and then she is ostracised. Through all of this, Leo develops a special place in his heart for Stargirl. As she becomes a part of his life, and he learns to live and love the way she does (doing such unusual things as playing the ukelale and singing “Happy Birthday” to people she doesn’t know, having a pet rat, and keeping fresh flowers on her desk in school), and he struggles with issues of conformity and popularity.
I felt a certain connection with the character Stargirl as I read the story and imagine that anyone who has ever truly cared for someone else, or put someone else’s happiness before their own will connect with her as well. She is a free spirit, and is her own person. She finds joy in making others happy and expects nothing in return from them. However, she also wants to be happy herself (how can anyone blame her?), and when the pressures of being new to the high school, the reality of being different from everyone else, and her feelings for Leo become too much for her, everything changes and comes crashing down.
I won’t give away too much more about the book because it is a wonderful story. I think that the story of Stargirl is ultimately an inspiring and uplifting one. I hope that reading this book will help open the eyes and the minds of people who might become so consumed by their own personal issues that they do not know how to be compassionate for others. Stargirl’s example of selflessness and caring is one that I think we should all follow…in our own special way.
~Melissa
Title: Stargirl
Author: Jerry Spinelli
Publisher/Date: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2000
ISBN: 0-679-88637-0
08.25.08
Recent reading – August
Even though much of what I tried to read this month was reading-for-fun, August always means that school is not too far away, and so there were several must-read-before-September-gets-here additions to this recent reading list. (Any teachers, middle schoolers, or parents of middle schoolers reading the list may particularly appreciate these titles and recognize them right away!)
I have to say, yet again, that I “got something” out of everything that I read. Maybe I really am a pushover for a couple hundred bound pages I’ve never read before, or I’m just an eternal optimist and a believer that there is always something to learn and something to be gained from any situation – including, and especially, reading a book.
As September begins and it is time for school again, my reading will now primarily consist of my students’ papers (which I honestly can’t wait to read!) and scholarly articles for my thesis. As much as I do not want to see the summer end, at least the leaves will be changing soon, there will be plenty of pumpkin pie and apple cider, the Rutgers football season will begin, and we can start wearing comfy sweaters again.
That all being said, I present to you my August reading list. Some of these were actually recommended to me, so thank you to Anne and Marie!
Please post a comment if you have read any of these titles, would like to read them, or have some other great titles of your own to share!
~Melissa
August 2008 Reading
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (Haunting at first, but by the end of the book you don’t want it to end.)
A Cup of Tea, Amy Ephron (Good period piece…great idea of what life was like in the early 1900s.)
Chasing Harry Winston, Lauren Weisberger (Hysterical! I hope there is a sequel and/or they make this a movie.)
Absolutely Normal Chaos, Sharon Creech (If you read Walk Two Moons, you should read this!)
Mini-Lessons for Literature Circles, Harvey Daniels and Nancy Steineke (So many great ideas!)
He’s Just Not That Into You, Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (I can’t wait for the movie this fall.)
The Essential 55, Ron Clark (Great tips for new teachers or any teacher facing obstacles in the classroom.)
Stargirl, Jerry Spinelli (I love this book! – will have a separate review soon.)
Swallowing Stones, Joyce McDonald (Good, but it was very sad. The characters were well developed and very realistic.)
Still In Progress:
On Writing Well, William Zinsser
Category 7, Bill Evans with Marianna Jameson
08.04.08
Recent reading – July
I thought I would share some of the books that I have read recently. I was very busy until the end of July with graduate classes, but as soon as they were finished, I found time to read for fun again. Please let me know if you have read any of these books, what you thought of them, or if you plan to read them in the future. I do recommend all of them. ~Melissa
A Dog About Town, J. F. Englert
Light on Snow, Anita Shreve
The Ladies’ No. 1 Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
The Last Lecture, Randy Pausch with Jeffrey Zaslow
Elements of Style, William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
Cards on the Table, Agatha Christie
07.28.08
Read Often!
When I’ve asked for advice on how to become a better writer, and searched for tips to teach my own students, the one thing that comes up all the time is that writers need to read, and read often!
To some extent what we read isn’t really as important as how much. We should simply be reading all of the time. Many people who enjoy writing and are constantly trying to improve their craft are also avid readers. The two things go hand in hand. Exposing ourselves to language through books (or essays, short stories, articles, etc.) is a great way to develop our own vocabulary and determine which writing styles we like best, which ones match our own, or which ones we may want to try to emulate. Reading can also help spark new ideas for settings, characters, plots, or research. For those of you who suffer and get “stuck” from writer’s block, reading is a great way to get “unstuck.”
I say that what we read isn’t always the most important thing because we should read a variety of things, for a variety of reasons. Two main reasons that we read are to learn and to be entertained. An article or book that teaches us something important may or may not be entertaining to us, just as something that we find entertaining may not teach us very much. We have to read a variety of things so that we are continuously extracting new knowledge, ideas, vocabulary, and techniques from what we read so we can apply them to our own writing.
Now, what we read does matter if we are trying to develop a certain area of writing. If, for example, you are trying to write a mystery novel, then grab and read every mystery novel you can find! Read them and decide what works and what doesn’t work. How do the successful authors develop the setting and the plot? What makes the book suspenseful, and so on. If you want to write poetry, read poetry. If you want to write non-fiction, read non-fiction. If you are trying to develop your characterization, then read stories from authors who have developed great characters.
Read something every single day and reflect on it. Ask yourself if you can somehow use something that you read in what you want to write.
Happy reading!
~Melissa :)
