The key to the treasure
I have found the key to the treasure . . . (more . . .)
Tags: self-indulgence, trivia | Filed in Rambling, Reading
Posted by Sandra on June 10, 2008 | No comments
What Kids Are Reading
The Renaissance Learning report from the Washington Post gives the results below. I am sadly out of touch with today’s youth and have read very few of these popular. Nancy Drew, Judy Bolton, Hardy Boys, Black Stallion, My Friend Flicka — those musty old books I read.
YES — I read it.
NO — I haven’t read it.
MAYBE — I don’t remember.
First grade
- Green Eggs and Ham, Dr. Seuss YES
- The Foot Book, Dr. Seuss NO
- Are You My Mother? P.D. Eastman MAYBE
- Hop on Pop, Dr. Seuss YES
- Biscuit, Alyssa Capucilli NO
Second grade
- If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, Laura Numeroff YES
- Green Eggs and Ham YES
- The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle NO
- If You Give a Moose a Muffin, Numeroff NO
- If You Give a Pig a Pancake, Numeroff NO
Third grade
- Charlotte’s Web, E.B. White YES
- Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Judi Barrett NO
- Officer Buckle and Gloria, Peggy Rathmann NO
- The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs, Jon Scieszka NO
- Dogzilla, Dav Pilkey NO, but it sounds like a fun book.
Fourth grade
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing, Judy Blume NO, not even one of her books, although I’ve heard great things about them.
- Sarah, Plain and Tall, Patricia MacLachlan NO
- Because of Winn-Dixie, Kate DiCamillo NO
- Charlotte’s Web
- Stone Fox, John Gardiner NO
Fifth grade
- Bridge to Terabithia, Katherine Paterson NO
- Hatchet, Gary Paulsen NO
- Holes, Louis Sachar NO
- The Sign of the Beaver, Elizabeth Speare NO
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, J.K. Rowling YES
Sixth grade
- Hatchet
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Holes
- Number the Stars, Lois Lowry NO
- The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket NO
Seventh grade
- The Outsiders, S.E. Hinton YES
- Holes
- The Giver, Lowry NO
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Rowling MAYBE
Eighth grade
- The Outsiders
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- The Giver
- Holes
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Rowling NO
Ninth-12th grade
- To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee YES
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck NO
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
- *A Child Called ‘It,’ * Dave Pelzer NO
Tags: books read, self-indulgence | Filed in Reading
Posted by Sandra on May 11, 2008 | Comments closed
What authors reveal
I’m reading a book right now that is just plain embarrassing. I feel like I’m intruding in the author’s head, and I don’t like what I find there.
Wedded to convention, unable to see their own bigotry, small.
The writer who can’t distinguish truth from a peanut-butter sandwich can never write good fiction. What he affirms we deny, throwing away his book in indignation; or if he affirms nothing, not even our oneness in sad or comic helplessness, and insists that he’s perfectly right to do so, we confute him by closing his books. (John Gardner, The Art of Fiction)
Tags: what not to do, words | Filed in Reading, Writing
Posted by Sandra on May 10, 2008 | Comments closed
Grace notes
. . . the road meandered along hills lined with the soft grey-brown of winter trees stitching a white sky to the ground.
— from Mappa Mundi by Justina Robson
Tags: to do, words | Filed in Reading, Writing
Posted by Sandra on March 4, 2008 | Comments closed
Books read in 2007
Fiction and memoirs only, in alpha order by author last name.
- Allison, Dorothy: Cavedweller
- Ballantyne, Tony: Recursion
- Bishop, Toby: Airs Beneath the Moon
- Boyle: A Friend of the Earth
- Brennan: Doppelganger
- Bronte: Villette
- Brown, Simon: Empire’s Daughter
- Cook, Dawn: The Decoy Princess
- Crispin, A.C.: Storms of Destiny
- Croggon: The Naming
- Croggon: The Riddle
- Cross, Janine: Touched by Venom
- Delaney: Nova
- Duchamp: Alanya to Alanya
- Edgerton, Teresa: The Queen’s Necklace (more . . .)
Tags: books read | Filed in Reading
Posted by Sandra on January 16, 2008 | Comments closed