How should I read it?

Hello, book lovers!  I hope all is well.  I've been putting off writing this post because...well...I honestly don't know how to frame my thoughts.  I'm currently reading Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee, the author of the American classic To Kill A Mockingbird.  The book has been surrounded in controversy since before its July 2015 release, and I didn't know if I even wanted to read it.  After I finished What Alice Forgot, however, I got on our school's ebook library site, and Go Set A Watchman popped up on the screen first.  Since I was home sick and wasn't physically capable of making much of an effort (truth be told), I downloaded it.  I'm currently 66 % of the way through it and need to finish in the next two days, before it disappears from my Kindle.


First of all, if you need background on the controversy, here is a link to an opinion piece published in The New York Times this summer.  Click here for the publisher's write-up of the book (keep in mind they are trying to sell the book).  Perhaps most interestingly, here is an article about a bookstore that offered refunds to customers who felt duped after purchasing and reading the book.  Talk about scandal!

I really wanted to enjoy, like, perhaps just appreciate this book.  Harper Lee herself is such an enigma, having never published another book again after To Kill A Mockingbird.  I'm trying to view it as a first draft written by a young, idealistic author many years ago, but I'm having a hard time getting past some of her most basic errors, such as switching point-of-view between first- and third- person multiple times in the story.   Lee will be referring to Jean Louise by name (the main character) and then all of a sudden, she's in first person, using "I" and "me".  It also took a long, long time to get into the main conflict of the story.  I believe I was over a third of the way through the novel before conflict actually started happening.

One part I did find interesting related closely to our Honors English narratives, and the requirement to demonstrate inter-textuality by including a poem or research.  Lee did just that:

     "An absurd verse vibrated in Jean Louise's memory.  Where had she read it?
        By right Divine, my dear Augusta, 
        We've had another awful buster;
        Ten thousand Frenchmen sent below.
        Praise God from Whom all blessings
           flow.
      She wondered where Hester had pick up her information"  (Lee 62 %).

I'm going to work on finishing it, and I'll post my final thoughts at a later date.  Have any of you read it?  If so, what are your thoughts?  Or do you plan on reading it?  I'd love to know!

Spending time on Mars

Hello, fellow readers!  Welcome back to another installment of Mrs. Bross' reading blog.  I haven't been reading as quickly as I usually do because I have been getting acclimated to a new school year, but I'm currently reading a fantastic book, The Martian by Andy Weir.  I have to start by saying that this is totally out of my reading comfort zone.  I pretty much never choose to read anything science fiction, just because it isn't my genre of choice.  However, many of my students chose it for their summer reading books and they all seemed to enjoy it, so I thought I would give it a shot.  I'm so glad I did!  I'm about 55 % of the way through it and can't wait for the rest.

One of the main reasons I like the book so well is the personality of the main character.  When I first considered picking up this book, I thought, there's no way I can read a book about one guy stuck on Mars.  How boring!  Mark Watney is the astronaut stuck on Mars by himself, and the book is written in journal entries (logs) to whomever might someday read them, so essentially, it's like first person.  Watney is sarcastic, witty, and, I'll be honest, uses a lot of language that might be offensive to some readers.  For someone who is stuck on a large planet all by himself, he manages to stay fairly optimistic and hasn't yet stopped trying to stay alive.  

Something that I thought might be a deterrent for me while reading is all the numbers.  I am an English teacher and am much better with words than numbers (unless I am calculating a percent off sale at a clothing store), and I do find myself getting a bit overwhelmed at times by all the numbers.  Here's a sample passage to show you what I mean:

"I hope you like drilling.  The drill bit is 1 cm wide, the holes will be about .5 cm apart, and the length of the total cut is 11.4 m.  That’s 760 holes.  And each one takes 160 seconds to drill. 

Problem:  The drills weren’t designed for construction projects.  They were intended for quick rock samples.  The batteries only last 240 seconds.  You do have two drills, but you’d still only get 3 holes done before needing to recharge.  And recharging takes 41 minutes." (Weir 58%)

Makes my head spin a little, but like I said before, I'm still really enjoying the book and Mark Watney's fight for survival.  I'm also excited that there is a movie coming out on October 2!  Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, and I think he's a terrific actor, so it will be fun to see how he brings the character to life. One thing I noticed while watching the commercial and trailer is that they have given him a wife and a child which, I guess, makes his situation even more dire (he didn't have either in the book).  Here is the commercial for the movie:

Have you ever read a book that's way out of your comfort zone?  If so, how was it?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  Or have you read The Martian?  Opinions?  Happy reading!

Welcome to English I and blogging!

Hi everyone!  Welcome to your English IA blogging experience!  My hopes for blogging this year are that you will find it a valuable way to share what you're reading, articulate your opinions and thoughts, have meaningful discussions with other readers, and develop your own, distinct writing voice.  Please follow the blog set-up instructions on the "blogger account set-up directions" sheet given to you in class, and please make sure to correctly enter your blog information in the Google form linked right here on my blog, off to the right.  This will ensure that your blog address and info is accessible to all my classes and anyone else who happens to access the spreadsheet, thus increasing your blog traffic and comments.  

You already know a little bit about me from the past few days in class, but I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce you to me as a reader.  I've been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember, but I occasionally have gone through periods where my independent reading wavered a bit (for example, all four years in college!).  In the past several years, I've made independent reading more of a priority, and I'm a much better person for it.  I primarily read before I go to sleep at night, just because that's about the only time during the day I have to myself (except in the summer, and then I read during my boys' nap times!). When choosing titles, sometimes I choose books that I know my students would be interested in, mainly so I can talk to you about your reading and make recommendations for you.  Other times, I choose titles that allow me just to escape reality for a while, or titles that are on The New York Times bestseller list, or titles that are recommended to me by a friend.  This summer, I read 11 books; not as many as I hoped to read, but respectable considering all factors involved (namely, two little boys running around all the time!).  Here were the books I read, along with the rating I gave each on Goodreads (in parentheses):

• Trail of Broken Wings by Sejal Badani (* * *)
• The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton (* * * * *)
• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (* * * *)
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (* * * *)
• Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews (* *)
• The Hypnotist's Love Story by Liane Moriarty (* * * *)
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (* * * *)
• Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (* * * *)
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (* * * *)
• Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri (* * * *)
• Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng (* * *)

As you can see, there is a good mix of genres, from historical fiction to horror to magic realism, with some non-fiction thrown in for good measure.  Have you read any of these books?  How did / would you rate them?  Add your comments in the comment section below, and please give me any recommendations of books you think I might enjoy!  Happy reading!