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!