What are you reading right now? I am reading The Known World by Edward P. Jones and desperately trying to finish it before midnight Friday so I can complete the Southern Reading Challenge.
Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that? I have a reading schedule that I’m following for the rest of this year. My next reading selections will be (not necessarily in this order):
Middlesex (Pulitzer, BAC)
Blue Like Jazz (NF5)
The Travels of Marco Polo (NF5)
Bookseller of Kabul (NF5, RAB)
Half of a Yellow Sun (NYT, BookAwards)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (FC, RIP)
Lisey’s Story (NYT, BAC, RIP)
Never Let Me Go (DC)
What magazines do you have in your bathroom right now? I don’t read in the bathroom; I just think it’s gross. But the magazines I do subscribe to are Bookmarks, National Geographic, and Smithsonian.
What’s the worst thing you were ever forced to read? I usually like almost anything, but in high school I really didn’t care for The Red Badge of Courage.
What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?To Kill a Mockingbird
Admit it, the librarians at your library know you on a first name basis, don’t they? I know they recognize my face, but it’s a big library. I’m not sure they know my name or not.
Is there a book you absolutely love, but for some reason, people never think it sounds interesting, or maybe they read it and don’t like it at all? I really loved Gilead, which some people love, but others are bored to tears by it. I think it has truly magnificent writing.
Do you read books while you do other things? Not really. Of course I listen to audiobooks while I’m driving. I usually bring a book to the doctor’s office or anywhere else I might be kept waiting.
When you were little, did other children tease you about your reading habits?I don’t think so; I know my family and friends used to call me Bookworm or Bookgeek, though.
What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down? Sometimes I read late just so I can finish a challenge! I actually do this quite frequently, sad to say. The last two books I read almost straight through were The Amateur Marriage by Anne Tyler and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.
You will subjugate the unknown beings on other planets, who may still be living in the primitve condition of freedom, to the benificent yoke of reason. If they fail to understand that we bring them mathematically infallible happiness, it will be our duty to compel them to be happy. But before resorting to arms, we shall try the power of words.
This is a great book! It’s sad this isn’t as well known as 1984 and other dystopian novels. I’m finding it superb. We are discussing it in the Books in Translation Reading Group starting September 1.
I have at least 222 AR points this year–ha! I’m probably one of the few who like Accelerated Reader. My older son is going to public school for the first time and will have an official reading class. I thought it would be fun to see which books that I’ve read this year are on the AR list at my son’s school. The first number is the reading level and the second number is the number of points received if the student passes the test. I’m a little surprised The Handmaid’s Tale is on the list. That seems above high school in maturity level. Here is the breakdown:
I was also interested in which titles had the most points and the highest reading level. Here they are, but keep in mind there are many more titles available. These are the ones just at my son’s school.
These are the titles that are 11th grade reading level and above:
Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo 11.0 73.0
Arrowsmith Lewis, Sinclair 11.0 37.0
Crime and Punishment Dostoyevsky, Fyodor 11.0 41.0
Grapes of Wrath, The Steinbeck, John 11.0 41.0
House of the Seven Gables (Unabridged), The Hawthorne, Nathaniel 11.0 22.0
Jude the Obscure Hardy, Thomas 11.0 34.0
Last of the Mohicans, The Cooper, James Fenimore 11.0 29.0
Lord Jim Conrad, Joseph 11.0 26.0
Main Street Lewis, Sinclair 11.0 37.0
Native Son Wright, Richard 11.0 36.0
Pride and Prejudice Austen, Jane 11.0 27.0
Purloined Letter, The Poe, Edgar Allan 11.0 2.0
Tender Is the Night Fitzgerald, F. Scott 11.0 25.0
Tess of the D’Urbervilles Hardy, Thomas 11.0 29.0
Turn of the Screw, The James, Henry 11.0 6.0
Vanity Fair Thackeray, William M. 11.0 69.0
Brave New World Huxley, Aldous 11.1 18.0
Twenty Years at Hull-House Addams, Jane 11.1 22.0
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the… Sobel, Dava 11.3 9.0
Fall of the House of Usher, The Poe, Edgar Allen 11.4 2.0
Of Human Bondage Maugham, Somerset 11.4 56.0
Profiles in Courage Kennedy, John F. 11.4 13.0
Temple of My Familiar, The Walker, Alice 11.4 36.0
War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo 11.5 130.0
Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, The Franklin, Benjamin 11.8 15.0
American Tragedy, An Dreiser, Theodore 12.0 79.0
Death of a Salesman Miller, Arthur 12.0 5.0
Mansfield Park Austen, Jane 12.0 35.0
Moby Dick Melville, Herman 12.0 46.0
Persuasion Austen, Jane 12.0 19.0
Return of the Native, The Hardy, Thomas 12.0 25.0
Scarlet Letter, The Hawthorne, Nathaniel 12.0 18.0
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation Ellis, Joseph J. 12.8 22.0
Don Quixote Cervantes/Smollett 13.2 91.0
These are the titles that have 50 points or more:
Exodus Uris, Leon 10.2 50.0
Of Human Bondage Maugham, Somerset 11.4 56.0
Roots Haley, Alex 9.3 57.0
Debt of Honor Clancy, Tom 7.2 57.0
Pickwick Papers Dickens, Charles 8.9 61.0
Andersonville Kantor, MacKinlay 7.8 62.0
David Copperfield Dickens, Charles 9.8 65.0
Way We Live Now, The Trollope, Anthony 8.9 67.0
Bleak House Dickens, Charles 8.8 67.0
Gone with the Wind Mitchell, Margaret 6.2 69.0
Vanity Fair Thackeray, William M. 11.0 69.0
Winds of War, The Wouk, Herman 8.4 72.0
702 EN Anna Karenina Tolstoy, Leo 11.0 73.0
Executive Orders Clancy, Tom 7.2 77.0
American Tragedy, An Dreiser, Theodore 12.0 79.0
Don Quixote Cervantes/Smollett 13.2 91.0
War and Remembrance Wouk, Herman 8.8 95.0
Les Miserables (Unabridged) Hugo, Victor 9.8 105.0
War and Peace Tolstoy, Leo 11.5 130.0
Ratings, ratings. This is my first year blogging and rating books. As I look over my list of books I’ve read this year, I’m not happy with some of the ratings I’ve done. I try to compare each book I read with others (obviously!) to see where I would place it. I’ve found that some books that I’ve given a “4″ should really be a “3.5″. There are quite a few I would change to 1/2 point to even one point less. I don’t think there are any that would increase.
What are the ethics of this? I guess it’s my blog and I can do what I want to, but should I really change my ratings? I could list all the ones I changed and the reasons why. Should I just start from here and leave my former ratings alone, or is it acceptable to go back and change a few as long as I explain myself.
By July 31 God of Small Things (SRC, BAC) Blind Assassin (SRC, BAC) Stardust (SRB) The Higher Power of Lucky (Newbery, BAC) The White Stag (Newbery, BAC) The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books (NF5)
By August 31
The Known World (SoRC, Pulitzer, BAC)
A Death in the Family (SoRC, Pulitzer, BAC)
The Secret Life of Bees (SoRC, SAM)
Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons (SAM)
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (DC, RAB)
3 titles from lists below
By September 30
Middlesex (Pulitzer, BAC)
Blue Like Jazz (NF5)
The Travels of Marco Polo (NF5)
Bookseller of Kabul (NF5, RAB)
Half of a Yellow Sun (NYT, BookAwards)
3 titles from lists below
By October 31
Lisey’s Story (NYT, BAC)
Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho (RAB)
Never Let Me Go (DC)
A Scanner Darkly (DC)
4 titles from list below
By November 30
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (FC, SRB)
O Pioneers! (FC, Pulitzer, Decades)
The Yearling (FC, Pulitzer)
The Hours by Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer, BtM)
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson (2nds, BtM)
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera (RAB, BtM)
2 titles from list below
By December 31
Whatever is remaining on the list below.
Arthur and George by Julian Barnes (NYT)
Zorro by Isabel Allende (RAB)
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky (NYT, RAB)
Kristin Lavransdatter by Ingrid Undset (RAB, BAC)
Buying a Fishing Rod for my Grandfather by Gao Xingjian (RAB)
Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (SRB)
History of Love by Nicole Krauss (SRB)
Goose Girl by Shannon Hale (SRB
Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (SRB)
Tears of the Giraffe (2nds)
Lost in a Good Book (2nds)
Winter Wheat (SAM)
The Amateur Marriage (SAM)
Stargirl (SAM)
The Little Prince (SAM)
Interpreter of Maladies (Pulitzer, BAC)
X Stands for Unknown (A-Z)
Queen of the Tambourine (A-Z)
Ishmael (A-Z)
Psalms & Proverbs
Mr. Ives’ Christmas
"Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." (John 6:27, ESV)
I have at least 222 AR points this year–ha! I’m probably one of the few who like Accelerated Reader. My older son is going to public school for the first time and will have an official reading class. I thought it would be fun to see which books that I’ve read this year are on the AR list at my son’s school. The first number is the reading level and the second number is the number of points received if the student passes the test. I’m a little surprised The Handmaid’s Tale is on the list. That seems above high school in maturity level. Here is the breakdown:
