Between class, summer vacation/travel, class again, class a third time, getting back to school, and just the fact that I have been reading quite a bit! No real excuses, but there you have it. It hasn't been a priority.
I tried a challenge once - for a few days, rather than ever saying 'I don't have the time', replace those words with 'it just isn't a priority for me'. It re-frames all of your actions as choices, and what you prioritize becomes much clearer. So - my blog has not been a priority, and this is a super-small catchup post. I will do all of the books since The Professor and the Madman, with a few sentences about each, because I don't have the energy to stress over writing each book up. So here we go:
Title: The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Author: Robert Louis Stevenson
Published: 1886 (originally)
Pages: 64
The copy I read definitely had more pages than this, but it is indeed a short, heartbreaking story. It's a story we're all familiar with, but that I actually had all wrong. It is not a horror/scary story, in my opinion - it is a tragedy. Such an incredible read, and something that for sure I wasn't expecting. Recommend.
Title: A Christmas Carol and Other Stories
Author: Charles Dickens
Published: 1843 (originally)
Pages: 368
Actually my first Dickens! I feel bad admitting that, but am glad I finally tackled some. The Chimes was probably my favorite story in here, as it epitomizes the 19th century industrialization and the paternalistic attitude of the rich at the time - the historical accuracy is painful to read.
Title: James and the Giant Peach
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: 1961 (originally)
Pages: 146
Though of course a fond childhood classic movie, James and the Giant Peach is not my favorite Roald Dahl book. I enjoyed it, but I've enjoyed others more. Read this out loud to the boys at bedtime - there's several more selections here that fell into that category :)
Title: History of the Canadian Peoples vol 2: 1867-Present
Author: Margaret Conrad, Alvin Finkel
Published: 2009
Pages: 456
Relatively dry first-year Canadian history textbook for class. Nuff said.
Title: Hyperbole and a Half
Author: Allie Brosh
Published: 2013
Pages: 369
If you haven't read Brosh's original blog upon which this book is based (and is by the same name), read it. Read both. Just read it all - it's hilarious, raw, honest, emotional and laugh-out-loud funny.
Title: The Enormous Egg
Author: Oliver Butterworth
Published: 1958 (originally)
Pages: 188
I think I pulled this from a Goodreads young-boys reading list- this too was a bedtime story. It is a totally fun tale of a boy whose chicken lays a dinosaur egg, and hatches out a dinosaur. In a more recent book, hilarity would ensue. In this one, it's a very practical, emotional response in trying to do what's best for the dinosaur, which was a very 50s, refreshing perspective. However, a farm family in the 50s also has a lot of gender roles, so I worked through that with the kids too...!
Title: A Little Princess
Author: Frances Hodgson Burnett
Published: 1902 (originally)
Pages: 242
Read this version - the drawings and typeface were so pretty, it helped to make the story! I loved loved loved this movie when I was a kid. I am normally good with knowing which movies come from books, but in this case I did not know this was a book until relatively recently. I read much of this book while drinking Starbucks in Plantation, Florida, waiting for my bestie to get out of dental assistant school and getting geared up for her wedding. The book is plotted somewhat differently than the movie, and well worth a read. With a latte. In a coffee shop. It's the right book for that.
Title: Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World
Author: Mike Davis
Published: 2000
Pages: 464
This book was a total slog - the first third was totally heartbreaking, the second third just so incredibly dense in scientific information. I think I spend about three months reading this book. I understand now why la nina/el nino are so difficult to predict, and I also understand so much more about how 20th century India came to be, and just how callous the British Empire could be regarding non-white human life. This book is one of the most valuable historical analyses I have ever read. A total toughie but absolutely worth it.
Title: Superfudge
Author: Judy Blume
Published: 1980
Pages: 182
Fun story: I was pen pals with Judy Blume in middle school for a year or so. One of our projects in Grade 6 was to write to an author. I chose her, and lo and behold, she wrote back! We exchanged a few letters. I'm sure I'm the one who let it fall off. But either way - one of the coolest school projects ever.
This is a book that I actually heard (and read over J's shoulder). He read it out loud at bedtime, a bit each day. I think he relates to free-spirit Fudge. I hear it all in his voice when I think about it :)
Title: E. Aster Bunnymund and the Warrior Eggs at the Earth's Core
Author: William Joyce
Published: 2012
Pages: 251
This is our second Joyce book - we also read Nicholas St. North and the Battle of the Nightmare King. We loved that one (both the physical book and the story), so we got another one, and this one was just as much fun. This was another read-aloud-at-bedtime book. They are whimsical, young and fun, but with plenty of story to engage you. Read him, it'll make you feel young.
Title: George's Marvellous Medicine
Author: Roald Dahl
Published: 1981
Pages: 120
Yet another bedtime book! G is almost 12, and yet we do stories every night still. I'll be sad to ever give it up. George's is much more a favorite Dahl book :)
Title: And No Birds Sang
Author: Farley Mowat
Published: 1979 (originally)
Pages: 245
Though it was a shorter book, this is one of the most impactful books I have ever read, bar none. Mowat captures, raw and unpolished, the havoc, fear, anger, and desperation of an average soldier during WWII. The numbers of that conflict are so overwhelming, it's hard to remember each person was just that - a person, with emotions, with family. Nothing has ever provided such a crucial human element to the conflict as Mowat did for me. Read this damn book.
Title: A Dog Year: 12 Months, Four Dogs, and Me
Author: Jon Katz
Published: 2002
Pages: 212
Uhm. Hm. The dogs were beautiful, their stories were worth the read. But similar to A. J. Jacobs, I don't totally love this author. He's a bit unapologetic for being the way he is, and the way he is doesn't sound like company I would want to keep. For this reason, I won't be reading more by him (same as Jacobs). But this book was nice. My boss owns a border collie, and she LOVED this book (and so did her Mom). So to each their own!
Title: Anne of Green Gables
Author: L. M. Montgomery
Published: 1908 (originally)
Pages: 320*
*This is the first book I read via an app called Serial Reader, so the page count is from a print copy.
I am Canadian, a girl, and for 5 years was very good friends with someone who loved Montgomery almost as an idol. So how, you might ask, did I avoid reading the Anne books? The answer is - I don't know how I hadn't yet read any of them. So, I started! Anne is positively charming, Marilla's heart is so large, and Matthew is just charming. I'll read the others too, once I get there.
Title: Three Cups of Tea
Author: Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Published: 2006
Pages: 349
A beautiful book. Unfortunately it's a crock. But I'm all for education of women all over the world so... someone should keep doing the work this book claims to be doing? Sigh.
Title: The Art of Racing in the Rain
Author: Garth Stein
Published: 2006
Pages: 321
Just read this book. It is the only book that has ever moved me to sobbing. No, not a glistening tear - full-blown sobbing. But goodness, SUCH a beautiful story, so well-written. I don't like car racing, couldn't care less - but still couldn't tear myself away from Enzo. Just read it, promise?
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That's 16 books! I'm pretty proud of myself. There's a few others on the list, some comic books - maybe I'll add those at some point. But I've been reading a lot, and that's what counts!
Total Books Blogged, including all the ones in this post (OMG so many books): 55
Total Pages: 15542 (That's more than 4000 new pages!)
Of all the ones in this post, which one should you read the most?: The Art of Racing in the Rain. Oh just read it.
