It all Matters

Last night I read Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory. It was a fast read because it is basically a sketchbook strung together with a story of a guy dealing with what life has dealt him. His wife has been in an accident and is in a wheelchair (presumably for life). He is angry and sometimes feeling a little sorry for himself. The book is about how journaling and drawing got him through the tough days. It isn't a depressing book, he doesn't delve on the bad in his life, actually he gets interested in life all over again (though he admits he still has bad days).

I laughed out loud when he talked about being bored... I hear that from so any students and here is someone in New York City a place where there is more to do than you ever could do (which is my impression of everywhere... there is more world out there than we will ever know) and he is bored. Ha. He works through it by getting interested again... he gets interested by drawing his world. That works for me. Whenever I start to get a nudge of boredom I try to create something and I'm not bored again... I draw, make quilts, read (create a world in my mind), or write. So don't be bored and read this book. It might give you an idea of how lucky you are.

BTW this book is nonfiction.

Comeback and Finish Reading This Book

A winning season is followed by a great loss... I thought I was reading a basketball book for the classroom and was surprised to find myself reading about a coach who really loves the game of basketball dealing with the loss (abduction) of his boy at the mall. The coach can't get out of his mind that this new player from Sports Illustrated is actually his son.

Has the coach gone crazy... or was his son raised by someone else and has become an up-and-comer in basketball? I don't know yet, but I am hoping he found his son. I can't imagine how a parent deals with having a child stolen from them. The never knowing is heart-breaking and must be a pain that goes wherever that parent goes in life. I imagine every person that walks by that is of the right age has their face studied by these parents... always hoping to find their lost child. I would recommend this book, but don't expect it to all be about basketball (even if it is an important part of the story). BTW, Comeback is fiction and written by Craig Strohm.

Enjoy your stories and come back for more!

More Fruit and Books...

Second Fruits Basket book read... the characters are getting more interesting, but I don't think I'll read many more of them. There are so many books on my to read list I don't want to stick with a series I am not blown away by. The characters do make me laugh in the books... their emotions are so out of control, arguments turn to tears and yelling very quick... maybe they need some help with their anger management. I suppose I would be angry too if I randomly turned into a cat at various times during the day.
I am also almost finished with the book by the librarian (Free for All: Oddballs, Geeks, and Gangstas in the Public Library by Don Borchert). It is getting less interesting... kind of like he used his good stories up at the beginning of the book. Maybe one of the later chapters will be good again. The last chapter was about a fight between mom's in the parking lot. Sounds more exciting than it was... It was interesting to read about how they cull books that aren't being read to make way for the new ones. I have to do that in my classroom every once in a while. I always feel guilty about books that I get rid of. First I put them in you can have these bins in the room, then I put them in the teacher's workroom... then they go the garbage. Haven't done it in a while though. More later... teaching to do :^D

First Fruit Free For All

This will be my first post about the books I have been reading. I think this can be a fun way to check out what we are reading, get suggestions for new books to read and share thoughts on what we think about them. (Now for the fun part... the books of course!)

I just started reading the Fruits Basket series of graphic novels (by Natsuki Takaya) my niece recommended. They are manga books and you have to get used to reading from the back of the book towards the front and also from the right to the left. It feels like what it must be like to drive in Europe on what would feel like the wrong side of the road. I just started the second book, after having read the first, and I guess there are like twenty-some books in the series... so if I like them it could get expensive. The story reminds me of Inuasha which I haven't seen in a couple years (is it still on?). I haven't decided if I like the books yet, but I am learning a bit about Japanese culture like their horoscope. There seems to be a lot of do you like this guy or that guy... it is written for teenagers... so maybe I am getting old but that kind of soap-opera-y thing kind of annoys me. I do like the independence of the main character... but I guess anyone would have to be independent being an orphan.

The other book I am reading is called Free For All: Oddballs, Geeks and Gangsta's in the Public Library by Don Borchert and it is about being a librarian. Sound boring? I don't think it is. He has some interesting insights about how librabries work and the interesting people who tend to work and hang out there, and they are not alll reading the books. It also reminds me of the time I worked at the library in Billings. It was my illustrious court appointed community service for driving too slow (way embarassing as a teenager) and not wearing my ugly glasses. I had to go before the judge and plead guilty (scary) then to make matters worse the judge gave me a lecture about not having my dad pay the fine but working it off (as if my dad wouldn't make me work it off... his favorite method was having me pull nails from two-by-fours he had salvaged). When I showed up at the library the librarians thought I was hilarious since all of their other court-appointed workers were always shop-lifters (wouldn't they steal the books?). In the end I liked working at the library, putting order to the chaos of books felt good and when I was finished I could find a nice quiet table and read. Some things don't change, I still love to read and I still don't really like my glasses. Thank goodness for contacts.