A New Trilogy...

I'm so excited to being a new trilogy!  We are just beginning our Independent Reading unit with My Grade 9 class.  I am excited to read along with each of them and to learn new strategies to help guide my reading, and seeping my understanding of what it is that I am reading.  The series that I am undertaking during this unit is written by D.J. MacHale and begins with a book called Sylo. After 38 pages I am already hooked and am excited to keep reading more.  I don't want to give the storyline away but the books takes place up in Maine and the central character is a high school freshmen named Tucker.  So far a boy has tragically died during a Friday night football game, a mysterious flying object has blown up off the coast, and Ticket and his best friend are currently in the backseat of a police jeep trying to explain they had nothing to do with it.  Clearly, this is my kind of story:)  Enjoy reading friends!!

September 27

Finished Orbiting Jupiter.  Highly recommend.  Easy read.  Hard content.  Life is not always easy or beautiful.  Gary Schmidt reminds us that there are deep deep troughs in life.  I am reminded again of that today.  My heart is heavy.

Orbiting Jupiter

I LOVE when someone I love and trust recommends a book to me.  On Monday my friend, Mark Hiskes put a book in my hand, Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt.  Immediately I was excited as I have read some other Schmidt works including Wednesday Wars.  Last night I read the first 65 pages and can see why my friend enjoyed it so much.  I'll be finished by Friday and the book will be back in the library.  Feel free to grab it then - I think you too will very much enjoy it.

Blessings,

The Hero of Ages

I spent the last part of my evening talking with my father-in-law.  We had just finished putting together a bunk bed for my boys.  By "we" I mean he put it together and I helped put it into the corner of the room at the end.  As we sat around the island in my kitchen we were chatting about all the many pieces that it took to put the bed together.  There were hundreds!!  He then picked up my book The Hero of Ages and asked if it was good.  I laughed into just how incredible the series (Mistborn) has been and how I am loving this final book.  It clicked to me thinking about just how many pieces go into writing a trilogy.  All the little details, the characters, the descriptions of the setting and all the sensory details that make the book really pop.  I smiled and then spent the next two hours reading.  I love books.  Happy reading friends.

Mistborn

Good morning friends!  I finished the first book in the Mistborn trilogy.  This morning Mrs. Houge walked into my classroom with a surprise. BOOK TWO!  It was checked out by someone else and now I can jump into the second book in the series, The Well of Ascension.  I am a bit weird when it comes to reading.  I only like reading series that are finished (I do not like reading them as they come ou because then I have to wait so long for the next book).  I hope you find a book that invites you into a world of discovery and joy.  Blessings on the start of the school year!

Summer Reading

What an incredible summer.  I absolutely fell in love with the long days, the warm temperatures, the blue skies, and the green grass.  I also had a great summer of reading.  I began by finishing The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.  What an incredibly series!  If you are looking for a truly epic work (14 books and over 10,000 pages) this is it.  I was blessed to finish and was a bit sad when my time with Rand Al Thor came to an end.  After finishing I read the Mortality Doctrine series by James Dashner. I had read the Maze Runner series earlier in my life and was excited to read more.  It was really good and I recommend it!  My next read was going back to an and favorite that I never finished - The Lorien Legacies.  I had read I am number Four and the next three books a few years ago but the series was not finished and I left frustrated.  Well, the series is completed and all the books are in our library.  I read the series in a week and really loved the story.  It is a very easy and fun read.  I spent some time with Ted Dekker reading The Martyr's Song series and read a WWII favorite as well.  Currently I am reading Mistborn by Branden Sanderson.  It is also Fantasy Literature (one of my favorites).  Mr. Sportel recommended it and I am a big fan of reading recommended books by people who I love and trust.  At the start of this year, I encourage you to check out a book and get lost in a world of reading.  Blessings, friends.

YES!!

Finished Book 11 and have begun reading Book 12.  There is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Have you ever worked really hard at something and seen the payoff at the end?  I fell a bit like this here today.  I know I have 3 more books to read, but it feels so good to be tackling a major project and seeing results.

I highly recommend the series: The Wheel of Time.  If you are up for a great challenge and an incredibly journey...dive in.

Love you and keep reading!