CCBC-Net Archives
what i'm reading now
- Contemporary messages sorted: [ by date ] [ by subject ] [ by author ]
From: Benita Strnad <bstrnad>
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 11:59:19 -0500
I tend to read in parallel. That is I read more than one book at a time. I carry a book around with me most everywhere I go and I too have started to listen to books on tape in my car. Currently I am reading two books and listening to a third.
I am listening to Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials" on tape in my car. I find that recorded young adult novels and non-fiction work well for me. I get the opportunity to hear things that I would never have time to read. It is my goal for the summer to get an MP3 player and start downloading books so that literature will be more accessible to me at all times.
I find the Pullman books fascinating, but then I like fantasy literature. The literature has evolved from the first book (published in 1996) to the third (published in 2000). The last volume has fragments of poetry at the beginning of each chapter, and in some ways is darker and more menacing than the first. Undoubtedly the recording has something to do with my interpretation and I am aware that the recording has become increasingly sophisticated from the first to the last volume. These recorded books will keep anybody interested and help to wile away the hours on the road for anybody.
I just finished reading Richard Peck's "The River Between Us" and am in the middle of reading Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (this book was already mentioned so I won't go into detail here.) Earlier this year I finally got around to reading "The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm" and loved it. It had been on my list for ten years. This is an important book, because it features minorities in a work of science fiction. Recently I watched the movie "Blade" and was struck by the lack of minority heroes in science fiction/fantasy movies as well as books. It is important to have characters with which minorities can readily identify. Especially in a technologically savvy context like that in a work of science fiction. I like Farmer's work and know that it is only a matter of time before she wins the Newbery.
The adult book I am reading is "Galileo's Daughter." This is a mighty fine read as well and a book that has been on my list of before-I-die-books for years. In many ways it is just as exciting as Sea of Trolls, with characters just as unbelievable in their idiosyncrasies.
Date: Wed, 11 May 2005 11:59:19 -0500
I tend to read in parallel. That is I read more than one book at a time. I carry a book around with me most everywhere I go and I too have started to listen to books on tape in my car. Currently I am reading two books and listening to a third.
I am listening to Philip Pullman's trilogy "His Dark Materials" on tape in my car. I find that recorded young adult novels and non-fiction work well for me. I get the opportunity to hear things that I would never have time to read. It is my goal for the summer to get an MP3 player and start downloading books so that literature will be more accessible to me at all times.
I find the Pullman books fascinating, but then I like fantasy literature. The literature has evolved from the first book (published in 1996) to the third (published in 2000). The last volume has fragments of poetry at the beginning of each chapter, and in some ways is darker and more menacing than the first. Undoubtedly the recording has something to do with my interpretation and I am aware that the recording has become increasingly sophisticated from the first to the last volume. These recorded books will keep anybody interested and help to wile away the hours on the road for anybody.
I just finished reading Richard Peck's "The River Between Us" and am in the middle of reading Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer (this book was already mentioned so I won't go into detail here.) Earlier this year I finally got around to reading "The Eye, the Ear, and the Arm" and loved it. It had been on my list for ten years. This is an important book, because it features minorities in a work of science fiction. Recently I watched the movie "Blade" and was struck by the lack of minority heroes in science fiction/fantasy movies as well as books. It is important to have characters with which minorities can readily identify. Especially in a technologically savvy context like that in a work of science fiction. I like Farmer's work and know that it is only a matter of time before she wins the Newbery.
The adult book I am reading is "Galileo's Daughter." This is a mighty fine read as well and a book that has been on my list of before-I-die-books for years. In many ways it is just as exciting as Sea of Trolls, with characters just as unbelievable in their idiosyncrasies.
-- Benita Strnad Curriculum Materials Librarian McLure Education Library The University of Alabama The Bible is a book about how one goes to heaven - not about how heaven goes. Cesare Cardinal Baronio (153807) Vatican LibrarianReceived on Wed 11 May 2005 11:59:19 AM CDT
