Reading Update

We just got back from a relaxing few days at the beach with our Christmas guests.  Here's the last reading update of the year.  My goal was 52 books.

Book #44 was Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor. This was for my class, and I really enjoyed it, so much that I ordered the sequel when it came out.  So while I didn't really read this next, let's count Days of Blood and Starlight as book #45 of the year.

Book #46 was The New Kids, by Brooke Hauser. This is a journalistic book about a high school for immigrants in New York City, and it was fascinating reading. Highly recommended.

Book #47 was The Language of Flowers, by Vanessa Diffenbaugh. This was another book that I liked a lot. It was the story of a foster child whose most enduring placement was with a foster mother who knew all about flowers and what they meant in Victorian times. The book has a beautiful website complete with a flower dictionary in case you want to try some of the language of flowers.

Book #48 was  Inquiry and the Literary Text: Constructing Discussions in the English Classroom. This was the textbook for the class I took this fall, and I found it useful reading. It contains many helpful suggestions for leading book discussions with students.

Book #49 was  Kingdom Journeys: Rediscovering the Lost Spiritual Discipline, by Seth Barnes. This was a very interesting discussion of how going somewhere new, somewhere uncomfortable, can be a galvanizing force for the spiritual life.

Book #50 was a reread, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, always one of my favorites.

Book #51 was the one I read at the beach, To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Connie Willis. This was a time travel story recommended by my daughter, and it was thoroughly entertaining. The title refers to the Victorian book Three Men in a Boat, To Say Nothing of the Dog, by Jerome K. Jerome. I hadn't read it since high school, but this was a fun reminder.

You can see that I didn't quite meet my goal, but I was pretty close.  My reading wasn't terribly cerebral this year but it was enjoyable. I hope my readers will forgive my cursory reviews in my haste to finish up the year's listings.