Veggie Living - Lentils and Sweet Potatoes Braised in Smoky Tomato

Lentils and Sweet Potatoes Braised in Smoky Tomato
This is good over brown rice, quinoa, or simply on it's own. It really needs some sort of green side as a complement for a full meal.

Serves 6-8

2 Tbls canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp red pepper flakes
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 1/2 cup brown lentils
1 28oz can diced tomatoes (or 5-6 medium tomatoes cored and diced)
4 cups water or stock
3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
salt to taste.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or pot over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic, stirring frequently. It is fine for the onions to brown and sear a bit but don't let them actually burn. When the onions are soft add the red pepper flakes and paprika stirring constantly until fragrant - about 30 seconds.

Add the lentils, tomatoes, and water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat so that the mixture bubbles gently. Cook until the lentils begin to soften - between 10 and 20 minutes. Add sweet potatoes and continue to simmer until the lentils and sweet potatoes are fully cooked - another 10 or 20 minutes typically.

Add salt to taste and serve.

An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gunnie Rose is a tough gun wielding teen who hires out her serves as a gunman. At the beginning of An Easy Death, she’s part of a squad but disaster strikes and Gunnie Rose is the only one who survives. She finishes the job and gets herself home but needs to find more work and soon. So, as much as she hates it, when two Russian wizards offer her a job, she takes it.

Fantasy westerns just aren’t common. Sci-fi mixed with westerns show up regularly. There is something about space and frontier narrative that just goes together. Less so fantasy. I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, and the grittiness of the setting took some getting used to. The thing about westerns is that they have that whole gritty individual takes on the world thing going. Gunnie Rose is taking on the world. It beats her up and down but in the end she wins.

Hooray for strong female protagonists.

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The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After the events of The Invisible Library, Irene and Kai get assigned as librarian in residence in the same world that they kicked Alberict out of. Everything is going fine until Kai is kidnapped (dragon-napped?) by rogue fey. Irene must then go against library orders to chase him into chaos heavy fey territory with no support in order to rescue him.

It felt a little like Cogman wanted to underscore two points. 1st - The main character is Irene, so don’t get too attached to Kai or Vale or any of the other characters. 2nd -Irene isn’t a “good” guy. She’s a book thief and a covert operative. She is also deeply principled. She chases Kai because she is responsible for him...so, she says. She alienates almost everyone in the process.

Part of what really worked in The Invisible Library was the interaction between Kai and Irene. So, having the two separated for the most of the book was a little disappointing. In fact, I missed Vale too even though he gets annoyingly self-righteous. I think Masked City did a good job at fleshing out the rest of the universe and filled out out the major players in the rest of setting, but did it at the expense of the main characters. From a pragmatic point of view, Cogman succeed in laying the groundwork for a series of conflicts and a whole cast of allies and antagonist. So, while I’m not as gooey eyed over this one, it’s worth the read and I’m looking forward to the series continuing.


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Systems of Discipline

I teach at a school where each of the students needs, for one reason or another, a second chance. The reasons vary. Sometimes it's academic or emotional. Sometimes it's addiction recovery. A lot of them, however, have made incredibly poor decisions that either poisoned their social scene or got them kicked out of their previous schools. Regardless, many of these kids benefit from more than the usual watchful teacher eye. Not because they are bad kids, but because our presence (and intervention) becomes like an external reminder to check their behavior. The hope is that the external check becomes internal over time.

It doesn't always work and the kids are kids...they don't often appreciate the interference until much later in life. This system is rough on the teachers too. We monitor technology use and conversation. We have to account for the students' locations and issue and maintain a two tiered discipline documentation system. The only way for it to work is to be consistent and sometimes it feels more like being a warden than an educator. We educators get a bit ground down and have little time to take care of the more normal teacher duties like grading. It takes time, but for whose kids who are essentially good people but impulsive, it can have great results despite the flaws in the system.

I had the opportunity a couple of days ago to see a very different type of school. At this school the kids maintain their own discipline. The teachers don't watch the students the way do and seem to inherently trust them. The kids walk the halls without passes and show up for classes on time, for the most part, without the use of bells. The students seemed more mature and more relaxed. They were still kids though. I saw inappropriate technology use and kids cutting up in class but for the most part this didn't seem to require teacher intervention. It was an interesting experience.

Now, I have to acknowledge that the two schools deal in some very different student populations. The kids at my school often don't know how to disengage or deescalate social situations and they engage in activities impulsively instead of thoughtfully which leads to academic issues. In some ways they are not capable of self-moderating which is how they ended up with us. However, I also sometimes wonder if the reason that we spend so much time in discipline conference is because we have so many rules. Truly, our student handbook looks like mish mash of legal precedent gone awry. We can't do without rules, obviously, but it could be less complicated and confusing. It often feels like we can't just say - "Hey, look that interferes with your work." Instead, we have this tome that we cite page numbers out of.

It feels adversarial.

Armada by Ernest Cline
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ernest Cline’s second book is about Zack Lightman, a high school kid with a talent for video games in general and an anger management problem. He’s a pretty normal kid until he sees an alien spacecraft right out of his favorite game lurking around the skies of his hometown. Then everything changes.

It’s not a new idea: what if video games are some kind of training for interstellar battle. Cline is pretty clear that it’s a recycled idea within the narrative, but he develops and refines it. He wraps earlier cinema and games into an elaborate conspiracy theory and then makes it all real. In some ways it is a similar technique to Ready Player One which read like 1980’s retrospective on pop culture.

It was a good read but there is something about Cline’s writing style that makes it hard to immerse in. I haven’t quite figured out what the problem is, but I find that I can only read a chapter or two at a time no matter how much I might be enjoying it which is odd for me. I tend to persevere because many of my students are a fan of Cline and I’m generally glad that I kept at it by the end.


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October Monster Lists

I'm at such a weird crossroads with so many things. Reading is constant though, it's grounding in fact. I'm still behind in my non-YA but I'm making up ground. I was about 12 behind and now I'm only eight behind. It's slightly more impressive when one considers that I've continued reading YA too.  It's progress anyway. I'm still increasing the Non-YA list to equal the YA list until I get back into balance. The problem is that I keep tripping across YA that I read in a day or less. It's like eating candy.

Non-YA

1. Bradbury Stories by Ray Bradbury
2. The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman
3. Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
4. The Universe in a Single Atom by Dalai Lama
5. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
6. Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher
7. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
8. An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris
9. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
10. Alice by Christina Henry
11. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
12. Simply Ramen by Amy Kimoto-Kahn
13. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
14. When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
15. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
16. Mastering the Art Japanese Home Cooking by Morimoto
17. The Pho Cookbook by Adrea Nguyen
18. Ringworld by Larry Niven
19. Cooked by Michael Pollan
20. Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
21. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
22. The Song Rising by Smantha Shannon
23. Wonderbook by Jeff Vandermeer
24. The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard
25. Takashi's Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi
26. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama (Library)

YA

1. Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow
2. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
3. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
4. Amulet book seven: Firelight by Kazu Kibuishi
5. Amulet book eight: Supernova by Kazu Kibuishi
6. The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
7. Relish: My Life In the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
8. The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Finished 10/3/2018)
9. Legend by Marie Lu
10. Prodigy by Marie Lu
11. Champion by Marie Lu
12. Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
13. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
14. Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull
15. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
16. When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds (Finished 10/3/2018)
17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
21. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
22. The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
23. The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
24. The Final Descent by Rick Yancey

Church BBQ

Once a year my in-laws's church does a BBQ. It's not your average pick it up from a restaurant in bulk. These guys used to dig pits, build and bank a fire in it, then roast pigs over the course of a whole night and day. These days, the event has grown to the point that they are renting smokers and only handling Boston butts, but it is still excellent.

This stuff is like magic. I've turned bags of it into pots of thai soup or french bean soup, fried rice, and lo mein. It's one of those utterly mutable flavors and will blend well with pretty much any cuisine and does well as a starting point for any meal.

Here's one of my favorites:

2 Tbs. Olive Oil
1 onion, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
4 c. cooked white beans, drained and rinsed (about 2 15 oz cans)
2 qt. stock or water
2 lbs. pulled pork
1 pound egg noodles

In a large pot, saute onion, carrots, and celery in the olive oil until soft and beginning to brown.  Add the rinsed beans and stock or water and raise heat. Bring to a boil.

Add pulled pork and egg noodles and simmer until noodles are cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 12

Assuming you have the beans cooked and pulled pork on hand, the whole thing takes about 30 minutes.

The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Forever War is one of those classics. It shows up on lists; it has fans. On the surface, this is a novel about a guy trapped fighting an interstellar war in giant combat suits. As such, is seems like it should be an action novel. The main character, Mandella, spends his time travelling between conflicts at near the speed of light. Because he’s moving so quickly, relativity comes into play. From Mandella’s point of view only a few years have passed since the beginning of the war, but on Earth, centuries have passed.

As the war progresses, Mandella glimpses the evolution of the human species and culture on fast forward. Therefore, this is really a book about how humans develop in response to the many pressures they face. As Mandella moves farther and farther from the point of his birth, humanity drifts into a less and less recognizable species.

It’s a good book and surprisingly approachable despite the cultural attitude shifts since the time it was written in the 70’s. Many of the social shifts that Haldeman predicts are less obvious because culture has already moved a couple steps in that direction. Otherwise, it has held up well. There are several times when I think the use of profanity borders on the silly, but it isn’t really a problem.


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The new plan...

I've been doing the blog the same way for long that I'm having a hard time figuring out how reorganize it. The whole idea is to shake up my writing, but life is busy and I'm having a hard time writing at all. The best idea I have is to theme the days that I write for my blog and try to reestablish the writing habit and then go from there.

So if I'm writing three to four posts a week here's the plan (for now

Sunday - Food or cooking
Monday - On Reading
Thursday- On Education
Saturday - Wild Card

I'm trying to play to my interests ;0)

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

So, I’ve figured it out. People who read tend to have well developed imaginations. People with well developed imaginations like to daydream about being action heros. Librarians, as a group, are big readers. Therefore, Librarians like to imagine themselves as action heros. Ta Da!

This explains this recent trend of Librarian action heros. Between “The Mummy” and “The Librarians,” it is starting to become ‘a thing’. Highly enjoyable though.

The Invisible Library posits a universe filled with alternate realities and a somewhat mystical library situated in the space inbetween the alternates. Agents of the library (i.e. librarians) go on missions to the alternate versions of earth to collect up rare literature. So....spy-librarians.

Irene is one such librarian and she takes her student, Kai, to a quarantined world to find a rare text. Only the mission isn’t what it seems, the library’s biggest threat is on site, and Kai is something other than he appears to be. Oh...and there is a Sherlock Holmes analog knocking about. Good times.

If you are looking for a fun action packed read, this is a good pick. It’s fluff, yummy fun fluff.


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The Crown by Kiera Cass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me start by saying, I didn’t think it would end this way. The whole selection series is a weird little intersect between a romance and court intrigue, but for teenagers. The first three books in the series are about America and Maxon. These last two cover their daughter, Eadlyn’s, selection.

In this last book, Eadlyn finally becomes a more appealing character. I spent most of The Heir wishing someone would assassinate her, but she finally turned into a sympathetic character in The Crown. For Eadlyn, she had to realize that she was spoiled and awful before she could become something better and the men in the selection were part of that journey.

I think the best thing going here is how much Eadlyn really is trying to do right by her people and country. That’s her primary character quality and it works as a source of sympathy and as a source of conflict.

That being said, the set-up felt forced in these two books. Men and women just handle relationships differently and the selection idea makes more sense with women in the pool than men. I don’t like that, but it’s just the way it feels. There was some acknowledgement of this, but it was handled in a cursory way.

This is a good conclusion to the series as a whole and worth reading if you made it through The Heir.


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Free From the Grind...

It's strange how easy it is for time to disappear. Having made the decision  to change the blog, I'm having a hard time writing at all. I guess I need to put some thought into a schedule of sorts. I was crunching numbers, and while I'm on track for overall numbers, I was 14 non YA books behind. As of this moment, I'm only twelve behind: I finished The Forever War by Joe Haldeman and The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman. I'm partway through two more non-YAs. So I'm thinking I can get it down to 10 behind by the end of the week.

In terms of time. The time is still there, obviously I just need to find a way to use it again. Next post will be a plan.

I promise.

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Fangirl is about Cather, one of a set of identical twins, and her first year in college. Her sister, Wren, is also there, but she has chosen to live seperate from her twin for the first time in their lives. Cather is the withdrawn one that has difficulty adjusting to new situations. She has panic attacks. Oh, and she writes fanfic about a Potter-ish character called Simon Snow. That’s really her thing and she’s writing a conclusion to the Snow series before it’s author can get the final book out.

It’s a kind of coming of age novel that balances an impressive number of narrative threads. One thread is the conflict between Cather and Wren, one is the relationship between Cather and her roommate, another is Cather and various guys, another is Cather and her journey as a writer, and yet another is Cather’s Simon Snow story. There’s a lot going on and it is surprisingly well balanced.

My one criticism of the book is that the end is a little abrupt. While many of the threads hit a sort of resolution, it just didn’t feel satisfying. However, even so, the journey is worth it even if the end didn’t wow me.

Like so much of my reading, I picked this up because a student recommended it. In fact, she raved about it, I have to concede that she has pretty good taste.


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Library Pet-Peeves

I love libraries. They are places of learning filled with books. People go there to study and to read. Sometimes they go to help other people learn. When you borrow a book from a library, you read a book someone else read, maybe many other somebodies. Somebody else read that book and loved it or hated it and gave it back just as you will. It's like being part of a both really exclusive and very accepting club.

I love libraries.

I love them, but there are things that really bug me too. For example, in a series of five books why have book one and book five? Why do that. Why is there never a children's librarian on duty when I can bring my child? Why does my local library have a full time security guard? I get that some people are awful and do bad things, but a library doesn't seem like a big target for major crime. Having to pass a security guard is a little off putting.

Speaking of other people using libraries, who goes to a library drunk? (And why doesn't the security guard send them home?) Why do packs of people show up at the library and talk really loudly....there are meeting rooms for that. Why do people complain about library fines. It's a simple system, return the book or renew it so that others can read it.

Above all, why is it so hard to get the librarian out to teach my kids about library use. I've been trying on and off for 10 years and it has literally never worked. I'm starting to get really frustrated with this. 

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Simon vs. Homo Sapiens Agenda is a charming high school romance that also happens to be a coming out story. At its core, the story is about two high schoolers who found each other through tumblr and fell in love by emailing each other anonymously. The epistolary elements layer over Simon’s struggle with coming out to his friends and family and the added complication of an acquaintance, Martin, using that information to blackmail him into hooking Martin up with his friend Abby.

It’s a great setup for a romance, high school or otherwise. Albertalli has a comfortable writing style and treats her characters and their issues with respect. Even Martin comes off as sympathetic in the end. I can’t speak to whether the coming out angle feels authentic since it isn’t something I’ve experienced for myself, however it felt genuine to me.

I have a couple of students who love this book. It features short chapters and a tight linear plot structure. Despite having about six major characters, Albertalli sticks to Simon’s point of view.

Overall, good book. I would recommend it.

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September Listing

September is about trying new things for me. I've reorganized how I want to do things here, but some things must remain the same. It's strange that this time around I had an easier filling in the Non-YA list. Maybe my taste is shifting again?

In any case, I'm looking forward to it.


Non-YA

1. Ramen Fusion Cookbook by Nell Benton
2. Bradbury Stories by Ray Bradbury
3. Armada by Ernest Cline (Finished 9/18/2018)
4. The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman (finished 9/9/2018)
5. The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
6. The Universe in a Single Atom by Dalai Lama
7. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman
8. Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher
9. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (Finished 9/9/2018)
10. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
11. Alice by Christina Henry
12. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
13. Simply Ramen by Amy Kimoto-Kahn
14. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
15. Mastering the Art Japanese Home Cooking by Morimoto
16. The Pho Cookbook by Adrea Nguyen
17. From Darkest Skies by Sam Peters (Library)
18. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
19. The Song Rising by Smantha Shannon
20. The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard
21. Takashi's Noodles by Takashi Yagihashi
22. The Marriage Bureau for Rich People by Farahad Zama (Library)

YA

1. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (finished 9/2/2018)
   
2. The Crown by Kiera Cass (finished 9/5/2018)
3. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
4. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle
5. The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid
6. Relish: My Life In the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
7. Legend by Marie Lu
8. Prodigy by Marie Lu
9. Champion by Marie Lu
10. Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
11. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
12. Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull
13. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
14. When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
15. Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (Finished 9/17/2018)
16. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (Finished 9/4/2018)
17. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
20. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
21. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey
22. The Curse of the Wendigo by Rick Yancey
23. The Isle of Blood by Rick Yancey
24. The Final Descent by Rick Yancey

The Decision

Ok, so I've taken some time and really thought my issues with the blog. I think the blog is valuable, but trying to come up with meaningful posts every day wears. Also I really would like to interact with people on the books which means my blog isn't the best primary venue. So here's what I'm going to try:

1. I'm going to move my book reviews over to GoodReads. I think there is a way to cross post from there to my blogs, and if that is the case, those posts will show up here in some form. If I can't get that to work, I'll put up a summary link post once a week for those who are interested in what I'm up to.

2. I'm going to continue to blog, some of it will be about reading and books (just not actual reviews). However I'm going to aim for 3 - 4 posts a week (of the meaningful variety)

Between the two, it is probably going to still be the same amount of writing, I'm just hoping to shift the feel of it make it feel better for me. I'll still be posting my reading lists and organizational things.

ok, that is all...September list either today or tomorrow.  :)

Rumination

I've been thinking a lot lately about life and lifespan. That time will eventually run out and there will be things left undone. I have plenty of time in front of me still, but still the sense that there are things that I will not manage to do gives me the screaming fidgets. This is not uncommon for me. I've been acutely aware of my own mortality as long as I can remember. My impression is that most people aren't bothered by these ideas until their mid-30s or even later. I was worrying over it when I was 10, or possibly even earlier.

So, life will end, as it does, sometime in the future. What bothers me, more than that is the ever present feeling that I should be doing something with my time. The feeling that I'm letting it all slip by somehow.

Which is ridiculous.

I'm a teacher, which regardless of official remuneration, most people would agree is a job that matters. I spend my days helping kids who have difficulty learning to succeed in a classroom which often changes their futures for the better. So what I do matters, and I know that.

I'm not sure, exactly what it is my hind-brain thinks I should be doing. I wish I did. I always come back to the idea of writing and it still appeals, but realistically, unless I'm both very good and very lucky, I'm going to affect more people teaching.

Also, why is it so important to my silly little back brain that I affect people?

Any way, I'm currently struggling with all this which is causing this pervasive feeling of dissatisfaction. It's affecting a lot of things. This blog for instance. Who cares if anyone reads it if it makes me happy to write it, which it does at times. Yet still, it bothers me.

Insecure

I disappeared for a while, I know. I have been considering closing the blog down. On the one hand, I do like having the structure of writing each day and the book posts help me keep all my reading straight. On the other, I've been feeling lately like most of what I have to say is inane and that most people (who read me at all) skip the posts that I am most proud of i.e. the book posts. I mean people should do what they want, and life is too short to read things that don't interest, but it is pretty discouraging.

On top of that, it's embarrassing that there are so many grammar and spelling errors in my posts. Now, that's because I'm usually writing when I'm at my most tired and the grind of churning out posts every day doesn't help. It's not that I can't produce perfect copy, I just don't.

So, yeah.

I haven't really made a decision yet, but I have begun to wonder what the point of it is. If it is just for me, than it doesn't need to be online. If the point is to connect to other readers....it's not working.

*shrug*

The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds

Susan brought this title into library and I pounced. I even retro-added it to the August list so I could dive right in. It took me about two days to plow through it. Jason Reynolds is a good writer. I first became aware of him at a NCTE conference where I saw him talk about his book All American Boys. He's a tall man and soft spoken. When he talked, it was clear how much he cared about the story. I was impressed.

The Boy In the Black Suit is about grief primarily. Matt's mother has died and his dad is in the process of climbing into a bottle. Matt's a mess. He's trying to finish school and he needs to find a job for his co-op. So he goes to the local fast food restaurant to apply. Only he ends up taking a job with the local funeral director, Mr Ray, instead.

Working with Mr. Ray, Matt has the opportunity to observe how others grieve and so he begins to heal.

I've read books about grief before or at least where the major theme was a grieving character. It's surprising to read a book like this that is so overwhelmingly upbeat. There is a love story wrapped up in it all, but that's not what makes it upbeat. It's the characters. Each has experienced loss. Each is at a different stage of the grieving process, and it's like they help each other along.

This isn't the kind of book I would ever reread, but it was an excellent book and I would recommend it to my students.

Book Abandonment

I have to abandon a book. Jodi Picoult's book Small Great Things looks like it is probably a great book, but I just can't do it right now. I have, for no particular reason and with no sense of purpose, been reading a lot of books lately on a similar theme, and it is beginning to wear on me.

Books like this are important, socially. We all need to be, regardless of background, more aware of those deep rooted prejudices that we are subject to and fight against. However, reading book after book after book on the theme has left me feeling pretty cruddy. I don't think of myself as racist, but read enough books where characters continually insist that all white people are in some way and I start to internalize it. I'm sure that I have been guilty of racially insensitive from time to time but I've been on the receiving end of that too. People have an unfortunate tendency to categorize and make assumptions and it always feels bad to get caught in that.

So, I'm taking a break. I'm pretty sure I will come back to the book, but it's a difficult theme and I need to process what I've already read. That will take some time.

Big Hero 6 - the animated series

When my students told me about "Big Hero 6" a few years ago, I thought it was the dumbest idea. I mean come on, it's a healthcare robot turned super hero. It's an odd idea, but in practice it ends up being a really fun and the movie is really more about a young man processing his grief after the death of his brother.  It's the kind of movie that basically screams for a sequel.

No luck on the sequel. Instead, they launched an animated T.V. series. We bought the first season and it's about what I expected. The animation quality is less, and the writing is...different. Many of the character nuances are preserved and it's still a lot of fun.

We'll see how it goes.

(I can't believe they brought back Yama.)

New Boy by Tracy Chevalier

I found this while browsing the new book shelf at one of my local libraries. It has been years since I though about Tracy Chevalier's books. I was still working at the library last time I read one. However, it's a familiar name and interesting subject matter. It's also been years since I read "Othello," so reading a retelling of the story appealed.

Chevalier recast the story as a 1970's playground drama with 11 and 12 year old characters. Osei (Othello) is the son of a Ghanaian diplomat who has just moved to a suburb of Washington D.C. and is starting at a new school at the end of the school year. He is the only black face in an otherwise homogeneously white school. Dee (Desdemona) is something of a good girl teacher's pet who is asked to help Osei adjust on his first day. The attraction is instantaneous in the way of elementary school romances.

Ian (Iago) is the self styled king of the playground and sees Osei as a threat to his dominance. He then manipulates his sort of girlfriend Mimi (Emilia) into helping him convince Osei that Dee is two timing him with Casper (Casio). Mimi, of course, doesn't realize what it is she is helping set up, but is desperate to be free of Ian.

It's a pretty faithful retelling.

Of course it ends horribly; it is "Othello" after all. Transposing it to a playground made it somehow more chilling but I wasn't convinced by how calculating Ian was and the sexual overtones that come directly from the play seemed out of place with 11 year olds. The final moment of the novel is spare in its delivery and ends with the act. Shakespeare also left us with little denouement, but there is at least a sense that Iago will be punished. As tragic as Shakespeare's Othello is, placing it on a playground with little kids just makes it even more awful.

Nagging

Days like this, I understand my students's lack of motivation. If I could think of a topic, I could write about it, I'm sure. It just feels like my creative centers are all shut down.

It's exhaustion I know. Ashley woke me up at 1 AM. I just need more sleep.

Darn cats.

Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman

Have I ever expressed how frustrating I find reading a book and then having to wait for the next one to be written? Darn you Shusterman! (rending of hair and clothes will now commence)

Not really.

However, he really kicked over the hornet's nest at the end of this one and, dash it all, I want to know what happens. I have to wait for book three to come out: The Toll. I'm not even sure there is a release date yet. I hate waiting.

Alright, so, I got into the series as part of my larger mission to read all the Printz prize books. Scythe won a Printz honor. Then I found out that it was the beginning of a series and here we are. The thing is, it is probably worth the suspense. Shusterman has a knack for creating interesting worlds and working through interesting philosophical questions.

In the Arc of the Scythe series, Shusterman is working through two philosophical questions. 1. What would humanity be like if individuals did not face death? 2. What would a benevolent AI be like? In Thunderhead, he seems to be working on the character of the world controlling AI, Thunderhead. The AI only barely shows up in the first book.

In Thunderhead it becomes clear that the AI is, in its way, trying to do its best to protect humanity. However, because it is constrained by rules and because it is a computer and must follow its rules, it comes into conflict. This causes it to play an elaborate game of chess for high stakes and its pawns aren't generally aware they are being played.

This was a disturbingly good read. The interplay between the narratives for Citra, Rowan, and Greyson (new character) contrasts well with the snippets of editorial from the Thunderhead's point of view. Shusterman does an excellent job balancing the multiple view points and plot lines.

Worth the read.

exhaustion

There is something about the beginning of school that is always exhausting. Exhaustion isn't just tired, in fact one might not be physically strained at all. Exhaustion can, and often is, purely mental in nature. Exhaustion is the state when all of one's energy, whether it be mental or physical, is used up as well as all the reserves. Or to put it another way, puts one on the brink of collapse.

The first couple weeks of class always knock me over. Partly it's the activity level. Teachers move around a lot, they are constantly moving and shifting between tasks. It's one of the things I like about the job. However, there just isn't as much going on during my summers so readjusting in August is always a strain physically.

More so than the physical activity, teaching is a mental pursuit for me. Every student is a puzzle, particularly with the LD population. So, the beginning of every year is like being presented with a bunch of puzzles that all have to be worked on post haste. It's glorious. It's exhausting.

I'm so tired right now.

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

Sometimes I find our language severely lacking. I need a word that means - the knowledge that a book is good without ever wanting to talk about it. In the case of Annihilation I don't want to talk about it because it is seriously creepy and mind bendy. Some books are simply designed to make the reader uncomfortable. Goal achieved Mr. Vandermeer.

That said, I intend to read the rest of the trilogy. Creepiness aside, it was an intriguing read. The premise is that we are reading the field journal of a biologist who is investigating the mysterious Area X with a team of scientists and other professionals. This is the twelfth such mission. All the previous mission have either ended with deaths, disappearances, or with members mysteriously showing up at there homes.

The biologist is something of an odd one. She seems both intelligent and emotionally closed off. The intelligence draws the reader in, but the emotional distance is off putting.There is some suggestion that she may be an unreliable narrator early on which adds to the tension as things start to go wrong. The linguist doesn't make it over the border into Area X and it is all down hill from there. As things devolve, more of the mystery is revealed. By the end of the book I wasn't any more sure things than I was in the beginning.

I really want to know what's going on, therefore I will read the next book.

Incidentally, there might not be a word in English that meets my needs, but we have borrowed plenty of words from other languages with specialized meanings. My favorite is tsundoku borrowed from Japanese that means, roughly, the process of buying books and not reading them; or letting books pile up unread.

Great word.

In the Interest of Sanity...

I'm going to a faux post. School starts tomorrow and even as a teacher I still get first day jitters. I'm always convinced I've forgotten something critical. So instead of stressing the blog I'm going to post a comic, drink some sleepy time tea, and go to bed....hopefully early.

mmmmmmm tea.

He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander

I'm a fan of Kwame Alexander, not for myself and my own reading, but as a teacher. A significant proportion of my students are struggling readers. Their struggles come from many places. Some are dyslexic, some have issues with generalized language processing, some just struggle so much with ADHD that they have difficulty tracking a story. Occasionally, I have kids who's eyes don't work in a standard way. Whatever the reason, reading is a chore for them. So, imagine asking a kid who views reading as torture to pick a book for independent reading that they'll enjoy.

Yeah.

It doesn't go over well.

In these cases, I need to help them find a book that is both interesting to them and something that won't push them past the point of frustration. I have about ten books that I tend to turn to first in these situations, Kwame Alexander wrote two of them. Crossover and Booked both feature young men who are athletes who are dealing with difficult situations in their lives. Both books are novels in verse. The subject matter makes it relevant to my students and the format makes it less intimidating for the struggling reader. I think all that white space makes them feel like it's less work to read...even though interpreting poetry is generally a higher order skill than interpreting prose. (I don't tell them that though.)

When I become a fan of an author I tend to follow them and try to read all of their books which is how I picked up He Said, She Said. I was expecting another novel in verse...actually I was expecting a lot of things based on the other two books of his I've read. This is not a novel in verse and it is not told from a solely male perspective. He Said, She Said is told from alternating points of view between a boy named Omar (or T-Diddy) and a girl named Claudia. The book is also prose studded with phone texts and Facebook posts.

Omar is his high school's star quarterback. He's starts out a stereotype of the popular jock type. He's frivolous in his affect and he treats women as interchangeable bed partners. Claudia, on the other hand, has no time for that. She's Harvard bound and socially motivated - she writes for the school newspaper.

In the beginning Omar is trying to get Claudia into bed (she's in no way interested.) However, things begin to shift when the school cuts funding for the arts programs, all of the arts programs. Omar masterminds a protest to impress Claudia, but it soon becomes something more.

I am impressed by this book. Many of Alexander's books are about protagonists dealing with deeply personal issues. Omar and Claudia have personal issues going on but this is as much about the impact of non-violent protest. It's an excellent book for teens to read.

Artemis by Andy Weir

I was late on the Andy Weir bandwagon. I somehow missed all the initial fuss over The Martian and didn't get around to reading it until the movie was just about out. I still haven't seen the movie. They followed the movie with an announcement for his new book: Artemis. Then I had to wait. I hate waiting mainly because I have a tendency to lose track of things. I forgot about it until last June when I put a request on in in the library. It took a month for my turn to come up, but eventually the time was mine.

Artemis is another sci-fi of the old school focused on the science and its possibilities, or maybe more exactly it's a crime caper set in a classic sci-fi story. This one is set on a moon base in the nearish future. A small community lives there full time in a city called Artemis. This city is separated into several interconnected domes that represent a full social diversity from the rich rich and all the way down to the impoverished. Jazz, our protagonist, is pretty far down the social chain. She's a porter, a delivery girl, and a small time smuggler on the side.

Weir spent a lot of time getting the science right, or at least feasible. Oxygen is produced on site as a by-product of the aluminum smelting industry. The process is a little mysterious, but the theory sounds possible. Jazz gets involved in it when one of her clients asks her to do a little sabotage to break the monopoly that the Aluminun Smelters have.

Of course, Jazz doesn't have the whole story and quickly finds out that she's one tiny cog in interlocking plots of corporate espionage. She's in over head and learning to doggy paddle.

Jazz is an interesting character. She's angry at the world and brilliant. Her ability to improvise and plan is insane and her ability to teach herself everything from metallurgy to chemistry makes her a near genius. In fact, her blatant intelligence occasionally broke my ability to believe the story. I'm a teacher... an ability to learn like that is rare if not impossible. It strained my willing suspension of disbelief. However, as a whole she's pretty likable.

As a final assessment, Artemis is reminiscent of the literature of the golden age of sci fi in both the positive and negative ways. On the positive, the science is interesting and probably mostly feasible. The one place I noticed Weir fudging was in the aluminum smelting process. The rest of it all seemed very well researched and explained and that includes architecture, the specifics of living surrounded by a vacuum, and specific concerns of living on a moon base. On the negative, the characters are a little cartooney and have a broader base of expertise than is really possible. All in all, a lot of fun.

Lists, lists, and more lists

As it turns out, Goodreads sponsors a YA week every year. I tend to miss it because it's right when everything is gearing up for school. Life gets hectic and I miss things. This year I managed to catch it. It isn't like there is a festival or anything, but they do put together several interesting lists.

I have a love hate thing going with reading lists. They can be a great way to find new literature and authors. In fact, I've found some amazing reads through lists of one sort or another.  As a downside though, I tend to be a completionist. I always want to complete things whether it is a feasible goal or not. With books that can be a problem. Appreciating a book can come down to many factors. There are many books that I've had to start several times before getting a successful read going. They were good books too, I just had to be ready for them.

When it comes to YA, it isn't just about my personal reading. It's about my students, so the lists are helpful.

I just have to resist start a new completion project

New Month, New List

Ahhhhh, school. Summer reading is over (almost) and it's time to get back into routines. I've stayed on track for overall number of books but I'm falling behind for non-YA by about 8 titles. By the end of August I should be at 33 non YA, and I'm currently at 22. So it is time to dig in and work on reading those more mature selections. Naturally I need to get through my library books first but otherwise I'm going to try to get through at least six non-YA this month. I'm honestly not sure if it's possible or pragmatic for me to do that. I just can't blast through Non-YA as fast as YA. We'll see.

Non YA

1. New Boy by Tracy Chevalier (finished 8/11/2018))
2. Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher
3. Alice by Christina Henry
4. The Cambridge Companion to Science Fiction by Edward James and Farah Mendlesohn
5. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
6. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
7. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
8. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
9. Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (8/5/2018)
10. Artemis by Andy Weir (8/2/2018)
11. The Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard

YA

1. Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (Borrowed from a student)
2. He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander  (8/4/2018)
3. The Boy in the Black Suit by Kwame Alexander (8/14/2018)
4. Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard
5. The Selection by Kiera Cass (8/22/2018)
6. The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
7. Tiger's Curse by Coleen Houck
8. Legend by Marie Lu
9. Prodigy by Marie Lu
10. Champion by Marie Lu
11. Grip of the Shadow Plague by Brandon Mull
12. Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary by Brandon Mull
13. Keys to the Demon Prison by Brandon Mull
14. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
15. A List of Cages by Robin Roe
16. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
17. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
18. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
19. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
20. Thunderhead by Neil Shusterman (read 8/8/2018)
21. It's Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
22. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak

The Feeling of Having to Turn Back a Library Book Before One Is Finished Reading It...

All though it wasn't like I relinquished it, digital lending libraries take back their books will you  nil you. For a solid day and a half I've been racing the clock and...I failed. I was defeated. I couldn't stay awake through the night. I was weak!! I slept, and now I'm back on the hold waiting list for Ernest Cline's Armada....

Maybe I should just buy it...

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

It always occurred to me that fairy and folk tales are filled with some really nasty critters and that the bulk of them seem out to kill humans. The ones that aren't overtly hostile tend to be neutral at best. Many of the ones that are benign are easy to offend to disastrous effect. As cool as they are, I'm not sure I would ever really want to meet one. They are too sinister as a whole.

Even though this is true, there's a ton of fey folk popping up in literature and so much of the time they come across as benign or even silly.

In the world of Fabelhaven the world's fairies aren't fictions, they are endangered creatures, so certain humans gather them up in preserves. Seth and Kendra's grandfather is one of these people which is something neither children nor their parents realize when they are dropped off for some quality time with the grandparents. These are not benign or silly versions of the fairy tale world. These critters are dangerous or even deadly. Being the guardian of such a preserve doesn't guarantee the good will of the inhabitants.

Both kids quickly realize something is strange about the house and grounds. Grandma is missing and there are a lot of strange rules. Kendra is inclined to follow the rules, but Seth is more curious and reckless. When the rules get broken, a powerful evil force is unleashed and the kids have to find a way to fix it on their own.

So, this is cute. I picked it up because two of my big readers swore by the series. I don't think it's destined to be my next favorite series, but I do plan to finish reading through the five book run.

The end of Summer

The end of summer break is always a mixed thing. I like the free floating time to work on things but I also get board. This was a good summer. We didn't do any big trips or work on any big projects but we spent a lot of time as a family. We took Thomas to the pool several days each week and he got plenty of time with his grandparents.

I managed to get some smaller projects done. I reorganized the kitchen, started clearing the back yard, and shifted some furniture around. We haven't really sorted through our accumulated stuff in the time since we moved into the house.  I spent a large amount of time this weekend sorting through my back log of books to get my classroom library back together. I'm not sure of the exact number, but it looks like I'm adding over 100 titles which is exciting.

I've come to the realization that I will never catch up on all the reading I want to do. I know this isn't shocking to others, but I still cherish the day dream of infinite time, I guess.

I love this picture from The Millions article on prolific writers: https://themillions.com/2015/09/thats-too-much-the-problem-with-prolific-writers.html 

Saint Iggy by K.L. Going

I have accidentally started collecting K.L. Going books. Collecting but not reading. Out of her seven books, I've somehow gathered up three of them without even realizing, so I decided to give one a try. I had Saint Iggy with me in Tennessee.

Iggy is a delinquent by his own estimation. The story begins on the day that he is ejected from his school which will lead to a hearing which will probably lead to an expulsion. Many delinquents wouldn't care, but Iggy does. Iggy does because he's not really a delinquent.

Certainly, Iggy struggles with school. He was born already hooked on a drug which is what happens when an infant's mother takes drugs while she is pregnant. He thinks that he is stupid and perhaps he's not the brightest, but it seems to me that his biggest issue is focus. Everything seems to distract him and he constantly imagines conversations in his head.

Iggy also has a friend, Mo, who is supposed to be a kind of mentor, but really is just another kid looking for a drug problem. Iggy can see that unless something changes, Mo is going to get himself killed. He also wants to clear his hearing and make it back into the good graces of the school. These two problems drive the narrative.

The story was quick paced and easy to read. The book features short chapters, a linear plot, and a single point of view. So, it's a good book for struggling readers. The end however, is oddly jarring. It's not how I would have expected it to end and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It fits the story, but it didn't seem to be where things were headed.

It was decent, I didn't love it.

Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow

There is a fantastic used bookstore in Chattanooga called McKay's. Every time we pass through the city we try to stop by. Usually I'm trolling around for YA novels for my classroom library, but this time I was actually trying to find myself some literary fiction. Since deciding that I was going to read 50 non YA books this year, I've had to face the fact that my taste in literary fiction has become somewhat atrophied over the last several years. I'm on a very laid back mission to work on that.

To that end, I snagged an E.L. Doctorow novel: Homer & Langley. My reasoning on this is a little vague, but here's how it went. Fact 1: over ten years ago a person, who's taste in literature I trust, recommended that I read Ragtime. I dutifully bought the book and never managed to read it. I later found out that this is not an entirely uncommon experience of the book. Fact 2: I became a fan of Cory Doctorow. Fun tidbit - Cory Doctorow is not at all related to E.L. Doctorow, but speaks of him highly. I figured therefore that I would give good ole E.L. another chance.

So then, Homer & Langley.  Well the good news is that I was riveted. I read most of it in the car on the way back from Chattanooga. I finished it the next day on the couch which resulted in me wallowing in a profound funk. Reading Homer & Langley is like watching a train wreck happen. I mean it's just awful. Both Homer and Langley are easy to sympathize with and the entire book is watching them slowly descend into secluded insanity.

Homer and Langley are the children  of privilege living in New York City. The lived in an elegant home during and elegant time. Homer is blind. He goes blind as a teenager. Langley, the older brother, survives the first world war but is ravaged by a mustard gas attack. By the time Langley gets home, the sibling's parents succumb to the influenza epidemic.

Langley isn't right in the head and slowly descends into madness. Homer, due a somewhat passive nature, becomes more and more reliant on his mad brother who compulsively collects junk and feels a deep distrust of most.

It doesn't end well.

In fact, the end was so awful that I ended up feeling just deeply icky and depressed. The only thing that made me feel better was to find out that the book is based on two real brothers who lived in New York. I'm not sure why that should make me feel better, but somehow it does. I spent the rest of the evening reading up on Homer and Langley Collyer who are one of the most notorious and publicized cases of compulsive hoarding. Interesting stuff.

Ok, next... something happy.

Well *sigh*

It feels like this summer has been fraught with more than its share of obstacles which make for a tidy excuse for why I haven't been blogging. In all honesty, the various digital issues have made it difficult. There have been several days when it has been impossible or at least extremely difficult to upload a post. However, most of the days I missed, I could have written a post, I just didn't.

The reason I bring it up is that it makes me think about the nature of habit. I like writing the blog, which is why I do it, so why is it hard to get posts up right now. I don't know, but I think it has to do with habit. Usually, I write the post either right after I get up in the morning or after we eat dinner. I do it every day and it really isn't a problem to sit down and get it done. After a while, that's just what I do at those times and I don't really have to think about doing it, I just do it. So what happened? The difficulties broke my momentum and because they kept happening, and I kept having trouble getting it back together, I lost my habit.

My dentist tells me that it takes 30 repetitions to make anything a habit. She usually tells me this in terms of flossing (I hate flossing), but the idea is sound. Do anything, at regular intervals, 30 times and it becomes an impulse. Its actually something I've observed, but I've always thought about it in terms of momentum. The resistance I feel taking on a task usually has to do with the logistics around the task, the whens, wheres, and hows. Once those are set in place, the task becomes easier. After a few days of that, it becomes something I miss if I don't perform the task.

So here I go, revving up the momentum machine.

quick up date

I disappeared because our wifi was practically not working. I'd write posts and lost all of it when it was time to upload. We think we have it fixed now...so I'll start back up tomorrow.

Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

First a disclaimer: It feels impossible to talk about my experience of this book without dealing with the Disney cartoon....so Disney, please don't sue me, I have not nice things to say about what you did to this story.

Alright, but what's new about that. Disney is forever adapting classic stories and departing mightily from their base material. So, I wasn't exactly shocked. Although in this case, it feels like Disney really tried to preserve the basic lesson of the story but ended up stripping away much of Pinocchio's character development.

I'm getting ahead of myself.

Pinocchio was first published in 1883 and is the fable about a sentient wooden puppet who wishes to be a real boy. Pinocchio, however, starts out as one of the most impossibly awful kid imaginable. He lies, he argues, he's violent, and he never does what he's told. I mean kids do all those things, but not generally to the exclusion of all other behavior. Pinocchio then spends the two or so years of the narrative going through a constant series of adventures that would be more properly labeled trials. Each of these adventures begins when Pinocchio does something bad and, as a result of his actions, horrible things happen to him and usually ends with him crying and lamenting both his behavior and his situation. At that point, a parental figure of some sort forgives him and he resolves to be better. Of the entirety of the novel Pinocchio gradually improves and does eventually become a real boy.

The fable works really on only one level, but there is some interesting subtly to it. Pinocchio is a puppet and therefore not real. In order to become real, he must learn to act as a 'good boy.' So to be human is to act in accordance with virtue.  To act out of step with this virtues makes a person less than human. These virtues are explicitly stated several times. Good boys listen and obey their parent figures, they go to school, study, and work hard. They also are selfless to the needs of others, generous, industrious, and honest. Failing any of these virtues lands Pinocchio into trouble, but Collodi seems feel that dishonesty and slothfulness are particularly bad and reserves special punishments for them. When Pinocchio is dishonest his nose grows and slothfulness turns little boys into donkeys.

Pinocchio also fits the mold as an epic hero in the sense that he descends into the underworld (several times actually) and is transformed by it.

Collodi was writing in the time right after the unification of Italy and all his children's books are apparently didactic. He was addressing what he felt were the ills of the youth of his time. Apparently Italian youth were particularly dishonest and idle.

As is always the case, the book is better than the movie. Pinocchio is actually one of my least favorite Disney movies because it all seems so disjointed and episodic. The book puts those disjointed scenes in context and gives Pinocchio a real character arc.

The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson

When I'm impressed by an author, I have a tendency to gather up all of that author's books so that I can read them. This can be a bit of a challenge when I'm catching a writer at the end of their career. In this case, I found Jandy Nelson on her second book, I'll Give You the Sun, because it won a Printz award in 2015. The Sky is Everywhere is her first book. I'm all caught up at this point, at least until she publishes her next book.

Lennon begins the book grieving the loss of her elder sister, Bailey, who dies of a freak fatal arrhythmia. She's 17 and her sister was 19. Both children were abandoned by their mother and are being raised by their grandmother and uncle. Every character in this book is what we used to call flaky when I was a kid. Gram is a master gardener who paints portraits of women only using the color green. Big, the uncle, is a massive Casanova arborist who's been married (and divorced) five times. Bailey was a free-spirited actress diva. Lennon is a master clarinetist who's read Wuthering Heights thirty some odd times. All of them are a little off, but they are all just really nice and sympathetic people.

Everyone's sad and trying to recover, but Lennon and Toby (Bailey's boyfriend) seem to be drowning in their grief. Lennon and Toby get closer due to their shared grief. When Lennon returns for the end of school, she meets the new guy Joe fresh in from Paris. Joe is obviously intrigued by her. Soon Lennon finds herself stuck between these two boys.

There is a heavy romance angle to this one. This book is drowning in hormones. While no actual sex, or really anything approaching sex, happens, there is a lot of very intense kissing and making out. Really. Very intense. However, that's not really what the book is about. This is not a romance novel. Ultimately this is a book about getting through grief and the kinds of mixed up emotions that happen as part of the grief process. Everything that happens between Lennon and Toby makes sense in the context of the novel. If anything, the relationship between her and Joe seems the more off key. That being said, I found the resolution touching and spent the whole last third of the book crying.

Jandy Nelson specializes in making me cry. Both her books have had me sobbing at some point during the read and it's not cheap emotion. She has a knack for creating sympathetic characters who are struggling with situations that most of us can relate to. Result = sob fest.

The Great Kitchen Reorganization

This is one of those posts that will probably only amuse me. However, I spent half of yesterday reorganizing my kitchen. I'm not good at cleaning and I tend to be a little cluttered at the best of time, but the one space where I really think about how things go is in the kitchen. I know that sometimes it doesn't look like there is a system, but there is.

The trick with organizing my kitchen is twofold. 1. I have almost no pantry space because what had been a pantry was turned into a laundry room by the previous owners. 2. I have a well equipped and provisioned kitchen which translates to: I have a lot of stuff. The fact that we eat a large variety of legumes and grains complicates this. So, I've taken to keeping much or our dry goods store in attractive containers on the counters. Additionally, somehow my counters became the mail drop spot which has a bad tendency to spread and having a kid means a lot of prepacking food which means a lot of tupperware. Lots of clutter.

We went to Costco and ran across a twelve pack of my favorite oxo containers at a good price. They are not cheap, but they are life savers for me given how much dried bean and grain I keep on hand. Before the discovery of the oxo containers, everything was in some sort of plastic bag (which tended to tear) and got shoved in random nooks and crannies (which meant I lost track of them). These oxo containers are durable, attractive, and stack well. By using them, I can see what I have and I don't tend to lose track of what I have and overbuy as much.

So, I bought the twelve pack of oxos as an early birthday present to myself. Yay. That combined with the spice racks my dad gifted to me was the basis of my project. However, the problem, then,was that in order to use the oxos and the racks, I needed to deal with the encroaching clutter. Ok, it's a sad truth that life can be a bit overwhelming. When we bought the house five years ago, things started to get pretty busy. We bought the house and then rather soon after got pregnant. When we moved in, I organized in a way that I knew would eventually need to get revised. So, I moved the mail off the counter (don't ask where I put it), I emptied two drawers that hadn't been properly utilized and threw away a lot of the old fish supplies, since I'm not currently keeping a fish tank and much of was expired. I put all the cooking spoons, spatulas and related cooking implements in one of the drawers (except for the potato masher because those things just never fit in drawers....grrrr).

I reorganized one of the cabinets, discovered I own a wok, and made space for the blender, food processor, and standing mixer which had been languishing behind a bank of the previous oxos. This had made them almost entirely unusable. Now I'll be able to get at them. I also moved all the attachments for the appliances over with them which freed up space in a cabinet. Ah ha! I moved all of Thomas's Tupperware up off the counter and into the vacated space.

I moved my potato and citrus storage rack over into the space vacated by the stand mixer which meant I could move all the onions up off the floor and into a colander on the opposite side of the counter. Incidentally, you shouldn't keep your potatoes stored next to onions, they each release chemicals that cause each other to decay faster.

Ok, so time to start filling oxos. I moved the coffee into one of them...which looks a lot better and is better for keeping the coffee anyway. I reorganized some of my higher use legumes and grains into bigger oxos, and got a lot of my more medium use ones out of bags. The masa harina finally got an oxo of it's own as did my mix grain blend I like to use when I'm getting bored with the usual grain options. All the spices that were in small enough jars went into the rack and I moved the tubs (I need to buy some more spice jars) up ontop of the rack, I moved the knife block, bread box, and battery charger.

So, in the end I tripled my usable counter space. I can see everything I need to see, finally, and the space looks less cluttered. I also netted an empty drawer somehow.

Good times.

Summer Reading Continued

So far I've had some mixed results on the summer reading. It looks like I read a lot, but really I read through two of the graphic novel series that I had ready to go and that counted as 10 books. I also got distracted by my library card. Really. I renewed and then got to looking at the catalog which meant that I was suddenly borrowing books that I had to read sooner than later. This, my friends, is how I never get around to reading things. *sigh*

In any case, I've pulled down all the things I've read and filled in some of the gaps. I am deliberately not filling in the Graphic Novels category. In addition I've added a category for my library and otherwise borrowed queue. It's probable that many of the books fit in to challenge categories but I'll work that out as I read through them.

• To Boldly Go (Read a book of Science Fiction or Fantasy)
1. Fade by Robert Cormier
2. When We Wake by Karen Healey
3. The Revenge Of Seven by Pitticus Lore
4. Legend by Marie Lu
5. Prodigy by Marie Lu
6. Champion by Marie Lu
7. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
8. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
10. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
11. UnSouled by Neal Shusterman
12. Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld 
13. The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
14. The Infinite Sea by Rick Yancey
15. The Last Star by Rick Yancey
• Now Technically... (Read a Book about a Scientific Topic or Scientist)
1. The Double Planet by Isaac Asimov
2. The Universe by Isaac Asimov 
3. Pascal's Wager: The Man Who Played Dice with God by James A. Connor
4. Broadsides from the Other Orders: A Book of Bugs by Sue Hubbell
5. The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
6. The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
7. Engineering In the Ancient World by J.G. Landels
8. Packing for Mars by Mary Roach
9. Stiff by Mary Roach
• Award Winner (Read a book that Won an Award - Finalists count)
1. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson (National Book Award Finalist & O'Dell Award)
2. Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson (Kirkus Reviews Best Book 2010)
3. Tales of the Madman Underground by John Barnes (Printz Honor Book)
4. Love and Other Perishable Items by Laura Buzo (Morris Debut Award Finalist)
5. One Whole and Perfect Day by Judith Clarke (Printz Honor Book)
6. The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson (Printz Honor Book) 
7. Fat Kid Rules he World by K.L. Going (Printz Honor Book)
8. Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer (Nebula)
9. I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak (Printz Award)
• How-To (Read a Book that teaches you a new hobby or skill)
1. How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman (Cooking Vegetarian) 
2. Grammar To Get Things Done by Darren Crovitz and Michelle D. Devereaux (Grammar)
3. Reading Reasons by Kelly Gallagher (Teaching - Reading)
4. Page after Page by Heather Sellers (Writing)
5. "You Gotta Be the Book" by Jeffrey D. Wilhelm (Teaching - Literacy
• Free Space (Read any book you like)
1. Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson
2. Peeled by Joan Bauer
3. The Cemetery Boys by Heather Brewer
4. Uprising by Margaret Peterson Haddix
5. The Arsonist by Stephanie Oakes 
6. A List of Cages by Robin Roe
7. There Is No Dog by Meg Rosoff
8. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
• Picture This! (Read a Graphic Novel)
1. The Nameless City by Faith Erin Hicks
2. The Stone Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
• Seek Diversity (Read a Book with a Main Character of a different Cultural Background From You)
1. Copper Sun by Sharon M. Draper
2. Dark Dude by Oscar Hijuelos
3. The First Part Last by Angela Johnson 
4. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
5. A Step from Heaven by An Na
6. Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins
7. Binu and the Great Wall: The Myth of Meng by Su Tong
8. The Good Women of China: Hidden Voices by Xinran
9. I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai
• Just Wait Until You Read This One! (Read a Book Recommended by a Friend or Relative)
1. Story Time by Edward Bloor (Nick R)
2. Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen (Ryan)
3. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (Amanda)
4. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver (Sandy)
5. On Caring by Milton Mayeroff (Nathan)
6. Swan Song by Robert McCammon (Ryan)
7. Fablehaven 3: Grip of the Shadow Plague
8. Fablehaven 4: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
9. Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult (Jess)
10. Proust and the Squid by Maryanne Wolf (Wilfrid)
• Awww! or Eeek! (Read a Book featuring an Animal on the Cover)
1. Babylon's Ark by Lawrence Anthony (Lion)
2. A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron (Dog)
3. The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales edited by Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling (Crow, Coyote, Rabbit, & Fox)
4. Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman (Bee)
5. Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton (Horse) 
6. The Returning by Christine Hinwood (Horse)
7. Many Waters by Madeleine L'Engle (Elephants & Unicorns)
8. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Bird)
9. The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancy (Crow)
• Library and Otherwise Borrowed
1. Solo by Kwame Alexander (due 7/21/2018)
2. He Said, She Said by Kwame Alexander (waitlist)
3. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (super waitlisted)
4. Armada by Ernest Cline (waitlist)
5. Pinocchio by C. Collodi (Howard's) - (Finished 7/3/2018)
6. Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman (super waitlisted)
7. Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green (finished & returned 7/4/2018)
8. Akata Warrior by Nnedi Okorafor (due 7/24/2018)
9. The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder (waitlist)
10. Artemis by Andy Weir (waitlist)

Zen in the Art of Toddler Parties

Step 1: Find a location with some sort of inherent toddler appeal. Think jungle gym, pool, or swings.
Step 2: Throw your hands in the air. Remember you are not in control of the chaos.
Step 3: In light of the chaos pick start and end times. 2 hours is good, 3 if you are particularly brave. Try to start after nap time, it reduces meltdowns.
Step 4: Breath deeply, anyone can survive 2 hours of chaos especially when all the available weapons are kid safe.
Step 5: Plan food. Don't over plan. If you pick a party after nap time, it's probably also after lunch. Remember all kids like gold fish. Fruit is good: it hydrates and it's tastes good. (It seems like three or four types of snacky things works well. Don't forget the cake for birthday parties and something icy in summer. For beverages: have plenty of water and beverages for the adults.
Step 6: Day of. Find a place for the toddler to be while you set up. Setting up takes time and little hands are somehow everywhere all at once - it's not a good combination. I suggest family or sympathetic parents willing to take him or her on a play date.
Step 7: Set up. Don't over think the decorations. Most toddlers won't really notice and anything low hanging is going to get shredded by the whirlwind of flying elbows and running feet that is toddlers at play. I suggest a few key decorations hung high.
Step 8: Sit in the center of the room and the following: "I am the parent of a toddler who I love and adore. I'm not in control. It's going to be ok." Try to believe it. Breathe deeply... a lot. Remember in high quantities, oxygen is a euphoric. Keep those deep breathes coming.
Step 9: Toddlers don't wait well, so try to arrange for one early arriver to keep your toddler company while you wait for your guests to arrive.
Step 10: The guests arrive. Relinquish control and ride the wave. Repeat after me: "weeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Repossessed by A.M. Jenkins

So in my continuing quest to track down and read the Printz and Printz Honor books, I ran across Repossessed which is the story of Kiriel, the demon. Kirial is not happy with his job in Hell as a low level tormentor and decides to take a vacation by possessing the body of Shaun, a 17 year old of low ambition, at the moment when he was supposed to die. Kiriel then spends the entirety of the book experiencing physical sensation and the complexities of the human condition. In many places Kiriel is almost embarrassingly hedonistic.

Shot through the book is Kiriel's examination of what I've always considered a central inconsistency in the Bible: if God is perfect and all knowing, then the only way for the devil to rebel is if God intended it. Kiriel is tortured by this. As a fallen angel, he's one of the punished, but why is he punished for being what he was created to be. It goes round and round and is an interesting introduction on the paradox for a teen audience.

I'm not sure what I expected when I picked up the book, but this wasn't it. On one level, this has a sizable amount of fairly crude imagery. On another, this is a deeply philosophical read. Kirial is almost better at being human than Shaun was and is deeply sympathetic. There are shades of Milton's "Paradise Lost" going on here as well as a healthy dose of C.S. Lewis's Screwtape Letters. Come to think of it...I should reread both of those.

I sense a themed month of reading coming up. hmmmmm

Words

Sometimes I feel
like I spent so much
of my life talking
that I'm empty of words
like a dry cup

waiting to be full again

Kitchen Matrix by Mark Bittman

Alright, I've been putting this off. What does it mean to "read" a cookbook? Once I've read it, then what? It seems like poor form to write something masquerading as a review without trying some recipes. (The completion gamer in me rather insists that I should try all the recipes, but that is really impractical) I would feel the same about book claiming to teach any skill, and really, that's what a cookbook is. It's a book that teaches combination and techniques of preparing food from base ingredients. It is one of the most common types of how-to manuals.

So, how does one evaluate a how-to manual? I guess the basic criteria is does it teach the skill and how easy is it to read. That's probably over simplistic, but it's the best I have to go with for now.

In the case of Kitchen Matrix, it is a little difficult to figure out the intent here. Bittman has been playing with ways of writing recipes over several of his most recent books. The usual method is a list of ingredients annotated with preparation instructions. Follow that is a step by step procedure for making the dish. Most cookbooks are written in this way. Bittman does write some of the recipes out this way but he also experiments with basic instructions followed by charts of variations. Some whole recipes are really set up like infographics. While he's been playing with these methods for some time, it seems like there is a much higher percentage in this volume.

I think the reason for this non-traditional format comes down to authorial intent. Most cookbooks aim to teaching cooking on some level. Kitchen Matrix assumes that the reader has the basics down. Kitchen Matrix seems to be aimed at teaching improvisation and spontaneity in cooking, which is a pretty difficult thing to teach.

It's a noble goal. I know too many people who collapse and order a pizza when they run into minor hiccoughs in executing the recipe. Most things can be dealt with if a cook is inventive.

So, does Kitchen Matrix teach improvisation and spontaneity in the kitchen. Maybe. It certainly does a good job showing how different prep methods change the way a single ingredient tastes, or given a basic recipe, how different ingredients behave. However the format is also a little confusing at times and runs the risk of being overwhelming to newer cooks.

Time Off For Good Behavior

Sorry that I disappeared but I was at a conference. I thought I would have the time (and mental energy) to keep up the blog while I was there, but predictably I did not. I think we underestimate how exhausting just thinking can be. I have a writing book that says that real focused writing will wring a person out in about two hours. I don't know if that's true, but I will say, sitting at the conference just wrung me out.

It was good though. There were a lot of good ideas and good people. Certainly it provided a different way to think about teaching and presenting information.

Now that I'm back, it's time to get back on top of the blogging. I did manage to keep up with my other writing at least and I'm tempted to back date some posts because I have a ton of half written ones and a lot of books that I've reading the last couple of weeks.

Happy Father's Day

We actually celebrated yesterday. However, I think it is important on days like this to reflect. Parents are so important, even when they mess up. Maybe especially when things go wrong. All our models for managing conflict or dealing with setbacks comes from how we observe our parents managing it.

So yeah, parents are important and I hope that as I move forward as a parent that I do as good a job as mine did.

Explorer: The Lost Islands edited by Kazu Kibuishi

I really like this series. It's not that graphic novels can really do anything that well written prose can do, it's that it is a different delivery method. I'm not very visual as a rule, but I like the mix of illustration and narrative. I think it may be easier to quickly depict a fantasy setting using a visual medium than if it had to be verbally depicted. Mind you, straight writing allows the readers imaginations to fill in the gaps more completely so the world feels more real in my experience. However, it's really just a case of different strengths.

"The Lost Islands" is similar to "Mystery Boxes." Both are collections of seven short stories and in both there is a common theme, in this one it is a mysterious island of some sort. For some reason, in this volume all the stories came out more like fables and have easily discernible morals. This doesn't end up being tedious as it could be.

Specifically, I really enjoyed "The Mask Dance," "Loah," and "Radio Adrift." "The Mask Dance" is about a girl who ditches her work to go to a festival after a spirit in a mask tells her her father is already there. "Loah" is a kind of creation myth about adventurous aquatic critters. "Radio Adrift" is about a young witch on a quest to find a specific sound that will hatch a pixie egg.

All of the stories are about people who think they know better or who are trying to make things easier and who find out that their view of the situation is incomplete. Over all they are well written and there is some excellent artwork.

Over all, worth a read.

Frozen in Time by Mark Kurlansky

There's a lot of buzz among English teachers about finding YA nonfiction. Many struggling readers would prefer to read "something real" over fiction so we are all always on the hunt for good selections. Many lament that there isn't more good YA nonfiction out there. For my part, I really struggle with the concept. What fundamentally is different between a YA and regular nonfiction book intended for a broad audience? Vocabulary maybe, length? Marketing? Most teenagers are capable of reading at an adult level if they are interested in the topic.

Nevertheless, some publishers are starting to package some items as YA nonfiction.  Frozen In Time is one of these although there is nothing about the text that particularly suggests "teen" to me. Frozen In Time is a short (about 150 pages) biography of Clarence Birdseye who developed the process for quick freezing food that we still more or less use today.

Frozen food is so ubiquitous. It's strange to think that someone had to develop that, but apparently early frozen food was just terrible. It took so long to freeze the food that the ice crystals formed very large which broke the cell walls and made the food mushy when it thawed out. In the early days of frozen food, no one even had a freezer so the food would immediately thaw. To sell the frozen food, Birdseye had to figure out both how to freeze the food without destroying the texture and how to make home freezer's cost effective. It's a pretty thorny problem and interesting to think about.

Kurlansky does a good job of presenting Birdseye as an interesting eccentric. The chapters are reasonably short and there's good overviews of the science involved although I would have wished for a little more depth.