October progress Report

These huge lists really suck because no matter how much I read, it just doesn't look like much in comparison to the list as a whole. The first half of the month was quite productive. Later on I got distracted by a series called Vampire Nights which is a manga. I blasted through 10 volumes in two days much to Ryan's annoyance (sorry Ryan) I'm at a loss for how to deal with Manga on my reading list. The way goodreads handles them, each volume is a book, but it feels like cheating to me. I'd be inclined to call 10 volume run equal to one book...maybe.

This is all just incredible navel gazing though, as I've long since finished my reading challenge.

1. Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
2. Ambassador by William Alexander
3. Ten Little Indians by Sherman Alexie (RR)
4. War Dances by Sherman Alexie (RR)
5. In the Name of Salome by Julia Alvarez
6. City of Glass by Paul Auster
7. Ghosts by Paul Auster
8. The Locked Room by Paul Auster
9. The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (RR)
10. The House with the Clock in its Walls by John Bellairs
11. The Figure in the Shadows by John Bellairs
12. The Letter, the Witch, and the Ring by John Bellairs
13. The Deceivers by Alfred Bester
14. 3 Nights in August by Buzz Bissinger (L)
15. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black
16. Silent Tears by Kay Bratt
17. The Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B) (10/17)
18. Thuvia, Maid of Mars  by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B) (10/19)
19. The Chessmen of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (B)
20. Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler (B)
21. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card (L)
22. Xenocide by Orson Scott Card (L)
23. Children of the Mind by Orson Scott Card (L)
24. Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card (L)
25. Banewreaker by Jacqueline Carey
26. Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon
27. Thrilling Tales ed Michael Chabon
28. The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton (B)
29. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare (The Mortal Instruments)
30. Little Bee by Chris Cleave
31. The Archers Tale by Bernard Cornwell
32. Crackback by John Coy (L) (10/6)
33. Gym Candy by Carl Deuker (L)
34. Out of My Mind by Sharon M Draper (B) (10/3)
35. King's Dragon by Kate Elliot (B)
36. American Indian Myths and Legends ed. Richard Erdoes and Alfonso Ortiz (NF)
37. The Fire Gospel by Michel Faber
38. The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
39. Celestine Sibley: A Granddaughter's Reminiscence by Celestine Sibley Fleming (B)
40. City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte
41. Ironhand's Daughter by David Gemmell
42. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (NF)
43. Paper Towns by John Green
44. Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene
45. The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
46. The Devil's Picnic by Taras Grescoe
47. Lion's Honey by David Grossman
48. Doctor Dogbody's Leg by James Norman Hall (B)
49. Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (NF)
50. Looking Out, Looking In by Margaret Ferris Harney (?)
51. Year's Best SF12 ed David G. Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer
52. Demon Glass by Rachel Hawkins
53. And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (B)
54. Dead Simple by Peter James
55. Looking Good Dead by Peter James
56. The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean
57. Beast by Paul Kingsnorth (B)
58. Odd Hours by Dean Koontz
59. Choice Cuts by Mark Kurlansky (NF)
60. Exile by Kathryn Lasky (Guardians of Ga'Hoole) (L) (10/3)
61. The War of the Ember by Kathryn Lasky (Guardians of Ga'Hoole) (L) (10/13)
62. The Rise of a Legend by Kathryn Lasky (Guardians of Ga'Hoole) (L) (10/16)
63. Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard
64. Reading Ladders by Teri S. Lesesne
65. The Art of Fiction by David Lodge
66. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum
67. The Falcons of Fire and Ice by Karen Maitland
68. A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin (B)
69. On Caring by Milton Mayeroff
70. The Color of Water by James McBride (NF)
71. Becoming Madame Mao by Anchee Min
72. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell (RR)
73. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
74. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
75. The Writer's Workbook by Jenny Newman et al (NF)
76. Ringworld by Larry Nivan
77. Witchworld by Andre Norton
78. The Hurricane Party by Klas Ostergren
79. The Map of Time by Felix J. Palma
80. The Athenian by Mildred Parns (B)
81. The Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett
82. Star 1 ed. Frederik Pohl
83. Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl
84. The Case Against Tomorrow by Frederik Pohl
85. Cooked by Michael Pollan (NF)
86. Pyramids by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B) (10/22)
87. Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B) (10/26)
88. Eric by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
89. Moving Pictures Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
90. Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
91. Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
92. Small Gods by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) * (RR)
93. Lords and Ladies by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
94. Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
95. Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
96. Interesting Times by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
97. Maskerade by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
98. Feet of Clay by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
99. Hogfather by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
100. Jingo by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
101. The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
102. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
103. The Fifth Elephant by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
104. The Truth by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
105. Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
106. The Last Hero by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
107. The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
108. Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
109. The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
110. Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
111. A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
112. Going Postal by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
113. Thud! by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
114. Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
115. Making Money by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) (B)
116. Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
117. I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
118. Snuff by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
119. Raising Steam by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
120. The Shepherd's Crown by Terry Pratchett (Discworld) *
121. The Adventures of Ellery Queen by Ellery Queen
122. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
123. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
124. Stiff by Mary Roach
125. Red Mars by Kim Staley Robinson
126. Gilead by Marilynne Robinson
127. Keeping It Real by Justina Robson (B) (10/8)
128. Selling Out by Justina Robson (B) (10/10)
129. Going Under by Justina Robson (B) (10/12)
130. Chasing the Dragon by Justina Robson (B) (10/15)
131. The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 
132. Software by Rudy Rucker (RR)
133. Wetware by Rudy Rucker
134. Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff
135. Perdita by Hilary Scharper
136. Who-ology: Doctor Who Official Miscellany by Cavan Scott and Mark Wright
137. Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (NF)
138. With Fate Conspire by Mike Shupp
139. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein (RR)
140. Where the Sidewalk Ends  by Shel Silverstein (RR)
141. Our Children's Children by Clifford D. Simak 
142. An Edible History of Humanity by Tom Standage (NF)
143. Forever by Maggie Stiefvater (Wolves of Mercy Falls) (L) (10/2)
144. Sinner by Maggie Stiefvater (Wolves of Mercy Falls) (L) (10/5)
145. The Short Reign of Pippin IV by Steinbeck (B)
146. The Amulet of Samarkand by Johnathan Stroud (The Bartimaeus Trilogy)
147. Binu and the Great Wall by Su Tong
148. Where Three Roads Meet by Salley Vickers
149. God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
150. The Once and Future King by T.H. White
151. The Book of Merlyn by T.H. White
152. Message from an Unknown Chinese Mother by Xinran (B)
153. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (L)

Lending Limits

I love my local library. I miss being a librarian. Being around books day in and day out is amazing. All that knowledge and creativity in palpable form. Awesome.

For a while there, it seemed like I was trying to recreate the library environment at home. Part of the issue was the massive sales surrounding the closing of Borders. I miss Borders. It's not that Barnes & Noble isn't a decent store. However, Borders had a much more liberal outlook. Their clerks could wear jeans. Crazy, right? Don't even get me started on their periodicals selections.

Anyway, like any good consumer, when they went out of business, I descended like a rabid vulture and bought books on discount...a lot of books. Actually, I have a weakness for buying books. In most areas of my life, I'm pretty frugal. However, should I walk into a bookstore (used or otherwise) I have a hard time leaving without a purchase.

I can't resist books. Books and craft beer. So there you have it. It's my kryptonite.

Now that I have a child, I have shifted my literary impulses on to the library. It's easier on the budget. Dekalb has a good library system. I particularly like the request function. If Dekalb has it in any of their branches, I can get it shipped to my local library. It's a nice function. I use it a lot.

As a lit teacher, I'm often on the hunt for the perfect book for Jane, Dick, or Sally. I spend a lot of time trying to find books for reluctant readers. I'm pretty good at it too, I'm told. Recently, I've started creating resources for teachers in my school who are trying to mimic my success. I've become really enchanted with the idea of reading ladders.

The idea behind reading ladders is that if you can find a book a student genuinely likes, you can probably find one similar to it that they will like as well. It's a sound theory, but it requires a solid foundation in YA literature. A foundation that I'm acquiring. However, it's not feasible for an entire english department to read the way I do. So, I'm trying to find a way to spread the love.

I'm creating these thematically scaled lists in an effort to help my cohorts. However, I am finding I need to do research to fill gaps. There are plenty of resources, but to know if the books I find fit, I have to take a look.

So, I request books.

Turns out there is a limit. The limit is 14. Now pragmatically, I know most people can't get through 14 books in a couple of weeks, but I can. It's not an unreasonable limit, but darn it, I'm on a mission.

*fume*

I need more books!

Guardians of Ga'Hoole by Karen Laskey Books 9-11

At the end of book 8, The Outcast, I was sure the series was over. Coryn was at the great tree with the ember and, more critically, Ezylryb was dead...heroically of course. It was a good place to end it I felt, yet I had a stack of eight more books in the series cluttering up the coffee table. Where could Lasky possible go from here.

The answer, back in time...sort of. As it turns out Ezylryb had three histories squirrelled away in his hollow along with solemn instructions that Coryn and Soren should read them.

The First Collier begins with the story of Grank who becomes the first collier and H'rath and Siv who are owl royalty and will become the parents of Hoole. I'm particularly fond of Siv, she's got some real grit. Collectively, the three books outline a time constantly under threat of the dark magic of hagsfiends.

Hoole is born at a bleak time and is a kind of owl version of King Arthur. He goes on to found the great tree and drive out the hagsfiends.

These are good reads, not as gripping as the original story line, but interesting all the same. It felt very much like a primary purpose of these is to lay the groundwork for the continuation of the series.

9. The First Collier
10. The Coming of Hoole
11. To Be a King

Planning

Alright, I have a novel idea for Nanowrimo. It even has the beginning of a main conflict, although I need to make sure I have that in clear focus before November 1st. I can see what starts the conflict rolling but I can't see where it ends. I do have, however, the last scene of the book which is unusual for me. Everything feels very off kilter. I don't even have the main character in focus yet. This is a really strange way to go about things, but I'm resolved to try this. It's not like "my way" ever worked.

Looking towards the shape of November... November is always busy with Thanksgiving in it. This year however, I have two conferences to go to and 12 week grades to post. I'm going to be super busy.

Daily schedule is going to be key. During the week 6:30 AM to 4 PM is solidly booked. I get up at 4 (ish) and have about an hour before I need to put lunches together. After school, we get home around 5:30. Normally, I spend about an hour and a half on cooking and eating, or, if I've pre-cooked over the weekend, playing with Thomas and eating. Around 7 PM or so Thomas get's his "movie time" and we try to get him in bed by 8:30 PM. We are usually in bed by 9. So, I have, as it stands now, an hour in the morning and from 7 PM to 9 in the evening. I'm going to keep going with the blog through this and I need to keep reading as well as writing. If I just accept that I need to sacrifice some sleep this month and keep going until 10PM I can manage four hours each week day. Weekends are different of course.

So, I think my writing schedule needs to look like this:

4AM-5AM: Writing blast
5AM-6AM: Pack lunches & get ready for work
6AM -7AM: Commute & school prep
7AM - 4 PM: Educate and Mold young minds
4 PM - 5:30 PM: Commute (Reading or Outlining)
5:30 PM - 7 PM: Family Time and Dinner
7 PM - 8:30 PM: Movie Time (Write Blog Post & Read)
8:30 PM - 10 PM: Write, Write, Write

Realistically, that's a pretty grueling pace and unless I do that last writing session standing, I will probably fall asleep some of the time, but it's a start

Mind the Gap

It was a very productive weekend. I got a lot done, particularly in the kitchen. I finally sorted the massive stack of mail that threatened to spread across my counters and reclaimed a lot of my counter space. I picked up all of Thomas's toys. I cooked up a storm.

I only get this productive when I'm avoiding. Right now I'm avoiding writing since Nanowrimo is gearing up and it's splashing over onto the blog. Sorry about that. Working on it. I'm going to need to figure out a schedule and follow it, I think. 

Also, I need to re-give-up video gaming.

Sleep of the dead

I have slept 12 hours and have woken with no ability to think....more later.

Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs

For some reason I enjoyed Warlord of Mars more than the first two Barsoom books. It really was a lot more of the same with kidnapped princesses and pursuing princes. It occurs to me that this series feels like the origin of the Super Mario & Princess Peach story.

I always wondered how she managed to get herself kidnapped so much and why she couldn't ever effect an escape of her own.

In any case, the narrative starts off with John Carter waiting in a paroxysm of anxiety for the diabolical prison to open again so that he can find out if the scream he heard when the door closed was his beloved being stabbed by a jealous princess.

Of course, she's not dead but gets captured again by the Matai Sheng and Thorid and whisked off again as John Carter chases after. The man really should be cross country star the way he chases after that woman. On the way, Carter discovers yet another race on the surface of the planet, the yellow men of mars, whose evil jeddak must be overthrown before the rescue is complete. The man is constant source of political instability.