You Know that Feeling...

Only true book lovers know that feeling…

The feeling you get when you stayed up until three in the morning to finish a book.

The feeling you get when you loved characters so much they feel like friends and you genuinely worry about them and their decisions (even if they live in a futuristic dystopian society).

The feeling you get when you wonder if you could write a book like that.

The feeling you get when you know there is another book in the series and can't wait to download it to your kindle in the morning (since 3 a.m. is not a good time to do this).

And experience total let down.  I stayed up late finishing The Elite last night, knowing there was a third book in the trilogy called The One.  I went to download it this morning, and to my dismay, it won't be available until May 6, 2014.  You could say I am one disappointed reader to say the least.  Hopefully time will go quickly.

In the meantime, are you reading something great?  I have many suggestions on goodreads, but thought I would check with my students for suggestions too.  I love sci fi, contemporary fiction, and realistic fiction.  I also love a good memoir.  Some of my favorite authors include Jodi Picoult, Diane Chamberlain, and now Kiera Cass.  Okay, go!

The Selection

I didn't want to read The Selection as I thought from the description that it was just trying to copy The Hunger Games and Divergent.  The plot sounds so familiar: A new "United States" (this time it is called Illea) where there are different castes of citizens.  In The Selection, citizens are either ones, twos, threes, etc.  The ones are the most elite and the eights are the poorest caste.  America, our beautiful Katniss-like protagonist, is a five.  Not quite an "8", which would be like Katniss in district 12, but not exactly elite either...

The plot begins by describing the selection process, where 35 female citizens are chose to be among the women Prince Maxon will marry.  They move into the Prince's castle and he dates each of them and narrows down the women as he sees fit.  America is in love with a man named Aspen from her hometown, who is a six.  Since he is a lower caste, her family would not want them to marry and America reluctantly agrees to apply for the selection, knowing she'll never be selected.  But, shocking (not!), she is selected.  Early on, Prince Maxon is drawn to America and they become good friends.  America tells him the truth about Aspen back in her hometown and they agree to be secret friends; America wants to stay so she can be well fed and her family will continue to receive financial compensation for her being there, so she agrees to give Maxon insider information about the other girls.

The plot thickens as there are multiple attacks on the castle, various disagreements among the women, and a series of elaborate dates.  It is kind of The Hunger Games meets The Bachelor. 

So you can see why I didn't want to read it.  I thought it was just another attempt at fan fiction.  But I have to be honest...I love it.  I am about 90% through on my Kindle right now and am planning to check out the second book (there are three in the series).  Right now, Maxon has narrowed the 35 girls down to 25.  Obviously, I can predict that America and Maxon end up together, but I don't think it will happen in this book; I have a feeling that is farther down the line.

Welcome to 2nd Trimester!

Hello, students!  Welcome to your second trimester of blogging.  We have a few changes this trimester in regards to blogging, which can be found on the sheet provided in class.  But first and foremost, we are reducing the required number of blog posts to one per week.  We are also going to provide you with  multiple blog post topics, so you should never say, "I don't have anything to blog about."

Since today is  the first day of the new tri, you have a couple of tasks with your blog:
1)  On my blog page, you need to click on "Enter your blog information here" located on the right-hand side near the top.

2) Enter your blog information.  (To do this you need to log in to google, go to blogger, and click VIEW BLOG).  Your URL is what you see in the top window.  It should NOT look like this:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1859117182435443424#editor/target=post;postID=1296302557718526434
If your URL has the word "blogger" in it, you are in edit mode.  Your URL should look something like this:
http://masonmrspalmer.blogspot.com/
Enter the information and your class period, EVEN if you had me last trimester.  I deleted the old document and started fresh so everyone must enter their blog information.

3)  Log in to goodreads.  Enter what book you are currently reading and update the page number.  Also, update your reading goal if needed.  (You may still be working on your reading goal from last trimester, and that is okay.  But if you exceeded it, please set a new one).

4) Friend Mrs. Palmer in goodreads.  To do this, click on the drop-down arrow to the right of your name.  Select "Friends."  Then,  on the right-hand side go to "find by name or email."  Type in "Laura Palmer."  Last time I checked (just a couple of days ago), I was third from the bottom.  My picture is next to my name, so you should recognize me.  Friend a few other people in the class as well.  I LOVE seeing your updates.

5) Your final task: write a new post!  Your topic idea can come from the handout provided to you yesterday in class.  Or, you can tell me what your favorite book was from last trimester and why you liked it so much (could even make it like a book review for your peers).  Aim for a solid two-paragraphs and show me that you can do at least one of the following: insert a hyperlink to a webpage, article, etc.; insert a video; or insert a picture.

Once you have accomplished all of the following, I would like you to spend the rest of the class time exploring goodreads, especially checking out your recommendations and adding books to your "Want to read" list.  If you don't have recommendations yet, spend some time going back and rating books you've read in the past so you can get recommendations.

Please Date, Says the State

I read this article from the most recent issue of the Up Front magazine I receive each week.  The article is short, but very interesting and somewhat shocked me.  The South Korean government is getting more involved in their citizens and their dating life.  They are encouraging young adults to meet each other and get married in order to procreate.  Some of the reasons why they are encouraging matchmaking is that the country's birth rate has plummeted in recent years and women are getting married later or putting off having children all together so they can focus on their careers.  Another reason they are marrying later is that young South Korean couples were traditionally introduced by elderly village women.  Now, young couples are facing things such as online matchmaking sites and are skeptical of these.  (I would be too).

In order to address the problems with birth rates and declining marriage statistics, the government is organizing matchmaking socials, where they perform background checks on singles, set up parties, and then hope that the young adults will mingle freely...and perhaps find a match.

Why did this interest me?  Well, I personally am in the midst of playing matchmaker myself.  I have never set anyone up before, but two young adults I know (their identities will remain a mystery) are seriously perfect for each other, so I have gotten them in contact and they are planning to meet soon.  I kind of feel like one of those elderly South Korean village ladies.  Well, as long as it turns out!

I also think it is interesting that the country of South Korea is so invested in pairing up young couples.  It would be so odd if the United States began playing matchmaker and trying to set up citizens in their 20s.  The whole concept actually seems somewhat sci fi to me and reminds me of the  Matched series by Ally Condie, which you can read about by clicking on the link.

Two Books at Once

Since I finished The Midwive's Confession, I feel like a juggling act -- I am reading a couple of books right now, and I suppose I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Fault in our Stars is on digital loan from the library and I am about 25% of the way through.  (I started it in the middle of the night last night while I was feeding my youngest and stayed awake to read for an hour!)  It seems like it will be a relatively quick read...maybe another day or two.  I'm finding the writing to be full of good lines.  I've already highlighted several on my kindle app.

One line I found interesting is: "And yet I still worried.  I liked being a person.  I wanted to keep at it.  Worry is yet another side effect of dying."  I have been blessed to be healthy; my children are all healthy and no one in my family has suffered an unexpectedly early death.  Lucky, I know.  I can't imagine how it would feel to be a teenage dying from cancer, or anything for that matter. 

The writing style of this book is what initially made me want to read it.  The author uses a lot of figurative language in his writing; I could see myself using this book (or at least lines from it) as a mentor text when discussing syntax with my students, as well as imagery.  Here are just a few other good lines from the text and what I may use them for in parentheses:

“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.” (Metaphor)

“Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.”  (Diction)

"'I'm in love with you,' he said quietly.

'Augustus,' I said.

'I am,' he said. He was staring at me, and I could see the corners of his eyes crinkling. 'I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.' " (Syntax)

“As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.” (Punctuation)

Seriously, this whole book is full of good writing I could use with students.  Yeah!

I think I'll have to wait until my next post to write about Secrets She Left Behind.  Have a great weekend!

The Midwife's Confession

I can not put this book down.  It is SOOOOO good.  Before this, I was a diehard Jodi Picoult fan. Would have sworn by her.  Not going to lie...I think Diane Chamberlain may be her long-lost sister writer, as their style is so similar and the plotline of The Midwife's Confession could have easily been a product of Picoult.  In other words, I have a new author.  I just went on goodreads.com and read all of Chamberlain's book summaries and placed a number of them on my "want to read" list. 

So the gist: This book goes back and forth across the lifespans of three women: Tara, Emerson, and Noelle.  Noelle is the midwife that is mentioned in the title.  The three women become friends in college; Noelle is their R.A. and Tara and Emerson are freshmen roommates (These two knew each other prior).  Their lives intertwine as they enter adulthood.  Tara and Emerson both marry and become mothers; Noelle becomes engaged to a man named Ian.  They all live in the same town and see each other regularly.  But here's where the plot begins.  Noelle surprisingly commits suicide without leaving anything behind.  When her friends search through her beloingings, they find a letter written to a woman named Anna; in the letter, Noelle admits to dropping another woman's baby (killing it) and stealing Anna's baby as a replacement.  From there, a full out mystery begins, as Tara and Emerson search for Anna...and the truth.