What are you reading?

How did you select this title?  How did you become interested in your text? 

Comments

[Clayton]

Well, I just finished taking AP US History. Not exactly my best class, but fun, nevertheless. All in all, it influenced me to steer in this direction. I was debating between reading The Jungle and 1984. I'm going to read them both eventually, though. I'm just doing The Jungle first. The eating preferences comment was pretty funny, too. I'll keep the bioengineering of our foods in mind. I haven't started reading the books yet. I'm working on obtaining them currently and then debating the order to do them because I have summer reading for Biology, also.

[Mr. Pisaniello]

That sounds like a great plan. Surely these are not examples of light reading. However, you will benefit from exploring these titles/authors. I'm looking forward to reading more of your thoughts as you get started.

[Ms. Toggas]

Hi Marina,

I recently finished rereading Fahrenheit 451 and I enjoyed it even more the second time. The best part was his commentary at the end. When you get to that part, let me know what you think. Hearing an author's perspective in that capacity was really powerful and inspiring; as a teacher, it really made me think. I am looking forward to hearing what you think.

[Ms. Toggas]

Hi Clayton,

You will really enjoy 1984 as well. I am a fan of dystopian literature and can see the impact that this novel has had on our current dystopian fiction. If you end up liking this genre, there are more texts and authors that we can recommend for you.

[J. Vescovi]

Currently, I am reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. Unlike My Sister's Keeper and Salem Falls which I did enjoy, this book had me hooked within the first 25 pages. Some readers do not like Picoult's style because she strays from using chronological order by using flashbacks throughout her novels. I, however, enjoy this because it shows you what a character is like and then takes you back in time to see what events help to shape the character into the person he or she has become. Anyone else out there like Picoult?

[Mrs. Vescovi]

Hi, Jordan. Several years ago, I read Brave New World as required reading for my 11th grade honors class. At first I had difficulty getting into the book, so I went the the local library and checked out the book on tape. For some reason, listening to the novel helped me better comprehend what was happening. At the time, I did not see the likelihood of any of the events in the novel coming to pass, but as time goes on and science research progresses, I do not think the concepts in the novel are as far-fetched as I once did.

Yesterday, I read an article in a magazine about the cloning of animals. The FDA has okayed the process but the article stated that it may be some time before consumers accept it; consequently, the author of the article felt that it would be a while before cloned animals were sold for consumption. The article also stated that cloning animals was not exactly cost efficient because of the death rate of the cloned animals. I am sure that there is much scientific research, in varioius venues, searching for ways to create a more utopian society.

Huxley does a phenomenal job at warning what may become of society in the futre.

[CathyD]

I just finished reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. It had been recommended to me by several friends and I finally got a chance to read it. I learned a lot about Afghanistan and what life was like in the 70's through 2001. The story itself covers the life of one man from childhood through his mid-thirties. You get to feel his love, fear, guilt, terror, honor, betrayal, redemption, pain, sorrow, etc. the first paragraph had me hooked.

[Jordan]

Mrs. Vescovi,

I never even imagined a modern-day connection. That's very interesting and at the same time, almost eerily prophetic of Huxley. I might take your same path and listen to the novel on tape, I think that would help me by adding more of a visual image. I find when someone is talking to me, I can visualize the situation that they are describing.

[Mrs. Vescovi]

Jordan,
Let me know how listening to the book on tape, probably now CD (haha), works out for you. I think with a little research you may find that Huxley's ideas may be materializing in the 21st century which may also provide some good points of discussion with others.

[cthreatt]

I finished Massive. YEAH! I really did not like it very much, but I felt I should finish it. The subject matter (eating disorders) made me uncomfortable and to top it off with a bad mother was almost more than I could take. I LOVE In Cold Blood. I have read it tons of times. Capote is an excellent writer. I HIGHLY recommend the film Capote which tells about his life. It is very interesting--especially his relationship with Harper Lee. The Kite Runner is wonderful. I recommended this novel to all of my future AP takers. Several of them had already read it and told me to see the movie. I don't think I will watch the movie; I am afraid it will ruin the book for me. Nineteen Minutes is GREAT. It is amazing what can happen in any of our lives in only 19 minutes. As I was reading the book I told my students about it and we had a great conversation on how safe our schools are and what we can do to make them safer. I am now reading Dairy Queen by Catherine Murdock--another YABA book. It is suppose to be like a modern day Romeo and Juliet. I picked it because of the title; I couldn't resist.