Lit log responses | Synergy Language Arts

Over the summer, I made myself the goal to read thirty books in the thirty weeks that remain until the end of the year. I’m happy to report that I am on track with this goal, and I like the focus that it gives me to make sure that I’m keeping up with the list of books that I want to read! I also really enjoying organization and colored lists, so it’s a motivator for me to write the books down in my weekly list. Occasionally I struggled with keeping up the pace, since I had weeks when I was busy or books that were longer than others. I dealt with this by balancing this with shorter books and spending more time reading when I knew that I had some extra time.

The fiction books that I read this summer (in order) were 2001: Space Odyssey, The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian, Freak the Mighty, The Giver, Telegraph Avenue, The Player of Games, The Algebraist, The Tiger’s Wife, C, and To Kill A Mockingbird.

I read one short story collection, called A Study in Sherlock.

For non-fiction, I read Night, God is Not Great, Best American Travel Writing 2011, Stumbling Toward Happiness, and The Art of Travel.

And finally, I love reading articles on a variety of websites, from Slate to Buzzfeed. I use Twitter to keep up with news and opinions, and I am especially interested in articles about technology, education, films, and society.

I really enjoyed The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian, and I’m really excited to be reading it together with the seventh graders this year. The author integrates words and images, with cartoons from the perspective of the narrator. It was really interesting to me to see how well this works to give a sense of the character’s life and emotions!

The Art of Travel is a book that I return to occasionally, since the writing style is clear and thoughtful. I organized an author event with Alain de Botton when I was in New Zealand, and I love his thoughts on travel. The way that he weaves together photographs, philosophy, history, and his own experiences is always interesting to me.