Week 8_PRABE#6

I did not have a book to read this week, but I did see an article about a book that I'd like to read. It's called Pulphead by John Jeremiah Sullivan. He writes a lot of articles for GQ and the initial article is here: http://www.gq.com/entertainment/books/201111/john-jeremiah-sullivan-pulphead-interview-daniel-riley?printable=true. It talks about his writing style and why his seemingly pop-based articles end up touching a cord with readers and being about more than their superficial topics. That article had links to four of his long articles that are included in the book. I read each of them on my lunch breaks at work this week. The first was about a Christian music festival and his own reactions to what he thought would be just a stock coverage piece. Another was about Axl Rose, who declined to be interviewed, so the author had to find another angle for the story. One was about The Real World cast members after the fact and he was adorable in his unapologetic fanboy adoration for them. The last one was about Bunny Wailer and his attempt at interviewing him and understanding his life. All of these articles were engaging and fascinating to read and helped me pass my lunch hours this week.


11/14/11 - 30 min
11/14/11 - 30 min
11/15/11 - 30 min
11/16/11 - 30 min

Week 7_PRABE#5

We spent twenty hours in the car this weekend traveling to and from a funeral, so I had a lot of time to read. Unfortunately, my children were absolutely rotten during this trip and none of them napped, so I spend less time reading than I had hoped and more time playing referee between them. *sigh* Anyway, I grabbed my husband's iPad to see what books he had downloaded on it. One was Punk Rock Dad: No Rules, Just Real Life by Jim Lindberg. We listen to a lot of punk music and his band is one that I have seen multiple times in concert. We met him this past May at a festival in Vegas, so I thought I would give the book a read. At first there were a lot of anecdotes and stories and I found the book enjoyable. It discussed meeting his wife, life on the road and becoming a parent. But then, it morphed in to a parenting/relationship book trying to give advice. I had to finally stop reading because he did not give any information or tips beyond common sense and the typical advice given in parenting/relationship books. It felt like he didn't have enough to say, so he started giving advice and it felt wrong and dull. I had heard others that started reading but then lost interest and now I know why. He's a punker and needs to write about his punk experiences from a family perspective instead of doling out platitudes and silly words of "wisdom".

11/10/11 - 55 min
11/11/11 - 60 min
11/13/11 - 30 min

Week 5 - PRABE #4

So, we finished Mockingjay. It was, as a series and overall, very enjoyable. The author was great at leaving each chapter on a cliffhanger or major revelation that didn't feel forced. But, it did about kill me and my daughter because each time we tried to stop reading, we felt like we needed to read for just one more chapter. The last book was full of death and destruction, which at times felt a little much for me to be reading out loud to my daughter. But, she's 11 and this was about a war. War is not pretty and she knows that, so the book would not have worked if the battles had been sugar coated. The resolution of everything felt a little rushed. I have felt that way in the last couple of books that I have read. I don't know if it's me or if these last few books have just not had strong conclusions. I am, though, somewhat of a sucker for a happy ending, so I appreciated the epilogue greatly. There were enough twists and turns, events and relationships for me to visit this series again, so that marks it as a winner in my book.

10/23/11 - 50 min
10/24/11 - 35 min
10/25/11 - 23 min

Week 4_PRABE#3

We are still reading Mockingjay. Today we hit on one of the points that has been an issue for me for some time; the fact that she has used these two boys when the situation suited her. The author is still trying to justify this and make it seem like a legitimate love triangle rather than a wishy washy girl that is so co-dependent that she can't not have one or the other of these boys constantly there supporting her. At the same time, she tries to write her as a loner who doesn't need anybody and pushes people away to "protect" them. I don't know, I hate this part of it because the personal relationships are what really make a story and some of them have seemed really genuine and this aspect of the main characters' relationship just sucks. But, I want to find out what happens. Another thing that's weird in this book is that nothing will happen for a long time or there will be weeks or hours (that spreads multiple pages) of prep for something, then other big events take place within a paragraph. The pacing feels awkward sometimes. I know my reviews make it seem like this book/series are not great, but I am enjoying reading them and my daughter is really liking them. I guess we'll see how it ends before I make my final decision. Stay tuned for next week...

10/16/11 - 30 min
10/17/11 - 30 min
10/18/11 - 45 min

Week 3_PRABE#2

This week my daughter and I are reading the third book in the Hunger Games
series, Mockingjay. I would estimate that we are almost half way through it.
I can't decide if I like it as well as the other two in the series yet.
*spoiler alert - if you haven't read this and want to, don't read any
further* This is the time when the areas are in full rebellion and Katniss
is the symbol of the revolution. As much as I have enjoyed the series, I am
frustrated by her character. She is incredibly timid about her leadership
role in the rebellion and the love triangle feels ridiculous to me. There
are two boys that sit patiently as she leads them both on with her
indecisiveness and they get irritated, yet continue to put up with it. But,
sometimes I wonder if I'm too hard on her character. I want her to be strong
and take the leadership role and make decisions, even though I know that
human nature is not black and white and that the author is trying to show a
person thrust in to a position that she had no knowledge of. Also, a lot of
the times Katniss is completely oblivious to the feelings and situations
surrounding her in a very unrealistic way. Nobody is that oblivious until
the end with a grand reveal. Other than that, the imaginative world and
adventure and scenarios are great and the writing is engaging. We're always
ready for just one more chapter. I guess that outweighs the issues I have
with the character development since I always want to keep reading.

10/10/11 - 30 min
10/12/11 - 45 min
12/13/11 - 45 min

Week 2_PRABE#1

This week I was out of town for a work function for my husband. We had lots of travel time, so I was able to read a bunch. The main book that I read was Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I had heard about it on the radio one day and called my library. They said that they had it in but they were still processing it, so they put my name down first on the list. It came in the day before we left, so I was able to read it on our trip. The atmosphere in this book is one of its best features. There is a ton of imagination and ambiance created through the descriptive writing. While the author set up a strong plot in the beginning, it all kind of crumbled away in the end and I did not feel like the book concluded in a satisfactorily manner. But, the crumbling away was kind of a plot device as well, so maybe it was intentional. Either way, it was worth the read and I definitely enjoyed it.

The other book I read was World Leaders Past and Present - Catherine the Great by Catherine McGuire-Max. I love reading about Russia and the Tsars and their lives. This was a great one because I didn't really know much about her prior to reading this one. She overthrew her husband as Tsar and became the Tsarina. The information about the opulence that the royal family displayed when so many had nothing was timely with all of this 99/1%.


10/2/11 - 180 minutes
10/3/11 - 60 minutes
10/6/11 - 150 minutes

Week 11_PRABE #10

I did not have time for reading this week. With school starting soon, soccer club gearing up and all the finals coursework for my classes, I have been swamped every evening after work. But, I have Fridays off, so I took the kids to the pool for a few hours and spent a chunk of that time reading. I just grabbed a book that I have read before off of the shelf and started re-reading it. It was Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen. I haven't read this for a couple of years, so it was nice to revisit it. I find that I'm reading it from a different perspective now that I'm studying to be a teacher. Where as the first time I read it I was homeschooling my young daughter and reading it for my own interest. Now I find the sections like the one about the invisibility of racism in history text books even more impactful. I'm glad this is the book that I chose to take with me yesterday because it was good to get a reminder about the things that I was taught that don't hold up historically and use that when teaching my own classes.

8/5/11 - 90 minutes