October 11, 2016

September Books

Well, it was not a high volume month.



These were DID NOT FINISH audiobooks:

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Real Murders by Charlaine Harris

My Sister's Grave by Robert Dugoni

How to Talk to Anyone by Leil Lowndes

I may go back to the Harris book. I haven't decided yet. I returned the other three because they were just not good. I did learn that "Ove" is pronounce "Ooo-va".

Also a DNF: Who Do You Love? by Jennifer Weiner. It was from the library and I didn't have time to finish it and didn't feel like renewing because I didn't "love" it enough. It wasn't terrible so maybe some other time. ...also, I had no idea but Jennifer Weiner used to work for the newspaper in State College.
And I had a student named Jennifer Weiner a few years ago.

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What did I read? Uh....truthfully, my attention span lately has been super short. Like, I can make it through a podcast and that's about it. I've really been into keeping up with my podcasts lately.

I've been reading The Headless Ghost by R.L. Stine at school. You might ask why I read a Goosebumps book to kids when there's better-quality stuff available, but they love it. I will read aloud to my class as long as they enjoy it and this class does enjoy it. Then there's a whole catalog of other Goosebumps books for them to move onto on their own. It never fails to impress me how completely off their predictions are about what's going to happen next. Each Goosebumps chapter leaves off with a cliff-hanger of sorts and they get very disappointed when I put the book away.
I know I'm doing God's work when kids tell me they're going to download this on their Kindle and read it over the weekend to find out what happens next.

Anyway.

I listened to The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. This was a solid C for me and wasn't about how not to care (what I was secretly hoping it'd be about). It was about how to choose what you care about carefully because if you waste energy on too many things, you'll end up caring about nothing.
That's what I got out of it. I liked the first half better than the second half. I wouldn't not recommend it.


I just finished The Things We Wish Were True by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen over the weekend. It was a solid story. Kind of Moriarity-ish but with a Southern twist. Maybe not as enthralling, but it did keep me wondering.  What I was mostly concerned with though was that they never ever mentioned anyone's age. I spent a lot of time preoccupied, wondering how old these kids were supposed to be. And I'm assuming the trio of main characters (Jencey, Everett, and Bryte) were about 30? I liked it. B-


Life According to Steph



17 comments:

  1. I could not get into Ove at all, I think I was finished by page 30.

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  2. Oh man Goosebumps books take me way back!

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  3. I've been all about the podcasts this month, too. I read a grand total of two books. Not impressive by any feat of the imagination! I know it's bad when I can't even manage a podcast and have to listen to music instead. That's a bad day.

    I have absolutely nothing against Goosebumps. Many fond memories! I kind of want to get my nephew into them so I can relive the stories again...

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  4. I had a big DNF month too-- mainly because I couldn't get into my library books fast enough and my hold list is always full so I can never re-request it right away. I remember loving The Goosebumps books and have maybe been tempted to watch the show (or movie?) on Netflix once or twice, haha.

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  5. i had Ove on my reading list but keep seeing so-so thoughts on it, so perhaps I'll just take it off. I love that your kids are getting into Goosebumps, though - I mean reading is reading and I don't always make the best literary choices. Going to look into The Things We Wish Were True right now.

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  6. Was Ove just boring, or? I have it on my list to read but now I'm re-thinking it...

    I was never a Goosebumps kid. I was all about Sweet Valley High and The Saddle Club, though.

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  7. Bummer for a disappointing reading month! I've had a few of those recently. I just finished A Man Called Ove on audiobook. I really liked it. The character reminded me of my husband in 20 years :) My current book is so so; even though, I've read lots of positive reviews from bloggers. I feel like you have to be in the right mind set and time to enjoy some books. Hopefully October is better!

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  8. That would drive me crazy not knowing the ages of characters haha...I even just need a ballpark age like 20? 30? 60? Sounds like a good book though!

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  9. how far did you get in who do you love? i can tell you....... not much else happens. haha. regardless of where you are. i mean, it wasn't bad. but i read it like a month ago and have already forgotten 90% of it.
    the things we wish were true is on my kindle. i can't do goosebumps. couldn't as a kid, and would like to keep them in my childhood haha.

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  10. i LOVED Ove!!! it's too bad that you couldn't get through it :( I think I really related to Ove's curmudgeony disposition LOL

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  11. Oh, I loved Who Do you Love... It was a fun light read for me.

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  12. I read Sister's Grave this month, and it was my least favorite book. I didn't loathe it, but I also don't plan on continuing with the series, which also says something. :) Here's to better reading this month!

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  13. I actually read that Jennifer Weiner...it was ok!

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  14. I read another Backman book called "My Grandmother wanted me to tell you she's sorry" or something like that. I found it really good! Though my book club didn't love it so maybe I'm the odd one out.

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  15. I added The Things We Wish Were True when you mentioned it on ig.
    This looks like a month to put behind you. I hope you grab some interesting reads soon.

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  16. My daughter watched the Goosebumps movie and now she wants to read all the books. I wish her teacher would read those kinds of books with her class, if for no other reason than to show reading is fun and doesn't have to be serious all the time.

    I enjoyed the Jennifer Weiner book, especially if you read her books knowing exactly what you're going to get.

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  17. If it were not for audio books, I don't think I'd be getting any reading done either. It's not because I don't want to. It's because I'm spent of any and all energy by the time I get home, and I want to do mindless things. I read the first book in The Land of Stories series by Chris Colfer over the summer. I decided to use it as a read aloud with my class. They're enjoying it so far. We have a 30 minute 9th period at the end of our day. We're supposed to alternate between reading and math extra instruction. I don't teach math at all, so I don't think it's my business to do so. I feel that reading aloud has benefits that students don't get much after a certain age. So I'm running with it.

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