I read too fast, again!

I finished Water for Elephants in two days...I tried to slow down, but had nothing else to do. A friend suggested that I go to the library to reduce the amount that I spend on my books, and although I appreciate the suggestion, I cannot follow it. I have a thing wherein I like to own the books that I read. There are very few books that I have read that I do not have on my shelf(some of the really awful ones from school were discarded). I really want to have a library of substantial size one day. I rarely re-read a book, but I just like to know it's there.

For those of you interested, Water for Elephants was just okay. The beginning hooked me, but I found myself just reading much of it in order to finish, not necessarily because I was dying to find out what happened next.

Whereas the book I am reading now, The Thirteenth Tale, is so intriguing. It came highly recommended to me. One of my students even chose it as her final novel for her essay. Her essay intrigued me, so I am reading it now. I love it so far. I'll let you know what I think at the end.

My own virtual book club

I have decided, now that my summer is getting started, to update my readers on my current reads. I love to read (duh! I'm an English teacher), but don't have much time to do it for leisure during the school year. Today was the official last day with students, and I started celebrating over the weekend with my first book: A Thousand Splendid Suns by Kahled Hosseini. Loved it!

Chris was at work on Saturday, and I found myself without much to do, having cleaned the house the day before, and not having any papers to grade! So I ventured out to Costco to buy some cheap books. I bought two.

I try really hard to read the books slowly so that I don't spend tons of money over the summer on my hobby, but I am really not good at that. I started the book on Saturday evening and finished it today at work (the students were taking a test; I just had to sit there). I was riveted by this novel. So much better than The Kite Runner, if you read that one.

When Chris saw what I was reading yesterday, he was a bit confused because I hadn't really loved The Kite Runner. I had completely forgotten about that until he mentioned it. I have a hard time reading a book, or watching a film for that matter, where I am angry or annoyed with the protagonist the entire time. Just say something, dang it, and you wouldn't be carrying this much anguish all the time!!!! But, that might also make a good story--if I am so annoyed with the protagonist, it probably means the author has done a good job at getting my attention.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book; I was completely compelled by the story. I love stories that take me to a different place; that help me to understand a culture that I would otherwise would not know. I learned so much about the Afghan people and the struggle of the Afghan women over the past forty or so years. I loved how well the author was able to get inside the mind of women.

Overall, I would whole-heartedly suggest you read this book. Most people already have though. I was just a little behind the times.

Ice Cream? Now? Really?

I'm sitting here at the computer, reading other people's blogs, thinking that I have nothing to write about, watching the rain pour down, when I hear the ice cream truck drive up my street. Really? It's literally pouring outside.

And yet, there are teenage boys swimming in the pool across the street.

But they didn't buy any ice cream.

If Chris were home, he might accuse me of blaspheme for even suggesting that there is an inappropriate time for ice cream.

By the way, I did not receive a rose at the faculty meeting. I'm in limbo right now. Lots of fun.

Why?

Why am I awake at midnight working on lessons plans for a group of students that will probably not appreciate it at all?

The end.

I like roses

The recession has far reaching consequences, but the one I care about most is that fact that I probably won't have a job next year. The state keeps asking for more money back and making threats about next year's minimal budget. What this translates to is: "last hired, first fired."

My school has made it clear to me that they want to keep me on staff, but that they may not have a say in it at all. If they can hire me back, I may not know until August. But it may come down to them being forced to fill my spot with someone else from inside the district with more experience.

That being said, we received an email from our Principal today informing us of a meeting tomorrow after school. We were discussing said meeting at lunch, and I asked if the meeting was to announce that I won't have a job next year. We then proceeded to make jokes about all of the ways it could go down; for example, "front row, please step forward. Back row, this is the end of the journey for you."

But we all thought it would be great if they did it like The Bachelor.

I might not receive a rose at tomorrow's faculty meeting.

But maybe they will break up with another teacher over the summer and bring me back. Ooooo, and maybe they will let me sit in the office when they do it. Or, they can have another faculty meeting just so everyone can watch.

I didn't watch that show, but I hope you can tell that I was bitterly disgusted with the whole idea.