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July 12, 2013
July 12, 2013
I attended the Utah Shakespeare Festival and thoroughly enjoyed Peter and the Starcatcher. Back home, I've started reading the novel Peter and the Starcatchers. Both play and novels (there are, I think, four) are delightful, creative prequels to the Peter Pan stories we already know.
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June
I just finished reading The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson. If you like fantasy, you'll enjoy this book. Sanderson has created new forms of magic for other series he has written. (You might want to also try his Mistborn Series!) In the world of this series written for teens, the magic is created by drawing with chalk. The Rithmatists who are able to wield this magic are rare, and are identified young and trained at special schools to protect their world. The schools also include non-rithmatist students, and surprisingly, the main character is one of them, though different from other non-rithmatist students in his dedication to learning about the magic, even without being able to use it himself. My only reservation about recommending this book is that you'll have to wait for the next book in the series to come out. I read this one entirely too quickly -- not my fault -- it pulled me through, so now I'm left waiting impatiently for book two.
Book Trailer for The Rithmatist: http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/06/the-rithmatist-trailer
July: I'm reading The Way of Kings -- hundreds of pages -- also by Brandon Sanderson. I've loved the high fantasy genre for years, and have already read several of Sanderson's books, so am very much enjoying this one.
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I'm listening to CD's of the Chronicles of Narnia as I take summer road trips. This the excellent set of recordings I used: http://www.amazon.com/Chronicles-Narnia-Innovative-Entertainment-Complete/dp/B001AZWDUE/ref=sr_1_10?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373658132&sr=1-10&keywords=the+chronicles+of+narnia+audio+cd
Later: I finished the Chronicles of Narnia and passed the set of CD's on to some of my grandchildren, and then listened to Kira, Kira by Cynthia Kadohata, which was a Newbery Award winner. I enjoyed it, but realized that not all of my students would enjoy it. It is written like a memoir, with a Japanese-American girl telling about her family and life in the 1950's-1960's, so it isn't action packed, but it is well-written and if you enjoy realistic fiction, you'll probably like
it. The CD set I found at the public library was recorded by
Elaina Erika Davis. Here is more information about the book: http://www.amazon.com/Kira-Kira-Cynthia-Kadohata/dp/0689856407/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1373658251&sr=1-1&keywords=kira+kira+by+cynthia+kadohata
Here's another book coming out:
Have you read I Am Number Four and The Power of Six? (Genre: science fiction)
I need to catch up by reading the second book before The Rise of Nine comes out on July 23!
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-rise-of-nine-pittacus-lore/1106954533?ean=9780061974601
One of my top picks that I read before summer vacation was Wonder by R.J. Palacio. It is realistic fiction and it can be fun and funny, but also deals with a very serious issue and makes you think!
See also
Summer Reading 2012
and
