chugging right along
in journal
i’ve been working on catching up on school work – particularly reading for my excellent young adult literature class – and i’m happy to say, prematurely of course!, that i’m almost there, phew. i’ve been reading (and writing) like a madwoman, but at least the books (for the most part) have been really good YA, a genre i like very much, and books that i had heard a lot about but had never read.
the ones in bold have been read by me, almost all this past weekend, and i’m tackling two more tonight and tomorrow, plus i got a few audiobooks out (very exciting and attempt #2 at audiobooks, we’ll see if it works). now don’t gasp in horror – i don’t have to read all the books listed below just most of them, and believe me i appreciate the difference. which of those books have you read? any favorites, or any that didn’t make my teacher’s list?
so far, my favorite read has been ender’s game, though that’s a long-time favorite of mine, so that’s not fair. one fat summer was great, hilarious, and unexpected. hatchet started out so dang slow but by the end i was really into it. the pigman was just o.k., and after the first death gave me scary vague dreams. weetzie bat i expected to be really annoyed with, but i wasn’t, not that much at least. the sweet valley high book (#20 crash landing! – will enid walk again? and can george find the courage to break up with her even though she saved his life?!?!) was bad, so bad!, but i scarily remembered all of it, saved away in some pre-teen area of my brain.
i’m most looking forward to reading forever (the hot sex!), speak (amazing future!), and eva (‘oh my god i am a machiinnneeee!’). i don’t know much about the books in the last three reading log sections – all the ya i know is embarassingly almost all white and from the 80s or earlier, so i’m also very much looking forward to reading those books, though thanks goodness, they aren’t late but are assigned for a few weeks from now. yeehaw.
predicted time of official caught-up status: wednesday night.
still to do: one midterm wednesday morning (on library management – yech. as interesting as it sounds.)done! and one email exchange about a final paper selection (which will be fun and not too bad, i just gotta get off my ass and write it already!) done! lovely.
~ required reading:
- The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
- The Outsiders by S. E Hinton
- The Contender by Robert Lipsyte
- Go Ask Alice by Anon.
- The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
- Forever by Judy Blume
- Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden
- Weetzie Bat by Francesca Lia Block
- Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
- Monster by Walter Dean Myers
~ reading log 1 (due two weeks ago, so bad so bad) done!:
- The Pigman by Zendel
- One Fat Summer by Robert Lipsyte
- Seventeenth Summer by Daly
- After the First Death by Robert Cormier
~ reading log 2 (due last week) done!:
- Someone to Love by Mazer
- The Changeover by Mahy
- Interstellar Pig by Sleator
- Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
- Hatchet by Paulsen
- Eva by Dickinson
- any “sweet valley high”
- any Lurlene McDaniel
~ reading log 3 (due next week):
- Holes by Louis Sachar
- A Step from Heaven by An Na
- Parrot in the Over by Martinez
- Baseball in April by Soto
- Shizuko’s Daughter by Mori
- any “fear street” by R.L. Stine
- Blood and Chocolate by Klause
~ reading log 4:
- Boy Meets Boy by Leviathan
- Hard Love by Wittlinger
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Chbosky
- Athletic Shorts by Crutcher
- Love and Sex: Ten Stories of Truth, edited by Cart
- Hole in My Life by Gantos
- Witch-Hunt by Aronson
~ reading log 5:
- Stop Pretending by Sones
- Keesha’s House by Frost
- The Taking of Room 114 by Glenn
- The Age of Bronze by Shanower
- Pedro and Me by Winick
- Maus by Spiegelman
- Kit’s Wilderness by Almond
- Postcard’s from No Man’s Land by Chambers
- Under the Wolf Under the Dog by Rapp
- The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Haddon
