Teaser Tuesday

Here are random lines from one of the books I'm reading, Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

pg. 317

"Strongly marked horizontal eyebrows must be traced under that brow; then followed, naturally, a well-defined nose, with a straight ridge and full nostrils; then a flexible-looking mouth, by no means narrow; then a firm chin, with a decided cleft down the middle of it: of course, some black whiskers were wanted, and some jetty hair, tufted on the temples, and waved above the forehead. Now for the eyes:"

Man, my "teasers" have not been that good! Chance is landing me on really random quotations. Oh well!

I have a book club meeting tonight with the gals in my English Department. Now I'll be starting another book...uhoh!

Sunday Salon: What I'm Reading Now

I have no idea how this has happened. I used to be the type of reader who could only read on book at a time. Now, I seem to be reading about 5 books at once. I've got one book for each room, or mood, or something. Here's what I'm reading now:

1. Animal Farm by George Orwell.

I'm an English teacher, so I'm reading this one with my sophomore students. I've read this book quite a few times, and it's always interesting to me to see how my students like it. So far, quite a few students are getting wrapped up in the injustices they are seeing as the farm is progressing. It makes them angry that the animals are letting themselves be taken over, but they wisely point out that when you are caught up in the moment, you sometimes don't realize what's really happening. We have also been talking about the "propaganda" that the pigs use to maintain control of the other animals. I've pointed out that propaganda is used all the time in our own society, and many of the students are responding to that. Their project with this novel is to create their own commerical that uses different types of propaganda.

I think this book is useful because it does challenge citizens of any government to be intelligent and pay attention to what is going on around them. My hope for my students is that they are able to use this awareness of the way people use words to be more intelligent and thoughtful consumers and citizens.

I like this book. Why is it always sadder when animals die in books? I too am horrifed by what happens to this fledgling government. I think a book that scares you can be a very good thing though.

2. Twlight by Stephanie Meyers

This is not the type of book I would choose to read. However, I have been hearing rave reviews from everyone, my students, my co-workers, my friends. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. When I first started reading I was impressed that the book has rather an extensive vocabulary for a bestseller. That's always nice to see. As I've read on I have not been that impressed with the character development or the depth of the relationship between Bella and Edward, the two main characters. Characters are the most important part of books for me, and I'm not thrilled with these characters. Nevertheless, I find no reasons to stop reading this book. I am curious to see where the story goes, and I want to know what everyone is so excited about. I will keep on!

3. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

My husband and I are reading this one out loud to each other. Collins was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, and he wrote some of the most successful sensational novels of that time. The Moonstone is well-lauded by such writers as T.S. Eliot and Dorothy Sayers. It is a mystery/suspense novel about the disappearance of a magnificent diamond, and so far it has kept the interest of both my husband and I. At times I feel the plot is too drawn out; it takes so long to get to certain points. Certainly plenty of dramatic and completely implausible events occur throughout the story. However, I like the narrative structure of different "narratives" by different characters in the book. We are almost finished with this one, so I will have an updated review soon enough.

4. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

George Eliot is, in my opinion, one of the most intelligent writers that has ever lived. Her book Middlemarch is my absolute favorite novel. My high school English teacher recommended The Mill on the Floss to me, and I am finally getting around to reading it. So far I'm not as into the story as I was with Middlemarch, but the characters are interesting and Eliot's writing style is incredibly dense, but incredibly rewarding and fascinating. I can sense the seeds of tragedy being sown already, and I am curious to see how the book develops.

The main storyline so far is about the relationship between a brother and sister, Tom and Maggie Tulliver. Maggie is a very interesting character; she is an intelligent, dreamy, and passionate little girl that doesn't quite fit in the restrained society she lives in. I'm looking forward to seeing how Maggie deals with the world she lives in as she grows up.

5. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud A friend suggested to me, and I'm reading it because I'm interested in reading at least one graphic novel. The genre is growing in popularity. This book is about comics and what their place is in terms of literature and storytelling. I know nothing about comics, so I will be interested to see how this book pans out. I'll be honest; this book is the one I read the least often; it just isn't as high on my interest scale. If anyone has read this book and liked it, I'd love to hear what you thought about it.

So there we have it! I certainly am keeping busy. Of course, reading more than one book means I may never finish any of them... Oh, and I need to start Jane Eyre soon for the Classics Book Club. Maybe I do need to focus on just one...

Sunday Salon

Teaser Tuesday

Shouldbereading hosts a Teaser Tuesday, where you open your book to a random page and pick two sentences between lines 7 and 12 to share.

My sentences are from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. I like this book so far; although, I don't like it as much as my very favorite book by her, Middlemarch.

I opened to page 353.

Sentences #1 and 2: It was well that there was this interest of narrative to keep under the vague but fierce sense of triumph over Wakem, which would otherwise have been the channel his joy would have rushed into with dangerous force. Even as it was, that feeling from time to time gave threats of its ultimate mastery, in sudden bursts of irrelevant exclamation.

Ok, not the best Teaser, but it was lines 7-12! It definitely gives you a feel for Eliot's writing style though! Not for an easy beach read.

Lit Flicks Challenge

My last adventure today, I promise!

I think this challenge looks like a lot of fun. Plus, it gives me an excuse to watch movies and read books. I can't lose!

Join the Lit Flicks Challenge Here

I'm thinking of reading/watching the following books/movies:

1. Jane Eyre (also reading for Classics Bookclub)
2. Oliver Twist
3. Lolita
4. Lord of the Flies
5. The Hound of the Baskervilles

The list may change or expand, but I think this is a good start.

Here are my answers to the MeMe questions:

1. Are you more likely to see a movie if it’s based on a book?

I would say no. However, I will seek out movies if they are based on books I like.

2. Do you prefer to read the book first or see the movie first?

Definitely read the book. I like having my own ideas in my head before I see the movie.

3. List one movie that was better than the book it’s based on, and one book that is better than the movie.

No one hate me, but I like the Harry Potter movies better than the books. I find them more entertaining.

Most books are better than the movies for me, but off the top of my head I would say the book Wuthering Heights is better than any of the movie versions I've seen. The movies try to soften the book into a romance when it's really a book about crazy and screwed-up characters that are hard to like. The book is disturbing, and I love it. The movies aren't disturbing enough.

4. In your opinion, what film is the most accurate representation of the book?

I think the the BBC miniseries of Pride and Prejudice is a very accurate representation of the book. Because it is so long, most of the major plot elements and details still remain. I think the characters are very similar to the win Austen portrays them in the book as well.

Pride and Prejudice Review for Classics Bookclub

OK, I'm cheating. I just stumbled upon this awesome website, 5 Minutes for Books, and found that their book club read Pride and Prejudice for today. Now, I was not reading along with this club. But I LOVE this book, so I'm writing a post anyways. This is my kind of book club!

The first time I read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice I thought it was hilarious. Every other time I have read it I've felt the same way. I am a hardcore Austen fan, and although P and P is not my absolute favorite of hers (I love Persuasion!!), I believe that it is the novel in which her wit is at its absolute finest. Austen's constant gibes at society and at her characters keep the reader entertained throughout.

Speaking of wit, I think part of the reason this novel has stayed so popular is that its heroine, Elizabeth Bennet, is one of the most intelligent, independent, and fun female characters ever in print. What makes her so lovable is that she stands up for herself, something we don't always see a lot of female characters do, especially in fiction written before 1850. Readers can't help but enjoy hearing of her exploits.

Yet, Lizzy is not perfect. Her prejudice does mislead her; she is blinded by her "first impressions." It is only after much ado and plot twisting that she is able to look beyond her prior beliefs and see a different side of Mr. Darcy. But imperfection makes her even more lovable. As she begins to appreciate who Darcy really is, we as readers do the same.

Darcy. Yes Darcy. I believe that one of the main reasons this novel has continued popularity is due to this character. Truly, Colin Firth's portrayal of this character in the BBC miniseries of the novel has elevated this fictional character to superstar status. After all, what can a woman find more attractive than that seemingly unavailable and immovable man who ends up worshipping her and letting his tough exterior crack just for her? Sounds like a romance novel. I think many readers and viewers latch on to this attractive character as their reason for loving the book. And I can't blame them.

However, Darcy is not the reason I like this novel. Nor do I think Austen was really attempting to create anything like a romance novel. The characters of Darcy and Lizzy both serve to further Austen's idea that we don't really understand people until we get to know them and that even if we are more capable and intelligent than the people around us, (Austen herself may have been) we must still treat the people around us with civility. They are human, after all. That's not to say we can't poke a little fun at them; Austen is the queen of poking fun! However, we shouldn't poke fun at their expense. Even Austen's most ridiculous characters have some aspects with which we can sympathize. And every human being on this earth has something we can sympathize with too.

With this novel, Jane Austen created a truly entertaining piece of literature. The plot is engaging, the characters are unforgettable, and Austen's spot-on commentary on life and people ties everything together.

To avoid sounding like I don't appreciate Darcy, let me end with saying that my favorite scene from the BBC P and P is the scene where Colin Firth jumps into the lake...



I'm very excited to join the club in reading Jane Eyre for next month! I've read this a couple times, and I have a very mixed opinion of it.

My next Online Reading Adventure - The Sunday Salon

Why not just jump into this whole book blogging thing full force? I have now joined The Sunday Salon. This group simply reads books and blogs about them on Sundays, then comments on the blogs of other members of the group.

I think this is a fun idea and a great way to build community. Plus, imagine how many book recommendations I will get every week!

I guess that's rather a dangerous thing...

Nonetheless, we will see how I do!

RIP III

I had no idea there was such an amazing community of book readers on the web! I'm so behind the times. I stumbled across this fun and creative challenge called RIPIII on a blog called Stainless Steel Droppings. I was intrigued right away, and I want to join in the fun.

Because I am a crazy busy high school English teacher, I am going to limit myself to two books and see how I do. So I'm accepting the challenge Peril the Second. If I read more, so be it!

The books I'm choosing to read are:

The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

and

Twlight by Stephanie Meyers.

All my students have read Twlight, so I figure I have to get in on the action! And I just like Wilkie Collins. My husband and I are reading The Moonstone together.

I'm excited! What fun. I need to make sure I take time to read books for myself!

100 Great Books.

I got this idea from costlygrace and thought I would make another list. This one is of the Top 100 Books according to Big Read. I think this list is way off, but it's still fun.

The directions are:

Bold those you have read.
Italicize those you intend to read.
Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4. Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6. The Bible
7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8. 1984 - George Orwell
9. His Dark Materials trilogy - Philip Pullman
10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14. Complete Works of Shakespeare (most of them. Othello is my favorite)
15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19. The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20. Middlemarch - George Eliot My alltime favorite book.
21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34. Emma - Jane Austen
35. Persuasion - Jane Austen
36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41. Animal Farm - George Orwell
42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50. Atonement - Ian McEwan
51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52. Dune - Frank Herbert
53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding
69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72. Dracula - Bram Stoker
73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75. Ulysses - James Joyce
76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78. Germinal - Emile Zola
79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80. Possession - AS Byatt
81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (haven't read all)
90. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92. The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94. Watership Down - Richard Adams
95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Totals:
Read: 38
Favorites: 17
Want to Read: 26

banned books

Banned books: make bold if you've read it, italicize if you've read parts
#1 The Bible
#2 Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
#3 Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
#4 The Koran
#5 Arabian Nights
#6 Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
#7 Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
#8 Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
#9 Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
#10 Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
#11 The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
#12 Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe
#13 Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
#14 Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
#15 Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
#16 Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
#17 Dracula by Bram Stoker
#18 Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin
#19 Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
#20 Essays by Michel de Montaigne
#21 Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
#22 History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon
#23 Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
#24 Origin of Species by Charles Darwin
#25 Ulysses by James Joyce
#26 Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
#27 Animal Farm by George Orwell
#28 Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
#29 Candide by Voltaire
#30 To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
#31 Analects by Confucius
#32 Dubliners by James Joyce
#33 Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
#34 Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
#35 Red and the Black by Stendhal
#36 Das Capital by Karl Marx
#37 Flowers of Evil by Charles Baudelaire
#38 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
#39 Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence
#40 Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
#41 Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
#42 Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
#43 Jungle by Upton Sinclair
#44 All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
#45 Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx
#46 Lord of the Flies by William Golding
#47 Diary by Samuel Pepys
#48 Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
#49 Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
#50 Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
#51 Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak
#52 Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant
#53 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
#54 Praise of Folly by Desiderius Erasmus
#55 Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
#56 Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X
#57 Color Purple by Alice Walker
#59 Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke
#60 Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
#61 Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
#62 One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#63 East of Eden by John Steinbeck
#64 Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
#65 I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
#66 Confessions by Jean Jacques Rousseau
#67 Gargantua and Pantagruel by Francois Rabelais
#68 Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes
#69 The Talmud
#70 Social Contract by Jean Jacques Rousseau
'#71 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#72 Women in Love by D. H. Lawrence
#73 American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
#74 Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler
#75 A Separate Peace by John Knowles
#76 Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
#77 Red Pony by John Steinbeck
#78 Popol Vuh
#79 Affluent Society by John Kenneth Galbraith
#80 Satyricon by Petronius
#81 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#82 Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
#83 Black Boy by Richard Wright
#84 Spirit of the Laws by Charles de Secondat Baron de Montesquieu
#85 Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
#86 Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
#87 Metaphysics by Aristotle
#88 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#89 Institutes of the Christian Religion by Jean Calvin
#90 Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse
#91 Power and the Glory by Graham Greene
#92 Sanctuary by William Faulkner
#93 As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
#94 Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin
#95 Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
#96 Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
#97 General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
#98 Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
#99 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Alexander Brown
#100 Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
#101 Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman by Ernest J. Gaines
#102 Emile Jean by Jacques Rousseau
#103 Nana by Emile Zola
#104 The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
#105 Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin
#106 Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
#107 Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein
#108 Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Peck
#109 Ox-Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark
#110 Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes