Since student teaching has started, I haven't had much time for reading at all. Still whenever I have the chance, I read. These days I get most of my reading done on the 6 train, as I go to and fro school. Back and forth from my subway stop to the school's subway stop, it's about 15 minutes each, and since I usually get a seat, I am able to read for that time.
So far I've finished a few books this week, but out of these books, 3 stand out (well +1, if you include the sequel to one of the books). These 3 books are Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows (+ the sequel, Crooked Kingdom), Julia Alvarez's Yo!, and Edeet Ravel's The Cat, the latter for which I just finished this morning.
I read Six of Crows early on in student teaching, as the students in 7th Grade were reading that as one of their books for Lit Circles. It turned out to be a very well written and entertaining young adult fantasy book, with some very memorable and well-sketched characters. The moment I finished the last page of Six of Crows (which had been loaned to me by the 7th Grade ELA teacher), I ended up going onto my Kindle and immediately purchasing the sequel, which I then finished over the rest of the weekend. I would describe the plot as a mixture of fantasy Oceans's Eleven, but executed in a way that felt more entertaining and meaningful than The Lies of Locke Lamora, which I had read during the Summer. I would rate these books both 9/10.
Yo! was a book that I had picked up on a whim at Housing Works. I had previously read In the Time of the Butterflies before, and thought it was just OK. I did not feel very impressed with it, although it was obviously a book written during a very important historical period for the Dominican Republic. Yo! has a similar narrative structure to In the Time of the Butterflies, alternating between different narrators. A key difference of course is that Yo! revolves around one person, the titular protagonist Yolanda and her journey through life as an individual. By focusing only on a singular person however, Alvarez managed to flesh out a very human character that is equal parts flawed, confused, and heroine. Though at times bordering on the absurd and silly - I really disliked the part about the stalker and thought the nonsense about her old college professor seemed unrealistic - the book still possess enough artistry to get away with those two low points. I would rate this book 8/10.
Another book picked up on a whim at Housing Works was The Cat. I was - of course - initially attracted by the title of the book, but it proved overall to be a very moving and simple read. Unlike many authors nowadays who can write mountains of text based on the most prosaic of events in their characters lives, Ravel does the opposite and is sparing, almost stingy, with her words. She also breaks up her narrative into short chunks, separated by line breaks. Somehow, even by doing these two things, she still manages to paint a deep and rich world in the reader's mind. One example is this short section: "The leaves are turning. I lower my blinds against the glowing forest, the clear blue sky. I don't want to see what my son can't see." The result is a heartbreaking portrait of a grieving mother trying to navigate a new world without her son, and the cat, Pursie, which is enough to keep her going just long enough for her to find her own momentum to keep moving forward in life. I would rate this book 9/10.
So far I've finished a few books this week, but out of these books, 3 stand out (well +1, if you include the sequel to one of the books). These 3 books are Leigh Bardugo's Six of Crows (+ the sequel, Crooked Kingdom), Julia Alvarez's Yo!, and Edeet Ravel's The Cat, the latter for which I just finished this morning.
I read Six of Crows early on in student teaching, as the students in 7th Grade were reading that as one of their books for Lit Circles. It turned out to be a very well written and entertaining young adult fantasy book, with some very memorable and well-sketched characters. The moment I finished the last page of Six of Crows (which had been loaned to me by the 7th Grade ELA teacher), I ended up going onto my Kindle and immediately purchasing the sequel, which I then finished over the rest of the weekend. I would describe the plot as a mixture of fantasy Oceans's Eleven, but executed in a way that felt more entertaining and meaningful than The Lies of Locke Lamora, which I had read during the Summer. I would rate these books both 9/10.
Yo! was a book that I had picked up on a whim at Housing Works. I had previously read In the Time of the Butterflies before, and thought it was just OK. I did not feel very impressed with it, although it was obviously a book written during a very important historical period for the Dominican Republic. Yo! has a similar narrative structure to In the Time of the Butterflies, alternating between different narrators. A key difference of course is that Yo! revolves around one person, the titular protagonist Yolanda and her journey through life as an individual. By focusing only on a singular person however, Alvarez managed to flesh out a very human character that is equal parts flawed, confused, and heroine. Though at times bordering on the absurd and silly - I really disliked the part about the stalker and thought the nonsense about her old college professor seemed unrealistic - the book still possess enough artistry to get away with those two low points. I would rate this book 8/10.
Another book picked up on a whim at Housing Works was The Cat. I was - of course - initially attracted by the title of the book, but it proved overall to be a very moving and simple read. Unlike many authors nowadays who can write mountains of text based on the most prosaic of events in their characters lives, Ravel does the opposite and is sparing, almost stingy, with her words. She also breaks up her narrative into short chunks, separated by line breaks. Somehow, even by doing these two things, she still manages to paint a deep and rich world in the reader's mind. One example is this short section: "The leaves are turning. I lower my blinds against the glowing forest, the clear blue sky. I don't want to see what my son can't see." The result is a heartbreaking portrait of a grieving mother trying to navigate a new world without her son, and the cat, Pursie, which is enough to keep her going just long enough for her to find her own momentum to keep moving forward in life. I would rate this book 9/10.
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