Skip to main content

Literature PD --Monday meeting SUMMER CHOICE

By

 Monday, Sept. 29 SUMMER CHOICE

Just got the news we have been approved for 20 hours – 2 hours per meeting.  Plan on meeting next Monday to discuss the books and share our summer reading.  The Zoom meeting link is below. 

 

The Nickel Boys bu Colson Whitehead

Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern


See Nija's email for Zoom link


I’ve attached a link to a piece in Vanity Fair by Jesmyn Ward. Marcy chose one of her books as a read for this year. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanityfair.com/culture/2020/08/jesmyn-ward-on-husbands-death-and-grief-during-covid/amp


More links from npr:

The Starless Sea:

https://www.npr.org/2019/11/03/775436518/youll-float-away-on-the-warm-waters-of-the-starless-sea


The Nickel Boys:

https://www.npr.org/2019/07/16/742129946/rooted-in-history-the-nickel-boys-is-a-great-american-novel


Sing, Unburied, Song:

https://www.npr.org/books/titles/547855239/sing-unburied-sing


Comments

  1. Brad CraddockSeptember 29, 2020 at 2:30 PM

    Sorry to have missed the discussion. Here's my thoughts about the books...

    Nickel Boys: as an example of historical fiction that hits hard and is well written, I don't think we could have chosen a better summer book--although, I have to admit I am longing for something a little more uplifting than the selections chosen.

    Whitehead is a skilled writer...that much is evident. His characters (Elwood, of course, but also others) are well constructed and recognizeable protagoniists, his scenes gory at times, detailed, and well constructed. Nickel Academy reminds me of some of the rooms I've visted in the district over the years (without mentioning any names) and reminded me of those British boys' school novels like Brideshead Revisited or even a Separate Peace--but with teeth. It's more like if Salo were mixed with Holes or the Chocolate War. Obviously, there's a lot to teach here. I think I'll be adding this one to a reading list this year.

    As for the other two books, I have to admit I haven't finished Sing, Unburied, Sing, but...well, I will. My students were shocked and disgusted by the goat scene. Starless Sea was a delight for a summer read, although I have to admit I found the metaphors a little heavy, but what do you expect from a fantasy?
    Reminded me of a postmodern C.S. Lewis book. This is obvious a book for book lovers and bibliophiles...our fantacist readers would like it, although I'm not sure it's "memorable" enough.

    I'm going to stop typing here...it's weird talking to myself without feedback from others. Here are some links for these books if you need them:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBsUk47hJzw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acdH3nKXolY

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5E01GVW6gQ

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brad CraddockSeptember 29, 2020 at 2:42 PM

    Oh...and I read a variety of books this summer, but the one "classic" I never read before and then did this summer was Watership Down. Thank god for rabbits that had nothing to do with Covid-19. I watched the Netflix series and had seen the old animated film from the 70s, but never read the book. I'm surprised just how true to the story both those films were. It was a pleasant read that brought me to tears at how pure the world could be and the desperate struggle to live in peace. If only...!

    Anyway, I'd be happy to talk about this book further (or the other ones) but I'm f#ckin' tired.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

September 2024 Felix Ever After by Kacen Callendar

By
  According to Goodreads . . . Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle.... But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself. Felix Ever After  is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you d...
3 comments
Read more

December and January Meeting Monday, January 29

By
DECEMBER    The Sherlockian by Graham Moore   Moderator, Brad Craddock JANUARY         My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallant   Moderator, Shelley Davis Hurtling from present day New York to Victorian London,  The Sherlockian  weaves the history of Sherlock Holmes and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle into an inspired and entertaining double mystery that proves to be anything but "elementary." In December 1893, Sherlock Holmes-adoring Londoners eagerly opened their Strand magazines, anticipating the detective's next adventure, only to find the unthinkable: his creator, Arthur Conan Doyle, had killed their hero off. London spiraled into mourning-crowds sported black armbands in grief-and railed against Conan Doyle as his assassin. Then in 1901, just as abruptly as Conan Doyle had "murdered" Holmes in "The Final Problem," he resurrected him. Though the writer kept detailed diaries of his days and work, Conan Doyle never explained thi...
4 comments
Read more

Today Will Be Different by Maria Semple

By
Meeting:  March 30 2:45  A 238 Moderator: Marcy Gamzon A brilliant novel and instant New York Times bestseller from the author of  Where'd You Go, Bernadette , about a day in the life of Eleanor Flood, forced to abandon her small ambitions and awake to a strange, new future. Eleanor knows she's a mess. But today, she will tackle the little things. She will shower and get dressed. She will have her poetry and yoga lessons after dropping off her son, Timby. She won't swear. She will initiate sex with her husband, Joe. But before she can put her modest plan into action, life happens. Today, it turns out, is the day Timby has decided to fake sick to weasel his way into his mother's company. It's also the day Joe has chosen to tell his office -- but not Eleanor -- that he's on vacation. Just when it seems like things can't go more awry, an encounter with a former colleague produces a graphic memoir whose dramatic tale threatens to reveal a buried family...
11 comments
Read more