Monday, September 30, 2013

Magical Reads

I was excited to start and finish Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches this past week.  It is book number 1 in the All Souls Trilogy.  What do you hand students in 11th & 12th grade who loved the Twilight and Harry Potter series?  You might hand this book to them.  It is grown-up, but it delves into the world of witches, daemons, and vampires.  Not only is there room for magic, but science and history fill the pages as well.  Are you looking for a grown-up book that will help you escape the world of muggles?  This book might be the just-right  one for you.  It kept me from finishing my book club book and doing all the work I needed to finish, but the escape was worth it. I am disciplining myself before I start book #2.

Another vampire book that you might hand to upper grade readers might  be The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.  It was written for adults, but students who were nourished  by magical reads such as the Beautiful Creatures series and Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children might enjoy leveling up.


I am rereading the Percy Jackson series with my daughter.  We are finishing The Sea of Monsters this week. It makes me happy that we have books that we can read together. She wants me to read aloud to her again. which she rejected in 2nd grade.  She is a fourth grader now.  Now that we are co-reading, we take turns. We even have her dad reading with us some nights.  I have a professional book, Using Data for Instructional Improvement,  to finish this week and am planning to start two memoirs this week, Carlos Eire's book, Waiting for Snow in Havana and Alexandra Fuller's Don't Let's Go to The Dog's Tonight. 


Happy Reading!

4 comments:

  1. What a blessing that you are reading as a family. I wish more families could hold on to this type of tradition. My son and I read together up through middle school where he surpassed me going on to prefer classical history non fiction and alternative history novels. I wish I could have inspired my twin girls to become readers. Their idea of reading is text messages and Instagram. Maybe someday they will find that perfect book that will hook them. I hope so.

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  2. A Discovery of Witches sounds like a good read. I agree with Julee about the gift of reading as a family. I'm co-reading "Gathering Blue" by Lois Lowry with my own daughter and I like the conversations our book reading generates.

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  3. I just bought the Percy Jackson box set to give to my nephews for Christmas. I am excited to reread the series with them! I really need to read A Discovery of Witches. Have a great week! http://wp.me/zUn5

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  4. Great that you are all the reading family!!!!

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