Odds and Ends and This and That

We moved! This, plus visiting colleges, buying a new flute, and working on Aladdin Jr., has consumed my life these days. I did a little reading here and there. Here's what I remember:

Symphony for the City of the Dead by M. T. Anderson (about Shostakovich and the symphony he composed during the Seige of Leningrad -- Maggie was reading this for her EE and it looked interesting -- and it was)

Fences by August Wilson (read the play and watched the film adaptation -- my Lit and Performance students' summer work)

Sense and Sensibility by Kate Hamill (a play adaptation/interpretation of the Jane Austen classic -- very good -- playing at Hudson Valley Shakespeare right now but too bad I don't really have time to get there and see it)

The Chosen by Chaim Potok (the play adaptation of this is being staged at Long Wharf this year, so I might take students to see it -- there is a film adaptation too so it might be interesting for them to compare those two versions)

The Curiosities as well as The Anatomy of Curiosity (both are collections of short stories and commentary on writing by Maggie Steifvater, Tessa Gratton, and Brenna Yovanoff -- fun stuff!)

Still working on Les Mis and I booked tickets for 50 at the Bushnell for October!

Next up is work for a unit on Julie Taymor for IB Theatre...super fun!!

Fantasy vs. Reality

Still reading Les Mis, meticulously, and taking notes.

In the meantime, we started listening to a book on CD on our daily drives -- the first in the Raven Cycle Series by Maggie Stiefvater. It was interesting, and I wanted to know what happened next, so then I binge-read the 4 books. The series is fantastical but the main characters are well-drawn and believable. Overall it was an enjoyable experience.

Before that I has picked up Neil Gaiman's American Gods at the library and started it. Not sure if I will finish it, but maybe. I am interested in the story but the writing is too....boy. Maybe I prefer women writers, maybe I prefer YA when it comes to fantasy, maybe it's just not my thing. But maybe I will finish it anyway just to see what happens. But like with Game of Thrones, I will not be watching the TV adaptation. Boy writing gone TV is definitely not my thing.

Summer Break and the Reading is Easy

I have been doing quite a lot of reading lately, some pulled from the summer reading lists of my various students and some from my own prep for next year's classes.

So far, I have read

1)  City of Glass by Paul Auster but this is the graphic novel version

2) The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir written and drawn by Thi Bui

3) Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

4) Fires in the Mirror by Anna Deveare Smith

5) Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

I liked #1 but loved #2 -- it was a surprising find about the life of a woman born in Vietnam who family came to the US as war refugees! Both are summer reading for other classes in the English department. #3 was a re-read but it was just as good as the first time around. #4 has been on my list for a while, and it just made me reaffirm my belief in ADS's genius. #5 is not as good as Operating Instructions -- probably because when I read that I was a young(ish) parent and that book saved me in some ways so it is up on a pedestal unreachable by other books in comparison -- but AL always has some gems about life that I'd write down in an inspirational quote book if I had one.

Next on the list is Victor Hugo's masterpiece Les Miserables. I am reading the unabridged version translated by Lee Fahnestock. It's quite the undertaking and may take me all summer, and I may intersperse it with other things. I am taking notes as I go to help me thinking about the direction of the winter musical.

Oh dear, it's 2017...oh well, let's keep going anyway

In Jan and Feb of 2017, all I did was school work (reread Krik? Krak! -- so good!) and pull together a musical. I may have done some pleasure reading, but truthfully, I don't remember.

So now it's Spring Break and I'm taking an IB class, doing grades and comments, writing a report, planning classes and perusing books for next year, and cleaning my house -- but I got some reading in too!

Here's a list of what I remember:

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (a timely and enjoyable reread)

Claire of the Sea Light and Create Dangerously by Edwidge Danticat (highly recommend)

Les Miserables (the libretto -- previewed for next year)

The Novel of the Century: The Extraordinary Adventure of Les Miserables by David Bellos (so interesting)

We Should All Be Feminists and Dear Ijeawele, or A Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimanda Ngozi Adichie (reading these with the teenage girl)

My Love, My Love, or The Peasant Girl by Rosa Guy (for IB Lit and Perf)

Only one more day of break to go but I have more on my list to save for June!