Sunday Salon: November Wrap Up

You can see other posts and join in on the fun at The Sunday Salon.

I just can’t believe it’s December! I’ve been having a blast doing my Christmas shopping and getting ready for the holidays. Today I am going to the bookstore to buy a bunch of gifts for people. There is nothing better than getting a good book as a gift.

November wrap up:

How can another month be over? And… we are now in our last month of 2009!

I read 5 books in November:

1. Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, by Alison Bechdel, 240 pages, November 2
2. Savvy, by Ingrid Law, 342 pages, November 15
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, by J. K. Rowling, audio book, November 17
4. Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood, by Marjane Satrapi, 153 pages, November
5. The Sims 3 World Adventures Prima Guide, by Catherine Browne, 224 pages, November 28, 2009

I got 3 reviews up (from books I read in October!):

1. The Giver, by Lois Lowry, 180 pages
2. The Strain, by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hoga, 401 pages
3. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, 233 pages

I also was finally able to start exercising again! I’m so glad to be able to be active without coughing.

Here are how my challenges are looking:

• 100+ Books Challenge -53/100
• 2009 100 Mile Fitness Challenge - 24/100
• DCF Challenge - 11/30
• 2009 DystopYA Reading Challenge – 1/3
• Fall into Reading Challenge 2009 – 4/5
• Harry Potter Reading Challenge – 1/7
• Support Your Local Library Challenge - 32/50
• Suspense and Thriller Challenge – 11/12
• Take a Chance Challenge - 3/10
• What An Animal II Challenge – 4/6

How was your November?

2010 Social Justice Challenge

The 2010 Social Justice Challenge sounds so interesting! Here is what it is all about:

We have chosen to focus each month on a different area of social injustice in the world. During that month, we are asking that you read something from the list of resources or watch something suggested by that month’s host. That will complete step one of this challenge: Learn.

Throughout the month we will also be posting ways you can make a difference in this area. Don’t worry, we will provide several different options at many different levels of commitment. The important thing is to take an action step towards doing something to change things! That fulfills step 2–Take Action.

This challenge is close to my heart because I teach at a school with high poverty, homelessness, and a large refugee population. The things many of the kids in my class have been through are amazing. It is a testament to the human spirit how resilient kids can be. Check out the Social Justice Challenge website to see all the themes they will be covering throughout the year.

Nan’s Notes: American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang

• Gene Luen Yang
• Age Range: Young Adult
• Pub. Date: December 2008
• 233 pp
• colored by cartoonist Lark Pien

Awards:

• finalist for the 2006 National Book Awards
• 2007 Michael L. Printz Award.

I read this book back in October during the Read-a-thon. I really wish I had written the review before now! I returned the book many weeks ago, so this is from my memory.

As I was reading American Born Chinese I was very uncomfortable with the racial slurs and stereotypes, especially in the parts about the sit-com. I almost put the book down several times because of my discomfort. But, I kept with it and I’m really glad I did. This graphic novel has three stories that are told throughout. The following brief summary is from the author’s website:

With American Born Chinese, I’m trying to say something about my experiences growing up as an Asian-American by telling three different stories. The first stars the Monkey King, folk hero of Chinese legend; the second recounts the struggles of a Chinese-American boy trying to fit into a predominantly white suburb; and the third is a sit-com starring everybody’s favorite racial stereotype, Cousin Chin-Kee.

I do not want to give away too much from the book, but the three stories come together at the end in a way that I did not see coming at all. I was so surprised when they how they came together! When I finished the book, I didn’t just want to talk about it with someone who had read it, I needed to talk about it. When I went back to school on Monday, I went right to a coworker who teaches a multicultural children’s lit class to see if she had read it. She had and we chatted for quite awhile. I might even see if I can sit in on her class when they read it so I can chat with others who have read it.

Pick up this book and give it a read. Then come back and talk with  me about it.

One thing I can say for sure, I am still thinking about this book over a month later!

Rating: 4/5

Challenges:

• 100+ Books Challenge
• Support Your Local Library Challenge

2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge

Here’s another favorite challenge from 2009! For the 2010 Support Your Local Library Challenge, I’ll be signing up for the Mini Level: 25 books. Hop on over to J. Kaye’s blog to sign up and join this challenge.

Goal: 25 books.

Sunday Salon: Audio Book 11/29/09

You can see other posts and join in on the fun at The Sunday Salon.

This month I listened to my first audio book! Well, I’ve tried listening to a few other audio books, but never was able to finish them. This time I listened to the entire 8 hours and loved every minute of it! The book I listened to? Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling, read by Jim Dale.

I’ve wanted to be able to listen to audio books for so long. I know I am not an auditory learner, I’m extremely visual. But, I do love listening to podcasts. I’ve been listening to podcasts for 2 or 3 years now so I thought I would be able to try some audio books, but I kept zoning out every time I would start listening. I had no idea what was happening in the story.

I had heard that the Harry Potter books were great audio books. I decided to give it a try and I loved it! One difference with the Harry Potter audio is that I’ve read this book before. So, if I zoned out, I still had an idea of what was happening. But I don’t think I zoned out very much.  My plan is to listen to the next 2 or 3 books of Harry Potter and then read the rest of them (for the Harry Potter challenge).

I don’t know if it was the fact that I’ve read the book before or if it was something about this audio book itself that made it so I could actually keep up with it. I would love to have a few other good audio books to choose from for long car rides. What makes a good audio book? What are some good audio books that you’ve listend to?

Now off topic for a bit…

Here is a picture of my nephew and my dad working on a Lego project while the rest of us were getting ready to go to my aunt’s house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I’m looking forward to spending time with my family and a wonderful dinner at my aunt’s house. I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Enjoy the holiday!

Sunday Salon: November 22, 2009

You can see other posts and join in on the fun at The Sunday Salon.

Oh to feel well again! By Wednesday of this week I finally was feeling like myself – thanks to the antibiotics I started on Tuesday. I had energy and I stopped coughing! I honestly didn’t realize how awful I have been feeling until I started to feel better. This weekend I’ll even be able to get back to exercising. I’ve been coughing so much, exercise was out of the question.  Has that ever happened to you? You’ve been sick or run down for so long that you don’t even realize it?

This week I went to my local theater and saw an incredible dance group called Tap Dogs. It was an awesome show and we were in the front row!

Now that I’m feeling better, I’m starting to tackle my backlog of reviews (The Strain), and I’m curling up at night with my books (instead of falling alseep by 8:30).

I also started joining several challenges for next year. I know I won’t be able to meet a lot of goals for this year, but I sure had fun trying! I’m hoping to get even closer to my goals for next year. This week I’ve signed up for:

• 2010 100+ Reading Challenge
• 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge
• GLBT Reading Challenge

I think I will probably join a few others and I think I’m going to set a goal to read all the DCF books again.

Have a great week!

2010 100+ Reading Challenge

I loved this challenge in 2009 – even though I didn’t complete it. I’m hoping to get closer to my goal of 100 books in 2010 with the 100+ Reading Challenge from J.Kaye’s Book Blog.

Goal: 100 books

2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge

I loved this challenge last year so I’m back for the 2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge! My goal is the Just My Size level – 25 books.

GLBT Reading Challenge 2010

I’m joining the GLBT Reading Challenge for 2010. I’m signing up for the Lambda level (4 books) and hopefully I’ll end up reading more. I will keep track of the books I read on this post.