Korie’s Comments (group member since Jan 02, 2008)

Korie’s comments from the What should I read next?: The book ending support group group.

I will be reading One Hundred Years of Solitude this summer. Anyone want to discuss it?

Funny how this works -- I just finished The Road and agree that it's incredible. I will be reading 100 Years of Solitude this summer. Both are on my reading list for my AP English students.

Has anyone here read Angle of Repose? It's definitely one of my favorites, and is anything by Haruki Murakami. I'd seriously read his shopping lists if they were printed. My favorite is Dance, Dance, Dance (which is also on my reading list....)

Currently reading Anna Karenina and getting really annoyed with her. Has anyone else read AK, and did anyone else just want to shake her?

I am thinking about re-reading Jane Austen. I'm about at the point in the school year where I seem to be too tired/spacy/overworked to read new books. It will last nights until about a week after graduation. This year, I want to see if re-reading helps to break the cycle.


Are there other teachers here? Does this happen to you?

Almost finished with Give Me the World. Interesting, but seems dated. Just finished "Pale Horse, Pale Rider." Would love to hear other people's comments on it.

Suggestion to everyone who needs a break: pick up a copy of Lonely Werewolf Girl. What more do you need to lift your spirits during a bad month beyond a succession war, crazy werewolves, a band called Yum Yum Sugary Snacks, romance, teenage angst, and clothing lust? It's light, it's funny, it's tender.... and I loved the portrayal of a dysfunctional family and misfits finding their own tribe. Recommended!

About to begin Give Me the World by Leila Hadley. I've been meaning to read it for a while, and now I will!

Life has been hard the last couple of weeks - a pet died, work has been very difficult, both my husband and I have been sick (and I am going on two weeks now!), and so I am reading Lonely Werewolf Girl just for fun. I don't know if other teachers have this problem, but right around Spring Break my ability to sustain concentration on a book absolutely dwindles and so I schedule my lightest reading for the period between April and June. Since I'll be teaching Advanced Placement English Literature next fall, I will need to review some cool classics this summer!

Trevor, have you read The Shadow of the Wind? It's wonderful. I would also recommend anything by Arturo Perez-Reverte, especially The Queen of the South. Feel free to browse my books if you like!

Labyrinth was a fun story but also focused on the history of the Cathars in southern France. I really enjoy historical novels, and this one was on a time in history that I find particularly fascinating -- the Middle Ages and Crusades.

Jennifer, where in Brazil are you? I would love to visit that country! Are you a Brazilian native, or living there as an ex-patriate?

I'm currently still trying to navigate Blindness. I'm also reading Grotesque by Kirino; it's, well, grotesque (but hard to put down.) Since I've visited both Japan and China (where the novel takes place), it's very interesting to compare my experiences to those narrated in the book...

Yes, Stacy! I really enjoyed it. One of the characters re-appears in Sepulchre. I would recommend both of them if you like historical fiction.

I want to read Sharp Teeth. Let us know how it is!

Also -- just was given a pre-publication galley of Sepulchre by Kate Moss. Very interesting. Not as well written as I would like, but a good story (and I love historical novels to the point where I will put up with some bad writing.)

Just finished reading The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I'm still struggling with Blindness; I find Saramago's writing style very off-putting. Chabon, on the other hand, is very erudite, but the novel flows; it kept me very contented company for the past five hours. I do wonder how much a reader is supposed to work for the payoff of the novel; is a style like Saramago's something that weakens a novel or just an artistic quirk? Shouldn't a novel be readable? I'm interested in your thoughts.

I taught Catch-22 one year. 75% of the class did not read it at all. Ten percent read the first few chapters and then gave up in disgust. The fifteen percent that did read it absolutely loved it. I guess those of us who think that it's an absolute work of genius are a brilliant minority...

I like Hawthorne.... after writing a paper about The Scarlet Letter where I "proved" that everyone in the book is actually a sexual deviant. (Yes, I do think the book is that sick, but in a good kind of way... Hawthorne does make an interesting point about religious hypocrisy that many these days would do well to notice...)

took a break from Blindness and from The Middle Sea to start March by Geraldine Brooks. Three hours later, I am done,and glad I took the time to read this one. Very highly recommended -- it tells the story of the father in Little Women, but it also deals with issues of sin and redemption, albeit in a non-religious way. Just what I needed to read tonight.

about a quarter of the way through Blindness.. yes, it is very hard work. I am finding it to be a very scary novel.I'm definitely going for a few easier reads next!

so far, Blindness is interesting. I read The Book of Lost Things last summer... loved loved loved it...

funny to be here this month... I just found out that I'm guest lecturing an AP English class next semester and so need to re-read Othello and Pride and Prejudice over the next couple of weeks...

picked up a copy of Buddha or Bust today and will be reading it this weekend. I'm always interested in the history of Buddhism, Buddhist philosophy, etc...

I am thrilled to see how many of you want to be teachers. I AM a teacher! I have taught for twenty-one years, all in the same high school; mostly all levels and grades of English (even 7-8 in summer school), Algebra, Driver's Ed, Activities, Leadership, and prep classes for the California High School Exit Exam. I'm currently doing dropout prevention and trying to decide if I want to go back into the classroom -- I would love to try teaching ELD for a few years as well!

P.S. Anyone wanting to toss ideas around about teaching literature, teaching in general, working at a high school, whatever.... count me in.

There's an article in the 1/2/08 Business section about Iranians who belong to Goodreads. Check it out if you can!