Some Reading Suggestions

Since yesterday’s blog was encouraging reading, I thought I’d share some of what I like to read just in case somebody’s looking for some ideas. My reading interests are very eclectic. There’s not really one specific genre I prefer over another. After all, a good story is a good story. There are some authors that I’ve enjoyed for years, and I’ll always come back to them. Then, I have some reading friends who make suggestions of new authors when they find somebody new they like. I also have students who make suggestions based on what they are reading. My biggest problem is finding time to read those authors I know I like and to try out the suggestions that are given to me. Often, I will put on hold my favorite authors or the suggestions of my adult friends to read something a student suggests. As a high school English teacher, I find it important to try to keep up with what the students enjoy reading. It gives us some common ground for book discussions, and if I know the kinds of genres they like, I can make suggestions of other books that they may like. Finally, sometimes I either see a movie preview or watch a movie that’s “based on” a book, and I like the story enough to check out the book, because the book is always better.

Some authors I’ve started reading based on the suggestions of my friends are Janet Evanovich (the Stephanie Plum series is hilarious; when you need funny, here’s where to go), Danielle Steel  (romance), Lisa Gardner (mystery), Nicholas Sparks (romance), and Catherine Coulter (mystery). My brother put me onto Brad Thor, David Baldacci, and Vince Flynn, who all write political thrillers, and John Grisham (legal thrillers) and James Patterson (mysteries).  After I started reading Stephen King’s books, my brother suggested I might like Dean Koontz, and he was right. As a result, I’ve been reading all these authors for years.

As a result of a friend praising Richard Paul Evans’s novel The Christmas Box, I have now read almost everything he’s written, most of which seem to be Christmas stories. Another friend suggested Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie, and although that book was nonfiction, I now read the fiction books that Albom publishes. I read J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series because my kids read them. I initially read the first book and wasn’t that impressed but after taking Cody to watch the sixth movie, I decided to revisit the series and give it a second chance. What I discovered is that each book was better than the one before.

There are some classics that I like. Contrary to popular belief, just because I teach English and just because I love to read does not mean that I love every piece of work that has been deemed “classic.” When it comes to Charles Dickens, the only work I really enjoy is A Christmas Carol; the others tend to bore me. Some classics I do like are Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and others. The problem with trying to remember everything I like is that invariably I will forget something. I’ve no doubt that after I publish this blog, I will remember other items I should have included.

I also like historical fiction. Authors from this area that I would suggest include John Jakes (started reading his after watching the North and South TV mini-series based on his books), James Michener (again, enjoyed the TV mini-series Centennial), Larry McMurtry (thanks to the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove), and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind (watched the movie before reading the book). I should probably include Alex Haley’s Roots here and Colleen McCullough’s The Thorn Birds, though I haven’t watched either of those TV mini-series all the way through; I did read other works by Haley and McCullough after reading those, though. While not historical fiction, I also started reading Michael Crichton after watching the movie Jurassic Park.

There are also several authors and books I’ve read thanks to my students. I first read Jodi Picoult after hearing the students talk about her book Nineteen Minutes. After that, I’ve read many of her other books. Her books generally present a moral dilemma of some sort, and she does an excellent job of presenting both sides, so that as a reader, you question which side is “right.” And just when you think you’ve figured it out, she throws another twist and you see yet again how most issues are not clearly black and white. I read the Stephenie Meyer Twilight series because the girls kept talking about it, and I read the Rick Riordan Percy Jackson series because the boys kept talking about it. I’ve since read not only the seven books in Riordan’s Percy Jackson series, but I’ve also read the five in his Heroes of Olympus series, and the first one in his Kane Chronicles series. I read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and am now reading (and almost finished with) the Divergent trilogy by Veronica Roth, because of my students. I also read Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why based on student recommendations.

Then there are books that I just sometimes stumble upon or hear folks talking about that I ended up reading and enjoying. Some of these include Robert Dean Myers’s Fallen Angels, Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins’s Left Behind series, John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany, Allan Wolf’s New Found Land, Paulette Jiles’s Enemy Women, Marcus Zusak’s The Book Thief, Lee Goldberg’s Mr. Monk series, Penelope Lively’s The Photograph, Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain, Steig Larsson’s Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, Kathryn Stockett’s The Help, Kim Edwards’s The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, Sarah Gruen’s Water for Elephants, and books by Nicholas Evans, Toni Morrison, Emily Grayson, Mary Higgins Clark, Dan Brown, Steve Berry, Steve Alten, Greg Iles, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Richard Peck, Lisa Scottoline, Karen Robards, Richard North Patterson, Michael Connelly, the Robertsons (of Duck Dynasty fame), Debbie Macomber, Madeline L’Engle, Tim O’Brien, and Mario Puzo.

I also like to read nonfiction, and here are my suggestions for nonfiction reading: Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Elie Wiesel’s Night, Jennings Michael Burch’s They Cage the Animals at Night, Frank McCourt’s books, Dave Pelzer’s books, Stephen King’s On Writing, Lynn Truss’s Eats, Shoots and Leaves, Dee Brown’s Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward’s All the President’s Men, Robert Kennedy’s Thirteen Days, H.G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights, and Randy Pausch’s The Last Lecture. I also read autobiographical books put out by folks who are from my favorite TV shows or musicians. Some of those include Maureen McCormick, Rick Springfield, Patrick Swayze, Barry Williams, and Denise Jackson.

I’ve no doubt that I’ve omitted some good books that I would suggest you read. I still have a long list of books that I want to get around to reading. If I live to be 100, I don’t think I’ll ever finish the list. It just keeps growing. The authors I like keep writing, and my friends and students keep making suggestions. The bottom line, however, is that there are so many genres out there, if you give it a try, you’re bound to find something you like. Happy reading!

Fall Movie Schedule Holds Some Promise

My husband and I enjoy a good movie, though often our movie tastes differ. For example, he likes horror movies, and I detest them. I only watched Final Destination because I graduated with Jeffrey Reddick, and since I had nothing to base a comparison on (I don’t ever watch horror movies), it seemed to fit the bill for a good horror movie to me.

I like good stories, so romantic comedies are good for me, but I also like movies that are categorized as dramas. There are a lot of sports movies I like, and I generally like movies that are based on true stories.

It’s not surprising when our movie conversations end up with Jimmy asking if I’ve watched a particular movie and my answer is no. I’ve been more surprised at the movies he hasn’t seen, though we’re looking forward to many years together to catch up on all the great movies he hasn’t seen yet.

Looking ahead to movies that are coming out this fall, there aren’t a lot that interest me, but there’s a handful that we may try to go watch. I still haven’t watched Fireproof, but I saw the trailer for Courageous when I watched The Help  and I want to watch it. While searching the Internet Movie Database to see what else will be released this fall, I came across a new Johnny Depp movie, The Rum Diary, and since I just like Johnny Depp, I’ll be interested in seeing that one. As a history buff, a movie about J. Edgar Hoover intrigues me, so J. Edgar will likely make the list. I also saw a preview for New Year’s Eve when I watched The Help, and it looks like a fun movie to add to the list. The final movie slated for release before the end of the year that I’ll add to my list of movies I’d like to see is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I’ve read the book series, and though I usually get upset when watching a movie based on a book (too many details usually end up getting changed, and for no apparent good reason), I can’t help myself. I know going into the theater it’s not likely I’ll like the movie as well as the book, but I liked the book, so I generally give the movie a chance.

Those are the movies that make my list for what to watch between now and the end of the year. It’s not likely that I’ll get all of them in the theater, but that’s OK. Considering I have trips coming up to see Bryan Adams for the sixth time and Bob Seger for the fourth, if necessary I can wait for the Blu-ray to come out to watch these. After all, as much fun as a movie or concert date is, there’s nothing quite like spending the evening at home with the one you love enjoying a good home-cooked dinner and a movie.

Girls’ Day Out

When the last school year ended, one of my co-workers suggested that we needed to plan to do something just for us at least once a month. It would give us a chance to get to know each other better, a chance to do something for ourselves, and a chance to keep ourselves sane. For those of you not familiar with the profession of teaching, once the school year begins, things get hectic in a hurry, and if you’re trying to do your job well, it’s easy to start feeling overwhelmed in a hurry.

Our first outing was scheduled for a day in late July, right before school was scheduled to start. It would be our chance to get away from everything, helping to get us ready for the school year. A group of four of us – Annette, Rena, Jennifer B, and me – went to Lexington for the day. We ate at Cheng’s Chinese Restaurant on Clays Mill Road (I highly recommend the General Tso’s Chicken, and must thank our friend Betty for recommending the restaurant), then we went to the parent-teacher store, and finally we went to watch Bridesmaids. We had a blast.

The school year started on August 1, and with the beginning-of-the-year craziness, we did not get to take a trip in August. Today, though, we had our second outing. Our first grading period just ended yesterday, so the timing couldn’t have been better. After six weeks back at school, we were all ready for the trip. Today’s group included Annette, Jennifer B, Jennifer S, Bev, and me. We had a couple others lined up, but they ended up not being able to make it. We missed them, but we had a great trip today.

Today’s lunch was at Saul Good in Hamburg. I had never eaten there before, but I’ll definitely be going back. As I was enjoying the nachos appetizer, my bacon cheeseburger with French fries, and the fondue platter dessert, I knew that my husband would love this restaurant (they peel their potatoes). After totally stuffing ourselves, a little shopping was in order, and we finished the day with a movie, The Help.

I had started reading the book, but unfortunately, I had not had the time to get it finished before watching the movie, and I hope to have it finished by in the morning. I had been thoroughly enjoying the book, and I was very pleased that the movie was icing on the cake. The casting was great, and I lost track of the laugh-out-loud moments in the movie. It was so great that I could sit down and watch it again right now and would probably laugh as much as I did the first time. Seriously, if you have not read this book, you really need to, and then watch the movie. You won’t be disappointed.

We’re already looking forward to our next outing. We’re going to try to do this once a month. We realize not everybody can go every time, but whoever does get to go will not regret it. We did talk a little about work, but mostly, it was a chance to talk about other things that interest us. We talked about our husbands and our kids, books, movies, and restaurants we like, and other just random things.

A girls’ day out has many benefits, and I highly recommend that if you can go out once in a while with a group of good friends, then you should. Life can get so hectic, and it’s a great feeling just to get away from everything for a little while. A mini-vacation, even if it’s a day trip to Lexington, can make a world of difference in how you feel. In addition, since we work at school and we all have children, for many of us, there is little opportunity for adult conversations, and sometimes you just need some adult conversations, and, as one of the group said today, a chance to watch a movie that’s not a cartoon or a kid movie.

Laughter is the best medicine, and today we laughed a lot. Not only are these ladies my co-workers, they are my friends. We’re already looking forward to our October trip. Thank you, Jennifer S, for a great idea.