2014 has already come and gone and I have yet to share with you my favorite reads of the year. For those who don’t follow me on social media, the answer as to why is simple: I was dying of the plague. Okay, not really. I REALLY had the flu. And not just one. I had TWO different strands. So for my Christmas vacation, I spent 16 days in bed. Sleeping. Barely moving. Barely reading—which is the real tragedy. But now that we have enjoyed a full two weeks of 2015, let me share with you my favorite reads of 2014. First, I met my Goodreads goal of 115 books. As a matter of fact, I didn’t meet it—I spanked it. By year’s end I read 144 books (mostly YA and mysteries). I really like rounded up numbers, so I am bummed I didn’t reach 145, but hey, since I spanked my original goal, I will take it. Of those 144 boys, below I am sharing with you 15 of my favorite tween/YA reads in no particular order. Enjoy! ‘The Impossible Knife of Memory’ – Laurie Halse Anderson I did...
Today's Armchair topic is non-fiction. I don't know how you feel about it, but I love it! I especially love reading old Hollywood biographies. I find that these biographies provide a key to the past in a way history books do not. For instance, in almost every single old Hollywood biography, the HUAC is mentioned in some way. Whether it affected the star directly or the star had friends that were victims of communist accusations, it is usually in there. I love that because I teach ‘The Crucible’ and am able to use those as examples when I discuss McCarthyism and the Red Scare. I collect Marilyn Monroe biographies, and one thing I have learned about reading biographies: I like to know where they get their information. Some have been written on pure speculation, so for a book to be worth my time, I want to know how much research was done, why their interest in that particular star, etc. As a whole, I love reading about these actors—modern and old Hollywood—and their trials and tr...
