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G. E.

G. E.

I'm new to Shelfari, but it totally suits me. Seems like you always forget what you want to read, and more importantly what you've already read when asked to recall. Bless the creative minds behind Shelfari! My friend Deborah recommended this site to me and I'm pretty much in love.

I'm a 4th grade teacher in Las Vegas and, in... more »
  • Basic Townsite, NV, USA
  • member since July 5 2009

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  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    I got three words for you: "Charlotte was both." It ain't a timeless classic fer nuthin'...spiders and pigs--I mean, 'ya can't get more ANTI than that, eh? I was into Charlotte's Web simply because it's so atypical in its unsweetsy animals. Practice your Tough Hispanic Guy accent and your wounded Korean immigrant woman accent and your Tough but Vulnerable Black Guy accent and your Indian accent (the kids will recognize Apu's voice) and your Farmer from Kentucky accent and your British nurse accent and your Maya Angelou imitation (last chapter) for Seedfolks. I TOTALLY have faith in your dramatic reading skills to pull this off. Half the fun of reading Seedfolks is doing all of the accents. Over and out. D

    posted 2 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    What did you think of A Single Shard? I quite liked it (and started looking at celadon pottery with new eyes). Tell me what you think of I am the Messenger when you get to it. I'm considering reading it but haven't got around to it. I picked up Where You Belong by Mary Ann McGuigan (National Book Award Finalist). Irish American girl and African American girls become friends. Heard it was good. Also looking forward to Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Chanukkah, Merry Kwanzaa.....ad infinitum. D

    posted 2 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    I'm reading Freakonomics and it's FREAKIN' me! I admire you for tackling The Meaning of Matthew...I started The Last Lecture but books where I know I will have to brace myself for tears make me....shy away from them. Anyway. Thank God for Veteran's Day. No need to reply. Just thought I'd say hi.

    posted 2 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    Did you finish Stiff? I, too, thought it was engaging. I mean, anyone who can talk about dead bodies and the horrible things that happen to them (have you gotten to the part where they let the bodies ROT so crime labs and the like can tell at what point after death maggots and other disgusting events appear on the corpses?) and make me LAUGH in the telling has GOT to be talented, eh? I'm reading Stargirl. Liking it. Will let you know when I finish. I think it's on your shelf. I can't remember and don't have time right now to peruse since I have 33 e-mails to answer! Ugh! I hate having friends--teehee! They're so much WORK!

    posted 3 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    What did you think of Monster?

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    So whadjathink about House and Sheep? Think you could get some of your kids to read them and TALK about them to/with you? That is the test of a true teacher--can you get a kid to READ a book YOU recommend and then talk to you about it afterward? Just finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog. Cried on the plane coming back from Minnesota (yup--went in the Ziploc bag and onto the canoe with us). How is Oregon?

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    Never read anything but The Giver by Lois Lowry but the sequel is on my list (in fact, I've got to put it on my "to read" list--it's in my classroom library, which, woefully, will probably be in storage next year since I"m going to be a traveling teacher. I am familiar with Monster, which, as you probably know, is written in script format complete with stage directions, etc. (it's also part of my classroom library although I've not read it in its entirety). I'm not a huge fan. It's very disturbing but the kids LOVE it. If you're going to read something that heavy and along those lines, I'd go for Native Son by Richard Wright, but that is a MAJOR DOWNER of a book, so you have to be in the mood. It's 11th grade literature, though, so definitely out for your kids. I tend to be rather old fashioned--I like the Wrinkle in Time series, and yes, dare I give myself away? The Boxcar Children, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil T. Rathbone or something. I'm going to read that Penderwick book one of these days. I just read The Long Secret recently which is by the woman who writes the Harriet the Spy series. She's quirky and not too schmaltzy, but I don't always "get" her. I've been curious about the American Girl series. So many books...so little time. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was the last "delightful" book I read. Gotta go--the Sunday L.A. Times has still not been read. Janie would be AGHAST.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    Boy do I admire you for being able to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Spanish. Even if Spanish was your major, he's hard. I never could finish One Hundred Years of Solitude although Love in the Time of Cholera is one of my all time favorite books. I finished Tea Time for the Traditionally Built and am now working on Three Cups of Tea and the new Sherman Alexie book entitled something like the The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian for which he got the National Book Award. It has drawings, which I think is cool. I'm considering purchasing a Kindle. What do you think? Then I can give away my beloved books that I never read twice anyway and save some trees. It's a 300 dollar purchase so I'm hesitant. Have fun in Oregon.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    Grant, when are you leaving? 'Cuz I have The Time Traveler's Wife and I could mail it to you. I am a firm believer in lending books. I have a HUGE library. My husband and I actually ended up giving away some of our less loved tomes (which almost killed me--books are like so sacred to me). Having them around also ensures that I'm never truly bored. Finished Peace Like a River. Wow. Master storyteller, Leif is. I remember now why I had to put it down the first time I tried to read it. There's a goose hunting scene early in the story that made me queasy. I have the constitution of a vegetarian although I've not the will. Don't get overwhelmed honey--just be glad that there are lots of books out there. I'm hoping my only regret when I close my eyes for the last time is the stack of unread books by my side (as well as the great stories that will be written AFTER I'm dead). Reading Ready or Not by Meg Cabot. It's REALLY adolescent, but I'm determined to finish it. I know I'll find at least ONE student for whom this will be the perfect read. Ciao for now. Tell me if you want me to send TTW.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    OK. The Giver: I, too, had problems with it, but that is why I really LIKED it. That book has CARNE, you know what I mean? And I HATED the ending, I mean absolutely HATED it. But that, too, is a great conversation piece. WHAT HAPPENED EXACTLY? WHAT ARE WE SUPPOSED TO THINK? HOW WILL JONAS (that was his name, no?) INTEGRATE INTO "NORMAL SOCIETY" IF HE EVER FINDS IT? WILL HE GO BACK? IF/WHEN HE DOES, WHAT WILL HE CHANGE? HOW WILL HE CHANGE IT? WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHY do I still wish we could copy some of that UTOPIA (especially the birth mother thing--I kid you not, I feel like some people really oughn't have children--{did you like my use of "oughtn't" back there? Isn't it just deliciously OXFORD?}. I am going to try to send you a copy of The Giver questions from the Jane Shaffer writing unit. I thought Jane brought up some PRETTY SERIOUS SHIT about utopian societies. Another reason why I think The Giver is great for kids is that it is dark and disturbing. I want my kids to QUESTION life and society and how it should be. And let's face it--WE have to teach kids that the happy ending shit is SO BORING 'cuz God knows Hollywood is NOT going to step up to the plate on this issue. Now, my cousin in Texas disapproves of using The Giver in the classroom (she feels it's anti-Christian and it is and I am SO OK with that). I finished the Time Traveler's Wife a few days ago. I liked it despite it's so-contrived-as-to-be-annoying-at-times (I had to keep flipping back to get the dates right in my head). I am not at all surprised that it's now a movie. I want you to read it so I can tell you what bugged me about it and then see if you agree or what your take is. Tears of a Tiger is a book that almost ALL of my teenagers like, even though it's transparent. I know you wanted books that kids can "get" but that can also be challenging. I don't consider Tears of a Tiger challenging, but I DO think that it's a book that moves kids, and it could be the book you read aloud that shows kids you understand that (sometimes in order to understand "sophisticated" one has to start with "simple," 'ya know what I mean? Book recommendations are important for teachers to make and you can't recommend a book if you've not read it.... The Bronx Masquerade does something similar (every chapter is written by a different kid almost) but you get the added bonus of urban POETRY! As my good friend Dr. Sharon Thompson would say, "It's not WHAT they're reading that is so important; it is THAT they are reading." Have you read the Wrinkle in Time series? I quite liked those as a kid, dated though they are. The discussions from that could be ILLUMINATING, I should think. I am also sure that most kids are NOT going to like it. That series is strangely sophisticated. I am going to try to read the rest of the Roll of Thunder series since you've mentioned them a couple of times now. I am reading Peace Like a River now (it was written in 2001, but I'm just NOW getting to it). Leif Enger is a wizard at storytelling. A bit macho, but his book is as lovely as A River Runs Through It, if you've ever read that. Oh, have you read Darren Shan? I have yet to read any of his. Many of my kids LOVE his Cirque de Freak series. As for your comprehensive book list--have you checked out any Shelfari imitations that might exist in Spanish? I have students who also post the books they've read in Spanish. Almost all of mine have read Juventud en extasis which I've never read but am very curious about. Off to finish my book. There's a feature at the bottom of your Shelfari page that will say 'People are talking about the books you've read' and you click on it and can maybe find other readers who are of your ilk...I've done it a few times and found some decent reviews.

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    I know you're right about the picture thing and I have a gazillion pics but WHICH to choose?!?!?! I mean, I don't want a pic of ME 'cuz there is not ONE of me I like, vain woman that I am. Do you have any suggestions? I really like your little flower. I wonder if I could put an object that would kind of be quintessentially me?

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    OOOhhhh--you're up to 135! Dude! And you said you weren't a reader?!?!?! Isn't it weird how many books you actually CAN remember reading? Glad you're enjoying The Giver. It's totally creepy but really thought provoking (the birth mother thing just seems so sensible, no?) Jane Shaffer (a woman who developed a decent writing program for high school and middle school kids who can't write) did an entire writing unit using the Giver. I've done it and I find it's decent (her stuff is somewhat formulaic, but after 20 years of teaching kids who have NO idea WHAT to write, I find that her formula is REALLY GREAT). GIves them a map, 'ya know? If you ever get gifted kids, I think you might like her unit. I just finished The Time Traveler's Wife (finally). I've got to find someone who read it because I really want to talk about it. Can't decide what to read next. I've got a lot on my shelf, but nothing is grabbing me. Do you have any suggestions? I wouldn't mind an adolescent fiction book. What do YOU like? Deborah

    posted 5 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    You've been busy! Eighty-two books! Isn't it amazing how many you can actually remember reading? Always flips me out. Anyway. I just finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Dark but I'd say a good read (two days it took me). When I can't put something down, I know it's good. I'll add it later tonight. Ciao for now.

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )
  • Deborah C

    Deborah C says

    Hey Grant. I'm in Utah and finally able to get to a computer. So I said yes to your "you wanna?" question. I like your photo. I need to get SOMETHING on my profile; I look positively....BORING, or WORSE....AVERAGE. Haha. Just finished Shanghai Girls and am now working on Goodnight Nobody. I'll let you know.

    posted 6 months ago. ( send a note )


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