Reading, Reading, Reading...Oh, and Winter Break

Many people cannot wait for the semester to be over. I, on the other hand, wish it would not end. The end of the semester only means more work for me. Over break I have to read the plethora (and by plethora, I mean plethora) of novels that I will be teaching next semester. In addition, I have to start to create, and hopefully finish, most of the units I will be teaching. I also have to study for the Praxis: PLT that I will be taking January 9 at Kent. Oh, and I have to work 40 hours a week to be able to not work during the 12 weeks of basically having a full-time teaching job and not getting paid for it (aka student teaching). Fun! So, please semester, do not end!


Now that I am done ranting about the next four weeks of my life, (don't even get me started about the next 12 weeks or else I may have a nervous breakdown) I will showcase the books I will be reading over break. The first on my list is The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

I am only 20 pages into this book. And, though it has hopes for maybe becoming interesting, I really feel that all they do is walk...a lot. If anyone has read this before, please give me hope for later in the novel! I also saw that there is a movie of The Road, so after reading it, I plan to see the movie to compare. The trailor looks interesting, so hopefully the book will become interesting later.

The next book on my list is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. :)

Having read this in high school, I will only be re-reading this novel. I am excited to re-read it, though, because I remember really enjoying it in high school. This is also the first unit I will be teaching to College Prep English 12, so I will have to really analyze this text when I read it.

After The Great Gatsby, I plan to read Where the Heart Is by Billie Letts.

Because I already watched the movie, I'm wondering if the book will be as interesting to me. I will see soon enough. Quite honestly, I'm not looking forward to reading this because I already know what is going to happen. 500 pages of reading something that I already know the plot to does not seem that thrilling to me.

Another book I have to re-read over break is The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

I really enjoyed reading this book in the past, so I cannot wait to start the unit for it. Because we are currently in a time of war now, I feel as though the students will really be able to relate to the themes of this novel.

Now that I have overviewed a few of the books I will be reading over break, I will simply list the rest of the books I have to re-read or read.

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult

I will be teaching all of these books during my 12 week student teaching experience, in addition to teaching writing units. I have a great deal of work to do over the next few weeks, thus why I REALLY do not want this semester to end! I hope everyone else has a more exciting break planned that I do! Happy break, everyone!