Inspired by my students' exclamations of surprise (and delight; who are we kidding?) that their blogs are being read by random Canadians, I decided to check my blog stats as well. (Thank you, Shira, for the instructions on how.) And what do you know? Two Canadians, a whole bunch of Israelis, and I don't even know who else have spent at least some number of seconds on my blog. I think there was someone from Alaska, too. Who do I know in Alaska? I highly doubt Sarah Palin is spending much time on my blog, but stranger things have happened... It really is amazing what this website can tell me about my viewers. Amazing and a bit frightening--and all from that puny little IP address.
So I was catching up with a friend of mine in shul this past yom tov and he asked me if I ever write any more. (Cliff notes: I used to be an editor at a magazine before I returned to teaching. Apparently he used to read my stuff.) I told him no, because that's pretty much the truth (unless you count my journal, which I don't). But then I thought better of it and told him about this blog.
Which kicked my guilt into high gear and needled me to write something tonight.
The truth is, I spent most of Simchat Torah buried in Dan Brown's The DaVinci Code, a book I've been meaning to read ever since the thing came out (yes, it really was that long ago--7 years, to be exact) and which one of my students is reading as part of the assignment that spurred all of this blogging in the first place. (Lena, in case you're reading this, I won't spoil anything. How are you liking it, by the way?) The thing that gets me about the book (aside from the feeling of absolute giddyness) is the veracity of Brown's theories. I mean, the guy begins the book with a disclaimer that all of the documents in the book are accurate, but what of that? Many a quote or fact can be taken out of context. The problem is that I don't know my New Testamant. Or my Catholic Theology, for that matter. So it's hard to know how much weight to put into his theories about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Church. All of that said, it's a fantastic ride and I'm saddened by the fact that I only have about 100 pages left. Books like this shouldn't end.
If you liked The DaVinci Code, you should read Landscape of Lies, by Peter Watson. A very similar sort of plot, though not as significant historically. Certainly not as theologically devastating.
My sister was in town this past week and went home--Brooklyn, NY--this morning. So, on Saturday night we rented a film. Combine the fact that I was knee deep in Dan Brown with Rivka's obsession with Audrey Tautou and you get a $5.00 rental receipt from Blockbuster for The DaVinci Code.
If only I hadn't read the book.
Seriously, they take the leading woman and make her into such a dishrag compared to her role in the book. How did Brown allow that? And as much as I love Tom Hanks (and I do, don't get me wrong), I don't actually think he was quite right for the part. The whole thing just stank of anti-climax.
Anyway. My nose is running and my laptop is too hot. For both of those reasons, I'm signing off.
Happy reading.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
M is for Mystery
On Friday night I picked up Faye Kellerman's latest mystery thriller. This one is called Hangman. Faye Kellerman is one of my favorite mystery writers (note I said Faye and not her husband, Jonathan, whose stuff is too bizarre for me) and mystery is one of my favorite genres. But sometimes I wonder: do these mystery writers ever run out of title ideas? Isn't there a limit to the number of creepy one-or-two-word phrases you can crank out to lure readers? I mean, look at Sue Grafton. She knew it would be a problem from the beginning and just gave up altogether. A is for Alibi. S is for Silence. What will she do after Z? AA is for Camera Batteries?
In any case, I finally (and just barely) finished it today. I say "barely" because my niece was trying to burrow her head into my shoulder as I was reaching the best part, i.e., where all the threads tie together. (Very much unline the short stories I'm giving my students to read!) My brother asked me something from across the room and, buried in my pages, I didn't really hear him and grunted something like approval. But my neice had a bit more insight. Totally unfettered, she lifted her head from my shoulder and told him, "Uncle Dodo, Mimi's reading a book and until she finishes, she can't do anything else."
Well said. Now why does a 5-year-old understand me better than the rest of the adults in my life?
Anyway. I adore page-turning thrillers and this was as good of one as I've read in while. Her stuff fluctuates between outstandingly good and good, mostly because she really gets into the head of her characters. The woman was originally a dentist. How the heck did she get to be a NYT Bestseller? (Can she tell me the secret?)
Another mstery writer I love: Ayelet Waldman. Her stuff can be almost as thrilling, but usually more substantive in theme. A little higher in "take-away" message. Thankfully, I still have a few of hers to read. Don't you love it when you discover an author and find that s/he's written a whole bunch of books? It's like curling up with a whole package of Pepperidge Farm mint milanos and pressing "play" on your as-yet-unwatched episodes of Top Chef. Nothing beats it.
One other mystery writer I love who, not surprisingly, is also a Jewish woman: Rochelle Krich. She's like Kellerman but frummer. And not so graphic. Here's a link to an article that appeared in the summer issue of Jewish Action. It discusses some of these emerging Jewish authors who appeal to the mainstream media. I think it missed Tova Mirvis, who is taking her time about finishing her third novel, which I am anxiously awaiting. (Can you tell?) http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5770/summer70/16-19.pdf
If you read it--or any of the authors I've mentioned in this post--be sure to comment and let me know what you think. After all, this is a book blog, right? :-)
Happy reading.
In any case, I finally (and just barely) finished it today. I say "barely" because my niece was trying to burrow her head into my shoulder as I was reaching the best part, i.e., where all the threads tie together. (Very much unline the short stories I'm giving my students to read!) My brother asked me something from across the room and, buried in my pages, I didn't really hear him and grunted something like approval. But my neice had a bit more insight. Totally unfettered, she lifted her head from my shoulder and told him, "Uncle Dodo, Mimi's reading a book and until she finishes, she can't do anything else."
Well said. Now why does a 5-year-old understand me better than the rest of the adults in my life?
Anyway. I adore page-turning thrillers and this was as good of one as I've read in while. Her stuff fluctuates between outstandingly good and good, mostly because she really gets into the head of her characters. The woman was originally a dentist. How the heck did she get to be a NYT Bestseller? (Can she tell me the secret?)
Another mstery writer I love: Ayelet Waldman. Her stuff can be almost as thrilling, but usually more substantive in theme. A little higher in "take-away" message. Thankfully, I still have a few of hers to read. Don't you love it when you discover an author and find that s/he's written a whole bunch of books? It's like curling up with a whole package of Pepperidge Farm mint milanos and pressing "play" on your as-yet-unwatched episodes of Top Chef. Nothing beats it.
One other mystery writer I love who, not surprisingly, is also a Jewish woman: Rochelle Krich. She's like Kellerman but frummer. And not so graphic. Here's a link to an article that appeared in the summer issue of Jewish Action. It discusses some of these emerging Jewish authors who appeal to the mainstream media. I think it missed Tova Mirvis, who is taking her time about finishing her third novel, which I am anxiously awaiting. (Can you tell?) http://www.ou.org/pdf/ja/5770/summer70/16-19.pdf
If you read it--or any of the authors I've mentioned in this post--be sure to comment and let me know what you think. After all, this is a book blog, right? :-)
Happy reading.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
An Experiment
So here we are together again for what I hope will be a wonderful year. The floors of Room 209 (and the whole school, for that matter) are freshly waxed and the walls, newly painted. Hard to believe it will feel "lived in" so soon when it's almost pristine right now. (I'm sure you guys will help take care of that with me :-) I was in our classroom yesterday, cleaning and bulletin-boarding and such, when I came across some of your old journals from last year. And, of course, I read through them again (because what else does a teacher do?). I smiled a little and laughed a little (can I say I frowned a little, too?) and wondered how to change journaling this year. (Side note: should those of you who had me last year pick up where you left off or would you like a brand new journal so you can start from scratch?) Well, this blog is part of my journal solution. The blogosphere has really piqued my interest and I hoping it's piqued yours too--or that it will, at any rate. It's a lot more organic than school essays, of course, and therefore a bit more risky, but I feel pretty convinced that it serves an important role. I'll be giving you all assignments to do on your blogs, but they're purposely pretty open-ended. Ultimately, they lead to one main goal, which is to get you to express yourselves independently--and, of course, to share those expressions with each other in an active way.
My (not-so) secret hope is that you will go beyond the general requirements of this course and use these blogs to your hearts' contents, posting to them whenever you so desire and allowing them to become your own launching pads. When the year is over, you may find that you've written some things you're proud of--and that this blog-posting thing actually works for you. And then, perhaps, you'll continue with your own blog (one to which I don't have a password :-).
The name of the blog is pretty random, but not entirely so. Books--well, that's obvious; I want you to respond to the books you're reading independently. Belching--that's for the random stuff that comes up that you just feel like talking about aloud in the hopes that maybe there's a soul out there in cyberspace--maybe even in room 209--who cares. And Blogging--that's because this whole thing is an experiment for me (maybe for you, too?) and, well, I've already written three paragraphs on the concept of blogging!
You see what I mean about this going anywhere you want.
Here's to a fabulous year of going wherever we want. Happy Blogging!
Ms. Schiller
p.s. Feel free to comment to my posts, too!
My (not-so) secret hope is that you will go beyond the general requirements of this course and use these blogs to your hearts' contents, posting to them whenever you so desire and allowing them to become your own launching pads. When the year is over, you may find that you've written some things you're proud of--and that this blog-posting thing actually works for you. And then, perhaps, you'll continue with your own blog (one to which I don't have a password :-).
The name of the blog is pretty random, but not entirely so. Books--well, that's obvious; I want you to respond to the books you're reading independently. Belching--that's for the random stuff that comes up that you just feel like talking about aloud in the hopes that maybe there's a soul out there in cyberspace--maybe even in room 209--who cares. And Blogging--that's because this whole thing is an experiment for me (maybe for you, too?) and, well, I've already written three paragraphs on the concept of blogging!
You see what I mean about this going anywhere you want.
Here's to a fabulous year of going wherever we want. Happy Blogging!
Ms. Schiller
p.s. Feel free to comment to my posts, too!
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