This month started with the Readathon that I organised for school. Although I still had a lot of work to do during the week and my brother came to stay for a few days, I still managed to read 1643 pages. During that time I finished World War Z by Max Brooks and the first two books in the Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. I also started the third book in said series.
Now World War Z was brilliant. I can see why many folks wouldn't enjoy it. For a zombie novel, it doesn't really focus on zombies, multiple action scenes etc. It is a collection of short interviews with people from around the world, sharing what happened. It spoke volumes about politics, society and human nature - and not necessarily in the 'we will overcome' way either. Humans can be real scum, and that was also pretty evident.
I can't say I was thrilled with the Infernal Devices series. In fact, I have sworn off reading all future books by Cassandra Clare. Although I think her plot ideas are good, there are too many other elements in her books that are my pet peeves. For example, love triangles. Have I mentioned just how much I hate them? Well, take a look at the global devastation of that dude leaving One Direction, and you might get an idea of the strength of my dislike for them. Yip. That much. There were other things too, but I covered them briefly in my review. There is no need to subject you to rereading it here.After the readathon I manged to get a whopping load of novels finished in class with the kids. We saw the end to Romeo and Juliet, Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Outsiders by SE Hinton. Now I didn't do reviews of these here although I was tempted (time was short, work is a killer, sleep is my best friend when I can find time for it) so I will share a bit more than a brief summary.
Romeo and Juliet depicts beautifully how I like to see all instant love relationships end. Although the kids did not agree, they also (thankfully) saw the madness that took place. We had multiple debates on whether they were really in love with each other, and I am proud to say that only the staunch idealists are left believing they were. As I am a firm believer that it is good to develop one's own opinions, they are lucky as all they need to do is substantiate their point of view. More seriously though, with regards to teaching RnJ, it does start very slowly. It took a lot of effort to get them involved through that first act especially. It did produce good opportunities for gender bias discussions as the class unanimously declared that Romeo needed to grow a pair. (Why isn't it right for men to express their feelings? Why are you comparing him to a girl?) Over all, I gave this 4 stars.
Animal Farm. I love teaching this one. It becomes so much more than a literary lesson on satire, propaganda and parody etc. but a real life lesson on history, current politics and how one needs to actually make sure that they do not become one of the sheep, OR another Benjamin - the one who knows what is going on but does nothing about it. This book encourages huge discussions and even I learn something new each lesson. With teaching this book, I can really see how the kids are growing and what type of adults they will make one day. This is also proof that if the kids can be coaxed into connecting books into real life, they tend to find them far more interesting. Five stars all the way for this one.
The Outsiders was my pick for my Grade 9 class this year. When I selected this book for this year, I did so with my fingers crossed. Basically, there was no time in which to reread it to confirm my memory that it was good. I did know, though, that many other schools taught it at that level. So I went ahead and chose it. What an awesome choice it was. Forget my thoughts on the book. Let me tell you about my class - kids who DO NOT READ. I started them off with the first chapter. The next day, one boy arrived with his nose in the book, half way through it. By the next week, three others had joined. By the time we had finished it, only 3 kids had not read ahead and finished it on their own. This was their thoughts on it. They loved that Ponyboy was not a bland goody-two shoes. They liked that there was no typical moral lesson, but felt that the themes of the book applied to them and they thought it was wise. They loved the idea of the greasers (they proved this by pitching up at school, dressed as greasers, for World Book Day). I am so glad I didn't read this before choosing it. My school has conservative ideas and I think I would have chickened out of choosing this book if I had. It was weird reading about a 14-year-old protagonist who smokes cigarettes, was involved with hoodlums, etc. in front of a bunch of impressionable teenagers. But it raised many debates and conversations and I think we have all come out the other end, wiser, a bit more observant and a bit more empathetic. I raised my rating up to 5 stars after the reread.
Then I read Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. I enjoyed this one, although it isn't my favourite thriller going. There were some aspects, particularly the 'condition' the protagonist suffered from, that I found intriguing and added a lot to the story. I can't say the outcome was surprising, and it was a bit slow, so I only gave it 4 stars.
Next was Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. While this was not a thrilling read, it was definitely insightful. The pacing of the book is very unbalanced though. The first part is the biggest section and it is just a collection of incidents in the village involving the 'protagonist'. It is only the the latter sections that things start happening and then 'falling apart'. It was unusual to have such a flawed main character too. I was expecting a man who was heroic, and was completely disappointed with him. I gave this 4 stars, because, although it was very though provoking, it was not exactly enjoyable to read.
Lastly, I finished The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. I had heard great reviews about this one on Book Tube, and caved when I went book browsing after a particularly horrid day and bought it. This is actually a very fast read. I did it in a day. I liked the way the book was set out and I found the point of view of an alcoholic very interesting. The plot was slower paced than thrillers usually are, but I think in this case it added to the narrators. I gave this one 4 stars. I was also highly delighted to mark off a writer born and raised in Zimbabwe for this one.
Not Completed in March
Totals for March
Total completed: 10 books
Started: 2 books
Books cleared from TBR pile: 5 (This is for the 2015 TBR Pile Reading challenge.)
Books added to TBR pile: 13 (How.... did... that.... happen??????) Maybe I should do a book haul post...
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