Running & Reading #1

We welcomed 2015 Hawaiian style again this year.  I love our Hawaiian vacations!  We do hardly anything -- except relax!  So, the first week of January was light on running and heavy on reading.  I love running in shorts and a tank top in January, but it's hard to get motivated to run more than 5 miles by myself and without a familiar route. Plus, it was hot! While I ran just about every day, I didn't log all that many miles.

I did, however, finish 5 books last week!  As part of my Teaching Reading to Older Students class this semester, I have to read 4 young adult novels.  I read 3 of them last week (the first 3 below).  I would do the star rating thing, but I don't think it would be very reliable since I would give all of the books the most stars possible!  Here are a few thoughts, though.  They might sound teacher-y!  

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell.  
Fun book!  I haven't read 50 Shades of Grey, but this could be the PG-13 version of it.  It's a fun, young romance story -- a modern version of Romeo & Juliet maybe.




The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Funny book with a hopeful message.  Junior, the narrator, talks about his experiences as a Native American in a white school.  If you know a teenage boy who says he doesn't like to read, I'd start him with this book.




A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park
Two stories in one -- great book for any age/grade level!  Both stories, narrated by children, are about the troubles in Sudan.  This book would be perfect for a project-based learning unit.  




I also read ...
Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Loved this book!  It's about a Harvard psychology professor who develops early-onset Alzheimer's.  Ironically, her specialty area is linguistics.  It makes me wish I was studying psychology.  Now I might have to squeeze in some educational psychology classes!



And, my Book Club book, Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy
Another great book for all ages!  This book is about a young Jewish girl growing up in Poland during the Holocaust.  It reminded me of another one of my favorites, Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, since they are both historical fiction verse novels.




I am currently reading Bomb: The Race to Build – and Steal – the World’s Most Dangerous Weapon by Steve Sheinkin. It's the 4th young adult novel for my class.  So far, so good!  More on this book next time!

I've also started picking up my mileage again.  It's nice to be back home and back into a routine!