One of my goals for this year is to read more. I love to read, but I just don't make enough time for it. I always seem to fill my time with so many other pointless things like scrolling through social media, watching tv, etc. As a Language Arts teacher, I feel kind of hypocritical making my students read daily when I myself don't read daily. Sure I read blogs, emails, short stories for lessons, and essays but that's not the same. I find reading to be very therapeutic. It allows me to turn my brain off and think about something other than real life. This month I have been working on putting my phone away and taking out my book before bed. I have been trying to read a chapter per night before falling asleep. Most nights I end up reading about half of a chapter before I find myself dozing off. Either way, I'm creating healthier habits and working towards crossing off a goal (1 book per month) from my list.
Reading as a teacher: In my classroom, I'm currently reading Tangerine written by Edward Bloor with two of my classes, and I'm reading The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie with my other class. Tangerine is about a middle school male protagonist who is forced to move from his home in Texas to Florida. He experiences the ups and downs of being a middle schooler. This coming of age story is one that is great for students who are on the younger end of middle school. The Absolute True Diary of a Part Time Indian is a more mature book. The story is based on the author's life growing up. The Native American male protagonist chooses to leave his home on "the rez" to live with an all white family. The story is about him making choices to live life the way he wants to regardless of the backlash he may get.
Reading as a student: This week I started my journey as a grad student. I am currently enrolled in two literacy based courses. Needless to say, they both require lots of reading. This week's readings have been about the different levels of readers and what it means to be literate. I am actually really enjoying the reading and how it relates to my profession (#nerdalert). We will see if I still say the same thing a few weeks from now when I'm fully buried in it all.
Reading just because: The part that most of you have probably been waiting for..
The book that I have been reading a chapter or so of each night is Turtles All the Way Down written by John Green. It's definitely one of the better books I've read that he has written. Unpopular opinion, I did not love his previous books that I've read. I thought they were weak for lack of a better word. I always found myself skipping a few pages here and there just to get to the end of the book. I'm one of those people who has to finish the book once I start it. It's very rare that I abandon a book. So far Turtles All the Way Down is a great light read. There's some humor, a little romance, a small sense of hopelessness, and the characters are relatable.
Reading as a chef: Well, the chef part is questionable. Last week on Instagram I saw a feature post on a new cookbook. I browsed the recipe that was posted and took mental note to look up the cookbook at a later time. Days later I found myself browsing a store with my mom. We picked up a cookbook, browsed the recipes, noted that there were many delicious ones, and proceeded to order it online. Fun fact: Amazon has most books for cheaper than the mark up price they are sold at in stores. On Friday night, I finally opened the package and realized that it was the cookbook I had seen weeks before. I haven't tried any recipes yet, but I'm excited to cook something new! You can get your own copy of Healthyish here!
I'm searching for my book for February, so feel free to leave a comment with some books that you have been enjoying lately or something that's currently on your "must read" list.
XOXO
No Comments Yet, Leave Yours!