I've seen this post going around Facebook where someone tags you and you have to write about ten books that have stuck with you over your life. I haven't been tagged in this, probably because most of my friends know that I think most Facebook pass-along activities are annoying, but I LOVE this one. I am such a huge advocate of reading, and I think books have the power to be life changing. Because I lack the ability just to list my top ten books without writing about why I love them, I've decided to turn this into a blog post. I had to go back to my old Shelfari page to decide what my top ten will be, but I think I've got it narrowed down. Here they are, in no particular order:
1. I Am Neurotic (and so are you) by Lianna Kong
One of my friends told me about this book while hanging out and I instantly went home to make a copy. I have always had extremely weird habits. I count my steps. I refuse to take the first two slices of bread in the loaf. I lint roll my bed spread excessively. I chew my food the same amount of times on the left side of my mouth as I do the right. I always thought I was just a nut job. This book gave me a kind of connection with other people. I realized that everyone has their oddities, and they can still be perfectly acceptable and loving humans.
2. Matilda by Roald Dahl
I used to think I was Matilda when I was little. I tried for years of my life to make things move with my mind. Luckily, I never had a psychotic, terrifying teacher I had to battle against, so these telekinetic powers weren't really needed. But seriously, how awesome is Matilda? It shows that reading is important and can help cope with difficult situations. It shows that gaining knowledge is a good thing to aim for. I love Matilda.
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
How could this not be on my list? My grandpa gave me this book to read when I was eight years old. I read it quickly and gave it back to him, telling him that I didn't think it was that great of a story. He gave it to me again when I was twelve and again when I was seventeen. Each time I read it I liked it more and more, and I learned more from it. It was the first book to which I gave a second chance; usually if I dislike a book, I read it once and not again. But because my grandpa asked me to, I read it multiple times. The whole experience taught me to give everything a second chance, that opinions change and first impressions are not always correct.
4. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet
I'm going to give a warning up front that this book is a little graphic. Don't read it if you're not comfortable with that. HOWEVER. This book is incredible. I've never read a book that makes you feel stronger emotions toward the characters. Ken Follet somehow has the ability to make you empathize with his male protagonist, admire his female protagonist (who, for once, are not involved in a romantic relationship), and loathe his antagonist. I feel greater hatred towards William Hamleigh in Pillars than any other villain, both fictional and in real life. He takes five completely different stories and weaves them all together masterfully. It is incredible.
5. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
In my psychology class in high school we had to do an outside reading report. I read one of the novels my teacher kept on the shelf and fell in love. I tore through his bookshelf; I read more than 30 books that school year. After I finished the novels, I decided to read the DSM. For those who don't know, the DSM has every mental disorder a person can possibly be diagnosed with. It lists symptoms, relevancy, and treatments as well. I found every word fascinating. It was just such a foreign world for me to imagine that people actually dealt with these disorders, and reading it made me want to be a psych major in college.
6. Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
Another book that advocates reading. I think I loved Inkheart so much because it reinforced how I felt about books. It talks about how the people in a book can come alive and have a huge effect on the reader. It's a young adult read, but it's really fun.
Disclaimer: I have always LOVED books that write about characters who have problems. Psychological fiction is my passion. The next few are books that fall into this category that had a profound effect on me.
7. Madness by Marya Hornbacher
Madness is a memoir written about the author's struggle with bipolar disorder. It is powerful.
8. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
I promise I liked this way before the hype of the movie. This book has three things in it that I absolutely adore: 1) The positive effect a student-teacher relationship can have for both parties. 2) A love of reading. 3) The idea that everyone deals with their pain in different ways, and that we should be considerate of other people.
9. Burned by Ellen Hopkins
I know that Ellen Hopkins is very much a teenage-focused writer, and is very over hyped a lot of the time. Burned taught me not to put up with crap from anyone. I know that sounds very much like the myspace status of a 14 year old, but that's the most succinct way I can put it.
10. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
Just read it. It's a young adult novel, a really quick read, and teaches a powerful lesson about kindness.
I'm sorry this was so long. If you made it all the way to the end, I salute you. And I would like to know what some of your favorite books are! I am constantly looking for more to read :)
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Awesome & Awkward
Awesome
My super cute boss gave me flowers and Hi-Chews to celebrate my last day at work.
Now that Liz is gone, I have a bathroom to myself.
I finally found the last piece of our colorguard uniforms for this year-they look awesome.
I have an iPhone now! I love it.
I have watched all of the Harry Potter movies this weekend.
I tried FOUR new recipes this weekend, all of which were successful.
My new cooperating teacher is also a huge Yankees fan. We get along well.
Awkward
One of my coworkers on band staff told my new cooperating teacher to call me Whitesmoke. Uncomfortable.
I was in my backyard reading and this chicken ran across the lawn in front of me. I put my book down and tried to shoo it away. It ran at me; I screamed. Neighbor girl in the backyard adjacent to ours stared at me for a loooong time.
I ugly cried for far longer than necessary when Liz left.
Went to Lee's looking incredibly nappy and ran into six people I know. SIX.
I have had not one, not two, but three freakouts about student teaching.
I've been kind of a recluse this weekend, which has definitely cut back on the amount of awkward moments I usually stumble upon.
My super cute boss gave me flowers and Hi-Chews to celebrate my last day at work.
Now that Liz is gone, I have a bathroom to myself.
I finally found the last piece of our colorguard uniforms for this year-they look awesome.
I have an iPhone now! I love it.
I have watched all of the Harry Potter movies this weekend.
I tried FOUR new recipes this weekend, all of which were successful.
My new cooperating teacher is also a huge Yankees fan. We get along well.
Awkward
One of my coworkers on band staff told my new cooperating teacher to call me Whitesmoke. Uncomfortable.
I was in my backyard reading and this chicken ran across the lawn in front of me. I put my book down and tried to shoo it away. It ran at me; I screamed. Neighbor girl in the backyard adjacent to ours stared at me for a loooong time.
I ugly cried for far longer than necessary when Liz left.
Went to Lee's looking incredibly nappy and ran into six people I know. SIX.
I have had not one, not two, but three freakouts about student teaching.
I've been kind of a recluse this weekend, which has definitely cut back on the amount of awkward moments I usually stumble upon.
Monday, August 11, 2014
Ending my Musical Ignorance
In an effort to no longer be useless at my coaching job, I am attempting to learn music. I know, "music" is a very broad term. And the more "music" I learn, the more I realize how much I am still completely ignorant about.
My freshman year at Snow, I had a roommate who was a music major, and another roommate who was a math major, but whose family is extremely talented musically. We would all sit in the living room and do homework together, and the two of them would often work on music theory homework. I vividly remember looking at one of their worksheets and asking, "what's that symbol that looks like a table on wheels?" I was referring to an eighth note. They dissolved into laughter, attempted to help me, and then gave up when I showed no modicum of understanding. I wrote it off, telling myself that I was good at English and that knowledge would be more helpful in the long run, anyway.
But it drove me crazy that I didn't understand what was on that page. I forgot about my stupidity for a while, but my curiosity was piqued again at band camp.
It started this week when I looked at a score of our band's show. I was writing down the letters of the different musical sections so that when our director tells everyone to "start at letter ___," I could tell my colorguard girls where we were starting in the routine. As I looked through the score, I became more and more curious about what the heck all of these foreign symbols meant.
I asked Brooklyn, my co-coach, to explain, and she very patiently taught me the names of most of the symbols and their meanings. Then Ben, another staff member and an extremely talented musician, entered the room and took over when Brooklyn (very understandably) became bored. We studied the score for about an hour; I learned about crescendoes, rests, measures, the lengths of notes, and the difference between flat, sharp, and natural notes. I left that night feeling both extremely bewildered and satisfied.
The next day Brooklyn taught me how to distinguish between notes and where middle c is located on a piano. I played numerous warm up exercises that are so basic the book they came in was decorated with kitten stickers. And I played them poorly.
Learning music is much harder than I anticipated.
Part of me wonders if this is kind of a lost cause; the people I work with have been studying and playing music for 20-30 years; many of the students in the band have been playing for over a decade. And I'm starting out at square one. But, I'm sick of my eyes glazing over when the rest of the staff talks about music dynamics and attacks, so I will press on in my quest to learn about music.
My freshman year at Snow, I had a roommate who was a music major, and another roommate who was a math major, but whose family is extremely talented musically. We would all sit in the living room and do homework together, and the two of them would often work on music theory homework. I vividly remember looking at one of their worksheets and asking, "what's that symbol that looks like a table on wheels?" I was referring to an eighth note. They dissolved into laughter, attempted to help me, and then gave up when I showed no modicum of understanding. I wrote it off, telling myself that I was good at English and that knowledge would be more helpful in the long run, anyway.
But it drove me crazy that I didn't understand what was on that page. I forgot about my stupidity for a while, but my curiosity was piqued again at band camp.
It started this week when I looked at a score of our band's show. I was writing down the letters of the different musical sections so that when our director tells everyone to "start at letter ___," I could tell my colorguard girls where we were starting in the routine. As I looked through the score, I became more and more curious about what the heck all of these foreign symbols meant.
I asked Brooklyn, my co-coach, to explain, and she very patiently taught me the names of most of the symbols and their meanings. Then Ben, another staff member and an extremely talented musician, entered the room and took over when Brooklyn (very understandably) became bored. We studied the score for about an hour; I learned about crescendoes, rests, measures, the lengths of notes, and the difference between flat, sharp, and natural notes. I left that night feeling both extremely bewildered and satisfied.
The next day Brooklyn taught me how to distinguish between notes and where middle c is located on a piano. I played numerous warm up exercises that are so basic the book they came in was decorated with kitten stickers. And I played them poorly.
Learning music is much harder than I anticipated.
Part of me wonders if this is kind of a lost cause; the people I work with have been studying and playing music for 20-30 years; many of the students in the band have been playing for over a decade. And I'm starting out at square one. But, I'm sick of my eyes glazing over when the rest of the staff talks about music dynamics and attacks, so I will press on in my quest to learn about music.
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