> The Things You Can Read: September 2013

The Things You Can Read welcomes you and thanks you for your readership. We, here at The Things You Can Read, ask your help, if you visit our site regularly, please follow us either via email or Google Friend Connect.  Launched on June 7, 2012, our site has already attracted a great deal of attention.  One of the goals of the site is to feature reviews of Children's Picture Books, Young Adult novels and Adult Literary Fiction/Nonfiction.  A second goal for the blog is to be a resource for teachers of English and writing--with examples of student created writing, writing tips, resource links, and the opportunity to pick the brain of a seasoned English teacher.  To spice things up...every now and then, we'll also include random quotes and thoughts on education and life in general, but our ultimate goal is to reach out into the blogosphere and be a "Book Whisperer" and "Writing Whisperer" to children and adults of all ages.   Thank you for your readership.  Here is to a lifetime filled with reading and writing.

Friday, September 27, 2013

Meryl Streep's 10 Best Literary Roles

 
According to BookRiot the news that Meryl Streep will be playing the Chief Elder in Jeff Bridges' upcoming film version of The Giver made one blogger think about this Academy Award winning actresses body of work as it connects with literature.  So what are her other standout literary roles?  Well, click on over to BookRiot to see one writers TOP 10 favorite literary roles tackled by Meryl Streep.
 
What do you think?  Agree or disagree?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.
 
Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

7 Life Lessons from Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

In Huffington Post a recent article shared seven life lessons to be learned from reading Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.  According to the article:

The author's wisdom is apparent in much of his nonfiction, particularly his short, piercing essay, "What is Art?" His fiction is full of life lessons too, both intended by the author or gleaned by modern readers. 







To read the seven life lessons from one of Tolstoy's classics, Anna Karenina click on over to Huffington Post.
Having read this classic, we found the lessons to be on target.  What do you think?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.

Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

To Kill a Mockingbird: Not Just A Book


To Kill a Mockingbird
NECKLACE



To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee published in 1960. It was instantly successful, winning the Pulitzer Prize, and has become a classic of modern American literature. The plot and characters are loosely based on the author's observations of her family and neighbors, as well as on an event that occurred near her hometown in 1936, when she was 10 years old-Wikipedia
Annette Blazon


I created this Necklace with a vintage image of the book cover from "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, an image of Harper Lee, a vintage typewriter with a line (It's a Sin to Kill a Mockingbird) from the book on it's paper, a wood replica typewriter key and silver tone metal charms. The first picture is the front of the charms and the second picture shows the backs. The charms dangle from a 22" silver plated textured metal link chain-Designs By Annette
 
 

Annette Blazon is wonderful to deal with and she does custom orders, so if you have a favorite book and would like to accessorize your wardrobe with some book bling just contact her and she will work to take your book from cover to necklace.  The necklace pictured is my custom order of her To Kill a Mockingbird necklace.  I can't wait to wear my new book bling to school and see who notices.  Oh, and by the way she designs earrings as well. 
What do you think of my new Book Bling.  Let me know here at The Things You Can Read.  I'm already thinking about what my next necklace will be.  Maybe Atlas Shrugged!  Don't forget to checkout Annette Blazon's Etsy shop-Designs By Annette
Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!


Sunday, September 22, 2013

Banned Books Week: September 22−28, 2013

Image Credit: LMU Library
 
Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read
 
Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read. Typically held during the last week of September, it highlights the value of free and open access to information. Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community –- librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types –- in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some consider unorthodox or unpopular.
 
Check out the frequently challenged books section to explore the issues and controversies around book challenges and book banning. The books featured during Banned Books Week have all been targeted with removal or restrictions in libraries and schools. While books have been and continue to be banned, part of the Banned Books Week celebration is the fact that, in a majority of cases, the books have remained available. This happens only thanks to the efforts of librarians, teachers, students, and community members who stand up and speak out for the freedom to read.-Banned Books Week.org

What are you doing to celebrate Banned Book Week?  We are using short lessons in our English class to promote banned book education.  Take a look at a few of our prompts at The Writing Whisperer.  Check them out all during Banned Book Week.

Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Quote It Saturday: September 21, 2013



Image Credit: Christian Schloe's The Beginning
Quote It Saturday is simple just add as many quotes as you wish relating to the WEEKS THEME.  This week's theme is TRUTH.

“There's no one thing that's true. It's all true.” ― Ernest Hemingway

“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” ― Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

“The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.” ― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

“Art is the lie that enables us to realize the truth.” ― Pablo Picasso



Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

Resource: Your Next Read


Your Next Read is a great resource to discover a book you'd like to read next, using a book you liked.  It's so simple to use, and I've found the recommendations to be excellent.  Check it out, and let us know your thoughts about Your Next Read here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!


Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Waiting on Wednesday: September 18, 2013



Beneath the Ash Trees on Johnson Street just east of campus, Hourglass Vintage stood in a weatherered brick building, wedged between a fair-trade coffee shop and a bike-repair business. Vintage by Susan Gloss  


A sparkling debut novel in the vein of The Friday Night Knitting Club, centered around a Midwestern vintage clothing shop and a group of women who eventually transform the store and each others' lives.

Expected publication: March 25, 2014 by William Morrow & Company

Thanks to Breaking the Spine  for hosting this event every Wednesday allowing bloggers to highlight a book that they are eagerly anticipating hitting the shelves!



Does Vintage by Susan Gloss grab your attention?  Is it one you'd be interested in reading?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Top Ten Tuesday: September 17, 2013


 Top Ten Tuesday

The question for September 17, 2013 for Top Ten Tuesday is:  What are the Top Ten Books On My Fall 2013 TBR List (you could do top ten fall releases you plan on reading or just your planned reading list)?  

Here is my list:

Vintage: A Novel by Susan Gloss
Night Film by Marisha Pessl
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tolbin
Under the Dome by Stephen King
The Death of Santini by Pat Conroy
The Cleaner of Chartres by Salley Vickers
The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon
The Supreme Macaroni Company by Adriana Trigiani

Most of my books are recent or "soon to be released" books with the exception of two.  How would you have answered this one?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Monday, September 16, 2013

New Podcast Added: PW Radio


 
We've just added another Podcast to our Podcast Page PW Radio has a podcast.  Listen to an episode and let us know what you think.  Better yet, take a minute and click over to our extensive list of podcasts, most are book related; however at the bottom of the page we have a few that are not.  Are you a podcast listener?  If you are what is your favorite podcast.  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Read about PW Radio

Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!


Sunday, September 15, 2013

Hemingway's Essential Reads

Hemingway with his Cats
 
A few days ago we posted F. Scott Fitzgerald's list of essential reads, now it's time to see Hemingway's suggested reading list as reported by Open Culture:

 I would rather read again for the first time Anna Karenina, Far Away and Long Ago, Buddenbrooks, Wuthering Heights, Madame Bovary, War and Peace, A Sportsman’s Sketches, The Brothers Karamazov, Hail and Farewell, Huckleberry Finn, Winesburg, Ohio, La Reine Margot, La Maison Tellier, Le Rouge et le Noire, La Chartreuse de Parme, Dubliners, Yeat’s Autobiographies and a few others than have an assured income of a million dollars a year.-Ernest Hemingway




Hemingway's Essential Reads: 
  1. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (eBookAudio Book)
  2. Far Away and Long Ago by W.H. Hudson (eBookAudio Book)
  3. Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann (eBook)
  4. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (eBookAudio Book)
  5. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert (eBookAudio Book)
  6. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy (eBookAudio Book)
  7. A Sportsman’s Sketches by Ivan Turgenev (eBook)
  8. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky (eBookAudio Book)
  9. Hail and Farewell by George Moore (eBook)
  10. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (eBookAudio Book)
  11. Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson (eBookAudio)
  12. Queen Margot by Alexandre Dumas (eBook)
  13. La Maison Tellier by Guy de Maupassant (eBook)
  14. The Red and the Black by Stendhal (eBookAudio Book)
  15. La Chartreuse de Parme by Stendhal (eBook)
  16. Dubliners by James Joyce (eBookAudio Book)
  17. Reveries over Childhood and Youth by William Butler Yeats (eBook)
  18. The Trembling of the Veil by William Butler Yeats (eBook)
How many of these have you read?  The best thing about this list is that every book is available for FREE.   Just click on the links after the book title to download your free copy.

Happy reading to all! ☮ 

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Saturday, September 14, 2013

New Page: Teaching the Short Story


Checkout our new page:
Teaching the Short Story:  Thank You Ma'am by Langston Hughes, All Summer in a Day by Ray Bradbury. Although this is still a work in process there are some excellent teaching resources, which have already been added to aid teachers and home schoolers in teaching these two short stories.  If you are looking for additional resources to teach story elements such as plot, visit our Elements of Fiction and Teacher Resources page.  Stop by and visit our newest page and let us know what you think here at The Things You Can Read.

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 

Friday, September 13, 2013

Book Blogger Hop: September 13-19, 2013


Book Blogger Hop: September 13-19, 2013
Are you in a book club? How does your book club choose books? How far in advance do you choose?

I wish I was in a face to face book club, but I can't seem to find one in my area.  The best I can do is online group reads on Goodreads.  My last real book club was back in 2009, I really miss it.  Ironically, the area I live in uses the slogan "A City of Readers" to promote literacy in our area, but then I can't seem to find anyone to participate in a book club.  I don't think the slogan is working for them.

Are you in a face to face book club?  Let us know here at The Things You Can ReadThanks, as always, to Coffee Addicted Writer for hosting Book Blogger Hop

Happy reading to all! ☮  

Happy Hopping and Reading!  
The Things You Can Read
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Feature and Follow


 
It is up to you to do a Kickstarter campaign for your favorite book!  Who are you casting for the main characters? 
 
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is my favorite book and my favorite movie.  I have no desire to see the movie remade, so I would campaign against such an idea.  In my opinion, if the movie is a masterpiece, why does Hollywood feel the need to mess with perfection and remake it?  There is also a play version of To Kill a Mockingbird, which I have seen at least twice, and it never lives up to the book or movie.
 
 
The Feature & Follow is hosted by TWO hosts, Parajunkee of Parajunkee’s View and Alison of Alison Can Read.

How would you answer this question?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read.
 
Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
 

Thursday, September 12, 2013

24 Photos Of Famous Authors When They Were Coming Of Age

Anais Nin
Buzzfeed showcased "24 photos of famous authors when they were coming of age."  Did you ever wonder what J. D. Salinger looked like as a teen? Well, now you can find out.  Is one of your favorite authors showcased?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Top 10 Fiction Books for Nonfiction Addicts



Are you a fan of nonfiction?  Do you have trouble crossing over to the world of fiction?  Take a look at Thought Catalog's recommendations of the "Top 10 Fiction Books for Nonfiction Addicts" Whether or not you like nonfiction or fiction or both, what did you think of the list?  Share your thoughts here at The Things You Can Read!

Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Teaser Tuesdays: September 10, 2013

Teaser Tuesday
 


 MY TEASER:

"A comb, hairpins, a gold locket.  She couldn't bear to see how carelessly these mementos had been tossed into a pile beside surgical tools and bits of bone."-The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

"We'd had several pairs of Siamese twins, as well as an alligator man, whose skin was covered with bumps he tinted green.  There'd been dwarfs and giants, fat women as well as women so thin one could nearly see through their pale flesh.  I was interested in everyone, for each had a story, a mother and father, a dream for the future."-The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman

 
From the beloved, bestselling author of The Dovekeepers, a mesmerizing new novel about the electric and impassioned love between two vastly different souls in New York during the volatile first decades of the twentieth century.Coney Island: Coralie Sardie is the daughter of the impresario behind The Museum of Extraordinary Things, a boardwalk freak show that amazes and stimulates the crowds. An exceptional swimmer, Coralie appears as the Mermaid in her father’s “museum,” alongside performers like the Wolfman, the Butterfly Girl, and a one-hundred-year-old turtle. One night Coralie stumbles upon a striking young man photographing moonlit trees in the woods off the Hudson River.

The dashing photographer is Eddie Cohen, a Russian immigrant who has run away from his father’s Lower East Side Orthodox community and his job as an apprentice tailor. When Eddie captures with his camera the devastation on the streets of New York following the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, he becomes embroiled in the mystery behind a young woman’s disappearance.

New York itself becomes a riveting character as Hoffman weaves her magic, romance, and masterful storytelling to unite Coralie and Eddie in a sizzling, tender, and moving story of young love in tumultuous times. The Museum of Extraordinary Things is Hoffman at her most spellbinding.

Did The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman grab your attention?  Let us know here at The Things You Can Read!

Thanks go out to Should Be Reading for hosting Teaser Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme.  If you want to participate click on over to  Should Be Reading where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.





Happy reading to all! ☮

Happy Reading
The Things You Can Read!
Believe In Truth, Beauty, Freedom, Love, and the Power of Books!
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