Read Good Books

Mama Squirrel at Dewey's Treehouse tipped me off to this article about the nature of what makes quality education. Mama Squirrel goes on to point out that there is a level of quality implied when one is talking about using "living books" as Charlotte Mason, and others tend to refer to them. There are books that really have a bit of life inside of them and there are others that just happen to not be textbooks.

I think that we forget how much even we adults have to train ourselves to have the vocabulary and stamina to read meaty books. And we also tend to discount the satisfaction gained from reading something with a little challenge to it rather than something that was sweet and tasty but ultimately unfufilling.

The more you read books that push you, the better you become at reading them. You assimilate the vocabulary, the literary allusions, the style of using compound complex sentences rather than simple sentences and short dialogue. For example, I've read some of Jane Austen's books several times each. I just read Northanger Abbey for the first time about two weeks ago and I breezed through it, laughing all the way.

Similarly, I tried to read Master and Commander over a decade ago. While I could appreciate that the writing was finely crafted, I had trouble following the story. Last year I gave it another try. Looks like ten years of reading Austen, Dorothy Sayers and other harder books had given me the scaffold I needed to enjoy the O'Brian.

There are lots of ways to feed your inner reader. The Well-Educated Mind by Susan Wise Bauer is a nice place to start. I has a section on how to read a book and then a listing of recommended classics, with some overview and probing questions to help you think through the story.

Another thought is to grab one of the great books lists and just start reading. Start with what you can handle or that is a mild stretch and just keep building.

Another idea is to use a list designed for classical homeschooling like Ambleside Online. Designed for kids, but there's no reason that you can't enjoy the same selections too. I read about a homeschool mom who was using AO for self education and thought that this was a brilliant idea. Even if the early stories are some that you might have read before or that you can easily handle, they will help you form a basis for enjoying the jewels that are to come later.

You can even just walk through the fiction section of the library and grab a handful of classic books that you've heard of but never really read (except, maybe in an illustrated abridged version or comic book form). That was how I put together my Boys Good Books reading list. Browse through both the adult and the children's fiction. It is hard to predict where some titles might end up. And you don't want to miss something great either because it was just a children's book when initially published or because it's now been moved to the adult section because kid lit has gotten so watered down

Sure you've seen movie versions of Alice in Wonderland, but have you read the book? How much is Pirates of the Carribean riffing on Treasure Island? Did you know that Heidi has a theme of redemption and reconcilliation running through it? Did you catch the Lilliput allusion in Night at the Museum? Are you ready for the grand-daddy of all vampire stories - Dracula?

Don't wait for the best time. These are the rich stories that will help you to cope with the uncertainties of today. You really are capable enough for these books. Just read it.

Books I Didn't Read in 2010

Maybe it has something to do with having thousands of books and knowing that I have so many more good ones left to read. Maybe it is a side effect of switching between really meaty, well written books and series fiction. Maybe it is just that I'm getting older and don't feel like I have so much time to waste. But I am finding that I'm more than willing to stop reading a book part way through and declare that it just isn't worth finishing.

So to go along with my Books Read in 2010 post, here are books that I just couldn't finish.

The Eugenics Wars vol 2: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonian Singh (Star Trek). I read the first volume back when it was new in the early 1990s. There was a long enough gap in publication that we only just got the second book. Great example of a book that relies so much on current events that it just can't endure. Not only did I feel like it didn't add much to the Star Trek genre, but also it was simply tedious.

Dune: The Battle of Corrin. This is part of a series of prequels written by Frank Herbert's son Brian and Kevin Anderson. While I mostly enjoyed the first trilogy of prequels, which ends just before the setting of Dune; I had trouble with the set that went futher back in time to the Butlerian Jihad. The books are long and complicated, which lots of intertwined plots and a long drawn out style of presentation. But more than that, they are just badly written. Maybe it is a sign of the decline of editing emphasis among the major publishing houses. Maybe it is just a sympton of publishers' willingness to put up with long winded writing from authors that sell well.

Here are some selections from a chapter about cymek Titans who have existed for over a thousand years and are at war with both the evermind, Omnius and the contemptable human rebels. Agamemnon and Juno are both cyborgs who long ago had everything human but their brains replaced by machinery.

Juno, his lover, had matching ambitions and goals. Returned from the other cymek planet of Bela Tegeuse, she faced him in their expansive stronghold on Richese, swiveling her head turret to show off her sparkling optic threads. Even in this strange inhuman configuration, Agamemnon found her brain and her personality beautiful.

****

Moving with implacable speed, he lurched his walker-form through the archway, already transmitting orders to teh neos to prep his fastest ship. "You and Dante remain here and shore up our defenses against the thinking machines. I will locate another world for us to rule." He flashed his optic threads, which sent a constellation of Juno images flooding into his mind. "With luck, Omnius won't find us for some time."

And it goes on in this vein chapter after chapter. Sometimes about the cymeks, sometimes about the seemingly implacable thinking machines, sometimes about the plucky but relationship challenged humans. Ugh.

I remember reading a review about twenty years ago that commented on the trend toward trilogies in science fiction. Multiple books were becoming common as science fiction sought to satisfy readers' desire for more characterization. You can see this if you go back and read classic science fiction like Heinlein or Asimov. Or even Frank Herbert, who created a vibrant galaxy, with political intrigue, revolution and trade tensions in a far more concise style. Dune is about 150 pages shorter than Dune: The Battle of Corrin in mass market paperback versions. My impression is that Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson take more words to write less convincingly about a plot that honestly grab me very little. Seventy-four pages was really all that I could handle (and that was with at least four of the prequels under my belt already).

Book Arts Bash 2010 Winners

A few months back, the kids and I started working on the Kids' Secret Novel Writing Club from Little Blue School. We had a blast. We haven't completed a novel yet, but we all learned to appreciate the hard work that goes into our favorite books. We also were able to consider why books we don't like just don't seem to work (poorly developed characters and lack of proper conflict mostly).

In order to further encourage novel writing, Little Blue School also started a novel writing contest for homeschooled authors, Book Arts Bash 2010. There was a $100 prize for the top story in each age group and critiques from literary agents for the top three.

The winners of Book Arts Bash 2010 have just been announced.

Kindergarten and First Grade:

Winner:
A Big Problem by Brianna T.
Runners up:
Adventures of Big D and BMC by Emma W.
Zoo With A Strange Zookeeper by Vivian L.

Second and Third Grade:

Winner:
The Adventures of Blue Flame the Heroic Giant Squid-Fighting Hero by Sage M.
Runners Up:
Ruby, A Twisting Tale by Emilie M.
Mittens the Cat by Melea von T.

Fourth and Fifth Grade:

Winner:
1 by Nicci M.
Runners up:
One Girl Revolution by Sadie Z.
Blaze by Alexandra S.

Sixth Grade:

Winner:
The Princess by Lena G.
Runners up:
Becoming Callie by Lena G.
Trixie by Lydia A.

Seventh Grade:

Winner:
Happy Ending is a Place by Mandy H.
Runners up:
Violet Fire by Bryn B.
Kite by Hannah S.

Eighth Grade:

Winner:
Hollin by Garrett R.
Runners up:
Common Animals by Thomas B.
Little Angel by Adayla S.

Ninth Grade:

Winner:
Why I Missed the Second Set by Rose C.
Runners up:
Untitled by Larissa S.
Tales of the Humbats: The Seventh Piece by Raven M.

Tenth Grade:

Winner:
Children of the Stars by Holden M.
Runners up:
Shattering Darkness by Vienna H.
The Scouser Cap by Emily V.

Eleventh Grade:

Winner:
Cadence by Scout G.
Runners up:
Vengeance: 25 cents by Kathleen M.
Don't Look Down by Tanya S

Twelfth Grade:

Winner:
If Pearls Could Sing by Pamela C.
Runners up:
Broken Things by Emily D.
Falling Night by Anna W.

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The next round of Book Arts Bash will be for entries completed by January 1, 2012. That's only 20 months away, so get writing. If you don't know where to start, check out the lessons for the Novel Writing Club. I know that I'm planning on dusting off our writing club journals and finishing up the chapter outlines for my story. See, there's this homeschool support group with a bunch of . . . well, you'll just have to wait and see.