Wishing I could somehow cram all these books into my head instantaneously

Right, so you already know about the 200 classic lit books waiting to be read on my shelves. Well somehow they keep multiplying! I don’t know how it happens. There are just SO many books in the world that need to be read. I have been somewhat good in that I have branched out a little on the book topics and I added several books on PDF that I can read on my iPad. Most of the other books are from the library, so I haven’t actually added too many to the physical shelf.
Still there are so many I want to read, simultaneously, that I don’t even know where to start. Here’s what’s been going on in my reading life these last couple weeks…

1- Shirley by Charlotte Bronte
I finished Shirley awhile ago, read as an ebook so no shelf clutter. I don’t know that I am going to post about it.. It was a good book but no Villette or Jane Eyre.

2-The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte
I am almost done with this one, have about 100 pages left. Again an ebook from Gutenberg. I liked this one a little more than Shirley but it is completely different from Anne’s other novel, Agnes Gray. Great plot but the narration structure is kind of questionable lol. It’s written in letters (epistolary) but these are the longest and most detailed letters ever written.

3-The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway
From the library, I read the first 40 pages but didn’t immediately fall deeply into the story like I did with Hem’s other books. I do think I will like the story but I am going to hold off and read this when I am in the Hem. mood.

4-The Complete Short stories Hemingway
Library. I’ve only read Hills Like White Elephants so far and I totally did not get what the ‘unsaid thing’ was. >>>is dense<<<< It probably did not help that I was standing at the stove making dinner while I read it. I want to read all of these stories but no way I can before it’s due back. Better to put this on my To Buy list but on the other hand, I’m not sure if I am a huge fan of Hem’s short stories.. They seem so abrupt! (so I googled abrupt to make sure I spelled it right, I know duh, but it was correct so yay me. And the definition is: Brief to the point of rudeness, which I thought was very funny because it perfectly describes Hemingway’s short stories lol).

5-Classic Myths to read aloud by William Russell
Library. I love this book! I actually checked it out to read to Dd, the stories are abridged for children, but her to be read pile is as long as mine! SoI haven’t had time to read it to her but I am enjoying it myself. The books give you a brief 4-8 pages version of a ton of Greek Myths. I plan on reading the adult versions some day lol, but it’s nice to get the general idea of each story since you come across them so often in other lit. Plus I love that it tells you how to pronounce the Greek and Roman names. Also, the stories have notes at the end about Greek stems and how the names of the Gods in the stories relate to our modern language. I’m on page 90 of about 250. I may have to buy this one too since I still want to read it to Dd.

6-Rules for the Dance by Mary Oliver
Library. This is the poetry book I posted about last month. I’m only on page 26. It’s been hard to find the right time to read this because I need quiet and concentration to really pick up on what she is talking about. It helps to be able to read the poetry examples out loud too. I’m not sure yet if this is THE poetry book for me. I tend to fall asleep while reading it..oops.

7-Decontructing Penguins by Lawrence and Nancy Goldstone
My last library book, I have not even opened this one yet. It is about analyzing literature in a similar method to the one I outlined in my Lit Analysis Elements post, only this book is aimed at children. The idea is to discuss and analyze books with kids in a book group setting.

Now for something completely different….

8-Knowing and teaching Elementary Mathematics by Liping Ma
This is another book that contributes to understanding of the “Singapore way’ or how mathematics is taught in Asia; but this one actually focuses on the difference in understand and teaching math between teachers in China and the US. Apparently Chinese teachers do not go to school as long or have as much education as US teachers, and yet they do a much better job teaching math. Because they have a deeper understanding of mathematics and emphasize the conceptual with their students. I’m excited to read this one and will probably start it this weekend.

9-Art of Problem Solving Pre-algebra
Alright, now you are not allowed to laugh at me but this math book is for me lol. I decided I want to go back to school, probably for an associates in education…and later a BA in lit?? So I was looking at the college placement test and realized I pretty much have forgotten everything I learned in middle and high school. I am totally clueless about algebra, fractions, etc. The Art of Problem Solving is a curriculum for kids who are gifted in math. I thought it would be perfect for me since it not only goes over the basics, rather quickly which is good, but it also goes much deeper into mathematical understanding and really challenges the student at every level. The website has several video tutorials and I’ve already remembered much of the math I thought was completely gone from my brain. But I decided to go ahead and order the text book because I want to really understand the WHY this time and learn algebra so well it won’t vanish again.

10-Teaching resources, lesson plans, and activity PDFs…. x18
Umm I went a little crazy with the Scholastic teacher express sale.. They have a ton of PDF books on sale for $1. How could I resist that?! I’m most excited about the lesson plans and activities I got for Dd on Greece and Rome. I am going to use these PDFs as well as the book Building Language (a Latin stems book by Michael Clay Thompson) to put together a Greek and Roman curriculum for Dd and I to use this summer. I mentioned the MCT Building Language book awhile ago, when I was talking about ordering his poetry book. I did finally order both (but held off on the Grammar books). Dd and I flipped through the Building Language book already and she really likes it. It’s fun to see a little lightbulb go on in her eyes when she gets the connection between the latin stems and our own language. The MCT poetry book is also beautiful but I need to do quite a bit of work before we use that. There are many references in the book to classic poets, which I love, but I want to pull examples to illustrate the lessons that are more at Dd’s level as well. I imagine reading the classic poems for her so she can HEAR the words instead of focusing on what the poem means and then
using elementary level poems for meaning, metaphor, etc. I have a couple poetry pdfs that will go with that.

So that is what is on my shelf right now. And I haven’t even decided what fiction to read after I finish with Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I should probably pick something from my TBR challenge list…Do I dare start Les Mis?

PS-I’ve included Amazon links to the books so you could read descriptions, reviews, peek inside, etc; not because I think you should buy from them