It's Monday: What Are You Reading? From the Stacks

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I just finished Alice Hoffman's The Dovekeepers. I was reluctant to pick it up. I love Hoffman's style, her words like gorgeous blooms scenting the night air and twining through the garden trellis of my imagination.

 I've read every book she's written. I hesitated to pick up The Dovekeepers. I was intimidated by Jerusalem and the idea of ancient Israel. My sister-in-law recommended the book, so while I was visiting she and brother in New Hampshire, I downloaded it.

Told from several perspectives, the dovekeepers, all women, endure years of trial and hardship as they flee a falling Jerusalem and attempt to resist the Roman empire on a mountain fortress. Like my sister-in-law, I didn't want the book to end once I'd started. Love and hate, faith and fear, grace and betrayal intertwine. With every page I imagined the research behind the story. What a feat. What a story.

This week I'm finishing up Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. I've always wanted to walk across the state of Florida and this book has reminds me of that dream. I love stories from the wilderness and nature. I can imagine Bryson's fear as he worries about bears and is haunted by mosquitoes. I'm enjoying this read.

Stickers on book spines: genre at a glance.

We started reorganizing the classroom library on Good Friday. Half of the students in my classes were absent, so while some students chose to read or work on a piece of writing, others volunteered to reshelve and start reorganizing. At the beginning of the year I tried putting books in book bins and labeling bins by genre. Unfortunately that effort did not bring the anticipated results. Students browsed the bookshelves less than they had before. Also troubling was how difficult it was for me to find a book. Instead of going to the author's last name and pulling a title in under a minute, I now had to hunt and hope.

Hunt for the genre bin (I didn't make a master list) and hope that students who'd borrowed the book had classified it the same way I did or re-shelved it where they originally found it. We're going back to shelving by genre (fiction, nonfiction, short stories, and  poetry) and within each alphabetizing by last name. I'm going to add another layer of organization to the fiction section: color-coded stickers. Linda Rief color-codes by genre but organizes shelves and collections by author.  Now I'll be able to put my hands on a book quickly and students will be able to pull by genre: win, win.

The reorganization led me to pull books for my 5th grader. I brought home Paulsen's Transall Saga because he loves The Hunger Games, Divergent, Hatchet and Lawn Boy.  Last summer he got into war books and he has a friend who loves anything World War II, so I pulled a few I knew he hadn't read yet that he might like to pass along to his buddy: Collier's My Brother Sam is Dead, Graham's Under the Blood-Red Sun, and Soldier X by Wulfsson. Stein's The Art of Racing in the Rain (young readers version) I thought a perfect read as we prepare for a new puppy--he didn't have school today and this was the book he picked up first (nearly finished it).

Just a few Monday reads and recommendations! This week I've got to make it to the library. I have a deep need for picture books! Got any recommendations?