I don't know about the rest of you, but after graduating from college I sometimes get the feeling that my brain is turning into mush. During the school year I'm always thinking and planning, but as soon as summer hits I turn back into "lazy woman". So, last summer I decided that I wanted to try and be smart again.
Many of you know that I absolutely LOVE to read, and that I usually read murder mysteries (Mary Higgins Clark, for example) and recently those Twilight books (yes, I am a fan). However, you don't need a brain to understand those books. The reading teacher I work with told me that most popular fiction novels are written at a 5th or 6th grade reading level. That made me sad...so I decided to do something about it. I started buying the classics (the books we were supposed to read in high school but got the cliff's notes for instead). Last summer I read Crime and Punishment and The Count of Monte Cristo and they are great! Right now I've started Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. There have been some others too, but those books will work your brain over for sure! Mostly because they are Russian and French novels and they're HUGE! But it makes my brain feel less squishy and more wrinkled.
Of course, I can't leave MHC, I've been reading her stuff since middle school, and I'm also trying to read books that my students read because it helps me relate to them. If anyone has read the Fablehaven series, I'm thinking of taking on that one next. So, if you have any comments on good books that keep your brain in shape I'd appreciate it!
7 comments:
Cami! I'm so glad you found our blog!! How are you guys?! Anna Karenina is one of my very favorite books. I hope you like it. To Kill a Mockingbird and Cry, the Beloved Country are two others that I reread recently and loved. :) Hope all is well...also congrats on the upcoming addition!!!
Anything by T. S. Eliot will make your brain the opposite of squishy. When I live somewhere again maybe we can trade books because I'd like to read more, too. Oh, and there's always Shakespeare!
I've done the Shakespeare thing, but never T. S. Eliot...maybe after I finish with Tolstoy. It'd be fun to trade books and have fun again when you decide to come home!
Did you really buy the Cliff's notes for the books? I don't remember reading anything hard in school but maybe that's because we went over vocabulary beforehand. "Conflagration" is a great word, by the way.
(How) To Kill a Mockingbird is a good read too. You can do it in a day or two.
I didn't buy them, but I would look up stuff online about them when I was confused or behind in my reading. I read To Kill a Mockingbird a couple years ago, and really enjoyed it. I'm really into thick books...you know, 600-more pages.
You're just a book snob! You only like huge books so you can put them on your shelf and look smart. I know your little secrets.
So what??? It makes me feel like a genius!
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