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CCHS Student/Faculty Book Club Selection Number 2 !!

The book club met yesterday to discuss Animal, Vegetable, and Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. We had a selection of yummy organic and locally grown foods and a stimulating discussion of the book! It was one of our best meetings!

The book selection for the 2nd nine weeks was drawn from a hat. Our new selection is The Reluctant Fundamentalist, by Mahsin Hamid. For more information on the book, check out the Harcourt website on the book. Remember, members are responsible for obtaining their own copies of the book. The book is available from many online sellers, Barnes and Noble, and in the local library system. Our meeting date will be January 10th, 2008 after school in the media center.

CCHS Faculty/Student Book Club Fall Selection

We have selected Animal, Vegetable, and Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver as our October selection for the CCHS Faculty/Student Book Club. This year's book club is an experiment in blending a book club for our faculty with a book club for interested students. While selections are geared more for adult tastes, students who are interested in mature readings and discussions are invited to attend.

Our first book club will meet on Thursday afternoon, October 25th, 2007 in the library at 3:20. Faculty, please bring a snack to share with the group--we'll just treat the students!

I am about midway through the book--it is Late June, and the Kingsolvers are on vacation. I have enjoyed her fiction books; this non-fiction one has really drawn me in. I think my next career will be as a nutritionist who focuses on natural foods and vitamins--this is one of my many passions. I actually used to cook more like this until we started splitting our time between here and the Eastern Shore. Jackie and I had a big garden in the backyard, and I used to have a lovely group of hens. Of course, getting my husband to garden organically was virtually impossible--the man loves chemicals. I still keep up a good amount of fresh herbs because you just can't beat them! Reading this book has spurred me to want to have a garden again, even if it is on a smaller scale. I am also taking notice of where my food is coming from. I also spent a summer making mozzarella cheese--it was fun, and I want to try the cheese making again! I couldn't do what the Kingsolver family did, but I can try to do what I can in the confines of our area.

Yesterday, I was very inspired, so I went down to a few local veggie markets. I found that Tarheel Produce, across from the Cotton Gin, has local honey produced down the county. I bought local fresh okra (the last he said for the season). I also found Rocky Hock watermelons at Janet Rose's veggie stand in Grandy, and a fine hoop cheese she bought at the farmer's market in Raleigh. (We are definately going to have to broaden our view of local as our farms are disappearing, or going to soybeans). I had put a roast and some red potatoes and carrots in ye ole Crock Pot yesterday morning, then went home and fried the okra. Yum! I had some apples that I picked from a neighbor on the shore--pesticide free--so I had to cut around a few bug spots, and I made a simple apple pie for dessert. I was so inspired that I thought I'd make bread--a total flop that was. I must admit that though I am a really good cook, I have never been able to master even simple yeast bread. I am giving it another try tonight--I refuse to be defeated by some yeast and some wheat flour!

The bread thing arose because I have been actively seeking to cut as much HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) from our diet as possible. It is an evil scourge that shows up in the weirdest places, like bread, and even mayonnaise. That is why I thought I'd make my own loaf bread--little did I know how wrong I was. I think it is Karma for hating every moment of my high school chemistry class---there is a lot of good old chemistry happening in bread that didn't happen in mine. Back to the drawing board on that tonight!

Interested in trying cheesemaking yourself? Go to New England Cheesemaking Supply!

I hope you are all enjoying this book as much as I am!

Wow! Book swapping sites to feed your book collection on the cheap!

Hello readers! While going through the Real Simple magazine March 2007, I found a recommendation for two book swapping sites that will help you trade your books for very little money. The first is PaperBackSwap.com and lets you trade your paperback books for paperback books from other people. You create your free account online, then list the paperback books you are willing to give to other people (you will not see them again, so don't give away your treasures). When a person requests a book from your list (which can happen in a very short time --sometimes minutes), you mail the book to the person (and request Book Rate from the postmaster). You are paying the postage and supplying the envelope you mail it in--on paperbacks, it is only around $1.60 per book + envelope cost. When the person receives the book, you get a credit to choose a book of your own, which you'll get totally free! The other similar service is TitleTrader. Title trader works the same way, but you can list DVDs, CDs, and hardbacks. Remember the shipping costs for a hardback can reach $4.00. I am picturing this as a way to trade and get classroom reading assignment books for a great price!!!

Thank you, Oprah!

In one of the issues of Oprah Magazine my mom gets, she cut out this list of sites that are great for book-lovers. I've recently gotten addicted to www.shelfari.com, where you get to develop your bookshelf with any books you want (want to read, have read, etc.). Other members can look at your shelf, and there are places where people can ask questions or start discussions about certain books. If the book selected is on your shelf, you'll receive notification when a question/discussion is started about it. I only have a few books right now, but i have every intention of broadening that list very soon!!

It's also not blocked at school! Which is fun. :-D Just don't get in trouble with it, or you'll get it blocked, and I'll get angry.

~Amber M.

Terrific quotes from books!

The New York Times has a place on their website where readers are posting their favorite quotes from fairly recent books! Reading these quotes is like feeding your mind! To read them, go to :
http://news.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/03/27/what-is-your-favorite-quote-from-a-recent-book/

There are even quotes submitted by one reader from two Diana Gabaldon books--a favorite series for some of our faculty members!

Enjoy!

Over spring break, I am going to try to read a couple of Margaret Maron mysteries--I am behind a bit, and need to catch up. They are great fun!

Hope everyone takes some time to read over spring break!

Someone has the same name as you, LG!!

I stumbled upon this site, http://librarygoddess.blogspot.com .

I really like it--some lady has been reviewing Young Adult novels since July of 2004, and she gives them ratings and why she feels that way. She has a lot of titles that seem really interesting, and i even found out that some of those books we already have! but we don't have a lot. But a lot of those books seemed really interesting, and i know some of you will enjoy at least a few of them!!

~Amber

New books, new books, yippee!! New books!

We made two hits on Barnes and Noble last week--one on Wednesday night, and one on Friday. We even had some students with us on Friday--they got to pick out some books for our library collection as well!! A lot of titles are flying off the shelves--so some of the following may no longer be in--but you can put a hold on any book! Here are just a few of the titles we have added--more will follow in the next few days. New Manga has been added as well--you'll just have to check all the Manga shelves, and see what is new! Consider it our own little version of an Easter Egg Hunt!

006.5 KEL The iPod Book : Doing Cool Stuff with the iPOD
155.9 VIN Grief girl : my true story
158.1 BYR The secret
220.5 GOD Extreme Teen Bible : NCV.
363.25 ERZ Forensics : Ttue Ctime Scene Investigation.
363.25 INN Body in question : exploring the cutting edge in forensic science .
428.1 EIS Vicious vocabulary
616.8 BRA Brains that work a little bit differently
629.22 CHE American Cars
629.227 MIT Choppers : And Custom Motorcycles.
629.227 RAF Harley-Davidson : the ultimate machine
646 BLA 99 ways to cut, sew & deck out your denim
741.5 ELV How To Draw Dragons : And Other Mythical Creatures
746 ARO The Cute Book.
771 BUS Creative digital photography
808 STE Real A+ college term papers
920.72 NEE Wild west women
944 LIT France : The Timeline History of France.
F AND The secrets of peaches : a novel Anderson, Jodi
F BAK No place for magic Baker, E. D.
F BAR A girl like moi : the fashion-forward adventure .
F BUT A good scent from a strange mountain
F CAL The nature of Jade
F CHA This is all : the pillow book of Cordelia Kenn
F COL Ruby Parker hits the small time
F COR Ordinary Ghosts Corrigan, Eirea
F DOG Waves Dogar, Sharon.
F GAI Neverwhere : a novel Gaiman, Neil.
F HEI Starship troopers Heinlein, Rober
F HIT Tales of terror Hitchcock, Alfred
F HUG Lemonade Mouth Hughes, Mark
F JAB Silent echoes Jablonski, Carl
F JAC The Friday night knitting club Jacobs, Kate
F MIC Lethal Justice Michaels, Fern.
F MIT Now you see her Mitchard, Jacque
F MOR The riddles of Epsilon
F ONO The twelve kingdoms Ono, Fuyumi
F PEE Tamar Peet, Mal.
F PIC Nineteen minutes : a novel Picoult, Jodi,
F RAB Cures for heartbreak Rabb, M. E.
F RUD Drama! : The Four Dorothys. Ruditis, Paul.
F SHA Sons of destiny Shan, Darren.
F SIG Kino no tabi : the beautiful world Shigusawa, Keii
F STO Bleed Stolarz, Laurie
F WES The last days : a novel Westerfeld, Scott

I'd especially like to mention these two:

The Secrets of Peaches by Jodi Anderson and Forever in Blue by Ann Brashares

There are many more titles added as well--just stop by and check out the new book display!!

What is wrong with me?!?!

Maaaaaaaaaaaaaybe it would've been helpful if I had put the URL along with that last post. XD

Sorry!!!!!!!!!!! Here it is!

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/olivertwist/index.html

Fun Fun Oliver Site!!

Mrs. Simmons found this site for Oliver Twist, and it's a lot of fun!! You can get images of the characters (from the movie, mind you, but it creates a nice visual). There's also a map that can take you around to all the places Oliver goes in his travels, as well as an interactive timeline of Dickens' life. I think the fun part (maybe that's just me) is going to be "A Victorian Twister", which is basically a 'quiz' thing...Buuuut yeah!! It helps if you haven't finished the book yet, and seems like it'd be fun for those who have (i want to read and then see if my images of the characters match up!).

play around, have fun!!

See ya next Friday!

Fun Planned for Oliver Twist readers

I hope that many of you bloggers are reading along in Oliver Twist. I, too, am enjoying it, but I want to smack the beejeebers out of somebody for so abusing the kid! Anyway, here are our plans for fun:

On March 8 at 3:20 or so in the media center we'll have a nice English tea, with nice English snacks such as scones and crumpets, perhaps some cucumber sandwiches. At this point, we'll talk about around half the book, depending on where we all are. At this point, I'll get a headcount for the Friday, March 23rd festivities. If you cannot attend this meeting contact the Library Goddess and let her know so we can count you in. But please try to come to this meeting--especially students!

On March 23, we will leave school around 3:30 and head to Spice of India restaurant for a nice meal and discussion of Oliver. FREE to students IF you've read the book. How's that for bribery? Then, we'll return and watch the play "Oliver."

If we want, we can do a follow up meeting (maybe with more tea) later to compare the book and play.

If this turns out to be fun--and it seems like it will--perhaps we can do more "fun with the classics" events. OK?

Oliver Twist and NASCAR

What do Oliver Twist and NASCAR have in common? Absolutely nothing, except that I am currently reading Oliver Twist, and a book on the history of NASCAR, Driving with the Devil: Southern Moonshine, Detroit Wheels, and the Birth of NASCAR. I am enjoying the heck out of both of them! I really didn't think I would like Oliver Twist, as I have a fear of Dickens that remains from my high school English class, but I am really getting in to the humor. Poor Oliver! What hideous adults surround Oliver! Driving with the Devil is great fun--I love reading about the wild roots of NASCAR! It is well-written and fast-paced (no pun intended).

The Fear and Hope Paradox in SciFi

It seems to me that one of the key distinguishing characteristics of science fiction literature is its strange and sometimes paradoxical mixture of fear and hope. Let's talk about those ideas in the literature circle books: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Jurassic Park, Stranger in a Strange Land, The Martian Chronicles, and I Robot. Anyone may comment, of course. I'll start. In Androids I see a deep-down fear that there is really no difference at all between man and machine. When you come right down to it, says the author, it's impossible to tell them apart. Even given super advanced technology, is there a point at which machine development can stop. (Remember, what looked like science fiction 50 years ago is now reality.) What do you think makes a human human? How hopeful are you for mankind's continued existence? Let's hear some chatter out there, scifi class (and others, of course).

Enders Game (Spoiler warning!!!!!!!)

wow, i have to say i did not see that coming. i was getting towards the end an was like, well whens the battle gonna happen? then i come to find out, it had been happening all along. did anyone else see this coming? its kinda wrong they make ender stay up in space, but i suppose its for his own good. what are some of y'alls thoughts on this?

Sweetening the Oliver Twist Pot!

OK. Here's my addition to the Classics Challenge featuring Oliver Twist. What I'd like to do is to meet after school on Friday, March 23 and have a few snacks while we talk about Dickens' life, Oliver Twist, values and problems of the Victorian culture, and other stuff that interests us. Mr. White can drop by to talk a bit about the play adaptation and the film history. Then at around 4:45 or so, we'll go out to eat. Now here's the good part--the adults will pay for the kids' dinners! (Up to a point, of course.) We will get back to school by 6:45 in time to see the play. So get your friends to check out the book and get involved in the challenge--and not just for a free meal!

My Antonia?????

Mrs. R decided that it made perfect sense for us to take the test on Cold Mountain on Thursday and start a NEW book on Monday. SOOOO......has anyone read or started reading My Antonia?? I read the back of it, and to be perfectly honest, i think this novel sounds ridiculously DULL. I'm hoping it's not, or else it's an easy read...

**fingers crossed**

I started Oliver Twist

I'm only on page two, but so far, I'm actually enjoying it.......

creepy....

Am I the only one who's started?

Da bookshop 2

these books are still for sale:

Naruto Vol. 1 Perfect condition $6.95
Naruto Vol. 2 Perfect condition $6.95

Shaman King Vol. 1 Perfect condition $6.95
Shaman King Vol. 2 Perfect condition $6.95

Yu Yu Hakusho Vol. 1 Perfect condition $6.95
Yu Yu Hakusho Vol. 2 Perfect condition $6.95
Yu Yu Hakusho Vol. 3 Perfect condition $6.95

xXx Holic Vol. 2 Good Condition, bent in corner $8.95


Manga Set Sales

Naruto Vol. 1 & 2 $12.00

Shaman King Vol. 1 & 2 $12.00

Yu Yu Hakusho Vol. 1, 2, 3 $20.00

Find me or ask the librarians on where to find me. <3

-snoozer01

Ender's Game dialog

Hi all. Here's the official starter for the Ender's Game discussion thread. Enjoy the book! A soon as I reread it, I'll start posting intellectual things. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from you.

The Men in the Jungle

The Men in the Jungle by Norman Spinrad (author of Bug Jack Baron) is in my opinion one of the best Sci-fi books ever written. Though it was written in 1967, it is very advanced for it's time. Anyways, the book is about a man, Bart Fraden who was the former ruler of an asteroid belt, but is overthrown. Him, his girlfriend, and his general evacuate an begin searching for a planet that is lacking in technology and intelligence, and is ripe for revolution, so he can cause mass confusion, the rise from the rubble to become ruler. The planet they decide on, Sangre ("blood" in spanish) is an earthlike planet, ruled by the sadisitic cannibal elite, The Brotherhood of Pain. The Brotherhood rules the planet, and have a system set up. All people are divided and bred into special classes: their private security, a brutal militia like force, slaves who raise the "meat animals," select women, used for pleasure, meat animals, small obese children equivalent to livestock, and the bugs, large semi-intelligent insects that grow crops for the slaves. The main plot of the story is when the visitors land, an begin their plots for revolution. But, the morbidness of the Brotherhood starts to effect Bart. Their cruel sacrifices, and public shows of torture. Their "feasts." This book shows the effects of mainstream cannibalism, the powers just a small group can obtain over time, and in detail the steps of a successful revolution, but also how fragile trust between two people can be. This book has great sci-fi elements, an i highly recommend it. But be warned, it is highly graphic, very brutal, an definitely not for the faint of heart. But that doesn't make it any less of the under appreciated masterpiece it is. The reason Spinrad's books are not more well known is because at the time they were written, they were extremely graphic(not so much as shocking now, by todays standards, but still over-the-top violent) and even more controversial. There are numerous hidden meanings in this book, political statements, observations of humanity, what could lie in the future. See how many you can find. I think Sangre is supposed to represent a future earth, and honestly, events similar to this could quite possibly happen. I feel Spinrad does an excellent job of showing the darkside of humanity, and how the power hungry prey upon the weak, an in general gives some good advice on how one should live their life. This book for me, was one of the few books one happens along in their lifetime, that have the ability to change an shape who you are. Anyone in the Sci-fi lit class should read this, and anyone who is a fan of novels about war, controversy, rebellion, revolution, cannibalism, horror, or sci-fi. It is unfortunately hard to find, but well worth the search. It is not too long, and is well written and easy to understand. Check out this remarkable piece of sci-fi history.