The Literate Teacher's Manifesto

Les Miserables  is the longest book I've read in entirety, weighing in at a hefty 1,463 pages.  And yes, I read it before the movie came out.  I've actually read it all the way through twice.  The first time I read it, I was a sophomore in college.  My American Lit professor saw me carrying it around and accused me of "just trying to look smarter."  He bet me that I'd never get through it.  Well, I am and have always been a stubborn old poop, so when he told me I couldn't do it he provided me with the incentive I needed to muddle through it. It is also by far the most difficult lengthy book I've read.   It, by Stephen King, Gone With the Wind , by Margaret Mitchell, and the North and South  trilogy by John Jakes are all of comparable length to Les Mis , but definitely much more lightweight on the readability scale.  I reread Les Mis  over the summer last year.  It was even better the second time around.  I can't s...

Of these characters: O'Brien, Mr. Charrington, and Julia, one is a member of the Thought Police who will be responsible for betraying Winston. Based on the evidence, which is it? Support your answer with details from the text.

As of this posting, our country has narrowly avoided the dreaded "fiscal cliff," but I still feel very nervous that our lifestyles may not remain as comfortable as they have been for the past several years.  In keeping with that nervousness, I am attempting to cut corners in some areas, one of which is my book-buying habit (trying to balance out my boot-buying habit, which is a topic for another post...). I have a bad habit of buying interesting books from bargain tables, rummage sales, discards at the library, Goodwill, etc, as well as from the shelves at Barnes and Noble or Books A Million, and never actually getting around to reading them.  I believe that I am probably not the only book-lover who does this, so one of my new year's ideas is to start a "Resolution Book Club".  I want to have read everything on my bookshelves at least once.  I went through them today and chose found enough unread titles to last me through the year (probably). I am aware that...

If you were hosting a party and you could invite any 5 literary characters, who would you invite? I would invite Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird , because I would love to hear his opinion of the travesty that has become our political and justice system, and maybe some thoughts on  how to fix it.  I would have Gregor Samsa, from Kafka's Metamorphosis , because I have always been fascinated by his somewhat lackadaisical, unperturbed reaction to his startling change into an insect.  I would invite Jo March, from Little Women , because I love female characters who are strong, smart, and capable of conversing about books (can she bring the Professor with her, but only count as one guest?)  I have to choose Albus Dumbledore, for his conversational ability and his infinite capacity for putting people at ease.  My final guest would be Death, as he appears in The Book Thief .  My absolute favorite narrator of all time: witty, sarcastic, dry, but with a c...

1. The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje 2. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell 3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 4. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo 5. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte 6. Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton 7. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll 8. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott 9. The Life of Johnson by Boswell 10. The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak What's your top ten list?