Blogging from A to Z Challenge

It's another year for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge!  I had so much fun participating in last year's challenge for the month of April.  I managed to post an entry for all 26 letters of the alphabet (although I'm not sure that I actually made them all on the right day).  Last year I chose a theme for my blogging: my bucket list. 

At first I thought I would go with whatever popped into my head this year, but I like the focus of using a theme.  So this year's theme for my A to Z blogging is going to center around foods.  There may be recipes, cuisine and culture, history of eats, or just anything edible, but hopefully it will all be appetizing to read!

Happy blogging, friends!

100 Books in 2013: Nursery Rhyme Comics

Book 11:  Nursery Rhyme Comics by Chris Duffy

What do you get when you take 50 great nursery rhymes and get 50 cool cartoonists to provide illustrations for them?  You get a new, interesting take on your favorite childhood poems and stories in a really cool book!

100 Books in 2013: Jenny and the Jaws of Life

Book 10:  Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willett

I decided to pick up this copy when I saw David Sedaris had a quote on the front recommending the book.  It's a collection of short stories with some funny, some strange, some bittersweet moments.  I think the theme of the whole book is that no matter what happens in the world, life goes on, and ultimately we are all agreeable.  Entertaining read. 

100 Books in 2013: Larry and the Meaning of Life

Book 9: Larry and the Meaning of Life by Janet Tashjian

Years ago I read The Gospel According to Larry, Tashjian's YA novel about a kid who posts online sermons about life. I picked up this sequel while at our public library, but I didn't realize until I started reading that this is actually the third book about Larry.  There's enough background in the novel that I was up to speed on the gist of what happened to Larry, who's actually Josh, in the second novel Vote for Larry, so that I enjoyed the book as a stand alone, sort of sequel.  Interesting plot twists, good read.

100 Books in 2013: Something Rotten

Book 8: Something Rotten by Alan Gratz

This was my first Alan Gratz novel and I'm wondering what took me so long!  I enjoyed this mystery as Horatio Wilkes spends the summer break with his boarding school classmate trying to solve the murder of the classmates' father.  A drunk classmate, a disgruntled ex-girlfriend, a greedy uncle, a strange cowboy garbed servant, and recently remarried mother keep Horatio hopping as a he works to figure out who poisoned his friend's father.

100 Books in 2013: Savage

Book 7:  Savage by David Almond

This YA novel is part traditional novel and part graphic novel with its rough illustrations and drawings of the "the savage", the creation from the imagination of a young boy who is struggling with the death of his father and the increased bullying by a classmate.  Through his writing, the boy works out his issues.  A coming of age story with a little bit of other world feel when "the savage" comes out of the boy's story and takes care of the bully.

Missing NCTIES

I have been following the tweets (#ncties13) and the Facebook postings of colleagues and friends as they connect with colleagues at this year's NCTIES conference in Raleigh.  And I'm kinda missing it.

I've attended as well as presented at this conference many times in the past.  I've enjoyed the fact that it's been booked in the new convention center in Raleigh for the past few years, much closer to my home than traveling to Charlotte or Winston-Salem. 

When the call to present went out, I considered presenting, but then the date passed.  When the registration information came out, I considered making the early bird fee.  I forwarded the conference information to three teachers, teachers who are tracked out this week so no substitutes needed and who I knew would really benefit and be invigorated from attending this conference.  They all declined, saying the $100 early bird registration fee was too much.  (To me, that's a real deal for a conference.)

So now it's the beginning of this year's conference and I'm a little envious of the gals in my library media PLT and my colleagues in our district who will be attending this week, gleaning great information from the likes of Richard Byrne, David Warlick, Marc Prensky, Leslie Fisher, and Kathy Schrock, and cruising the exhibit hall for great give-aways and deals from Edmodo, Gaggle, SEED, Discovery Education, and Mimio.

Bring back lots to share; I'm hungry to learn from y'all!

100 Books in 2013: Chopsticks

Book 6: Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

This was an interesting novel.  Like a graphic novel, the story unfolds through photographs, pictures, documents, texts, and program / playbills.  It's the story of Glory, a teenage pianist prodigy, who falls in love with her neighbor, but she is on the verge of a breakdown due to the constant push by her father to perform.  The reader is left to discern what is real, what is imagined, and what happens to Glory.