I’m so excited that school is out for the summer. Not because I can sleep in (though that’s a definite plus) and not because with increasing gas prices, it will definitely be nice on the budget – the reason I’m excited is that summer time = reading time for me.  All year (school year that is) long I buy books. I even subscribe to a service that sends me one hardback book a month off of my wish list for the great price of $10. However, most of these books sit and gather dust until June!  I simply can’t find the time to do a lot of pleasurable reading during the school year (no matter how much I want it).  But come summer, I catch up on my reading. I’ve almost always got a book close by.  And this summer is no exception. The pile is high, but I’m looking forward to the challenge of making it to the bottom.

This summer my plans are a little different though. This summer I plan to approach my reading a little more “scholasticly.” (I wonder if that’s a word, lol)  This summer I will work my way through the pile of chick lit and mysteries, but I will do this with a twist. After reading one of my chosen books, I am going to read either a classic novel or a newer young adult novel.  While reading these, I will work on lesson plans and reading quizzes for those books so that I can find new ways to get my students to read during the upcoming school year. If there are any English teachers out there, looking for lesson plans, project ideas, or quizzes for novels, please come back from time to time.  I will post all of this as I have time. Looking for a specific book? Let me know, and if I have time, I’ll work on  your request.

My first book for the summer was a newer release that I have really been looking forward to reading. It’s a classic chic-lit book – Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella. I absolutely have loved each of the Shopaholic books by Kinsella so when I saw this one available at the bookstore, I immediately came home and purchased it online.  It was at the top of the stack when I came home from school yesterday so I dug right in. I was immediately caught up in the lief of Lexi Smart (the main character in Remember Me?) and I couldn’t put the book down. I even took it with me to my parents today when I went to visit so that I could finish it. Yes – it was that good!!

Remember Me? is the story of Lexi Smart. Lexi is 28 years old (wow! so am I so maybe that’s why I was so interested so quickly) and wakes up in the hospital after what she thinks was a crazy night out with her girlfriends. As far as she knows, she’s in the hospital after falling down a set of stairs, but as it turns out, she’s wrong. It is in fact 4 years after that night, and she’s been in the hospital for a week after having a car accident. And a lot has happened in those four years – though Lexi doesn’t remember one drop about them. In the last four years, she’s had some major promotions at work, some friendship changes, her baby sister is no longer a baby, and maybe most importantly she’s gotten married. Yet, she has no memory of her new job, her new friends, her teenage sister, or her husband. This is the story of her attempt to get back to a “perfect” life she once lived. However, the more she gets to know of the new Lexi, the more she realizes that maybe she’s made some wrong decisions, and just maybe she doesn’t like this new Lexi Smart.

If you’ve watched Samantha Who? on ABC, this reminded me a lot of that series. I can see some definite parallels. If you’ve enjoyed this series, you’re sure to love Kinsella’s latest book. 

Next on my list is Night by Elie Wiesel. It will take me a while to come back and post on it because I will be developing a unit on it for my English class for next year.