Ms. Barnes

Books ready; US meeting changed to next week

2012-01-26T16:19:24Z

The new Ann Bausum book, Marching to the Mountaintop, is now on display. She will visit MUS and speak in chapel on Feb. 17, so read it and learn about a difficult period in Memphis history.

Update: The Read for Fun Book Club will meet on Friday Feb. 3 instead of Jan. 27 to talk about A Game of Thrones. Let me know what kind of pizza you prefer!

Nonfiction/Fiction Double-header for February

2012-01-13T17:10:25Z

The LS Guys Read group met on January 11 to talk about Watchmen and The Hunger Games. We discussed both books and had a variety of comments on them. For February, we chose a brand new nonfiction book on Memphis and civil rights history by Ann Bausum: Marching to the Mountaintop. The award-winning author will visit us again on February 17.

We also came up with a fiction book to read: the first book in the Ranger's Apprentice series by John Flanagan, Ranger's Apprentice: The Ruins of Gorlan. If you've already read any of the books in the series, just pick the next book--the most recent is book number 11: Ranger's Apprentice: The Lost Stories. Our Novelist database lists all popular fiction series in the correct order in case you ever want to look one up.

Time for Holiday Reading!

2011-12-09T14:43:48Z

The Lower School Guys Read group met on November 30 and compared ideas on The Maze Runner by James Dashner and its two sequels. Hearing about the sequels made the rest of us want to finish all three books, and members only told a few spoilers on The Scorch Trials and The Death Cure. For the winter break period, we picked two books: Watchmen (graphic novel by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons) and The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Those hungry for more can read the two Hunger Games sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. (I have them in my Audible account and plan to listen while driving.) The January meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, the 11th.

The Read for Fun Upper School club had two meetings recently--on November 18 we discussed Divergent and nominated several books (see our Book Club Selections and Nominees page), from which they chose Gifts by Ursula K. Le Guin. It was a quick and satisfying read with some of the same ideas and themes as Divergent and I Am Number Four, but with a little more depth, artistic language, and character development. And it tells about one of the best gifts of all. For the holidays, we are taking on the massive Game of Thrones by veteran writer George R. R. Martin. Three of our students put on a powerful chapel presentation on the series and probably encouraged a lot of people to read. (I'm not much of a TV watcher and hate to pay for HBO, but I may rent the season after I finish the first book.) The January Read for Fun meeting will be on Friday the 27th, so feel free to read on into the sequels, listed in order through the library's login at http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=noh&tg=UI&an=763648&site=novelist-live . Enjoy and have a happy break everyone!

Guys Read Brand New Bestsellers in Book Clubs

2011-11-03T16:14:35Z

Book clubs are going great this year! The Read for Fun club has met twice--they discussed I Am Number Four and its sequel The Power of Six in their October meeting. We enjoyed comparing the two and decided that most liked the second book better. Also interesting to several of us was the fact that the authors writing under a pseudonym include the infamous James Frye, who brought some trouble upon himself a few years ago by publishing a 'memoir' that turned out to be full of fabrications! For the next meeting on Nov. 18, we picked a new title, Divergent, about a society where people with different types of gifts are discouraged from trying anything else. (I think I have that right--will know more when I start reading it this weekend.) Several of us have read it already and are ready to meet, so feel free to move ahead and come up with an idea for December.

The LS Guys Read group has also met twice and had a great time talking about the just-published Son of Neptune. They're reading The Maze Runner, the first book in a trilogy by James Dashner, for their Nov. 30 lunch meeting. Both titles are available on at least six of our e-readers, and we have print copies too.

Mrs. Laura Lawrence has started a 7th grade book club, which has read and talked about The Hunger Games. The next book for her group is Dark Life by Kat Falls; they plan to meet again on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

Newcomers are always welcome!

Book Clubs

2011-10-17T12:55:11Z

The Read for Fun (US) book club will meet this Friday (October 21) during lunch in the Loeb Room. The book is I Am Number Four, and those who have already read that can read the sequel, The Power of Six. Both books are on our e-readers and in print too.

The Lower School Guys Read club is reading Son of Neptune which was released on October 4. We'll meet next Wednesday (October 26) in the Loeb Room during Lower School lunch. This is the second book in Rick Riordan's second series of action adventures based on Greek and Roman mythology, and we have it on our e-readers and in hard copy.

US and LS Book Clubs Ready to Roll

2011-09-22T18:52:54Z

The US Read for Fun group will meet September 23 in the Loeb Room for lunch. One book has been nominated so far: I Am Number Four. There are also several new series out and doubtless some other nominations will come forth.

The LS Guys Read group will meet on September 28 during LS lunch, and there will be an interesting discussion about all the series that have added titles over the summer. Check the new library newsletter for updates on when some other books are appearing.

Mrs. Crosby and Mr. Reese have big plans for their groups this year, too. Check with them to find out!

New School Year, New Books

2011-08-26T14:13:56Z

School is up and running, and our library has seen a transformation over the summer, with new lights, ceilings, carpet, and reference shelves. We plan to add more furniture over the next two summers and remodel the computer classroom, but the biggest effort is over, and it's been well received by the community.

Book clubs will be starting in September, and we encourage anyone who is interested to join and attend. New installments of several series are out, and some major authors have published new books, so be thinking about what you'd like to read!

Spring Fever Strikes but Guys Still Read

2011-04-28T14:08:48Z

The LS and US book clubs both met on Wednesday, April 20. The Lower School group discussed Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. Several had already read the sequel, Sapphique, and I plan to read it soon. Of all the series books we've read recently, to me this one has the most satisfying mythology and psychology, although there were times when it was hard to understand, before some of the plot secrets are revealed.

The US club met and discussed Dark Life and also recapped Incarceron and Sapphique. The author of Dark Life, Kat Falls, says that she wrote the book with her son in mind, since he loves the ocean, the X-Men, and the wild west. She combined elements of these systems into the rollicking story, and it was well-received by the group. The sequel will be out next fall.

The book clubs will probably get together to go to a movie at the end of school--two that are coming out are the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie and Thor. I'll send out emails in May to figure out which, when, and where.

E-Readers, TV Crews, and Good Old-Fashioned Books

2011-03-09T20:37:33Z

We saw a lot of action today: both book clubs met, we looked at our new e-readers, had a channel 13 TV crew film the US group using the e-readers, looked at the Volunteer State Book Awards ballot, talked about our books, and picked new books for next month. Whew.

The US club talked about Incarceron, which had some similarities to The Maze Runner and Hunger Games, but took on its own mythology and philosophy. The sequel, Sapphique, also sounds good based on the review of a couple of members. For next month, we chose Dark Life by Kat Falls, a book about an undersea bastion of civilization where some sinister events are occurring. Unfortunately, I can't find an e-book version (Scholastic needs to get on board!), so I'll get extra copies and have a couple at the front desk so they can be checked out over spring break.

The LS group went over Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment and got a preview of the other books in the series from one guy who has read them all several times. We chose Incarceron, which some of the group had already started reading, for April. The Maximum Ride series and Incarceron are on the Sony e-readers but not available yet on the Nook, and we have the regular books also.

Hope everyone has a great spring break, and happy reading!

LS Guys Really Do Read!

2011-02-16T22:37:39Z

We had a good meeting today, with a lot of discussion about our book, Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick. The consensus was that it was a good decision to take on a realistic but funny fiction book for a change, and several of us are planning to read the sequel, After Ever After.

James Patterson has come out with a new book in the Maximum Ride series entitled Angel, so we decided to read the first book in the series, called Maximum Ride: the Angel Experiment. Our next meeting will be in March, but we'll need to meet on the 23rd, since the 16th falls during Spring Break.

We revealed our new e-reader project. We now have two Nooks and two Sony Readers, and our book should be available on both (probably). We have two copies of the selection as well, so everyone should have a chance to read it in plenty of time.

Read for Fun Club Listens for Fun

2011-02-03T19:03:48Z

We met this week to discuss Guards! Guards! by Sir Terry Pratchett. One of us has read lots of Terry Pratchett books and almost has this one memorized; one had read the book and thought it was brilliant; another person was still reading it; another had started it but couldn't get into it; and another was still planning to read it sometime but hadn't started it. This pattern is not unusual in the book clubs I've been associated with. I'm in a book club at my church, and sometimes I don't read the book, but I still attend the meeting because I know I'll find out more about it by hearing other people talk about it. There's always variety in how much the members have read and in whether they liked it or not.

I thought it would be fun to play a few 2-minute selections from the audiobook version of this one since the reader does a great job and sounds like the Monty Python troupe a lot of the time. Everyone enjoyed hearing about the dragons, Carrot (our naive hero who may be king some day), and Wonse, the pale wise guy who gets killed when Carrot literally "throws the book" at him. I wouldn't be surprised if some of us get motivated to read the whole book after hearing it read. We ran out of time before we could pick our next book, so I've sent an email to all members so they can vote on next month's selection.

P.S. The book has been voted on and chosen: Incarceron by Catherine Fisher. It will be interesting to compare it with other dystopian books we've read, such as Maze Runner.

Guards! Guards!

2011-01-20T15:53:04Z

We got so busy with the Frank Beddor visit that I forgot to post our Upper School choice for February--Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett. It's a Sci Fi Monty Python-esque tour de force, and if you're not reading it you are missing an important part of your training as an interpreter of humor and the human condition! I'm combining the audio and reading experience on this one and love hearing the narrator's pronunciations and accents. We have several copies available in the library and will meet on February 2 to talk about it. Terry Pratchett has been knighted by Queen Elizabeth and just received a lifetime achievement award for creating a world and writing over 50 books for young adults with "intelligence, heart, and undeniable wit." See more on him at http://www.terrypratchett.co.uk/.

Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie

2011-01-20T15:23:56Z

The LS club met Tuesday and picked the Guys Read book for next month. My ploy to save reading time (since I've already read Revolver) did not work. (Maybe later.) But that's okay--it's not my decision! The LS club picked another book we'd considered before--Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie by Jonathan Sonnenblick. It's about a 13-year-old drum player whose 5-year-old brother gets leukemia. We also have the sequel called After Ever After, where the 5-year-old is now a teenager and is doing fine, but still dealing with the aftereffects. Our meeting date and time will be decided by next week, but it will be mid-February.

I like the fact that we are trying something different. Just from a glance, it's honest and funny--it's as much about the trials of having a younger brother as it is about critical illness in your family. Think Superfudge only older.

We have one copy (checked out) but will have two more copies by tomorrow—please read and return so we can all get a chance at it!

Frank Beddor Brings Wonderland to MUS

2011-01-12T15:46:47Z

On Friday, January 7, Frank Beddor came to MUS to speak, meet with students, and sign copies of his books. He gave a rousing performance in chapel and got several students up on stage to read for movie parts. I must admit that when I arranged for Mr. Beddor to visit, I had no idea that he is a world champion freestyle skier, an actor, a stuntman, and the producer of a major comedy hit movie. I just thought his Looking Glass Wars series was creative, well-written, and intelligent, and our book clubs had enjoyed reading his trilogy. Well, it was even more entertaining and enlightening than I had imagined to hear him talk about developing the idea for his books, spending five years writing the first one, and finding a variety of ways to tell the story, including the novel, the movie (which is awaiting production), an interactive computer game, a card game, and now a Broadway musical that's in development. Mr. Beddor spent hours talking with students, faculty, and library staff. He discussed one student's writing project with him and the requirements of fantasy writing: how you have to come up with a workable means to help the reader suspend his disbelief. He said he spent about two years creating the backstory and the invented world for his vision of Wonderland and pointed out that J.R.R. Tolkien had hundreds of boxes of supporting materials for his Lord of the Rings books. He encouraged the boys to explore different ways to tell their own stories through art, music, theater, and writing. Beddor was impressed with the personalities and ideas of the MUS students and said, "I like this school--I want to stay here!"

Read for Fun Group: Revolver for January; Frank Beddor visit January 7!

2010-12-02T20:15:33Z

The US Read for Fun group met for lunch on December 1. Six guys and two sponsors came; several of us had read and liked the latest selection, The Lost Hero--we talked about the fact that it will be a year before the next book is published, and compared it to the original Percy Jackson series. Since a few guys are still reading it, we didn't completely spoil the plot for them. We talked a little about several series and the new titles in them: the Leviathan series, the Escape from Furnace series (first book is Lockdown), and the Seven Realms novel series. We also passed around a few other books--the one that seemed to garner the most interest was Revolver by Marcus Sedgwick, so we picked it for January. We should have several copies available by the time exams are over. We'll still have our regular meeting on January 5 to talk about Revolver, even though we have an author visit on that Friday and will have lunch together that day as well.

For the author visit, we'll have lunch with Frank Beddor in the Loeb Room on January 7. He'll be here to talk in chapel about writing and about his Looking-Glass Wars series, so several guys are going to read or re-read his books: The Looking-Glass Wars, Seeing Redd, Archenemy, and the Hatter M series of graphic novels.

To see our lists of selections and other nominees, check out my bookshelves on Goodreads. Here's the nominee list: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1534269-bonnie-barnes?shelf=read-for-fun--mus-upper-schoolnominee and the selected books list: http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1534269-bonnie-barnes?shelf=read-for-fun--mus-upper-school