To be fair, I do a good amount of reading on the internet these days, and in magazines. So I still read a fair amount, just not as much from books as I used to. At present, I'm working on some Taoist philosophy, that poker book about the huge game between those rich guys that was going on in the 90's, a bunch of magazines at once, and I have to catch up on Cosmicomics. I read more than I admit, but I feel guilty talking about it because so much more of it is on the internet or in magazines than used to be. I don't think I have the raw stamina anymore to read as many books as I used to.

Blarg, what's the poker book called? I think I might like that one.

The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King: Inside the Richest Poker Game of All Time, by Michael Craig

oh, I read that one...that was only a few years ago, not in the 90s. Pretty good read, tho.

I just finished Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak. I've now read 3 of his 4 books and I find them all pretty amazing for YA literature. He has quickly become my favorite author of that genre. I need to get my hands on The Book Thief, his newest one. It has like 220/280 5* ratings on Amazon. I don't think it can surpass I Am the Messenger for my favorite, but who knows.

My next two weeks are incredibly busy with school stuff. I have tons of lesson planning and microteaching to do. Reading will slow down considerably I'm guessing. However, tentatively, the next book I'll be getting into is Monster Island. Hopefully a nice quick, but entertaining, read.

Getting the Girl 4*/5.

This weekend I read Sphere by Michael Crichton, I liked it a lot. I thought the suspense was very good and I liked the plot.

I also read Volume 1 of Sandman by Neil Gaiman, the volume is called Nocturnes and Preludes. I liked it a lot.

Now I am going through No Country for Old Men. Liking it so far.

Yeah you're right. It started out talking about people in the 90's -- back story and such -- and I assumed the whole thing was going to be set there.

I saw Sierpinski Triangles as I was scrolling down. Made me smile.

I started reading George Orwell's "A Clergyman's Daughter". It's not the Cosmicomics which I should be reading, but I like it so far.

Andy Beal definitely seems like a very interesting man.

There has been very little on him so far in the book. There was a huge write-up of Jennifer Harman in it. I think the author is pretty sketchy as a writer. There are a few things an editor should have caught, and one paragraph I still remember as being almost impossibly bad.

Poker stories like these are almost always very readable though, so I'm sure the book will be relatively smooth going even if the writer is of middling talent.

What is YA literature?

Also, I read Of Mice and Men by Steinback yesterday. I liked it a lot. I also liked that it was only 100 pages.

Wait until you get to the stuff about Ted Forrest. Pretty awesome stuff. Can't comment on his writing ability as I read it a while ago, but read it fast because it was so fun.

There's just been a bit about him so far. The book starts out on him. Then he wins a couple million in the first round of playing and the book moves on to Harman. I'm hoping there will be some good stuff about Chip Reese.

I would assume Young Adult. I've heard it used before like that, and makes sense within the context of the sentence, but I could be completely wrong.

Diddy is right. YA is Young Adult. I think that most people, including myself, generally refer to is as Adolescent Literature though. Even when I say "YA Lit," I'm thinking "Adolescent Lit." I find it really fascinating because it's interesting to see what sort of things are appealing to teenagers at the time and how authors attempt to appeal to them as well.

Of Mice and Men might be another book I pick up really soon. It's one of the few books that I have here. I haven't read it since high school.

Speaking of, I picked up three Marc Aronson books. He writes these YA books about historical figures mostly, but in a narrative form (and with research). One is on Sir Walter Ralegh and the other is on the Salem witch trials.

My 3 day teaching stint is coming up next week and I still haven't finalized (or started really) on topic ideas. I am going to read these books trying to find out if I can do something on characterization.

The reason I picked Aronson is because he is coming to the local high schools to talk about his writing and try to help kids with their writing, that sort of stuff. Hopefully I can link up something from his work with my lessons.

(My other lessons look like they're about exciting things such as MLA and reliable internet resources!)