All the Light We Cannot See

Hi Spartans,

I've finished the above novel. It was intriguing and a little sad. Overall, I was a bit disappointed, but I still recommend it if you like novels set during WWII, and you are interested in how young people experience war. I would also like to add, that the writing is beautiful. There are some lines I would happily frame and display in my home.

What's Lane Reading?

Hi Spartans. I thought you might be curious about what I'm reading right now. Well, it's called All the Light We Cannot See, and it's by Anthony Doerr. So far, I'm really enjoying it. It's set during World War II in Paris, and later other parts of France, and Germany. It follows the two separate stories of blind French girl, Marie-Laure, and Werner, a German boy. Both are alone in the world, and forced to make their way during such a tumultuous time in human history. The final intrigue is a cursed diamond. I'm not sure how this journey is going to end, but I'm thinking the boy, the girl, and the diamond will somehow come together, and I'm excited to find out! I also have to mention that many of the descriptions in this novel will appeal to your other senses- not your sense of sight. Therefore, you "see" the world through Marie-Laure's eyes, and let me tell you, it's illuminating.

BOOK OF THE MONTH: APRIL! OCTOBER MOURNING: A SONG FOR ANDREW SHEPARD BY LESLEA NEWMAN

Hello Spartans! I choose this month's book of the month based on the fact that April is National Poetry Month. October Mourning: A Song for Andrew Shepard is full of heart-rending poems depicting the events and circumstances of the hate crime that caused the tragic death of Andrew Shepard. Please read on for more information about this unforgettable novel in verse.

On the night of October 6, 1998, a gay twenty-one-year-old college student named Matthew Shepard was lured from a Wyoming bar by two young men, savagely beaten, tied to a remote fence, and left to die. Gay Awareness Week was beginning at the University of Wyoming, and the keynote speaker was Lesléa Newman, discussing her book Heather Has Two Mommies. Shaken, the author addressed the large audience that gathered, but she remained haunted by Matthew’s murder. October Mourning, a novel in verse, is her deeply felt response to the events of that tragic day. Using her poetic imagination, the author creates fictitious monologues from various points of view, including the fence Matthew was tied to, the stars that watched over him, the deer that kept him company, and Matthew himself. More than a decade later, this stunning cycle of sixty-eight poems serves as an illumination for readers too young to remember, and as a powerful, enduring tribute to Matthew Shepard’s life. (goodreads.com)

BOOK OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH! WE WERE LIARS BY E. LOCKHART

Hello Spartans! I've been a little remiss in getting my stuff up on the blog lately! The March book of the month is We Were Liars by E. Lockhart, a suspense novel filled with beautiful, descriptive writing. I honestly felt like jotting down some of the lines and framing them because they were so lovely and poignant. Another reason I chose this book is it was the goodreads choice 2014 winner! Read on for more info.

A beautiful and distinguished family.

A private island.

A brilliant, damaged girl; a passionate, political boy.

A group of four friends—the Liars—whose friendship turns destructive.

A revolution. An accident. A secret.

Lies upon lies.

True love.

                                     The truth. (goodreads.com)

Hello Spartans! Check out these amazing book covers, and ideas for creating your own!
https://designschool.canva.com/blog/book-cover-design-50-amazing-covers-you-will-want-to-pick-up/

PAGE TURNERS- BOOK CHOICE #3 is DOROTHY MUST DIE BY DANIELLE PAIGE

After a very quick discussion, we all agreed that Dorothy Must Die by Danielle Paige sounded so good, we had to read it! Please read the description below and consider joining our club! We are always welcoming new members!

I didn't ask for any of this. I didn't ask to be some kind of hero.
But when your whole life gets swept up by a tornado - taking you with it - you have no choice but to go along, you know? Sure, I've read the books. I've seen the movies. I know the song about the rainbow and the happy little bluebirds. But I never expected Oz to look like this. To be a place where Good Witches can't be trusted, Wicked Witches may just be the good guys, and winged monkeys can be executed for acts of rebellion. There's still a yellow brick road - but even that's crumbling.

What happened? Dorothy.
They say she found a way to come back to Oz. They say she seized power and the power went to her head. And now no one is safe.

My name is Amy Gumm - and I'm the other girl from Kansas.
I've been recruited by the Revolutionary Order of the Wicked.

I've been trained to fight.

And I have a mission. (goodreads).

FEBRUARY- 2 BOOKS OF THE MONTH! THE GARGOYLE & THE BOOK OF NEGROES!

Hello Spartans! For February I wanted to celebrate the love with Valentine's Day, but also honour and acknowledge Black History Month. I decided to make The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson the Valentine's book of the month, and Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill the book honouring Black History Month. To learn more about each book read on!

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As the story opens, the narrator of The Gargoyle is burned almost beyond recognition in a car accident. Filled with self-hatred and depression he is ready to take his own life, when a beautiful women enters his room. Her name is Marianne Engel and she tells him she's know him for several hundred years. Marianne weaves the story of their lives together, and intertwines it with other mesmerizing and beautiful love stories from Japan, Iceland, Italy and England. She carves gargoyles out of stone for a living, and slowly nurses her own "gargoyle" back to health, but god has told her she only has 27 sculptures left to create, and what will happen then.....? (Andrew Davidson is a Canadian author, and this is his first novel- what an accomplishment!!!)

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Abducted as an 11-year-old child from her village in West Africa and forced to walk for months to the sea in a coffle—a string of slaves— Aminata Diallo is sent to live as a slave in South Carolina. But years later, she forges her way to freedom, serving the British in the Revolutionary War and registering her name in the historic “Book of Negroes.” This book, an actual document, provides a short but immensely revealing record of freed Loyalist slaves who requested permission to leave the US for resettlement in Nova Scotia. (amazon.ca)

Both our authors for the month of February are Canadian! How cool is that?!