Sunday Salon: Second semester school reading

I went to the bookstore the other day. This is not unusual in the least. What was unusual is that I was there to get books for my children. Second semester is starting and the freshman needed books for her English class. The Sophomore needed a book for his science class. I'm always incredibly curious to see what books their teachers are asking them to read. Last semester I was practically gaga over the fact that R.'s Honors Earth Science teacher was using A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson in lieu of a textbook. R. was appalled at how much I gushed to the teacher about it. Now I'm looking at her Honors English selection (Lord of the Flies by William Golding, Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare, A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson) and find myself a tad bit disappointed that I've already read all of them so there's nothing wonderful for me to discover with her. I will be curious to see if her opinion on each of them matches up with mine. (She loathed A Short History of Nearly Everything while I found it fascinating so...) The one book I bought that I have never read (well, besides the rather large stack I bought for myself--it was a book fair fundraiser for the high school so how could I not load up?!) was W.'s science book.  In addition to his textbook, he'll be reading Richard Preston's The Hot Zone this semester for Honors Biology. I love that the teachers in so many different disciplines are using books that are not textbooks and have the chance of really grabbing a kid's interest in ways that textbooks just about never do. Will I read this too? It remains to be seen. But maybe.

So this past reading week, I dipped into the lives of many different people all connected by their home town even if some of them had long since left it behind them and others still live there. I emigrated to Canada under a false identity and then disappeared leaving behind a husband and three month old baby who would grow up to try and solve the mystery of her mother. I gained a load of self-confidence and changed my life thanks to the ghost of Dorothy Parker egging me on. And I'm just starting on an adventure with the Lindbergh family. Where did your book travels take you this week?