Gone too long...

Not only have a few great books re-inspired me to get my blog going again, but a few great conversations about books, too! Addressing the latter first, my first great conversation was my school's second annual ReCreate Reading Day -- a day in which everyone at school participates in small reading discussion groups. Anecdotal information and post-ReCreate Reading survey results confirm a resounding success! Highlights include a Skype session with author Dave Cullen (Columbine) and approximately 60 students. Our head of school came by to tell me that is was excellent. When the bell rang to end the session, no one moved. Surely, the ultimate teen-endorsement of a reading experience. My only regret was that I missed it because I was facilitating a discussion on Lev Grossman's The Magicians -- hardly a hardship since the kids loved this book as much as I did and it was so wonderful talking about it. Conversation quickly got to discussion of ethics of leadership and morality of power and such. Also, the kids tell me Grossman has a sequel due out summer 2011. Let's hope it's on time!

The second conversation about books happened just yesterday in my school library's reading club -- which we call the Non-Required Reading Reading Club. The basis is that we don't require reading of anything in particular. Students just come in and talk about whatever they've read lately. It's a small group, but wonderful. A student shared his recent discovery of C. S. Lewis' Space Trilogy. I'll come clean and admit I didn't even know about this, but have already ordered copies for my library. He was put on to it by one of our Latin teachers. Another student is part way through Neal Stephenson's Anathem. I gave this a shot last year and found it tough going. But another student had read it with a Physics teacher in our ReCreate Reading program last year. I was mostly proud to be sitting in a room with two people who successfully tackled this title. Anyway, conversation got on to the relationship between science and science fiction, if the literary cannon will include fantasy in the future -- since it dominates not only our fiction but many forms of contemporary entertainment these days -- and whether or not the Apollo 11 mission was the peak of scientific human endeavor. We all tend to leave these meetings feeling like there's so much more reading to do. But agree that if ever comes a time when there isn't will be the truly unhappy hour...