A little disappointed

Well I just got done with the book "The Christmas List" and loved it! I got it a little late from the library because it was so high in demand and even though it isn't Christmas time it was still a great book! Here is a brief summary of the book from the author, Richard Paul Evans


Dear Reader,
When I was in seventh grade, my English teacher, Mrs. Johnson, gave our class the intriguing (if somewhat macabre) assignment of writing our own obituaries. Oddly, I don't remember much of what I wrote about my life, but I do remember how I died: in first place on the final lap of the Daytona 500. At the time, I hadn't considered writing as an occupation, a field with a remarkably low on-the-job casualty rate.
What intrigues me most about Mrs. Johnson's assignment is the opportunity she gave us to confront our own legacy. How do we want to be remembered? That question has motivated our species since the beginning of time: from building pyramids to putting our names on skyscrapers.
As I began to write this book, I had two objectives: First, I wanted to explore what could happen if someone read their obituary before they died and saw, firsthand, what the world really thought of them. Their legacy.
Second, I wanted to write a Christmas story of true redemption. One of my family's holiday traditions is to see a local production of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. I don't know how many times I've seen it (perhaps a dozen), but it still thrills me to see the change that comes over Ebenezer Scrooge as he transforms from a dull, tight-fisted miser into a penitent, "giddy-as-aschoolboy" man with love in his heart. I always leave the show with a smile on my face and a resolve to be a better person. That's what I wanted to share with you, my dear readers, this Christmas -- a holiday tale to warm your season, your homes, and your hearts.
Merry Christmas --Richard Paul Evans

This got me thinking that it would be a neat project to have students write their own obituaries and I had been looking for something to do with "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" and I think it will fit perfectly.

And that leads to the title of the post. I keep a reading journal where I give brief summaries of the books I read so that way I can remember them and use them as future recommendations for my students. I had one that I loved and then filled it up and of course couldn't find one similar so I went to Barnes and Noble and now have on that does the job but I digress.... I was reading through my journal and in the last year have only read 35 books. For some people that may be enough but a few summers ago I read 20 in one summer so that is why I am disappointed. I do have a rather large stack of books here from the library and since I have to give those back maybe I will read them more quickly and get my numbers back up!