Currently.

This week I started reading for my Etymology class. I picked a few different books that I was interested in and whatever book pulled me in I would finish. I chose Perfect by Sara Shepard, the third book in the Pretty Little Liars Series, Thriller, a book of short stories Edited by James Patterson, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Love that Dog by Sharon Creech.

The book that I actually finished was Love that Dog. Love that Dog is a book about boy named Jack, his dog Sky, his teacher, and writing poems. At first he really doesn't want to write poetry but over time he just writes poems without him even realizing it. I really liked this book because it is an easy read and it really just set me up to get in the mood to read more. I am the type of person who will read constantly if I feel like reading, but when I'm not in the mood it feels more like torture.

My favorite excerpt from Love That Dog is called My Sky.

My Sky

We were outside
in the street
me and some other kids
kicking the ball
before dinner
and Sky was
chasing chasing chasing
with his feet going
every which way
and his tail
wag-wag-wagging
and his mouth
slob-slob-slobbering
and he was all over the place
smiling and wagging
and slobbering
and making us laugh
and my dad
came walking up the street
he was way down there
near the end
I could see him
after he got off the bus
and he was walk-walk-walking
and I saw him wave
and he called out
"Hey there, son!"
and so I didn't see
the car
coming from the other way
until someone else--
one of the big kids--
called out
"Car!"
and I turned around
and saw a
blue car blue car
splattered with mud

speeding down the road
And I saw Sky
going after the ball
wag-wag-wagging
his tail
and I called him
"Sky! Sky!"
and he turned his
head
but it was too late because the
blue car blue car
splattered with mud
hit Sky
thud thud thud
and kept on going
in such a hurry
so fast
so many miles to go
it couldn't even stop
and
Sky
was just there
in the road
lying on his side
with his legs bent funny
and his side heaving
and he looked up at me
and I said
"Sky! Sky! Sky!"
and then my dad
was there
and he lifted Sky
out of the road
and laid him on the grass
and
Sky
closed his eyes
and
he
never
opened
them
again
ever.

I don't exactly know why this is the poem that sticks out to me most throughout the entire book. It just speaks to me. It reminds me of the time I had to put my Boxer, Kayla, down because she had kidney failure. :(

Although Love That Dog was my favorite read this week, I also really liked The Help.

The Help is a book set in the 60's following black maids to white women in Jackson, Mississippi. I'm not very far in the book but what I have read so far is pretty good. It just amazes me the thoughts that went through the white people's head! This one woman, Hilly, actually told another one of the women that she needed to build an extra bathroom because she didn't like using the guest bathroom since the maid used that bathroom, and blacks carry different diseases than they did. I know that is what people actually believed then but it just caught me off guard.

..."But the guest bathroom's where the help goes," Miss Hilly say

..."Elizabeth, if you had the choice," I hear Miss Hilly say, "Wouldn't you rather them take their business outside?"

Its as if she sees the help as an animal and it should take its business out in the yard. It just seems foreign to me since I come from a generation where blacks and white intermix.

Pages read this week: 150

I hope to get that number up as I get more into the books I am currently reading.
Until Next Time....
LS<3