April Picks

One of the best parts of holiday is being able to gulp in music and books that I would usually not have near as much time to spend with. I finished Paolini’s Inheritance series; not revolutionary fantasy, but a nice vacation escape. Oh they were so written by a boy! Also, though I rarely say this, the movie was better. And, I’m glad they didn’t make the rest of the books into movies.

For my music pick this month, I downloaded Anna Johnson’s Winding Road. A friend gifted me a CD of hers last year, and as I enjoyed her Christmas albums as well I thought I’d try another. I like her style, and found it an enjoyable listen. I like Here better, but sometimes I crave the sounds of Nashville.

For my book pick, I downloaded the first three books in Anne McCaffry’s Dragonriders of Pern series. I’m listening to the Great Course, “How Great Science Fiction Works” right now on my walks, and that reminded me of these books. I had heard about them from my mom years ago, but just never got around to reading them yet. So far they aren’t quite what I was anticipating, but the idea of and contrast between sci-fi dragons instead of the clearly fantasy dragons of the Inheritance series is intriguing.

As I enjoy these precious days of holiday, I am also enjoying my journey through Season 2 of Parks and Recreation and various movies. I watched through the extended The Lord of the Rings trilogy; it had been a few years since I saw those movies! So many memories of my teenage years…my siblings and I were pretty much the biggest nerds ever. A friend also sent me the first two volumes of the show Gargoyles that I vaugly remember airing in the mid 90’s—we weren’t allowed to watch it at the time, but I’m enjoying the unusual depth of characters and stories.

I keep mentioning the Great Courses; I am so thankful that they are available through Audible! I have been drinking in “The History of Ancient Egypt” in preparation for this term’s history topic, and enjoying the history of science fiction as sheer nerdism on my walks. I’m taking notes through the Egypt course, and plan to pick up the one on ancient Greece next holiday. I have found that these courses are not only interesting, but have got me thinking about new ideas and given me insights that have made it possible for me to teach on a middle school level more clearly. I want to take a look at their music offerings again, and see what other literature topics are available. For someone like me who loves to learn, these are a Godsend in my narrow environment. Forever a nerd...