@shanethe_readingrat recently made a post 🔗here about matching an album with a book and it got me thinking- do you listen to music while actively reading? If so, does what you’re listening to change from book to book? Is it always the same? Or just whatever you feel like? I personally don’t listen to music 95% of the time- there’s been a handful of books that I have a playlist for which I’ll listen to while reading them, but other than that I like to put my earbuds in and not play anything just so people won’t try to talk to me and I can focus🫣

"'What does that mean?' the African diplomat said."

Why is it that the German minister, Chinese scientist, and Japanese translator aren't generalized by their respective continents, but the diplomat from Africa is? Why does he not get to be introduced by a specific country?

Weir does realize Africa is not a country... right? Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but it seems strangely selective.

“I gasped. ‘Wait a minute! Am I a guinea pig? I'm a guinea pig!’ I stared at her. She stared at me. I stared at her. ‘Okay, it's exactly like that,’ she said.”

While I do agree with a lot of people that the humor is oftentimes juvenile and boyish, I quite like how theatrical the writing is. The way Weir describes the physical sequences like this gives you a clear mental picture of the characters' mannerisms and actions. It almost feels like a stage play at times. Just based on his writing style, I could see why someone would want to adapt this into a movie. It's very... adaptable 😂

Man, not two pages ago alice says Peter is never condescending and now she's saying "this was just like Peter, Condescending, even when ostensibly just asking for clarification." This kind of thing frustrates me so quickly

My fellow readers,

One of the questions posed yesterday was about required reading in school and whether the books were a hit or a miss. This got me thinking, most of the books I read I felt neutral about because I did not resonate with the stories. (And I wasn't able to enjoy the story knowing that I would have to take an exam or write a paper about it.) That being said, my English teachers worked hard to make our discussions about these books fun.

For example, my freshman English teacher also happened to be the drama teacher, so she had us act out scenes from Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey instead of just reading them out loud. I also remember doing an Odyssey themed obstacle course, where she came up with different tasks related to the trials that Odysseus faces. These experiences pushed me out of my comfort zone—as I prefer to read in peace—but I must admit that they worked because I was able to understand (and remember) the story better.

So, my question to you is, how did your teachers teach literature? Did they lead discussions? Show film adaptations? Come up with creative activities? Assign creative projects? I would love to hear about your experiences. I would also like to know, if you were a literature teacher, how would you teach it?