Twosday Timeout

Madame Dorothea's apartment seemed to have roughly the same layout as Clary's, though she'd made a very different use of the space. The entryway, reeking of incense, was hung with bead curtains and astrological posters.

Things to note about this quote:
1. The boundless clichés about fortune tellers.
2. This particular fortune teller seems to have a suspended entryway... Anyone else see the flaw in that last sentence? ...Just saying.

PS. It may not sound like it from this post, but I'm really enjoying this book!

Hitting the Books

After a brief (if you can call 3 months brief) hiatus, I've cracked the spine of delicately opened a new book and am ready to tell you all about it.

But first! Where have I been?

1. Started teaching... It was a crazy few months getting started and adapting, etc. I won't get into the details.. This isn't really a teaching blog... but let's just say it was tough. And now that March Break is over I'm ready to turn over a new leaf (you might even say a "new page")... and that means getting back into things that made me happy BEFORE my life became all school work and vegging-out in front of the TV to cope with long days at school.

2. Planning a wedding!! This is the more exciting of the two hiatus reasons. I got engaged in January and since then there's been a lot of travelling back home to nail down details and meet with vendors. We've really gotten into it now and are getting very excited for our October 20, 2012 date!

3. Ignoring a sub-par holiday-themed book that I just couldn't get into but couldn't convince myself to walk away from.

BUT... I have finally convinced myself that it's okay sometimes to not finish a book when you've started it. So I have closed "The Gift" and started a new series that I am infinitely more interested in.

The Mortal Instruments series. Book 1: City of Bones

In only a few days I'm already about 100 pages in and I catch myself thinking about it throughout the day. Definitely a good sign. I believe there are 4 books already released with 2 more on the way. It's a supernatural series about demons and Shadowhunters, Downworlders, etc. HERE you can link to the website that will describe the whole world for you.

I think if you read and enjoyed Twilight or Vampire Academy you can probably sink your teeth (no pun intended) into this series too. And that's a recommendation after reading 1/3 of one book! I'll let you know for sure soon!

It's good to be back!

Friday Funnies #14

If there's one thing I've noticed since I've started teaching, besides my severe slacking in blogging, it's the severe slacking in grammar... More specifically in the ability to use a comma correctly.

I've always taught students that when composing a list you must include a comma after each item. This includes before "and" and your final item.

Example: Jane likes apples, bananas, and oranges.

I've been told this is incorrect. I've been told this is outdated. I do it anyway.

Recently, thanks to the wonder that is shared photos on Facebook, I've learned that my usage of that last comma in a list is called the Oxford comma, and today I'd like to dedicate my blog post to that endangered comma.

Oxford Comma, this one's for you!

And finally, I'd like to share the importance of all commas everywhere.

Enjoy your weekend! ... And SAVE THE COMMAS!

Friday Funnies #13

I'm definitely in a school-work state of mind, so today's Funny comes from an old lesson I taught in a Gr. 12 English course. It's a Hamlet parody told through a Facebook Newsfeed.

Funny stuff for anyone familiar with the play. Enjoy! (It's a little on the small side here, but if you click it, it'll get much bigger!)

Enjoy your weekend!

Twosday Timeout

Well... Maybe we all saw this coming... But Twosday Timeout is taking a timeout.

Just until I can get better at juggling.

By throwing myself into this new job, getting all of the necessary preliminary wedding plans out of the way, and then just straight wanting to be a couch zombie for an hour or two before bed, I've pretty much retired my book to my bedside table.

It's a sad time to be a book blogger.

But I promise this feature will be back... As soon as I can figure out a routine that works for me.

In the meantime, keep reading, and keep sharing  what you're reading... I need to get my book fix from somewhere other than a textbook.

Friday Funnies #12

I feel like I'm often celebrating things with my Friday Funnies. Today is no different.

Today we're celebrating the completion of my first week teaching full-time! It's been a great week, but certainly not without it's challenges. Students love to try to test the new teacher. Maybe it's retribution for all of the testing we teachers put them through during our careers.

Tests. The topic for today's Funny. Last month I posted a Holiday Gift Guide. In it, I spotlighted (spotlit?) a humour book called "F in Exams," a collection of hilarious and outrageous answers provided on tests by real students.

Clicking the photo links to an exerpt from the book.

Enjoy your weekend!

Real Books

I'm a bit of a Twitter addict, and I follow more people I don't know than I actually do know. In other words, my timeline is usually full of celebritweets™ (I just made that word up now, and I love it).

Some are superstars and others not as super but still notable. Often, however, the less than-superstars post some of the most interesting and awesome things. (Maybe because they're not as busy as the superstars? I don't know). But my point is, one of those pseudo-celebs posted the video I'm about to share, and I thank him for it. I've been really absorbed in the super low prices and efficiency of my eReader and I forgot how wonderful a real book can be.

Thanks, Thomas Smythe! (Do you know who that is?)
And readers, if you're in the area, make sure to visit "Type," the bookstore on Queen W. in Toronto.