Tag Archives: Books
Animal Farm by George Orwell
A few months ago I wrote a post about reconsidering required reading, and in it I discussed lots of books from school that we usually hate but might be worth a second chance. Well, today I’m sharing with you my review of Animal Farm by George Orwell. This is an incredibly popular required reading book, but, until today, […]
What I Learned from Alexander Hamilton
Happy Fourth of July! As we celebrate American independence today, I thought I’d share my review of Ron Chernow’s biography Alexander Hamilton. The hardcover version of Chernow’s book is about 818 pages long. And those are about 818 reasons why I opted for the audiobook version–which clocks in at a whopping 36 hours and 2 minutes […]
When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
It’s no secret that I am a book lover–just take a minute to glance around at some of the posts on the blog. As a dedicated bibliophile, I’m always looking for books about books–books that tell me more about why we love to read and why reading matters. When Books Went to War by Molly […]
Words with Friends: Elizabeth Hance
Happy Friday! Another month means another Guest Post here on Book Fifty. If you didn’t read Laura’s post last month about The Bridge of San Luis Rey, be sure to check it out. This Friday I am beyond thrilled to introduce you to my friend Elizabeth Hance. Elizabeth and I met in an English class at Auburn, and […]
The Summer Slump
I’ve always relied on summer break to get a lot of my 50 books read–with no classes to take or teach, I should be able to knock out a majority of the total and be stress-free when December rolls around. Right? Well, it’s not always that simple. Confession time: Every summer that I’ve kept track […]
Six Nonfiction Books for Your Beach Bag
Summer vacation means a lot of things–long days, rising temperatures, and maybe–if you’re lucky–a trip to the beach! Typically when I think of a good “beach read,” I think of a really interesting fiction book that grabs your interest and transports you to another place. But why should fiction books get all the love? […]
Little Bee by Chris Cleave
Every once in a while I have a free day that I can dedicate to reading a book cover to cover. It’s becoming a rare occurrence, but it does happen sometimes. Yesterday was one of those days. I spent most of the day reading Chris Cleave’s novel Little Bee. I don’t really want to say too much […]
Six Books for Memorial Day
Happy Memorial Day! I hope you are all having a nice holiday–complete with burgers and barbecue and sunshine. I think it’s important to stop on this holiday and think about those who have given their lives for our country, so today I’ve chosen six books about our troops to give you a chance to learn more about […]
Poetry for Everyone!
Poetry is kind of an intimidating thing. Often the poems we read are too abstract or convoluted to carry much meaning. And in our day-to-day, outside-of-the-classroom lives, we don’t have a lot of time to sit around and annotate a poem to try and figure it out. So today I thought I’d share a few […]
Great Books for Young Readers
There’s something really special about finding the perfect book for a young reader and watching them fall in love with books and stories. When my seventh grade students would tell me they didn’t like to read, I would always say “You just haven’t found the right book.” Well, today I’m doing my part to help young […]
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