Turning 30

I’m turning 30 in a little less than 6 months and so a friend of mine posted a link to this article: 30 Books You Should Read Before You’re 30 at The Huffington Post.

So how many have I read?  How many can I read between now and then?

1. “The Dream of a Common Language,” by Adrienne Rich
2. “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues,” by Tom Robbins
3. “The Sun Also Rises,” by Ernest Hemingway -I started this book for a class in graduate school but never finished.  Maybe this time I will.
4. “The Secret History,” by Donna Tartt
5. “Anna Karenina,” by Leo Tolstoy
6. “A Collection of Essays,” by George Orwell
7. “Hamlet,” by William Shakespeare- Read and taught!
8. “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay,” by Michael Chabon
9. “Hateship Friendship Courtship Loveship Marriage,” by Alice Munro
10. “Native Son,” by Richard Wright
11. “Demon-Haunted World,” by Carl Sagan
12. “Infinite Jest” by David Foster Wallace
13. “The Unbearable Lightness of Being,” by Milan Kundera
14. “Song of Solomon,” by Toni Morrison- Read in college.  Really like Morrison and she’s also an Ohio native from a nearby town!
15. “Critique of Pure Reason,” by Immanuel Kant
16. “Siddhartha,” by Hermann Hesse- Read in high school, I’m thinking 10th grade.  Loved it.  Have it on my kindle.
17. “The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao,” by Junot Díaz
18. “You Shall Know Our Velocity,” by Dave Eggers
19. “How Should a Person Be?” by Sheila Heti
20. “Leaves of Grass,” by Walt Whitman
21. “Enormous Changes at the Last Minute,” by Grace Paley
22. “Portrait of a Lady,” by Henry James
23. “Slouching Towards Bethlehem,” by Joan Didion
24. “Letters to a Young Contrarian,” by Christopher Hitchens
25. “A People’s History of the United States,” by Howard Zinn
26. “The Golden Notebook,” by Doris Lessing
27. “Giovanni’s Room,” by James Baldwin
28. “Autobiography of Malcolm X,” as told to Alex Haley
29. “A Room of One’s Own,” by Virginia Woolf
30. “Birds of America,” by Lorrie Moore

3/30 already read… Not great.  I’m going to start by picking three of the non-fiction choices on this list as I’d told myself I’d read three non-fiction books before thirty already.  Then, we’ll see what I can get through.

Thug Notes

I recently discovered the youtube videos of “Thug Notes” where a black man gives a summary and literary analysis of classic literature using current slang popular in the urban population- and to an extent suburbia as well.  I am pretty impressed with the content and analysis but am disappointed that there is some swearing and images that may be questioned in a school context.  Another issue that some students have brought up- I teach primarily in urban settings- is the idea that people seem to think their students will only pay attention if we find a “rap” to teach a concept or other pointedly black forms of expression.  Some of my students felt this was demeaning.  I in no way think that is the idea behind these techniques- rather, we, as teachers, are struggling to keep content relevant.  So what are your thoughts- do Thug Notes hit the right notes or are they in poor taste?