Crunch! Explode!

My life at the moment is a whirlwind of activity and change. I apologize for not posting yesterday, but I was attending the Quebec Library Association Annual Conference (whose planning committee I was on) and had one of the speakers as a house guest for the weekend. As such, I only managed one book this week.

The conference itself was really great. The quality of the lecturers had a lot to do with it, but the venue was enchanting too and the coming together of friends and colleagues, a treat. I love conferences because you leave with new ideas, keep abreast of trends and get energized.

My head has been positively brimming with innovations for my library these days. I actually keep a notebook with me at all times in case a great idea happens along, and volume four is nearly filled. My husband is away this week, so the probability of me turning into a work junkie is pretty much 100%. The thing is it doesn’t feel like work; it’s more of a deep-seated passion. Woohoo!  I love my job.

The one book of the week was Frank McCourt’s Teacher Man. Way back in the late 1990s, I read Angela’s Ashes and loved it. At the time, I was obsessed with Ireland (long story) but thought that the voice in the memoir was what made it so appealing. It’s written as if it were spoken, and so lyrically and humorously at that. Other people thought it was really depressing given its content of poverty and abuse, but the tone really wasn’t down.

Along came the sequel ‘Tis and I hated it – not because it was poorly done or anything like that, but because he turned into the same kind of alcoholic dirt-bag as his father. I was disappointed in him rather than his text. As a result, I became leery of the author’s future endeavors. It has to be said that he is somewhat redeemed in my eyes with this latest book.

Teacher Man is a memoir of McCourt’s decades-long experience as a high school teacher in New York City. The audio version was narrated by the man himself, and he did a great job. That didn’t actually surprise me, first because he speaks when he writes, and second because the art of oral storytelling is bred in the bones of the Irish.

My mom was a high school teacher, so I could really relate to what he was talking about. I think that anyone who teaches should read this book, although the chances are they will anyway, since there aren’t too many popular works out there that tell you what swims through an educator’s brain as he stands in front of a class. Hey, if a librarian did the same, I’d be right there too.

On that note, I have to resume working on the many things I’m cooking up this week. Talk to you on Wednesday.

Comments

[Allison]

Recently noticed that you added me to your blogroll!

Thank you!