Phillipa Gregory

Well, I quit Outlander for the third time. I just cannot focus on the story. So, I have moved on to one of my favorite authors, Philippa Gregory. I have already posted about Historical Fiction, and I consider Gregory the queen of the genre.

My fiance and I went to the Dominican Republic recently, so I needed a few books to occupy my time while on the plane. I absolutely hate to fly, and I am a really nervous traveler. So, having a book really calms me down during turbulence (which was minimal during our flights thank goodness!). On the way down, I read The Boleyn Inheritance.

This book is third in the Tudor Court series, and I was anxious to read it after my great experience reading The Other Boleyn Girl. Inheritance was awesome! I could not put this book down. I actually read this book while sitting on the beach in the Dominican, and finished the book before our three day trip was over. Jane Boleyn, known as Lady Rochford, was the person you wanted to see fall in The Other Boleyn Girl, and you finally see her get what she deserves in this novel. After I finished this, I started on The White Queen, and I am actually still working on it. I am about two-thirds of the way through, and it does align with the mini-series that aired on Starz (loved that series!).

While I have not enjoyed this novel as much as Inheritance, it is still a nice read. The main focus of this novel is the large number of wars King Edward finds himself fighting to retain the claim on his throne. I am hoping after finally finishing the 6th battle in this novel, that it will die down, and I will actually get a little more character development. Overall, it's an interesting book, and true to Gregory's historical fiction style.

Outlander

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon has been in the spotlight recently, with a TV show on Starz, it seems like this series of books is just getting attention. I tried to read this book last summer, which resulted in me falling asleep. So, because this book is sitting on my Kindle, and I have yet to finish it, I thought I would try to start reading it again. It's still a slow process, and I'm not sure why I cannot seem to achieve a tiny spark of interest in this book, but I am trying! With the semester drawing to a close, I will have more time to read for pleasure, and while I am trudging through Outlander, I plan on being on the look-out for my next amazing book.

Creating a Web Quest

My Web Quest

I created my webquest on zunal.com. Zunal is fairly user friendly, and it is easy to add videos, links, pictures, ect. The only thing that I was disappointed with is that I could not find a way to edit the color of the text boxes and text. Besides that, I think webquests are a great way to incorporate technology in the classroom and keep students engaged. Today's students are technology savvy, so participating and completing a webquest should be very appealing to students!



Creating a Book Trailer

Book Trailer for The Book Thief!!

I am horrible at spoiling endings to books or movies, so with this book trailer I limited myself with words and events in the book! Check out my book trailer for this awesome book and check out the movie!

Book Trailer

I created this trailer on stupeflix.com which is absolutely free and very easy to use!

Book Lists

Something I really wish blogger had as an interactive button is book lists on goodreads. I use these book lists very often when trying to find something similar to a book I have previously read. For my classroom, I would recommend the following booklist Goodreads Young Adult Realistic Novels
While there are other websites that have booklists, I think goodreads.com has the most diverse selection of genres.

The next novel on my list of things to read is The Book Thief. I am already half-way through, and I like how the novel is narrated by Death. I have to complete a book trailer for this novel, and I already have the music picked out. I think the hardest part with be organizing my ideas and sorting through what I want included!