Welcome to Litsy!

Day 7 of #7Days7Covers

Tagging @Sarahr875 🤗 7 of your favorite covers each day for a week, no explanation needed. Tag a Litten each day to join i

#TBRtemptation post 6! A humorous award-winning look at one on-call substitute teacher's journey in a Maine public school district. Starting at 5:45 am, his experiences included: overdue assignments, social media and tech distractions, wearying ambitious curricula, piles of paperwork, recess time-outs, nosebleeds, rebellions, and subjects from geology to kindergarten show-&-tell. #blameLitsy #blameMrBook 😎

This brought back some nostalgia (and a few heebie jeebies) from my own subbing days way back when. It clocks in at over 700 pages and covers twenty-eight days that Baker subbed over all grade levels. It read quickly for the size and was light enough to amuse me all weekend as I battled sinus ick.

It took me two months to finish this book, and I loved every page. Classic Nicholson Baker, slow, meditative, mundane. The quiet and not-so-quiet moments make this book real and honest, and I love it so. If you read this, take your time. Don't rush.

From steamy novelist to substitute teacher in Maine? Or did he substitute before his literary success?

I loved Mr. Baker's self-assignment, and, as an ex-educator myself, his insights. The format of a daily diary of his entertaining but often repetitive experiences was, in my opinion, a bit overlong to best make the point. I recommend this to those interested in our children and our educational system on a micro level, and while enjoyed the humor, empathy and many of the details, I feel this may be overlong for the average reader.

I got so frustrated with this. It's a running record of a month of the author subbing in a Maine school district, to see what education is like. Uh, that is the worst way to do that for many reasons. The author seems uninterested in disciplining or teaching. His asides criticizing education when his only ed background is subbing is smug & offensive. As a teacher I'm worried about people taking his views seriously over those of actual educators.

Most people's idea of a waking nightmare...

Finally started last night and am pretty sure I'm going to zip through this. The subject matter is dear to my heart; I hope it's a book that gives people a glimpse into the challenges that teachers and schools face, and the joy students give. As usual, Mr. Baker's prose is spare yet elegant, and entertainingly paced.

Slowly nibbling away at the newest Nicholson Baker book every morning as a daily reminder of why I like his work so much.

Thanks Penguin 'First to Read'!! As a previous teacher and substitute, this should be fun!