The Sixty-Fifth Republic - The Covid School Phoney War under way so who will the gold medal and who will get the wooden spoon?

[Staffholidayclubrep]

You are most welcome to this school staff support thread to get us through stressful times. It is meant for school staff only – a sort of room of requirement for school staff to let off steam.

Baiters, haters, goaders, and bashers can jog on somewhere else.

If you are NOT staff and just have a general education query please start your own thread.

Do not give the staffroom password to non-staff as it attracts the wrong sort of crowd.

Other requirements for staff room entry include the ability to find the staff room, the ability to find a clean mug in the staff room, knowledge of the photocopier codes, and the ability to sniff out where the booze is stashed - Thirsty Tuesdays, Fizz Fridays now in operation.

You can sit on chairs but keep the windows open. You don’t have to upload LFT results during the holidays. You do not have to wear mask - free choice

Challenge

Ah, you’re on! Though how to organise? What text, and what are we reading for? Comprehension? There will surely have to be some sort of test…

Having said that, I’m aware that reading fast has its downsides (have to read everything twice) and its upsides (have to read everything twice, which is nice for novels).

I used to be a very fast reader. I'm now tired and my mind is cluttered. I am nearly finished my second book of the summer holidays which is nice. Haven't seemed to have the mental quiet for reading for a while.

I remember the last phase of my all consumed reading self - heavily pregnant, lying in the bath, occasionally letting out cooler water and topping up with more hot, reading aloud to ds in my belly who for some reason loved the bath and my voice combo and would swoosh around.

Maybe when he goes to uni/travelling/borstal I'll return to my former reading habits.

I love reading but haven't read a book since covid began. I'm not sure why. It's like I can't concentrate on anything properly. I keep browsing books online but nothing takes my fancy enough to try it.

I finished the dictionary of lost words today. I really enjoyed it.

I’ve got sequences of novels I re-read on a rolling basis. Patrick O’Brian (20 plus books) Hilary Mantel’s Cromwell books, the Game of Thrones series, sci-fi stuff from the 60s eg Arthur C Clarke and so on. These keep me going. In between I pick up other books, but I avoid anything about a) writing folk b) middle class angst folk c) people confused about their identity/sexuality/political allegiance/sanity/politics. This keeps me happy in my reading.

I’ve started reading again since covid. I used to read really fast - still do but I also get distracted by stuff these days or suddenly remember I need to do something three days ago🤣

Oops double dipped on politics there.

I haven’t read a book since Christmas. Am already halfway through the newest Hunger Games book.

Love dystopian future stuff.

Oo I’ve swiped the copy we’ve just bough at work of that (didn’t buy it when it came out last yr cos lockdown) to read these hols noble. Loved the first trilogy.

I didn't realise there was a new hunger games book! I read the trilogy about ten years ago. Is it good?

I like American detective stories with female protagonists. The Alphabet series (Sue Grafton) and Sara Paretski’s VI Warshawski series are v good.

It’s very immersive, I’m enjoying it so far! Definitely makes you forget about covid.

I'm going to give it a go! I need escapism!

I love Sue grafton!

@noblegiraffe

Piggy thought they’d want to discuss the data even if it was about schools…clearly not!

No, they moved on!

Re fast reading. There are people on the 50 Books thread who read about 8 books a week! I think audio books are cheating though...

I tend to be slowed down by reading tomes every so often and quite heavy non fiction/academic books.

I have slowed down quite a lot in the last year or so mainly because I haven't found a really, really good book for ages. Dictionary fo Lost Words is on my Amazon shopping list MrsH!

Now my income is somewhat reduced I’ve started buying books in charity shops again. Lots of new books nowadays in very good condition or apparently not read at all! I guess bought online during the pandemic, not liked or not started and now given away. Anyway it’s a good way of finding new authors.
Audio books are definitely cheating as if you have a long commute in the car you can get through loads. Ex HT did that.

@noblegiraffe

I haven’t read a book since Christmas. Am already halfway through the newest Hunger Games book.

Love dystopian future stuff.

Me too! Especially fem dystopian lit.

It’s hard going but there’s a book called ‘gather the daughters’. Basically about a group of upper middle class men who decided to take their families and live off grid. In a bid to control the population they do t have sex with their wives, only their prepubescent daughters. It’s horrifying but fascinating.

I used to read loads but I too since Covid have found it hard to concentrate. I’ve packed 5 books - let’s see if I can get through them all by the end of my hols!

That reminds me that I knew HT listened to audio books because he thanked me for my recommendation of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels, which I have never read, nor wanted to read. Why he thought it was me I could never work out.
However my friend from school told me that she nearly had a thing with Lee Child many years ago, before his success, so there’s a tenuous connection there.

It is so typical that the first day of my holidays is weather like this! Will help me to read more books today though

I have a tenuous author link too, born my brother was in Alex Garland’s class at secondary school.

I have3 books on the go at a time- kitcgen, lounge, bedroom. I usually read about 8 a week. Usually a murder, a sci-fi and then something heavier. This week I am on a Shetland murder, some Jeff Noon and Gold's "Sunnyside" which has also made me get out my Thompsons film encyclopaedia as it's set in early Hollywood. I did a charity shop trawl yesterday and got 25 books for the next few weeks.

I was hospitalised for long periods as a child so read very quickly. Accurately though- I can always remember everything, even quotes. Weird memory. I forget my handbag/purse/head but can quote Dorothy L Sayers.

I read loads, and quickly, but life/work/scrolling the net get in the way to the extent that I always struggle to retain what I've read in the first few chapters of a book and have to reread. Brain will not switch off. I've read two books so far since Weds and breaking up: a crime thriller and a kids' book. Literary fiction next, then non-fiction, then back round on my cycle of those four genres