Teachingisfun

“The Shining” by Stephen King

497 pages
First published in 1977
$5.66 — Kindle edition

My rating: 10/10
Goosebumps factor: 10/10

I hate horror, but I love how Stephen King writes that's why I read his books.

The Shining tells a captivating story, which takes place in a hotel and reminds me of “1487.”

The story is well-written, and King is great at describing the scenes, smells, and sounds. Because of this, I found the book very scary.
___
This book is about Jack Torrance, who is a struggling writer. He accepts a job as the winter caretaker of the isolated Overlook Hotel. The hotel is has a dark history. Supernatural forces begin to take hold of Jack, he becomes a danger to his wife Wendy, and son Danny, who possesses psychic abilities that allow him to see the hotel's terrifying past and communicate with the ghosts that live in the hotel.

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If you're interested, just send me a DM, and we can book your spot!

Available Dates: December 2024, January 2025, February 2025.

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✓What I read in November, 2024 (including audiobooks)

Memoirs:

1) Talking As Fast As I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between — Laura Graham 

2) Sunshine Girl — Julianna Margulies

3) Down and Out in Paris and London — Orwell 

Stephen King:

4) Secret window, Secret Garden 

5) You Like It Darker

A human history Nonfiction:

6) Історія архітектурних стилів, великих і не дуже —Катерина Липа

7) Madonna. Vita di Madonna — Silvia K.

Agatha Christie:

8) Appointment with death

9) Taken at the flood

10) Murder is easy 

11) Hercules Poirot'd Christmas 

12) Hickory Dickory Dock

October, 2024.

Congratulations are in order :)

My reading challenge “50 books in 6 months” turned into “50 books in 4 months,” which is an achievement for me.

Despite this, I will go on reading books and listening to audiobooks. I have many unread books [I don't know how many because I am a bit scared to count them].

Thank you all for your support!

___

This week, I will publish a blog post titled “How to Read 15 Books a Month” (in English, Spanish, German, and Ukrainian), sharing tips and strategies that work well for me.

Be the first to read it, and subscribe to get my blog posts via email as soon as I publish them. [No spam; unsubscribe at any time]

teachingisfun.net

September 2024.
18 books, including print books, audiobooks, and e-books:

Memoirs:
1) Love, Lucy, Lucille Ball (5/5)
2) Unbreakable Lightness: A story of loss and gain (5/5)
3) Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey (4/5)
4) Building material: the memoir of a Park Ave doormen, Stephen Bruno (2/5)

Agatha Christie:
5) The big four (5/5)
6) The murder on the links (4/5)
7) A murder is announced (4/5)
8) The ABC murders (4/5)
9) The murder of Roger Ackroyd (5/5)
10) The mysterious affair at Styles (5/5)
11) The unexpected guest (a play) (4/5)
12) And then, there was none (5/5)

On Writing:
13) Writing with style: The Economist Guide (1/5)

Marketing:
14) Business for punks, James Watt (1/5)

Greek literature (XXI century):

15) An anthology of Greek stories of the 21st century (3/5)
[Антологія грецького оповідання ХХІ століття]
16) I Was Lysistrata, Antonis Georgiou (3/5)
{Люба моя Лісистрато, Андоніс Георіу]

Poems:
17) The night is darkening, Emily Brontë (3/5)

Other:
18) Skin and face. Wedding banquet. Summer, Albert Camus (5/5)

Share your list 📚

In July 2024, I set a goal to read and listen to 50 books—both audiobooks and paper books—by the New Year, including those I had read in June. It’s been a challenging journey and I’m proud to have completed 90% of my goal.

I'm determined to finish strong, despite living in Kyiv, Ukraine.

Would you like to read a blog post where I share tips on how to read about 15 books a month? I’d love to share some useful and proven strategies that have worked for me.

"A collection of plays" by Antonis Georgiou (a Cypriot lawyer and writer)
3/5 ⭐

This is my first introduction to the author.

The book contains many allegories, and I was off topic.

✓My Beloved Washing Machine [Three Monologues]:

1) Jocasta, a forty-year-old woman: It would be more interesting to watch this monologue on stage rather than read it. Perhaps the actors could bring out the strength of this monologue.

2) Chaff: This monologue presents a chaotic flow of thoughts. While the author claims it is from a 55-year-old woman's perspective, but I had an impression that the character had been 17-year-old

3) My Beloved Washing Machine: A monologue of a person in front of a washing machine. It could be much much deeper.

✓ The Disease: The feelings of the characters are conveyed quite well.

✓Our Garden: This is a conversation among people about the garden and plants.

✓I Was a Lysistrata: The author discusses child labor and wars, particularly the war in Ukraine. This play was written in 2015 or in 2016 (different sources state different information).
___
All in all, the plays will be more interesting if you know something about Greek culture, history, myths, and modern adaptations of classical plays.

It’s Stephen King’s 77th birthday today!

You know what I'll be reading today :)

litvinchuk0 thanks for the reminder ;)

[new blog post in English, Spanish, and German]

"Blogging During The Power Outages and Blackouts In Ukraine, 2024"

No doubt, living in a country where there is war is challenging.

I thought that things could not get any worse. Yet, they have gotten worse: constant blackouts. What is more, it is +38 C (100.4 F) in the shade.

Lately, we have only 2–4 hours of electricity a day.

When there is no electricity:
*AC doesn't work;
*The refrigerator doesn't work (the food gets spoiled quickly);
*I cannot cook anything (there is no gas in our building);
*The coffee machine doesn't work (so, I make a cup of coffee when there is electricity and pour it into my thermos flask to drink in the morning);
*I cannot use my PC;
*the elevator doesn't work (I cannot imagine what my neighbors feel who live on the 24th floor);

There are constant blackouts because russians are constantly bombing power stations in Ukraine.

Nevertheless, I do my best to keep blogging.
I try to think beyond usual and find some workarounds.

Writing texts:
You will not believe it, but I started writing by hand a lot more. I am writing this text by hand at a cozy restaurant because they have an industrial generator. Thus, there is electricity. Thus, the AC is working now and they can cook some main dishes. And the bonus—they have some ice! Finding ice is hard!
[go on reading:]

teachingisfun.net

What I read in August: 13 books, including print books, audiobooks, and e-books.

1) The empathy edge, M. Ross

2) The fall of the house of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe.

3) Effortless, Greg McKeown 

4) True love, Jenifer Lopez.

5) The Myth of Experience: Why We Learn the Wrong Lessons, and Ways to Correct Them, by Emre Soyer

6) The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe

7) Why we work, Barry Schwartz 

8) The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store, Cait Flanders

9) Goal Mapping: How to Turn Your Dreams into Realities, Brian Mayne

10) Come Close, Sappho

11) The One-Page Financial Plan: A Simple Way to Be Smart About Your Money, Jr. Carl Richards

12) Sometimes They Come Back, Stephen King

13) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Irving Washington

21 Free Creative English Writing Activities for the A1 Level

Exercise 2 — “Write a Summary as if You are…”

Having read a text or a dialogue, ask your students to write a summary of it as if the students who write it are a chair, another insignificant character, or even an object in the story.

For example, you read the fairy tale “Little Red Riding Hood."” The task is to write a summary of the fairy tale as if a student is the red-hooded cape.

Exercise 4 — “How to Play a Favorite Game”

Ask students to write instructions on how to play their favorite game. You may add that they should write at least 5 tips.

PRO TIP:
You may ask a student to teach the whole group/class how to play that game. I am sure it will be fun and a great speaking activity.

Exercise 5 — “Meeting an Alien “

An alien comes to your town. Ask students to prepare a list of tips on what the alien should and shouldn’t do.

Besides practising the modal verb “should” you may ask your students to use imperatives. It all depends on what students already know.

PRO TIP:
Instead of giving the alien general tips on what it should and should not do on Earth, you may ask your students to write instructions on a narrower topic. For example, how to behave at a table, cross the street, etc.

Exercise 6 — “A Letter to Celebrity”

Task: Write an email or a letter to a favorite celebrity or person.

In this task, your students can practice any topic. For example, describe your students’ hometown.

Have a look at these free and downloadable templates with guidelines for writing formal and informal letters.
[...]

Exercise 12 — “Travelling”

Option 1
When you have a topic “Travelling” it is a good idea to write a short text about a city/town/village. Encourage your students to include prices. For example, when they write about hotels where people should stay, they should include prices. I recommend using booking.com
[...]

go on reading:
https://teachingisfun.net/free-creative-writing-activities-for-the-a1-level/

Or DM me for the link