Early Review of Jayne Castle's Canyons of Night

Title: Canyons of Night
Author: Jayne Ann Krentz, writing as Jayne Castle

Publisher: Jove

Formats: Mass Market Paperback and eBook

Source: Purchased

Publication Date: August 30, 2011

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

I’ve been a fan of Jayne Ann Krentz in her various pseudonyms ever since my Mother-in-Law shared some of her Amanda Quick books with me, and I’ve really enjoyed her Paranormal Romances written under the name Jayne Castle. So I was thrilled when I saw her newest book, Canyons of Night (Book Three of the Looking Glass Trilogy), at Target last night, especially since it’s not being released until Tuesday, August 30. I managed to snatch up a couple of other new releases at the same time, so you’ll be seeing a few reviews in the next couple of days, assuming I don’t decide to actually do the work for which I am paid, namely, teaching Spanish. And while Canyons of Night feels a little short, it was a pleasant return to the world of Harmony and the Arcane Society.

The book takes place on the island of Rainshadow and begins when three young tourists out for a ride decide to harass 15 year old Charlotte Enright. She’s an awkward girl with horribly nerdy glasses, but she manages to fight off her attackers until 19 year old Slade Attridge shows up and scares them off. Charlotte has a major crush on Slade, who’s the ultimate loner, and she’s thrilled when he agrees to show her parts of the Rainshadow Preserves after her ordeal. The next day he leaves to join the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation, and Charlotte vows that the next time they see each other he won’t be treating her like a kid sister. Jump to fifteen years later and Slade is back on the island, as is Charlotte. Slade’s burned out from his job with the FBPI and working as the island’s Police Chief for 6 months until he can get his security firm up and running. Charlotte has just moved back to the island herself after inheriting her eccentric Aunt Beatrix’s para-antiques store, Looking Glass Antiques. When the body of a man who was stalking Charlotte in Frequency City appears in her store, Slade senses that his death is not from natural causes and begins an investigation. In the course of the investigation, the two begin an affair and must deal with their fears about their psychic abilities while putting off a few busybody neighbors.

I’ve always enjoyed Ms. Krentz’s writing, and it’s like coming to home to read one of her books. You can count on her having likeable characters and interesting plots, and Canyons of Night is no exception to that rule. Even if you haven’t read any of her other books set in the world of Harmony, you’ll easily be able to follow along. However, while I very much like the book, I do feel that this is the weakest book in the Looking Glass Trilogy, mainly because it is so short. It’s only 325 pages long, and you can really tell the difference between this and earlier books set in Harmony, such as my favorites After Dark and Silver Master. While the older novels may have a similar number of pages, the font is noticeably smaller and there is less space between lines, yielding more text and therefore allowing for more development of characters and plot.

As for the romance between the hero and heroine, Slade is a sexy alpha male and Charlotte is one of Krentz’s trademark quirky heroines. They clearly share a connection from their experience in the Rainshadow Preserves nearly 15 years ago. The two definitely set off sparks, but the romance follows the formula of Krentz’s recent books. Like several of her other newer heroes, Slade’s had a violent change in his psychic abilities that he fears will end in madness, while the insightful heroine manages to help him learn to accept and deal with the changes in his life. But Krentz does a good job of selling us on this formula, and I enjoyed their romance, despite hoping for more development.

As in her other books, the mystery is tidily resolved, but in this particular novel I could spot the villain a mile off, which was somewhat disappointing. The resolution of the conflict between Charlotte and the villain struck me as familiar as well, reminding me of how the heroine in Fired Up! , the first book in the trilogy, manages to extract herself from dangerous situations.

Another niggling complaint has to do with the title of the book, Canyons of Night. The phrase refers to a term that Slade uses to describe the lakes in the mysterious Rainshadow Preserves.  I’m a bit conflicted about the use of the Preserves in the book, because they’re featured prominently in the story but our questions about them are never answered. I’m not sure why this was chosen as the title, since the actual mystery in the text doesn’t have anything to do with the Preserves. Several different characters venture into the forest at times and much is made of the fact that most who enter never return or return forever changed. However, the answers to the mystery of the Preserves is clearly intended for a future book. That we never learn about the danger that is clearly developing within the Preserves is a bit of a let-down.

All in all, I enjoyed returning to the world of Harmony and the Arcane Society, especially since we get to meet a new dustbunny, Rex, who likes to carry around an antique beaded clutch he stole from Charlotte’s store. Reading Canyons of Night is like catching up with an old friend, but I would have liked to see more development of Charlotte and Slade’s characters. They’re likeable but, because of the length of the novel and the somewhat formulaic nature of their romance, easily forgettable.

Urban Fantasy Heroines Have Seriously Messed Up Lives

One of the reasons I love to read Urban Fantasy is the strong female heroines. These women kick serious ass, often facing overwhelming odds to insure their survival and that of their friends and families. And in Urban Fantasy, there’s not always a guaranteed happy ever after. Sometimes you have to settle for a happy for now, or a “things aren’t as screwed up as usual” for now.

But there are some Urban Fantasy heroines whose lives are waaaaaay messed up, even more so than the norm. Some of these heroines are barely functioning addicts, which begs the question, can an author make an addict a sympathetic heroine? Here are three of my favorite urban fantasies with heroines who have seriously screwed up lives. They may be popping pills, but you’ll be surprised at how likeable they are and how much you want everything to work out for them.

Stacia Kane’s Unholy Ghosts (Downside #1)

The heroine of Kane’s Downside series, Chess Putnam, is probably the most messed up of these three heroines. She’s a highly functioning addict living in a world where ghosts attack humans and only members of the magical Church of Truth can help you get rid of them. Chess is a ghost debunker for the Church, working to send ghosts back to the underworld and protect humans. Unfortunately, she owes a ton of money to her dealer, Bump, so when he wants her to get fix the haunted airfield so he can fly in shipments of drugs she has no choice but to agree. As a child, Chess was tossed from foster home to foster home, dealing with physical and sexual abuse, so it’s no surprise that as an adult she tries to numb the pain of her dreary life with drugs and sex. Chess doesn’t make great choices in her personal life, but she takes great pride in her job as a debunker. What makes this book impressive is that you’ll like Chess and want her to succeed. This is a great start to fascinating series, and the first three books in the series are on sale at Amazon in anticipation of the fourth book’s release.

Stacey Jay’s On the Delta This takes place in a Louisiana taken over by mutant fairies whose bites are deadly. There are no cute flying pixies here, and to deal with her reality Annabelle Lee pops pills at night to sleep and is a functioning alcoholic by day. Annabelle has the good fortune to be immune to the fairy venom, but when a vicious murder occurs in her town and her ex-lover Hitch shows up with the FBI to investigate it, Annabelle hits a new low. Like Chess, Annabelle’s had a tough life and is using alcohol to dull the pain, but she’s capable of so much more than even she believes. You’ll definitely want everything to turn up roses for her, and I’m hoping that in the next book in the series her POS ex-lover Hitch gets what’s coming to him. We can always hope.

Diana Rowland’s My Life as a White Trash Zombie As much as I like Chess and Annabelle, I LOVE Angel Crawford. Angel’s a high school dropout with a pill problem, and the novel begins when she wakes up in the hospital after being discovered on the side of the road, covered in blood and nothing else. She doesn’t remember what happened to her, but an anonymous benefactor sends her a note that tells her to report to work at the morgue. It turns out that Angel’s been made into a zombie, and being a morgue tech gives her ample access to her new food source: brains. Over the course of the book Angel takes pride in her newly learned skills and friends, and she starts to make smarter choices. Her life as a zombie is complicated, but it’s the second chance she needed. Diana Rowland always writes taut plots with interesting characters, and I love that her female characters are working-class and complex. And frankly, the gross descriptions of Angel’s work in the morgue are just icing on the cake for this reader.

Books You Hide From Your Mother

I have several upcoming reviews, but I’m feeling a little lightheaded from all the teaching and blogging this week, so I thought I’d talk a bit about guilty pleasure reading since that is, after all, the reason I started this blog. Let’s just say that one of the reasons I love my Kindle is that I can read anything, yes, ANYTHING, in the presence of my mother and not have to explain the smexy cover. I live a looooong way from the parental units, so I don’t have to worry about unannounced visits, but there are some books I would have to hide behind the books of literary criticism so they won’t think I’m reading smut or, my favorite term, “romantic schlock.” (Although I think the blog has given away the “romantic schlock” bit. Oops.)

I don’t have to worry about this when friends come to visit, because I keep all the impressive tomes from graduate school downstairs. Complete works of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Gabriel García Márquez? Downstairs, front and center. Yes, dear visitors, I am well read! And my reading is multi-cultural! All my trashy paperbacks are safely hidden upstairs in my office, and I keep the door shut when people visit. Although that’s not necessarily to keep my reading tastes secret but rather to hide the mounds of lesson plans and old tests that have never been filed in the great circular file in the sky. I also tend to pull out the impressive cookbooks in the kitchen, although any savvy gourmand would notice that my food processor is shoved into the back and covered in dust.

The one book I absolutely hide from the parents is not really a romance, or even fiction, although it can lead to some smexy times! It’s Sadie Allison’s Ride ‘Em Cowgirl! Sex Position Secrets to Better Bucking. Yes, it’s a sex guide (hides face). But it has really funny pictures! Hee hee hee…

So, are there any books you hide from the parents or visitors to the house? Let me know - Confession is good for the soul!

Review of Stephanie Chong's Where Demons Fear to Tread

Title: Where Demons Fear to Tread

Author: Stephanie Chong

Publisher: MIRA Books

Format: Mass Market Paperback, ebook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: August 23, 2011

Rating: 3 out of 5

I think the overall message of Stephanie Chong’s Where Demons Fear to Tread was supposed to be that love conquers all, but what I took away from the book is that Good is really, really boring. Good doesn’t have fun and is about as bland as white bread. The truth is that the heroine in this book is annoyingly good, so good, in fact, that she’s pretty uninspiring. And why would you read a book with a boring heroine? I’m not at all sure why the hero, Archdemon Julian Ascher is interested in her, other than her looks, because she’s dull as dirt. All that goodness is hard to take, quite frankly. This is unfortunate, because Ms. Chong is clearly a talented writer with a well-developed and engaging plot. I really enjoyed her writing, but the heroine was so mild in her “goodness” that I just couldn’t buy into the romance aspect of it.

The premise of the book is that there’s a company of guardian angels who attempt to steer humans towards good decisions while demons work actively to encourage us to engage in the sort of behavior that will damn our souls to hell. The more souls a demon sends to hell, the more powerful the demon. Julian Ascher reached archdemon status in record time, a little over 200 years, so we know that he’s a real baddie. He runs a string of night clubs (those dens of iniquity!) when our bright as sunshine (really, she’s wearing a yellow sundress, for Pete’s sake) newly minted Guardian Angel Serena St. Clair comes traipsing into his club in LA. She’s been assigned to look out for bad boy actor Nick, who’s currently snorting coke off some woman’s body. When Julian sees Serena, he decides to toy with her and hustles her off to his office in the club, where he lays a few moves on her. She’s all, “Oh NO, I shouldn’t, but I really want to, oooh what do I do? He’s so smoking hot!” and at the last minute pleads with him to let her go, which, for some strange reason, he does.

Naturally Mr. Bad-Ass Archdemon decides to pursue Serena, because nothing wins you points with the boss like corrupting an angel, right? He’s also inexplicably drawn to her goodness and beauty – she smells like the beach! Who could resist? Julian engages in a nasty spot of blackmail, and Serena finds herself with Julian in Las Vegas. Over the course of a week, Julian finds his defenses weakening, and the two fall in love. Redemption is nigh!

The problem with this book is twofold. First, Serena is portrayed as the epitome of all that is good, but she’s also dull as dirt. Her brother tells Julian that she didn’t have fun often, and that seems to be true even after her death and rebirth as an angel. She also has a few too stupid to live moments, such as running into an empty nightclub when someone calls out to her, despite being told to wait for reinforcements. Um, hellooo!!!! Wait for the backup, dummy! This would be a great time for a blonde joke, except I know lots of blondes who would be rightly offended at the comparison.

The second problem is Julian. Julian’s working on building a new night club in Vegas with another archdemon, Corbin Ranulfson, who is truly evil. In comparison with Corbin, Julian is a woolly lamb. Corbin rips peoples’ limbs from their body, cannibalizes women while they’re still living, and murders a bellboy for breaking a Ming vase. He’s pretty darn scary. Julian, however, is not. Now, you’re thinking that no one would want a hero who’s that scary, because who wants to be with someone like that? And you’d be right! Julian’s a much milder type of demon, and yet we’re supposed to accept that he reached a status similar to Corbin’s within a record 200 years. I could almost picture Serena (a la Luke Skywalker) turning to Princess Leia, and saying “There’s still good in him. I can FEEL it.” But even with the flaws in Julian’s character, he’s still much more interesting than Serena. I didn’t hate Serena; I was just bored by her, and that’s never good for a romance.

So after all of this, you’re probably wondering why I would give the book a 3 out of 5. The truth is, Ms. Chong’s writing is smoothly executed and easy to read. The plot moves along nicely, and I like the underlying premise of the book. The “reforming the rake” trope is a favorite, and I like Ms. Chong’s spin on it, plus the portrayal of angels and demons, while not highly original, was well thought out and developed. Unfortunately the heroine was just too flat for the book to succeed for me. But because the writing IS so engaging, I would be more than willing to read another book by Ms. Chong. She managed to keep me reading her book, even though I couldn’t stand the heroine, and that takes some doing.

Review of Elisa Paige's Killing Time

Title: Killing Time (Time Series #2)

Author: Elisa Paige

Publisher: Carina Press

Formats: Ebook

Source: NetGalley

Publication Date: August 22, 2011

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This paranormal romance/fantasy is a delightful find. I’d never read any of Elisa Paige’s work before, but I loved the heroine Sephti in Killing Time. The development of Sephti’s character over the course of the book and the amazing mix of mythologies really sold me on this book. It turns out that the novel is the second in a series, so as soon as I finished this one I rushed out to buy the first, Stealing Time, but I have to confess that in the craziness that is back to school, I have yet to read it. I’m definitely looking forward to it, though, because Killing Time is outstanding, and I highly recommend it.

Sephti is a bittern, a creature genetically engineered by the Fae to be an elite assassin. She escaped her fae lord/torturer three months ago when she hitched a ride onto the mortal plain. She’s spent her time learning to blend in with humans and searching for a way to kill the vampire Philippe, whose supporters are helping guard fae King Reiden. If she can get rid of Philippe, his guards will scatter and she can stage an assault against the king, hopefully earning her freedom.

During Sephti’s search for Philippe, she’s captured by Native American guardian Koda. In this world the fae are responsible for the wholesale slaughter and relocation of the Native Americans, so Sephti’s fae appearance initially prejudices Koda against her. However, he quickly realizes that Sephti is more than what she appears. As the two work together to defeat Philippe and secure freedom for Sephti, the fierce assassin must learn to count on others while Koda battles the bigotry of his people. Their growing respect for one another develops into a touching and sweet romance during tempestuous political and social change that could threaten Septhi’s newfound independence and love.

The highpoints of the book are definitely the heroine and the tender romance, but don’t get me wrong – the world building is amazing. Paige did an outstanding job incorporating several very different mythologies into one complex world without confusing the reader or making you wonder if the Abominable snowman was going to be the next to make an appearance. I say that because I’ve recently read a couple of books that did NOT do as stellar a job of introducing a new world to the reader, and quite frankly it was a relief to read this multifaceted novel. The various mythological beings are seamlessly incorporated into the action, and Paige has created a vivid world that will capture your imagination.

It is, however, the character of Sephti who will keep you reading, even with all the heart-pounding action. Sephti’s a genetic creation of the fae and suffered brutally at the hands of her fae master and trainers. The bittern are considered little more than animals, but Sephti is sentient, and despite her assassin training, her innocence and lack of self-worth make her a poignant character at times. She’s convinced that as a creation she lacks a soul, but her actions reveal otherwise. Unlike the other bittern, she has somehow learned to control her berserker rages and only attacks those threatening her instead of killing everyone around her. Her rebellion against her fae masters can only end in her death, but she’s willing to pay that price.

I’ve always preferred romances that develop slowly, and Paige deftly creates a tender and moving romance between the fae assassin and the Native American guardian Koda. While the two initially distrust each other, Koda comes to realize the truth about Septhi’s background and slowly begins to woo the insecure heroine, trying to convince her that she is worthy of living a full and happy life. One of the more touching scenes occurs when Koda takes Septhi to a luxury hotel, hoping that by giving her new experiences she’ll give up her suicide plans. He orders room service, and Septhi quickly picks up her steak with her hands, since in the bittern stables she had to fight others for her food. His reaction to her embarrassment over her actions is perfect, treating her with dignity rather than ridicule. I also like that he treats her as an equal, rather than setting up a Pygmalion type relationship between the two.

If I had to complain about anything, it would be related to the vampires in the text. I suspect that most of the internal struggle between the ancient vampires and Philippe is explained in the first book of the series. While you are able to understand and follow the action of the book (and there is a LOT of action) without having read Stealing Time, I’m wondering if some of the background about the vampires that I missed in this book was addressed in that one. For example, at one point Sephti is looking for the vampire Jack, whose mate Kate has gone feral. While we see Kate acting “feral,” I never fully understood exactly what was going on with her, and it felt as though I were missing something. Additionally, the vampires and Native Americans all communicate using a language Sephti doesn’t recognize but that sounds like a Native American language. The connection between all of the “good” characters wasn’t as clear to me as it could have been.

The truth is that this book was a breath of fresh air and a pleasure to read. Sephti was such an original character and the growing romance between the hero and heroine handled so deftly that I look forward to re-reading the book. I enjoyed the Native American take on the mythology, and the non-stop action definitely kept me turning the pages. Hopefully once the school year is underway I’ll be able to read the first book in the series, because this one was a real treat.

Review of Dee Tenorio’s Deceiving the Protector (Resurrection #2)

I’ve long been a fan of Dee Tenorio’s contemporary romances, but a few months ago I was surprised to see that she had published a paranormal romance, Tempting the Enemy. It was dark and sexy, so I was thrilled to see that on Monday she released a sequel, Deceiving the Protector. As with the first in the series, this book is action-packed and filled with suspense and sexual tension.

Deceiving the Protector picks up about a year after the end of Tempting the Enemy. The alpha Pale Rysen and his psychic Sibile mate Jade have set up a safe haven for the shifters in the mountains of Southern California. In the first book the shifters were under attack as they traveled on the underground, and now the shifters who are travelling to the safety promised by Resurrection are under attack from a new enemy, a serial killer who’s able to hide his scent. Deceiving the Protector focuses on the alpha’s adopted brother, Jensen Tate, who has been sent by the Sibile to protect a lone shifter, Aurelia (Lia) Crawford. While Lia needs Tate’s help, she’s also desperate to avoid him, because the serial killer has been following her every move, placing any shifters she meets on the underground in danger. If she accepts Tate’s help, she could be leading him straight to the killer. But Lia’s drawn to Tate’s stubborn (and I do mean stubborn) strength, and, in spite of Lia’s surly demeanor, Tate’s attracted to Lia’s fierce nature. The two must work together to free Lia from the killer while fighting their attraction to one another.

This is not a light-hearted read. It’s definitely a dark and violent world, and Ms. Tenorio does an outstanding job of creating a terrifying villain. We’re introduced to the killer, Asher, in the prologue, and his appearance is truly fearsome. He’s dressed completely in black, with a horrifying mask and strange lenses in place of eyes. What makes Asher all the more frightening is the group that backs him – the mysterious Shifter Control Task Force. We learn through intense flashbacks that Lia was captured by the human-run organization and horribly experimented on. The nauseating experiments and Lia’s sense of hopelessness give the novel a darker feel than was present in the first book.

The sexual tension between Tate and Lia is complicated by both Lia’s upbringing and her twisted relationship with the killer Asher. Lia’s parents raised her and her sister Laurel as humans in an attempt to avoid the death squads hunting shifters. Since the humans have been hunting shifters for over a century, many of the shifters’ customs have been lost, and Tate has to explain the differences between mating and bonding to Lia. Until he does, Lia fears that the Shifter Control Task Force has managed to pervert her wolf nature and forever connected her to the horrific Asher. Lia’s ignorance about other shifters and mating also leads to a few misunderstandings with Tate, but in a way her ignorance is an advantage, since the Shifter Control Task Force is unable to learn as much about shifters during her incarceration.

Despite these complications, their romance is smoldering, with both hero and heroine presenting tough exteriors that hide vulnerabilities. Lia has managed to escape from the human authorities twice, but she’s torn between her feelings toward Tate and Asher’s blackmail demands. Her memories of the torture sessions are presented as flashbacks throughout the novel, which increase the tension for the reader because you begin to realize the terror that awaits her should she be recaptured. Tate’s haunted by memories of a former lover who slaughtered members of his family, leaving him unwilling to open his heart to another. Just as their relationship begins to unfold and they start trusting each other, danger threatens their lives and their love, at times leaving you in doubt as to their happy ever after. The suspense is skillfully drawn out, and the mix of action and romance is just right.

Tenorio’s world of hunted shifters and psychic Sibiles is an original take on the paranormal romance, and this second installment of the series was well done, but I do have one small complaint. Tate is supposed to be a lawyer, but I’m not sure why any profession is attributed to him since it was completely inconsequential to the action of the novel or the development of the romance. At one point when he’s ignoring Lia she reminds him that as a lawyer he should be used to answering questions, but other than that, it seems unimportant. I kept expecting his job to play some role in how the story unfolds, but it really didn’t. Also, I had to wonder how he would be able to disappear from work at odd times to help investigate any problems in the shifter underground.

The ending of the novel is both haunting and hopeful, which is difficult to achieve. I loved it, and Ms. Tenorio has allowed room for future sequels while tying up loose ends in this book. Given the dark tone of this novel and the deft handling of the suspense and romance, I’m definitely looking forward to reading more about the shifters at Resurrection.

I received this book for review from the Publisher through NetGalley.

Snarky Comments about Back-to-School

Monday is the dreaded first day of the school year, and while this means parents everywhere are rejoicing, we teachers are experiencing moments of exhilaration and despair. And when I say despair, I picture the Albino from The Princess Bride hissing “You’re in the Pit of Despair! Don’t even think”…. (hack hack hack resume normal voice) “Don’t even think about trying to escape.” Some of my friends who teach in the public schools have already been in the Pit of Despair for (gasp!) three weeks, so I’ve been lucky to have few more weeks of summer. For those of you not in the know, I teach Spanish on the College level, and I love it. But there are times when teaching is difficult to love, and the craziness of back-to-school can be one of those times.

A few weeks ago one of my favorite authors, Christina Dodd, posted two Staples back-to-school commercials on Twitter, one featuring a father dancing around the store to "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," and the other Alice Cooper. To be honest, I’d love to see a commercial just for teachers set to R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.” Back-to-school usually means lots of boring meetings in which little is accomplished at great length. As I write this, Sexy History Professor (aka the DH) is attending just such a meeting, and I had the dubious pleasure of attending one last Saturday. Yes, you read that correctly. The meeting was on Saturday. At 8 a.m. At a school 40 minutes from my house. Ugh. I have no problem with meetings as long as they’re useful and well-organized, but when I show up on a Saturday at 8 a.m., it would be really great if there was an actual agenda, as opposed to having the person running the meeting ask, “Do you have any questions?” Because let’s face it - I could have asked questions over email at a more reasonable hour. So my first question would have to be, “Why am I here?” And frankly friends, there just isn’t a good answer to that.

But the worst part of back to school is also the best: the students. Every teacher knows exactly what I mean. We’ve all had those stinkers who are difficult to deal with (for Public School teachers it’s not just the students; it’s also the parents). For example, there was the student who simply could not understand why I wouldn’t accept a composition written in English, even though it was a Spanish class. Guess I’m just crazy like that! Another favorite is the student who emails you after missing class and asks if s/he missed anything important. Um, my class? Because if it weren’t important, we wouldn’t have had class that day anyway, right? But my absolute favorite, get-on-my-last-nerve type of student is the one who sits around doing nothing while everyone else is working. When you ask the student why s/he isn’t doing anything, s/he’ll answer, “I don’t know what we’re doing.”

Now, I started taking Spanish my freshman year in College, because I’d taken Latin in high school, and my college didn’t offer Latin. I’d never had a day of Spanish in my life, so I understand being confused, feeling completely lost, or, worse, having a panic attack when the professor calls on you in something that resembles Spanish but doesn’t sound like any words you know. I’ve been there. What I don’t understand is why you’d just sit there if everyone around you is working. If you don’t understand something, you have lots of options for clarification: 1) look up words you don’t understand in the dictionary; 2) ask for help from a classmate, many of whom have studied a little Spanish in high school; or, 3) ask the professor. I list asking the professor last, because it’s always better if a student tries figuring something out on his/her own first since it’ll help you remember it later. Seriously, this is my biggest pet peeve and a sure-fire way to tick me off in class.

But as I mentioned earlier, the worst part of teaching is also the best – the students. This is why I said back-to-school is so exhilarating, why the sight of school supplies in the stores makes me happy. The students make it all worthwhile. Nothing’s better than coming back to school and seeing the enthusiastic faces of returning students light up when they see you. I especially love it when students return from studying abroad and show you their pictures of amazing places they’ve visited, like Machu Picchu, Easter Island or the Alhambra. They can’t wait to show off in class all the new things they’ve learned, and that excitement infects the other students. I also love the students who only know a few words in Spanish (usually infinitives) and yet still make jokes about a really terrible reading about bullfighting the entire semester. Or the brother and sister in class who re-enact videos we’ve seen in class in front of their family. And I even like it when I get boo’ed in class for telling what I freely admit are really painful puns.

So back-to-school, while representing the end of summer, is also a really great time for teachers. We get to reconnect with our colleagues and learn about all the fascinating research they’re doing, while we also catch up with the best part of teaching – the students.