I had a fabulous reading week full of inspirational reads that put me in school year planning mode. I also spent the day earlier this week following along with the #edmodcon sessions. I got some spectacular ideas about how to amp up my use of Edmodo this year. I am really excited to participate in Global Read Aloud this year, but I am trying to figure out whether I will read Out of My Mind or Stupid Fast with my 8th graders. I am leaning more towards using Stupid Fast.
Books I Finished This Week:
Adult Books
Dexter in The Dark by Jeff Lindsay is the third book in the series about Dexter. I absolutely love this television show so when I saw that it was based on books I looked for them. The book is written in the same kind of tone as the narration on the show and I really enjoyed reading it. I will be looking for more books from this series in the future. This is one I would only recommend to adults, but if you are a fan of mysteries it is one to check out. 
Sue Grafton will be at the literary seminar in January and my sister and I are going to try to get through as much of the alphabet as we can before then. I really enjoyed reading the first book in this series. If you love mysteries, you will like these.
Graphic Novels
The Dodgeball Chronicles (Knights of the Lunch Table, #1) by Frank Cammuso is a really cute graphic novel. My students will really like it. I love the play on the words of the names in the book and the nod to Aurthurian legend. I will definitely look for the other books in this series to add to my class library.
I have been thoroughly intrigued by all the discussions of this graphic novel on Twitter. When I saw the book at Half Price Books I just had to snatch it up. I read this one basically in one sitting. Richard Feynman was an incredibly amazing man and I was so fascinated by his story. I will be looking for other books about this great physicist soon. I highly recommend the graphic novel to teens and adults.
Middle Grade/Young Adult
We Are Not Eaten By Yaks by C. Alexander London is a cute book for middle grade readers. I would recommend this one to fans of The Series of Unfortunate Events. The adventure and narration are similar and would definitely appeal to that audience. I enjoyed this cute story and definitely think upper elementary students would enjoy it.
I was really excited when I found Hurt Go Happy by Ginny Rorby in the clearance section at Half Price Books. I know that this book is a favorite book of Kellee Moye and I was really looking forward to reading it. Oh. My. God. This book is AMAZING! I read it in one sitting on a morning when I was not planning to read for so long. And I cried the whole time. This is a touching and beautiful story and will definitely inspire young people to think about their world in a new way. I completely understand why it is one of Kellee's favorites and it has now become one of my favorites too.
Professional Books:
Penny Kittle is a genius. She has great professionalism and her books inspire me to be the best I can be too. Write Beside Me helped me think about the structures I have in place in my classroom and plan for what I will change this year. I am so glad I picked this one up.
This book is so inspirational! I will definitely be going back to it again and again for ideas while lesson planning.
I cannot express how much inspiration these two books gave me this week. I will be posting a blog post later this week about the ideas that came from reading these books.
Books I am Currently Reading:
I started reading Opening Minds by Peter Johnston. I am planning to do a small unit about mindsets at the beginning of the year and I knew that this book would have some inspiration about this idea. I also started reading Spilling Ink and Jellicoe Road. I am still listening to Shadow and Bone.
What's Next?
I will be reading the third Gallagher Girls book this week because I have a digital library loan that came through. It is ahead of the schedule for the Gallagher Girls readathon, but I am reading them as I get them. I will also probably read the next Sue Grafton book. After that, I will look at what I have on the shelves and on the Kindle. I made a decision that I would only read books off my shelf for now. I am going to try to resist buying books or going to the library for a little while because I have so many books to read that I already own.
What did you read this week? Do you have any recommendations? Please share in the comments.
Wow-so much that is good here. I love the Kittle books, have just started re-reading Opening Minds, spent a day with Johnston & was so inspired. I have Teach Like A Pirate so I'd better get on that too! Thanks also for the reviews for students, like Hurt Go Happy. I have it but still haven't read it-must! Finally, love all stories about Feynman-he's in The Bomb too! Thanks Andrea!
ReplyDeleteDefinitely read Teach Like a Pirate! It was perfect to read at this point of the year to get inspired for the new school year.
DeleteThanks for stopping by! I listened to Jellicoe Road earlier this year and was so pleasantly surprised by much I loved it. I should probably make an off the shelf rule too, but for now I decided to focus on finishing series. I have so many started and I want to start new ones, but I am holding off. It's amazing out stressful this relaxing business of reading can be!
ReplyDeleteYes, super stressful sometimes. I like the goal of finishing series too.
DeleteAndrea, how popular are the Babysitter's Club GNs in your classroom? Hot demand or a particular type of reader likes them. I might try to bring this series back into my library thro the GN format. I recently weeded out all my Babysitter's Club books due to lack of interest. A new generation of readers might like the GNs.
ReplyDeleteI really only had the first Babysitters Club graphic novel in my classroom toward the end of the year. I don't think I did that great at booktalking it so it really wasn't all that popular, but I am sure I will be able to sell them to the girls this year who are a little less mature than last year's class.
DeleteI too loved Feynman. The guy's life was so interesting. I have seen Hurt Go Happy many times on my library shelf and never manage to pick it up. I will try to read it this school year. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou really need to read Hurt Go Happy. You won't regret it.
DeleteHello there Andrea. We don't have any of Penny Kittle's books here in Singapore and I did ask our academic group in my institution to order them as I am sure they would prove to be valuable to our teacher-trainees. Haven't read any of The Babysitters' Club series yet. Have a great reading week!
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