catching up on the reading

“between heaven and the real world” – my favorite recording artist of all time – steven curtis chapman – great book – encouraging book – sad book – but i read it really quickly – and was encouraged in my faith

“running with the raven” – there’s a guy in miami who has run for 40 years in a row – amazing streak – the same road – same eight miles – for 40 years – good story about something unusual – although just maddeningly consistent

“boys in the boat” – great book – like unbroken – about 10 years before unbroken – story of washington rowing – and how the university rowed and won gold in berlin – the story of the boys – juxtaposed by the rise of nazi germany – great book

“i don’t wait anymore” – by a friend of mine – strange experience to read

“the middle school rules of jamaal charles” – great book – charles has an amazing story that is in a readable form – very recommendable to young boys everywhere

catching up on reading…

“the gatekeepers” – great book – about white house chiefs of staff – through the years – from nixon’s guy to obama’s last one – in today’s political environment, highly recommended

“tears we cannot stop: a sermon to white america” – sad book – good book – i don’t think anyone else will read it but me around here – but i learned a lot and it made me think – hopefully, i act in a better way b/c of it

“city of the monkey god” – good book – exciting book – about finding an ancient civilization in central america – adventure/non-fiction

“das reboot” – book about the rise of german soccer – great book about how to continue success – i saw parallels between alabama football and german soccer – how you keep improving

“how to lose a marathon” – by a simpsons writer – great book – funny book – about the author’s trek to the 2013 NYC marathon – good motivation

“life and adventures of jack engle” – lost book discovered by walt whitman – interesting book – interesting story as to how it got to us – very typical of that era – lots of coincidences that led to the end

books to remember – maybe… :)

“Grendel’s Guide to Love and War” – not middle school appropriate – YA – the concept was nice – exploring Beowulf in a modern day setting – the rest – meh…

“Dinner with DiMaggio” – stories about eating with the Yankee Clipper – nothing very new – just recounting a different time – different era – as expected, Joe D was in a good light – he’s not in most stories people have – but what would you expect from someone who stayed in his good graces – good baseball reading, at least:)

“Captain Class” – shared this book with ya’ll – great book – what great teams have in common is often their captains – how they use them – the characteristics of them – great read

Attitude – by Villanova’s head coach – good book – good principles of teaching to use in the classroom

“Payoff” – quick read from TED talks – okay

“Gertie’s Leap to Greatness” – more Mobile needed – good elem book

a few more books to add…

“making my pitch” – i talked to my eighth grade about this book last week – ila borders – first female pro baseball player in a long time – sad book – baseball seems like one of the last male clubs – and guys act rather poorly – she played during my sweet spot of remembering everything about baseball so i remembered her – didn’t know her story though – great book

“city of dreams” – story of Dodger stadium – being built – excellent book – i didn’t know about the history at all – it’s not as sad as i’ve heard it said before – the dodgers didn’t just run people out of chavez ravine – the stadium split the community – people were for and against it – it was a contentious issue – moreso than i thought

“dark territory” – excellent book – apparently, that’s all i read nowadays – but on cyberspace and what the US gov’t has done to secure it – spoiler: not much:) with the recent russian intelligence issues, it was an excellent in-depth book about a serious issue

“golden” – about steph curry – fun book – good recommendation for middle school guys

“inquisitor’s tale” – from ms. fuller at the county level – like canterbury tales – humorous – inappropriate at times – not that much though – good story – entertaining – i finished up after scholars yesterday

j

Gifted AND Talented at Columbiana Middle