One down (Harry Potter), one to go (Inheritance Cycle) – the great “re-read challenge”

“Sorcerer’s Stone” – enjoyed it – I think I’d forgotten how much Quidditch was in the early books – I’m sad that they dropped out – probably b/c I’m missing sports:)

“Chamber of Secrets” – this was the book where I discovered Harry was born in 1980 – and that was a cool fact to uncover b/c it meant he was just behind me in school

“Prisoner of Azkaban” – I definitely started seeing plot details that became relevant later on at this point – having the movies and the books to remember

“Goblet of Fire” – they cancelled Quidditch that whole year? C’mon, the other kids deserved to play that year too! And why were Quidditch matches supposed to take days when in the books they were always solved quickly?

“Order of the Phoenix” – started my count of the word “snog” – I remembered how foreign it was to me the first time – this was definitely the book with the most “snogs”

“Half-Blood Prince” – Harry ends his Quidditch career suspended – and Ginny saves the day – I really think he would have to look back on his time at Hogwarts as a disappointment that they did win more than they did – and yeah, other stuff happened – but definitely not as important:)

“Deathly Hallows” – I read the original series in 8 days in 2008 – this one took 9-ish days – so I wasn’t too far behind – with two movies to remind me, I knew most of Deathly Hallows – but it was still nice to read – and I was teary at the end, 19 years later

“Code Talkers” – about the men who helped the US in the Pacific during WWII – really good book for perspective during this difficult time

“Eragon” – my last “go to” stash of things to read that I never thought I’d get back to rereading b/c it’d take forever – careful what you think, I guess – anyway, I remembered the movie being so short and my students were so bummed that all the details weren’t included – I’d like to apologize to the producers b/c upon reread, NOTHING happened in the book – it was a miracle it got a movie in the first place

“Eldest” – I remembered more as I started reading – which was good – I knew there was like a battle at the beginning and the end – I thought the last battle was 200 pages – nope, there was 30 pages of battle – followed by 500 pages of explanation of things – followed by 60 pages of battle

“Brrsinger” – enjoyed more this time b/c I knew it wasn’t the end – so I wasn’t disappointed to think I’d finished a really long (boring) trilogy – now, just one more to get through – and then I can wait forever to read that series again

“The Best Man” – won from the library – good Cubs references – was interesting – I knew about the author – so the book surprised me for what it was about – enjoyable for middle grades

“Once Again We Saw Stars” – book about the loss of author’s two year old child – and the year that followed – book about grief – and loss – exceptionally well written – but a book I would think most parents wouldn’t read

“Dictionary for a Better World” – given to me by Coach Mac – from a county PD workshop – local author involved – well done

“Death By Shakespeare” – read at state FCCLA conference – book about how the characters in Shakespeare die – and oh, they do die in the tragedies:) for the premise, I wasn’t that impressed with the book

“Talking to Strangers” – new Malcolm Gladwell – good book – although, I wondered at times – took in a lot of current events – seemed to want to make them fit a grand theory he had – but I did like the book and would like to use it in the classroom

“Readings on Taming of the Shrew” – really enjoyed this book – this was the start of my COVID19 break reading – will help me teach the sixth grade book

“All He Knew” – good YA on mental illness at the time of WWII – based on a true story – the dismal state of mental health institutions during that time – book of poetry

“Pandemic 1918” – right before COVID19 cancelled everything, I started this book – good – and good for the times we are living in right now

“Lou Gehrig” – took a column Lou wrote in 1927 – well, that he supposedly wrote – you have to know that period to know that ghost writers were used all the time – so while the book was pitched as his voice, I’m not at all confident it was – so disappointing

“Twelfth Night” – good – better than “Shrew” – still, not as good as the one I had before – maybe I’ll get used to it

“Twelfth Night for kids” – good – entertaining – we’ll use it in the classroom

“An Affair of Poisons” – ugh, you can’t be free, but, well, it was a close call with this book – my favorite part was the guy describing the first kiss as like feeding the homeless

“A Woman of No Importance” – cool WWII history – and remarkable tale of a remarkable lady

“The Sun Does Shine” – great book to go with Just Mercy – sad book though

“Games of Deception” – book on the ’36 Olympics Hoops team – lots of history I didn’t know – was a great YA non-fiction read b/c it was teaching me as well

“American Royals” – interesting YA – I thought it would be more about the political ramifications of an American monarchy – nope, just about romance – so yeah, definitely not my type of book – but I’m sure my eighth grade girls would love it

“Thanks, Obama” – speechwriter for the president – recaps his years – I liked it – politics is always fascinating for me

“Almost, Maine” – YA book – but I’m not sure why – not traditional in that it was from the POV of young kids – but I guess people can call things what they want

“The Big Dark” – at our library – by Rodman Philbrick – in the vein of Last Book in the Universe – enjoyed it

“The Movie Musical” – 600 pages of fun – really enjoyed it – and I now have a list of movies to watch:)

“My Jasper June” – delightful YA book – enjoyed this one – thanks Helena Middle for the lend:)

“Look Both Ways” – new one at CMS – good POV for middle grades

“They Called Us Enemy” – graphic novel – recommendation from a friend in Tennessee – and a good recommendation – our library is going to get it now:)

“Keeping Hope Alive” – one of my book prizes from the library – good book – I thought it was YA non-fiction – it wasn’t – but a good read for adults

“All The Greys on Greene Street” – YA – it was good – came from a list I’d found at the end of the year

“The Incomplete Book of Running” – enjoyed it – although, a sad book too – makes me ready to run Chicago

“Like Father, Like Son” – great book about a central US figure in running in the 1970s – and good coaching tips that relate to teaching

“Fearless” – book on Bart Giamatti – enjoyed the history of Yale – wasn’t at all the book I thought it would be – but okay

“Me” – Elton John – surprisingly insightful and good

“The Hope of Glory” – excited to read this book – and then disappointed with it

“We will Rise” – book on Evansville basketball – good read

“Trust Exercise” – last time I read a book recommended by Entertainment Weekly

“Stolen Justice” – powerful book – recommended it to Ms. Blount for our library

“The Faithful Spy” – shared this one in class – thanks to Ms. Blount for lending it to me:)

“the end of youth ministry” – i like reading about approaches to youth ministry b/c i think there are parallels to teaching – the book was interesting – and had a great movie recommendation at the start – but wasn’t as radically new as i probably was expecting

“Michael Jordan: Bull on Parade” – graphic novel – took me back to the 1990s – probably a bit much for middle school – but i enjoyed it

“Storm-Wake” – based on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest” – s’okay – I enjoy the Tempest – although, I think modern people give Prospero a bum rap – control freaks are people too, right? 🙂

“the 47 people you’ll meet in middle school” – the title was more clever than the book – sadly…

“Lost in a Book” – companion to Beauty and the Beast – again, over-promised – but, if you have people in your life who love the movie, then I’m sure they’ll love this one

“New Kid” – really enjoyed this graphic novel – high recommendation

“Pop” – amazed me how much CTE and the risks of football have changed since this book was published in 2008 – no one else seems to be realizing this though from the reviews I read

“Anna Karenina” – this was my big read for the break – watched the movie too – was surprisingly true to the book – i definitely can’t recommend a normal person investing 950 pages in it, but it was okay – probably slightly better than I thought it would be

“Infinite Hope” – came from a recommendation from the mom of a friend – the momma selected good:) great book as a first person POV on WWII

“Surface Tension” – a YA freebie – not my favorite:)

“Castle of Concrete” – another YA freebie – was okay – not middle school though

Wow, this will be the lone December post – sniff…

“Mighty Moe” – great book – highly recommendable – about a 13-year-old who held the world record in the marathon 50 years ago – really well done book

“Bo the Brave” – great picture book with a great message

“The Splendid and the Vile” – WWII in London – how the British survived the German bombing – interesting book – lots of things I did not know

“The British are Coming” – got this book b/c it starts at Lexington – and that’s the reason I run on a Monday in April in Boston – really was too long for me – but I got through it and it wasn’t the worst on this list:)

“Bright Burning Stars” – read the book b/c one of the main characters is named Kate Sanders – and I know a Kate – this Kate was EXACTLY the same – I mean, wow – so that was cool

“Anger is a Gift” – free book from the library – did not enjoy it at all – but got through it

j

“a heart in a body in the world” – from our CMS library – great book – about running, of course:) actually, just about running tangentially – really, about overcoming a traumatic situation – and in this case, running helped – so i was sold:)

“never settle” – espn’s marty smith – great for the shelf of a middle school library for your sports fans – i enjoyed it – especially b/c smith is about my age – so most of his references were things i could get:)

“what kind of girl” – finished the book set ms. blount brought me over the summer – so i guess summer is over – great book – but a tough one – on relationship abuse – tough subject, but good for letting people know they aren’t alone in situations like that

“stand up and shout out” – book on women’s athletics and the media

“the topeka school” – from my own library – fiction set in the 1990s – and involved high school debate – so i enjoyed the debate part quite a bit

“the education of an idealist” – favorite book of this section – sam power – very good – and lots of lessons in there for educators – much less others

“100 Bible verses that made America” – interesting premise – the verses were tangential to the moment – tended to the hagiography – but i got through it:)

“The Wax Pack” – author chases down the men in a pack of 1986 Tops baseball cards – I really enjoyed this book – ’87 was the year I started – but I knew all the men he interviewed – fascinating book

“Hawk” – White Sox broadcaster – 400 pages – wow, did he have a lot to say about his career and baseball:)

“No Summit You Can’t Climb” – needed a library book for the weekend – so, meh, it worked:)

“Brave Enough” – great, great book on a brave Olympic medalist – very much enjoyed this book