“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

“Tru and Nelle: A Christmas Memory” – the book my sixth grade students are taking FOREVER to read – I knocked out in a day:) That said, it was a fun read – again, second time through – I am looking forward to showing them that it’s fun

“Here for It” – was okay – came from a recommendation

“Basketball and Other Things” – sometimes you try a book – and I tried with this one – a cross between a graphic novel and text – but the author’s point of reference was very different from mine – even though we’re about the same age – so it wasn’t that great

“Chasing Space” – great biography about a NASA education director – they sort of stretched his NFL career – does it count if you just played preseason? I don’t really think so – but his story was impressive

“When Running Made History” – I liked this book better than I thought I would – Roger Robinson’s writing – and running – has been amazing – and his insights are always well-thought out

“Adorning the Dark” – Andrew Peterson – insightful Christian artists – wonderful book – very uplifting book

“Chasing the Bear” – public library book, comparing Saban and Bryant – good read

“Full Circle” – Andrea Barber – Kimmy Gibbler – good book – sad book – loved the running part:)

“It takes What it Takes” – went back and forth on whether I liked this one – but I did share some of it with you Monday

“Frankly in Love” – new YA – liked it

“the age of football” – long – good – but long – fascinating tie-in about soccer and politics in countries around the world – really enjoyed it

“the ultimate redsox trivia machine book” – enjoyable – although, i knew the history – it wasn’t really trivia

“america’s trailblazing middle linebacker” – hagiography on linebacker for the chiefs in the 1970s – but a guy i didn’t know – a team i didn’t know – lots of books are based on major media markets – so that was a nice twist

j

“wild bird” – great book – we got a tweet from the author – she wrote “Flipped” – so i had to look up what she’d done recently – this one was great – and from the county library – highly recommendable

“the years that matter the most” – outstanding book on colleges – and what we do to prepare kids to excel there – lots of takeaways from the book – especially on how rural schools can prepare kids for ivies – that said, the book is pessimistic about how the influence of money pervades college acceptance

“mobituaries” – enjoyed this book a lot – passed it along to my mom

j

“Full Count” – baseball biography – my reward for going to watch the xc kids – I was able to raid the North Shelby library of a new book – they don’t lend them when they’re new – so that was nice

“November Project” – got me excited about Boston – also got me excited about some PE activities that could get kids active – and things I could do in the classroom – enjoyed this book more than I thought I would

“Lee Roy Jordan” – biography – story of his Alabama and Cowboy days – good book for talking to my dad about

“Because Internet” – meh, sort of disappointing – heard the author on a podcast – the disappointment is mostly on me b/c i am definitely on the outs with the net – but it was interesting – definitely

j

so shout out to my fantastic librarian for supplying me with two of these:)

“beneath the citadel” – the cool part of this book was that the author lives in birmingham – interesting dystopian YA – not predictable at all – not sure if we’d put in in our library – but i enjoyed reading it

“we are lost and found” – another Ms. Blount donation to me – was a lot like “Rent” the musical – i really liked this book – again, not a book we’d put in the middle school library – but 1980s NYC – i enjoyed the book

“castor” – another ms. blount donation – another not for middle school – but okay

“Gods of Wood and Stone” – loved this one – from the library – the county library – former sports writer – story about middle aged men finding themselves – lots of Cooperstown stuff in there – so i’m a sucker for that:)

“Mind and Matter” – great book by a former NFL lineman, John Urschel – I enjoyed the math chapters even more than the football – which was suprising

“Dear Evan Hansen” – great book – goes well with the Broadway play – and good story about atonement

“Volume Control” – book on hearing – and what we’re doing to help

“What is a Girl Worth?” sad book on the Michigan State problems from the past few years – sadder still, was the lack of church support the lady had

“Building a Better Runner” – every time I think I’ve read every book on running, another book comes along and surprises me – so that’s cool

“Disney’s Land” – needed this book prior to my trip in Anaheim – still, really enjoyed it – a great read

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“Fugly” – read b/c I needed a book – so it fit that bill – ticked me off though b/c the narrator was really whiny

“Alabama’s Public Pension Fund Growth and Economic Expansion since 1973” – book about RSA – interesting – at times – very academic-ish – surprised two copies ended up in the Alabaster library

“Crayola Team Colors” – fun book – could be adapted to any situation and be a fun idea for a future book project

“Roseblood” – Phantom of the Opera fan fic – not a fan of the book though:)

“How Much is a Girl Worth?” Heartbreaking book – very recommendable – but incredibly sad – just a reminder of the challenges women face in this world – a great story of bravery from Denhollander

“The Broken Road” – another great book – another sad book – Peggy Wallace Kennedy – George Wallace’s daughter – good book about how you reconcile the legacy of a father when he isn’t known as a “great” man – she was very honest in the book – I truly couldn’t put it down

“edison” – interesting book – outside of the subject area – the biography of edison’s life – the book went in reverse chronological order – which is really unique – and aggravating, at times:)

“goodbye homeboy” – great book to read right before school started again – biography of a business guy who taught in NYC for most of the 1980s – enjoyed this one

“five” – off the recommendation of a friend – the five victims of jack the ripper – good book about victorian era England and it’s woes – and makes you wonder how things have changed/not changed since in the way we treat women

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