“John Cangelosi” – ballplayer when I grew up – underdog story – good for kids
“Bending Toward Justice” Doug Jones – great book – very good – the Carry Me Home book is the standard – but for a politician:) he did a wonderful job
“Lenny’s Book of Everything” – in the YA section – needed something to read
“Truth Worth Telling” – Scott Pelley – CBS News anchor – really enjoyed the book – kept me company in California
second time – and I probably would’ve titled the blog about it the same way 20 years ago:)
“Fabulous Monsters” – book on fascinating characters throughout Literature – there was a summer book shout out (Treasure Island) – so that was cool
“Furious Hours” – great book – all about Harper Lee’s tie to Alex City – really recommendable
“Breakfast at Tiffany’s and Other Voices, Other Rooms” – Truman Capote’s work – I had never read anything of his – although, Tiffany’s felt familiar at times – enjoyed read it – he was a wonderful writer
“Wink, Poppy, Midnight” – this is what happens when it’s the start of a weekend and you need a book and you spend forever staring at the YA titles in the library and you finally go with the cover you like – you pay a steep, steep price:)
“Let Your Mind Run” – book by ’04 marathon medalist, Deena Kastor – loved the book
“Fifth Avenue: 5 am” – book about how Breakfast at Tiffany’s became a movie – it’s a classic movie – that I still have yet to see – but I found the backstory amazing – starting with the fact that the movie is nothing like the book:)
“Fairy Tales for Fearless Girls” – trying to keep in shape for our fairy tales this year
“No Ivy League” – YA graphic novel that’s non-fiction – based on the author’s summer work 10 years ago
“Between Heaven and the Real World” – SCC book – second time to read it – enjoyed it – and learned a bit something new the second go-round
“One Person, No Vote” – YA adaptation – lots in there about Alabama – although, I doubt anyone would be proud of it:)
j
“First” – right after RBG – a book on O’Connor – the first female supreme – enjoyed this book as well as RBG – fun footnote – I started looking up all the times our state has lost Supreme Court decisions – rather depressing:)
“Chasing Grace” – will be on our bookshelf this fall – from Ms. Blount – enjoyed the book – very compelling story – and sad
“Born to Run” – Springsteen’s biography – great book – I’m not the fan that others are – but it has made me want to listen to his music more:)
“Running with Sherman” – great book from Born to Run author – really loved the book – and you don’t have to run to enjoy it – really, any animal lover would love the book
j
so I started off my reading furiously – but then, I decided to make it a “big book” summer – we’ll see if i follow through:)
“roll of thunder, hear my cry” – classic YA – had just never read it – would be an excellent book to teach from – very recommendable
“into the blizzard” – excellent new YA non-fiction – looked up the story after i read this one – was also great b/c it was immediately available as I wanted to get checked out the last day of school:)
“my shot” – delle donne biography – very recommendable – liked it for many reasons – and it’ll be on our shelf this year for you to read:)
“love your enemies” – great book about my relationship with sixth grade parents – kidding – great book about conservatives and liberals learning to love each other – instead of “other”izing each other and holding each other in contempt
“cold mountain” – high school summer reading book – at least, it was – maybe not anymore – but i had a copy from a former student – so it was a nice gift in that aspect
“ruth bader ginsburg” – really enjoyed this book – just needed the time to get through all 540 pages of it – so it was a good summer choice in that i had time to enjoy it
pretty quiet around here – not that it’s a bad thing:)
“elvis in vegas” – cool book I can share with my mom – just about how Vegas developed – how Elvis came back – which was good at first – of course, anything about Elvis is rather sad – stardom pays a great price
“stranger things: darkness on the edge of town” – again, one I could share with my mom – companion to the series
“running to glory” – great book – xc in washington state – a high school team – just loved it for so many reasons – kids can be so brave when they attempt big things – adults who work with them for 30-plus years – like Mister – deserve praise
oh, i am punny…
“upon further review” – great book about sports “what if?s” – enjoyed it thoroughly – highly creative – my favorite piece being the one about the fan letter that destroyed the phoenix suns in 1993
“running life matters” – really enjoyed this one – was just one i picked up when i didn’t have anything else – it was a great surprise – running wisdom from an elder:)
“shortest way home” – great book – buttigieg is running for prez – he makes waves occasionally – outside of politics, just his story – and what he’s done as mayor – those were cool things to read about
“mockingbird songs” – again, needed a book – this one wasn’t as good – pretty self-serving “Hey, look, i was friends with harper lee – and i have the letters to prove it!”
“something needs to change” – from my former pastor at Brook Hills – david platt – was actually about a trip he took when he was there – so i started reading it thinking it was current but also thinking, “i think i’ve heard this before” – and i had:)
j
“Amazing Racers” – great book about xc running in NY – about the coach and the incredible program he’s built over time – the hard work that’s gone into the school’s success – enjoyed the book – a whole lot
“Shout” – powerful book by Laurie Halse Anderson – who made my month by Tweeting at me:) sad book – but one that was needed to be written – in many ways, an extension of “Speak”
“Slayer” – new Buffyverse book – meh…
“Not Forsaken” – new book on Fathers – and the Father – by Louie Giglio – enjoyed the book – a lot
“Middle School Matters” – great new book – for parents – but works for educators as well – very practical – and very needed
“Life is a marathon” – great book by a great author – and he has a trooper for a wife
“Don’t Stop Believin” Olivia Newton John’s biography – mom read it in a day – so the pressure was on for me to do the same
“willie’s boys” – great book on the black barons – and the ’48 season – really enjoyed the book
“the heritage” – another great book i read over the break – probably the best book i’ve read in a while – it’s on the book shelf now – traced the history of protest in sports by African-Americans
“son of havanna” – luis tiant biography – great for the start of baseball season
“the uninhabitable earth” – sad book – hard to read at times – the author did a great job though – good writing – just a tough subject
“go see the principal” – i think we saw this guy on professional development videos – funny read
j
“when the game was ours” – great find at the local thrift store – the bird-magic dynamic – from both of them – really, a fun read – especially with march madness beginning
“team of vipers” – so you start a book thinking it’s about one thing, and lo and behold, it’s about your church! 🙂 the book was definitely not what i expected – i had not expected a trump defense – although, it makes sense b/c the guy worked for him – i had not expected the book to begin with ex-gov bentley – ugh – and i hadn’t expected the mix of faith into the book – again, Sims ended up having been a member at my church – so it was definitely more significant to me than i think the larger audience who’s praised/panned it
j
“in pieces” – sad book from sally field – my mother read it in the fall – i’m just amazed at what people – men in particular – can do to others – w/o conscious – it’s maddening – but the book was profoundly sad
“the elephant in the room” – a great, great book – a sportswriter’s view on his morbid obesity – it reminded me of my father’s struggle – it reminded of me as a fat kid growing up – i empathized greatly with the author’s battle – his honesty in the work was wonderful – highly recommended book
“yells for ourselves” – book on the mets teams from 1999-2000 – painstakingly reconstructed
j