January Books

New year, new book goals, and I'm off to a running start!  I even got one more book finished right at the end of the month, which I wasn't expecting to do.

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Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
3 Stars

I had two classes that chose this as their novel to read for reading class.  I always reread the books as my classes do so that I can stay on top of what I need to discuss (or not mention yet!) with them.  It helps me refresh my memory for going over their tasks.

I'm not a huge fan of this book, but the kids like it.  Either way, it counts as reading!

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Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
4 Stars

One of my classes chose this one as their novel for reading class.  Despite this not being "my kind" of story, it's actually a really good book, and both girls and boys really enjoy it!

The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was disappointed with this book. I didn't hate it, but I definitely didn't love it. Rivers's book Redeeming Love is an amazing book, and this one just did not live up to that for me.

If you're not familiar, Rivers is a Christian author. As you can see in the synopsis, the main character, Dynah, is raped and becomes pregnant is faced with a choice. What annoyed me about this book is the lack of compassion from the Christian characters mainly Dynah's fiance and the Dean of the Christian college they attended. It also really bothered me that for the first half of the book, everyone's reaction to Dynah's options was that she needed to have an abortion or have and keep the child. Adoption wasn't even mentioned until over halfway through the book. 

While obviously no one, including Christians, is perfect, I felt like this book did not reflect Christians well. That disappointed me coming from this author. People were angry, bitter, pushy, and mean. I did really like Dynah as a character, and I also really loved the character of Joe. Dynah was a beautiful character whom I felt was realistic. She ultimately comes to terms with her situation and makes a decision, and the ending did wrap up nicely. I just wish that the story would have reflected people better overall.

Advancing Differentiation: Thinking and Learning for the 21st Century by Richard M. Cash

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


My school district chose to use this book as a book study for the first half of the school year. We finished reading it on January 16th as part of our in-service day activities. Apparently, the author is coming to our in-service in February, so that's pretty neat. But ultimately, reading texts like this just leaves me feeling overwhelmed.

When you read a book like this the ideas are great and everything sounds wonderful, but that is in the ideal class, in the idea school district, in the ideal state....and I'm sorry, but NOWHERE is that perfect. Differentiation is important, and good teachers do it (or certainly try to!) every single day. But some days, it doesn't matter what I do as an educator, there are students who just aren't going to engage or "get" it. After awhile, the book deviated from differentiation and started discussing A LOT about teaching students how to think differently. That's nice and all, but it felt like the ways the author presented to go about it would just require time that we don't have! With the demands we have to not only teach our curriculum but to meet state requirements for testing and constantly testing students up until those tests, I just can't wrap my head around how things like this should work.

At one point during the reading of this text, I literally grabbed my pen and wrote, "Seriously? When are we supposed to do this?"

Needless to say, this wasn't the best professional development text I've ever read.


The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really liked this book! I had read Kate Morton's "The Lake House" before, and while I liked that one, this book is way better! While there were confusing parts at times, they helped to move the story along and keep me guessing until pieces started to come together at the end. I can definitely say, the ending took me completely by surprise, and I liked that!


I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Sophie Kinsella never disappoints me. I borrowed this book as an eBook from my local library. I got an email that my loan was about to expire, and even though I was enjoying it, I just hadn't been putting a lot of time into reading. So I cracked down on Saturday (1/28) and finished it rather quickly! As usual, Kinsella creates a likable protagonist in Poppy. I love the craziness of the way the characters come together in this story, and it was just a light, easy read.



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In light of sneaking in an extra book this month that I didn't think I would actually finish until February, I decided to up my goal on the Goodreads challenge from 20 to 25.  If things keep going like this, I might even up it to 30.  I'm 5 books ahead of schedule right now, so I'm pretty proud of myself.  :)

What have you read so far in 2017? 

December Books

Ah, December.  The last month of the year, and the last chance to finish my goal of 40 books for 2016.  Here's how it turned out:


At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I had listened to Sara Gruen's Water for Elephants on Audible, and as I was looking for eBooks to borrow from my local public library, I came across this one. I really loved how the relationships changed and developed throughout the story, and I grew to really love Maddie the more that the story went on.


Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I LOVE Lauren Graham. This book was a quick and fun listen. I really enjoyed hearing her perspective about working in on Gilmore Girls, Parenthood, and Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life. She tells her story with just the right amount of sarcasm and humor, and I loved it!


The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I've been struggling with what I want to read. I just haven't been in the mood for most books. SO I picked up an old favorite. I LOVE this book. I'm a huge fan of time travel stories, and I love the characters of Clare and Henry. This book is always worth another read, and I'm glad I picked it up again.


Brian's Winter by Gary Paulsen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


An interesting perspective of how Brian's winter would have gone if he had remained stranded in the Canadian North Woods. I will definitely be recommending this one to my students after they've read Hatchet!



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I did it!  I read 40/40 books in 2016!

Somehow, I've also become a person who doesn't finish books.  It's possibly because of the mood I'm in where I don't know exactly what I want to be reading.  So if something doesn't capture my attention, I'm more willing to stop reading (particularly if it's an audio book from Audible, since they have a great return policy).

Books I didn't finish this month:

Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella 
I will actually go back to this book.  I got it from Audible, and I could not STAND the narrator.  Her voice was bad enough as Becky (this was not the same narrator as the Shopaholic book I "read" last month), but when she altered her voice to speak for Luke, I threw in the towel.  I'll get this book in paper or eBook form.

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn
My local library recently connected with other libraries in my area to offer eBooks and audio books for borrowing (as I mentioned in my review about At the Water's Edge).  I thought I'd give this one a go since I loved Gone Girl, but I just couldn't get into it.  I may come back to it in the future, but with the end of the year approaching, I needed books I could get into and read pretty quickly to meet my reading goal!

I've signed up for the Goodreads challenge again for 2017.  This year, I decided it was necessary to cut my goal from 2016 in half.  My goal for 2017 is to read 20 books. I have to be realistic.  I have a baby coming.  In May, my life is going to change drastically, and I really don't know how much time I will have for reading.  I decided that 20 was pretty reasonable.  If I end up doing better than that...great!  But I'd rather play it safe and surpass than to be too ambitious and miss the mark.

What are your reading goals for 2017?  Any book recommendations from 2016?