Finishing out 2012

The final books for 2012 have been read, and my tally of books read is...30. I fell short of the goal I set for myself last year, but I read 12 more books than I did in 2011. This year, game on. I have set a lofty goal for myself in 2013. My goal is to read 52 books this year. I would have to read at least a book a week to meet my goal. It's going to be tough, but I think I am up for the challenge this year. I've read The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller, and because I set a goal for my students at school (40 books a year), I must set one for myself as well. I did not count any of the books I read to children at school. If that were the case, I would have had a significantly large number.

If you haven't read Book Whisperer you should definitely buy it. It will change the way you look at reading instruction, and reading practices in school. Changing the way we look at the status quo is a GOOD thing, because we need a major overhaul of our current educational practices in reading education. It is broken!

The last two books I read in 2012 were On the Island by Tracey Garvis Graves, and That Night's Train by Ahmad Akbarpour.

On the Island is a book about two people, Anna and TJ, who end up on an island together. The movie Blue Lagoon comes to mind when you are reading some of the events that take place. I do not want to give away too much, just to say that it is a page turner, especially toward the end. I especially loved that when I flipped though to the end, I found out she first started this book as a self-published e-pub, and it gained so much popularity, she was picked up by Plume. It was fantastic to find that out, and well deserved! 

On the Island-Amazon

This was a book that was wrought with symbolism, and meaning. I come from an Iranian father, and I picked this book up in New York because it was written by an Iranian. It is a very short read, and the main character, Banafsheh, meets a teacher on the train. The teacher agrees to call Banafsheh, but never does. Until later...what happens to them in the end? Even I don't really know. If you are teaching symbolism, this book would be perfect!