Author: Don Aker

I first met Aker five years ago when he gave a presentation to a group of students at the school I was working at. Similar to many teacher-turned-authors, his journey began in the classroom as a means of hooking students on reading.

Running on Empty is a clear example of someone who knows their audience. The main character, Ethan, is a prime example of an entitled young person who can’t see beyond himself. This makes you frustrated with him and recognizing he probably matches the personality of someone you may know (to some degree). For a young adult, it will probably resonate closely as they will most likely be able to put someone they know directly in those shoes.

Quick summary: Ethan wants a car, smashes up his rich dad’s vehicle, is forced to pay the repairs as a lesson and tries to find a way to build his savings to buy the car. As you can imagine, the plot revolves around the method he uses to build up that savings.

While enjoyable and page turning, at no point did I ever empathize with Ethan. Even in his “turning point” moments, I kind of shrugged and kept going. In some respects, I do applaud Aker for not giving him much growth as it portrays a realistic picture of a person who can’t see beyond themselves. While Ethan started his transition at the end of the book, some people take longer… much longer… and with even harder lessons.

A great read, especially for students.

Author: E. Lockhart

When a librarian recommends a book to you, there’s some assurance it has been vetted through a filter of knowing both literature and what you would enjoy.

This book is a mystery that doesn’t unfold until the very last moment, which sounds great, but the build-up to the payoff felt long. Very long.

Some of the biggest criticisms levied against this book was the sentence structure (fragmented sentences not written in verse), however, I listened to the audiobook and can’t comment on it. What I can comment on is the execution of what is, overall, a coming of age story… kind of…

If your coming of age story is about a bunch of rich kids who are dealing with first world problems and do nothing but talk all day long, then yes.

The ending was fantastic. The lead-up?

Felt like a grind.

I can see why this book was recommended to me, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it with the same enthusiasm to others. It’s a shorter book with a great ending… if you’re willing to make it there.

Author: Kelly Gallagher

There are a glut of books on education and while most of them have nuggets of ideas, or motivational boosts, it’s hard to find one you will reference and use as a mine of usefulness.

Gallagher did just that with this release.

At its core, this book is about teaching students to write in a way that is engaging, authentic and educational. It’s based on the teacher being the writing mentor, demonstrating how to write by doing it in front of their students. It’s brilliant because it takes away the mystique of the writing process itself and gives students an exemplar.

What makes this book really useful, however, are the endless exercises (with examples) Gallagher provides. Reading each one instilled excitement as I could see myself doing it with my own students while cursing I didn’t read this at the beginning of the year.

This book stays close to me as it’s now being referenced on almost a daily basis. If you’re a teacher and you teach writing in any capacity, this is worth picking up.

Author: Jay Mathews

If you’ve seen the movie “Stand and Deliver,” you have a grip on what this book is about. It’s the life story of Jaime Escalante who became famous for taking a failing school in East Los Angeles and churning out a high number of students who could pass the Advanced Placement Calculus exam.

It really boils down to him being a master teacher.

While his profile hit the national (international, really) spotlight when some of his students were accused of cheating during this exam, the part that dumbfounded people were the students themselves who were taking it. These were not students expected to perform at such an advanced level.

How did he do it?

Reading his life story and the techniques he used are still inspiring to this day. While we have better tools than what was available to him in the early 80s, the core of how he got his students on board are timeless, universal principles:

Build rapport with your students, show them you care and set high expectations.

I still remember the advice my aunt gave to me as a beginning teacher. She was a person who was well loved by students and staff alike, some of which were my own friends who hated school and everything about it… except her class. When I prompted her for the secrets to her success, she had this to say:

“Just get the students on board with you. Once that happens, you can take them anywhere.”

Getting them on board with you, however, requires an incredible amount of effort, which is often overlooked by a generation of people looking for shortcuts. This is what makes this book refreshing — it shows that no single tool or lesson plan will get students performing at a high level. That task still belongs to the teacher and more specifically, the teacher at heart.

Author: Rick Yancey
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The final book in The 5th Wave series, which was read to ease my curiosity about all the loose ends and mysteries from the previous books. In the future, if I decide to read a series, I’ll do the entire series in one review (provided the author has written them and I’m late to the party).

First, good for Yancey to write a YA series that had me wanting to read it to its conclusion.

Does this series wrap up nicely? Yes.

I think it ends on exactly the note it should have, even if it is a depressing one. Without giving away any spoilers, your faith in humanity will be exactly where you left it.

Did it keep my interest as the previous two? Not quite.

The characters all seemed to have transformed into different people between the second and third book, making it hard to really care about them in the same way I did in the first. By change, I don’t mean character development, but written as different people all together.

It felt like a decision couldn’t be made about what direction to take them in, so just take them in every direction.

Overall, it is a satisfying series and I would recommend it to others considering it hooked me to the end. There’s enough mystery to keep you going and a payoff in the end to make you satisfied.

Author: Gordon Korman
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Gordon Korman was my go-to author in grades seven and eight. I think I managed to read out his entire library… a few times… and still would go back to read my favourites years later.

It was a joy to see his name come up again when looking for books for the young readers in my classroom. He’s still pumping out books and remaining relevant after twenty years, which is not something that can be said for most authors. An inspiration for me, really.

Slacker still has the voice and style I fell in love with back in the day. It chronicles a young Cameron Boxer who spends his entire time in the basement playing video games and avoiding any responsibility. So far, pretty relatable to many of my students.

However, his life takes a turn for the worse when he almost burns down his house during one of his gaming sessions and he’s forced to show some involvement in his school. This is when the book becomes real to some of my students/turns into their nightmare come true. As one student said, “this felt a little too close to home.”

Through antics, characters and hilarity that Korman can deliver, Cameron finds himself in the midst of one situation after another that can only be solved by his complete slacker persona.

I loved jumping back into the well of my childhood and this book was a great entry into it. I’m looking forward to reading out Korman’s library again.

Author: Evelyn Underhill
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I was introduced to this author/mystic/powerhouse of a religious figure by my spiritual mentor many years ago. Understanding my need to go deeper, seek something further and look beyond what is immediately in front of me, he suggested I read her as a contemporary voice in the field.

Being familiar with many in the mystic tradition and their source books (mainly in the Christian and Jewish strands), I was thrilled to encounter Underhill. The fact she has a dedicated following, but is grossly overlooked, is baffling but not surprising.  Women mystics tend to be ignored unless they managed to reach astronomical heights that could not be overlooked.

This book is a look at the spiritual life of a person living in the world today. Today being an operative word for the time it was written, which was close to a century ago, however it still feels relevant to this very day that I write this review. While the language is dated, the thinking is not.

If you’re willing to wrestle with the content, do some deep thinking and take your time to contemplate the message she is giving, you will be rewarded. This offers more substance than the glut of “helpful” books out there whether they’re related to the spiritual life or general self-help.

Along the way, you will get a better understanding and appreciation for Mysticism: what it is and how to look at it correctly. There’s nothing watered down about what she is teaching and it should be approached with a level of respect for that reason.

The digital version was compiled together by a group of volunteers and has been posted online for free. You can read it through Gutenberg Press (link above).

For something timeless, helpful and free, it’s worth the effort to work through.

Author: Rick Yancey
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After reading the first book in the series, I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to continue. However, there were enough hanging threads to keep me going.

I would categorize this book in two parts.

Part 1 – Tie together the previous book and setup the third.

Part 2 – The adventure of Ringer.

Part two is where this book really picks up and provides the payoff to the reader for continuing the series. It has its adventuresome and action packed sequences, but these are secondary to the mysteries that unfold and other mysteries that show up.

It gets dark as the hope for humanity dwindles in its survival and Yancey’s portrayal of what it means to be human. It is not a pleasant picture, which gives something for the reader to struggle through.

There was enough in here to keep someone interested until part three, at which point, you’re committed to the end. It’s quite the ride.

Author: Angela Saini
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Sometimes a book comes along that gets you thinking in a direction you never considered. They challenge you, force you to think differently and activate your fight or flight mechanism.

These are the books I treasure the most and reading Inferior almost put it on my list.

While you would be hard pressed to sway me from my feminist upbringing (household of four very strong women plus a concentration in feminist ethics during my undergrad degree), there is still this overlying narrative running in my head about differences between men and women. Much of that I confess, has to do with the gender classes that emphasize patriarchy as a systemic framework in which we live.

In other words, it’s hard to say there’s no difference between men and women and we should rid ourselves of the distinction when you have professors pointing their fingers at men and categorizing them as the problem.

Saini does a great job at unearthing the science to show how gender differences really are a social construct and biologically speaking, the differences are far and few between. There were points where I nodded in enlightenment and other points where I wanted to challenge what was being presented (especially the section on hormones… something I’m incredibly familiar with in my own medical history).

The supposed objectivity of her findings also caused me to squint in confusion. Sometimes she would pick a biological approach and other times it would be a social one making the evidence a forced fit into the author’s thesis.

Overall, a really solid read if you are unfamiliar with any of the scientific arguments in gender theory.

Author: Bernadette Jiwa
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On the recommendation of Seth Godin, I picked this up, however, it wasn’t quite what I expected.

It’s a marketing book, but not quite a how-to guide. Rather, Jiwa clearly articulates the need to tell your (or your business’) story as the core of what you do.

There were a few gems to walk away with, especially in the first part of the book. My favourite is your marketing should be an amplification of your story, not a manipulation of it.

When you revolve your business around your story, the marketing stands on its own. One example is Steve Jobs demanding the circuit boards in Apple’s devices look good and have symmetry even though nobody would ever see them.

The second part of the book spends its time analyzing many different businesses and their stories. While it was nice to see a variety, my eyes were glazing over pouring through all of them.

Overall, some solid takeaways and a refreshing discourse to hear rather than the glut of business books that focus your attention to one particular strategy and tactic.