Author: Dan Gemeinhart

I wish this book wasn’t labelled as young adult or juvenile fiction.

People were raving about this book and after falling in love with the cover (it kind of reminded me of Into the Wild), I picked it up. After reading the first few pages, I really wished this book wasn’t labelled for a younger audience.

The writing is beautiful, the story is compelling and the characters are rich. I blasted through this book in no time and recommended it to my wife before even finishing it (we rarely recommend books to each other unless we know for certain the other person would enjoy it).

This book is an enjoyable and heartfelt tale that takes you through the heart of family, friends, loss and the open road. It seems simple on the surface, but there’s so much in here for any audience that it’s worth recommending to anyone–especially if you love road trips.

Yes, there’s some suspension of belief that’s needed for this story to work and Gemeinhart literally packed every social issue on one bus, but all fiction has an element of escapism that’s anchored in the surreal. It’s all about whether you’re willing to let your imagination go along for the ride.

In this case, it’s worth it.

Author: Arthur C. Clarke

Okay, I finally get it.

You’d think as a huge fan of science-fiction, I would’ve read one of its most seminal texts. Nope.

Didn’t even see the movie.

It was always in my buffer. One of those, “You really need to read and see this because, how could you not?”

Well, fine, I finally parked my butt and read the book in a day while a feeling of satisfaction washed over me when I finished. Even though this is a popular text written in the late 60s, it still feels fresh.

Give this book to someone who has no clue it’s a classic and they’ll believe it was written recently, then dumbfounded there’s a movie to go along with it… which, by the way, I found out was written in tandem with the book.

The book still opens up the possibilities of the future of humankind, including the dark side of A.I., while offering reflection on our origin story and purpose in this universe. You would almost hope that a monolith will suddenly appear on the moon to show us the way.

Even though it took forever, I’m glad I finally read it. I get it, get the many cultural references to it and have a better understanding of Christopher Nolan’s nod towards it in Interstellar.

I can also fully appreciate the license plate my buddy Thomas Jast gave to one of his characters (likeness based on me… loosely) Victor Montebello: XD1 TIMC. It’s a license plate I’ll be sure to own now.

Author: Mary Oliver

If you’ve ever ventured into one of Mary Oliver’s poems, you are immediately pulled beneath the surface of the words into an entirely different world. It’s a world in which you notice the intricacy of everything around you, reuniting once again with a forgotten friend that you can’t quite name, but know.

Her poems aren’t something you merely skim through (no poetry should be read that way), but savor.

This book is a detour away from her poetry into a collection of essays, chronicling the incredible level of detail she pays attention to in the gamut of daily life. Seriously–there was an entire section on a spider spinning its web near the stairwell of a house she was renting.

It was beautifully told and caused you to wonder about the miracles happening around you that only require some attention to see. Made me realize if I made the same attempt at such an endeavour, the reader would be treated to the enthralling noises my cereal makes as it pours into a bowl.

A wonderful collection of essays that give a glimpse behind the giant of poetry our world had the pleasure of knowing.

Author: M.G. Hennessy

“Sir, I have a book you need to read.”

I can’t say no to a student when they have a book suggestion. After all, it’s because of their recommendations I’ve read some pretty incredible titles the past few years.

After reading the synopsis, the intrigue level went right up. What if you had a secret that could expose you to the worst of school bullying, betray your best friend and cause you to go into hiding?

Enter Shane, a boy who is transitioning and going through the turmoil of a young person having to work through this big decision. At its heart, however, this is a story about friendship and secrets.

The first thing I appreciated is the text is very accessible and the narrator is believable. It gives the reader a glimpse into a world with thoughts someone outside the transgendered community wouldn’t even consider, bringing them down to the emotional level of what is happening.

It’s a fast-paced narrative and while the author slips away from the character periodically, it doesn’t detract too much from the main conflict. This book easily fits on the shelf of any middle-grade classroom (and above) as it pulls on mature themes without pushing beyond the boundary of the young narrator.

Yet, as an adult, there are additional layers to be appreciated–especially those who are parents. So yes, in the end, it was a book I needed to read.

Author: Nate Staniforth

Normally when I finish a book, I let it sit a while before coming back to write a review. It’s kind of a spaced repetition technique to help me remember the finer points that stood out.

Not this one.

I had to write this right away because this is the best damned book I’ve read in the past five years. I don’t say that lightly either, especially when you consider the volume at which I read.

First, my history with Nate Staniforth.

Nate is a professional magician from Iowa and he doesn’t know me personally, or at all. I saw a clip of him over fifteen years ago on Ellusionist performing a card trick and liked him instantly. The guy just exuded authenticity and he comes across as one of those people you instantly like the moment you meet them.

Then I bought his DVD, Spellbinder, and it’s one of the very few DVDs I still kept after doing my great purging of physical mediums.

In this DVD, Nate was touching upon something that had nagged at me as an early magician – how can you give the audience a sense of wonder with magic as your medium?

How can you get the audience to be participants in the magic and feel it as authentic without you (the magician) pretending to be a real wizard? You see, I wanted to do magic because I loved the awe of the universe.

I wanted people to see magic as an art.

And like any art, the goal is to dig into the well of human emotion and experience. To bring forward what we spend every day trying to suppress or to name something we could never put our finger on.

I didn’t want people to see magic as nothing more than cheap parlour tricks and Nate and I seemed to be on the same wavelength about it.

That’s when I became a fan.

He sparked an inner dialogue that got me thinking about magic in a different way, to connect it to other parts of my life, to write an article about it on Tommy|Zor that got the attention of Chris Kenner (David Copperfield’s executive producer) – who called me up about it and we chatted for an hour on the nature of magic as an art – to speaking at an Ignite Culture event, to even writing a novella (to be published in the near future) with this dialogue running through my subconscious.

My early readers told me it was the best writing I’ve ever done and one of my partners in eVw said I need to make a series out of it… and he hates everything.

I haven’t even gotten to the book, but you might be able to see why I loved it so much. It was personal.

Deeply personal.

Nate pursued his passion with the upmost ferocity and I shifted to writing while bowing out of the magic world. In doing so, much of that drive I had, the philosophical underpinnings of being a magician, went dormant.

With it, if I’m being honest, went some of my spark of life.

Then one night recently, my longing for that world again tapped me on the shoulder and I found this book.

It is the journey of Nate trying to find that real sense of wonder, burning out as a performer and discovering some hard truths about magic as an art on a purposeful trip to India (a country desperately trying to rid itself of its image as a land full of magic and mystery).

Nate is honest and you feel that honesty come out in every sentence.

I powered through this book, clutching on to every word while reading late into the night and waking up early to finish as before my kids woke up. It woke up that part of me that went dormant, bringing life back to something so close to my inner being.

It got me connecting my former life as a magician to my life as a teacher right now. You see, a good teacher isn’t someone who is passionate about their subject area – they’re passionate about sharing that subject with others.

A good magician is the same way. They don’t love magic – they love sharing it with others.

That’s what makes someone love a teacher.

That’s what makes someone love a magician.

That’s what makes someone love another person.

While it could read as a memoir (albeit a very good one), if you’re open to the possibility of wonder, Nate will share with you what he’s learned and you won’t be disappointed.

There’s so much to be gained if you keep your eyes open.

Authors: Kelly Gallagher and Penny Kittle

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of these two power house teachers. Having read their previous materials, this one was a no-brainer because it was the two of them… together… explaining how they do what they do and make it all “fit.”

After one read through, I knew I would have to go back and go into detail. There’s so much happening in this book that to help you along, there are videos to show you what happens in their classroom. However, that isn’t enough to absorb it all in one go.

There were many questions left unanswered on exactly how their 180 day plan plays out. With any resource, you can easily get overwhelmed with trying to do everything suggested and it’s best to siphon it in appropriately. But–I was still missing the big picture.

For some reason, and it had more to do with my apprehension, I was still failing to see how it could be implemented.

Then I had the fortunate chance to see the two at a three-day conference where they showed us how this works. It included their beliefs, the micro level, the macro level, what worked really well and what they were doing differently this year.

It all made sense.

Now I’m excited to start bringing in their blueprint into my classroom, adding my own twists, creativity and flair to an already solid foundation.

If you’ve never read anything by either of these teachers before, this book is a great entryway. Fair warning–you will feel overwhelmed after your first read through. You will also be overwhelmed if you try to do everything all at once they suggest.

Keep in mind they have over 70 years experience between the two. That’s something you cannot emulate on your first run through, but it does give you something to strive for as you hammer away at the teaching craft.

And no, you do not to see them live to appreciate the resource they’ve put together. Again, that had more to do with me, but not anymore.

Author: Jeff Stone

“Here you go, daddy.”

My three year old thrust this book into my hands while spending time at the library. I’m assuming he was attracted to the light blue cover, but I thanked him and opened up to the first chapter to show I was interested.

It seemed like a fun book, so why not?

This is the start of a second novel series from Stone, taking place after the events from the first series. However, even though I didn’t read the first series, I was not at a loss coming into this one. It was setup in a way that allow the reader to dive right in.

At its core, this is the story of a grandson going out of his way to help his grandfather. Its dressing is bike racing and martial arts, which fit nicely.

Considering its audience of younger readers, it has enough depth to bring in an older reader like myself and the pace is enough to keep you flipping pages until the end. At no point, did I ever feel like the book was dragging.

Phoenix is a likeable character and while an audience familiar with the grandfather’s story would know more about him, I felt not knowing the history enticed me to read the first series. However, what really sparked me was how fitting this would be in my own classroom library.

It’s worth the read and you will walk away with a significant amount of knowledge about bikes and bike competitions.

Editor: Peter D. Kaufman

Most people have heard of the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffet, but not everyone is privy to his equally intelligent partner Charlie Munger. It’s the combination of the two that makes Berkshire-Hathaway such a formidable company with an unbeatable track record over the past half-century.

Part of the reason is Charlie’s reluctance to be in the spotlight, or say much during their meetings. Buffet does most of the talking and is interviewed quite frequently.

This is the first (and only) book that compiles the lectures, wisdom and interviews of Munger  in one place. Its purpose is for you to get to know him and to absorb some of his wisdom.

I should warn you there is only one format for this book: a giant, oversized hardcover that is cumbersome to hold and annoying to carry with you anywhere. Forget about reading this sucker in bed because it’s not going to happen.

The book does not hold back that Charlie is a smart man. He’s fiercely intelligent and shows no signs of deteoriation despite his age. His children describe him as a “book with legs,” and I howl at the comment because that’s me… although my wife tells me if I want to continue being that way around the kids, there better be a billion dollars in assets nearby.

If I had to summarize the book, it would be with the following apocryphal story that is his favourite to tell:

I frequently tell the apocryphal story about how Max Planck, after he won the Nobel Prize, went around Germany giving the same standard lecture on the new quantum mechanics.

Over time, his chauffeur memorized the lecture and said, “Would you mind, Professor Planck, because it’s so boring to stay in our routine. [What if] I gave the lecture in Munich and you just sat in front wearing my chauffeur’s hat?” Planck said, “Why not?” And the chauffeur got up and gave this long lecture on quantum mechanics. After which a physics professor stood up and asked a perfectly ghastly question. The speaker said, “Well I’m surprised that in an advanced city like Munich I get such an elementary question. I’m going to ask my chauffeur to reply.”

He goes on to explain there’s a distinction between Planck knowledge and chauffeur knowledge. Planck knowledge is earned and shows true understanding of the world. Chauffeur knowledge is people shooting their mouths off pretending to know what they’re talking about, but really just re-hashing sound bytes heard elsewhere.

We’re a society plagued by chauffeur knowledge (especially our politicians) and it’s our duty to fill ourselves with Planck knowledge. This book is Munger’s attempt to move us in that direction.

A formidable read.

Sometimes it takes a master of the craft to put you in your place.

While I’ve gushed over the work of Rusch before (including being an avid fan of her blog), to learn her history with writing is downright inspiring.

I’ve read many books on productivity, both in general and related to writing, but Rusch puts them all to shame. She’s been writing for decades under many pen names and has done it all with chronic illness.

It’s her sheer output, coupled with the many awards she’s won, while having days where she could barely function that makes you feel inadequate. With all the health and tools in the world to make the process easy, you really feel shameful for not producing even slightly more.

Reading her story, suggestions and process felt like reading about the pulp fiction writers all over again—people who just sat down and wrote like crazy for years on end… mainly one draft writers on typewriters. Could you imagine if they had computers?

While the sections on writing advice where greatly appreciated, it was also good to hear about her struggle with headaches, scents and food allergies. As someone who works in a high school where the defacto standard seems to be enveloping the halls with body-spray (I have yet to meet a person who finds the scent of cheap body-spray even slightly attractive), her story opened up a new world with my own students.

I know something else to look for in the classroom when a young person is looking sick or uncomfortable.

What I appreciate most about this book is its presentation.

It’s honest.

There’s no clickbait title and promises of lucrative writing careers if you follow the formula, or buy the accompanying course which teaches the “deeper lessons.” For that reason, you know what you’re getting into and it’s wonderfully done.

Author: Kris Nelscott

When you sit down to read a mystery novel, you hope to be surprised with what you find. Certain mysteries are too predictable from the onset and others leave you disappointed because it just falls apart.

This is definitely in the happy surprise category.

In the backdrop of a historical Memphis, right up to the execution of Martin Luther King Jr., we have an African-American P.I., Smokey Dalton, taking a case from a young white Laura Hathaway.

Right away, Nelscott (pen name of Kristine Kathryn Rusch), sucks you into the world. Her ability to grip the reader and keep them stuck to the page is spectacular.

You actually feel that you are in Memphis during the time and working alongside Dalton as he takes this case presented to him. Then, once you’re locked in, the surprises start popping up.

I don’t just mean the final reveal (although that was good too), but just where this book goes seems unconventional for a mystery and it works so well. If I had to take a guess, it would be there’s a real storyline woven in here.

You’re hooked to the story and stay for the mystery.

After reading many budding authors, some great and some with great potential, it’s always a pleasure to come back to someone who is a master at her craft. Couldn’t recommend this enough.