Showing posts with label Informational. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Informational. Show all posts

Sunday, December 31, 2023

40 Lives in 40 Days by John MacArthur



Genre: Christian, Inspirational, Informational

Source: I purchased a copy

The author takes us on a trip through the lives of forty different Biblical people. He starts with some of the disciples and continues to other important people. I found his description of Thomas, also known as “Doubting Thomas” funny. He said that Thomas was a worrier. It was pointed out that he was so connected to Christ that he would rather die with him than be apart from him. The author compared him to “Eeyore” from the “Winnie the Pooh” book.  He speaks of Abraham’s wife Sarah as an example of what happens when we try to take matters into our own hands. It never works out right.  Rahab is an example of how God reaches down to the lowest of the low.  I was surprised by how many women he spoke about. This is a wonderful book that can be applied to all of our lives.


Monday, November 29, 2021

Once Upon a Time by Sheryl Green



Genre: Informational writing

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Chapter 1 gets you right into the writing. The author of this book gives ten writing prompts and then does something wonderful. She asks two or three questions about the prompt to help move the writer forward. That is one thing my students often struggle with. They choose a prompt but don’t know how to move forward.

Chapter two deals with moving forward when you get writer’s block. She offers a lot of hints and tips to help you with this problem. Then you get ten more writing prompts.

Chapter three dealt with the elements of a story. You know what I am talking about. You create a world, and then populate that world with characters you have created.  Then you are given more tips and finally ten more writing prompts.

Chapter four is where the real work begins. You’ve written a story and this chapter teaches you how to make it better through editing and revision. This of course is followed by more tips and then ten more prompts.

This book is beneficial for children and adults alike. I can see me using this in my classroom at school. I highly recommend this book

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Think Smart Not Hard: 52 Principles to Success and Happiness by Roy Huff



Genre: Self-help, Inspirational
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Heads up! This is probably one of the longest posts I've written in a long time.

This isn’t a book you can read through like a novel. I will even say that some parts may be difficult for you to read.  I grew up when I was younger thinking  that most everyone around me was much more talented than I was. That is unless you talked about teaching. I wanted to be a teacher from fourth grade on.  I was positive I would be a teacher, even when my family and friends told me all the reasons I didn’t want to be a teacher. The way we see and react to life shapes us.  The principles in this book were not new to me. I grew up from my teens on reading self-help and positive thinking books.  However, I never applied all the things I learned.  In Roy’s book, the first principle he mentions is forgiving those who don’t deserve it.   After reading that section I realized that I and my husband were both letting a situation hold us back. Instead of forgiving those involved we felt didn’t deserve it, we actually used it as an excuse.  That was the hardest principle to work on.

For years I let the fear of failure hold me back.  Then I learned about Thomas Edison and how many times he failed in his attempts to make a working lightbulb. His attitude was he wasn’t a failure, he just learned that many ways that it wouldn’t work.  As a teacher I am familiar with creating action plans. Since I am a National Board Certified Teacher and I teach at an IB school reflection has been a part of my life. We teach our students to reflect on their work daily, weekly, etc.  I and my fellow co-workers do the same. This is probably the most important part of my job.  However, I’ve also moved it into my personal life as well.   Principle # 13 was important to me for a multitude of reasons. Compartmentalizing teaches you to be fully present when attending a task. I have learned how to do that. But something Roy said rang so true in so many ways. He talked about how watching a TV program when someone keeps talking to you makes it harder for you to focus. I have an elderly mother who lives with me and this happens quite often when I am sitting in the same room with her trying to work or watch the news.  But it took reading this book for me to realize that I do this to my students. I give them a task, check for clarification, set them to work and the every once in a while I say something to them that pulls them right out of their work. This is something I am definitely working on correcting.

I laughed when I read that Principle #12 was “Make a Calendar”. My family and co-workers tease me about my calendars. Yes, I have one for my job, and one for my life. I even keep both together on an online calendar. But, at the beginning of my summer break I discovered something on my online calendar that changed my life. It was a simple button called “Tasks”. I had always ignored it. It combined several things into one. It  allowed me to get rid of my plethora of lists that I kept with each calendar. Now I can schedule it on my online calendar and prioritize things by creating a “Tasks” list.  Those who tease me about having two physical calendars don’t understand that if I have no access to my online calendar, I at least have the safety net of my physical ones.  We each must find what works for us.  Roy’s book is a list of great principals. What makes his book stand out from so many others are the personal stories and lessons that go along with them.  Those will resonate with you in so many ways.

 Other principles that I found of value was # 15 “Learn to Say No” and # 49 “Identify your weaknesses. These two have  always been my problem, and then I would get overwhelmed. We got a new assistant principal last year.  It was a particularly rough year for me. As department chair I took on all the tasks of my entirely new department.  It actually backfired because I was not able to do everyone else’s job and mine and do them adequately.  My AP is the one who helped me learn to say No.  He literally would step in and tell people no on my behalf until I became strong enough to do it on my own. It was him who pointed out that this was the only weakness he saw in me.  I take everything he says and truly think about it. Then I work on those areas that I know to be weaknesses.
Another principle was to choose to be happy.  I have always tried to be happy.  One of the reasons I allowed myself to feel like I was less talented than others in my family was because of something that happened in my family when I was a young teen. Some in my family belittled me because of the way I chose to handle the situation. It was a very depressing and devastating situation and I chose to move beyond it and be happy. For others in my family it became all consuming and created anger and bitterness. I learned a long time ago to choose happy. That doesn’t mean I am never sad.

Finally #’50 and 51 meant a lot to me. Number 50 says to do something small, but do it daily. For me that is writing. I don’t care if it is a poem. I couple of lines in my work in progress. I continually add to it each and every day. The other important one was # 51 which was Don’t give up when you get off track. Life will pull you off track. The trick is to work to get back on.  This has probably been the most beneficial of all of his principles. People fail in life because they get off track and give up. I choose not to give up. I have a student who was involved in a terrible accident last year. He missed most of the school year. Then had to be homeschooled for the rest of the year. He was comparing himself to other students in the classroom. I reminded him that after his accident we didn’t know if he would survive. He had to learn to walk and talk all over again. He can’t process things the way he used to. However, he has learned to break things down into little pieces and continue to move forward. I reminded him of the tortoise and the hare. He smiled and said, “the tortoise won because he kept moving forward.”  We have a right to not only read and learn from these principles but we have an obligation through our words and actions to share these principles with those around us.


I highly recommend this book.  It is a book I will refer back to often because there is so much to be learned and reminded of with this book.

Thursday, July 6, 2017

When Work Gets in Your Way or How to Forget to Post Reviews You Wrote

Every year I find reviews that I had written and never posted. How does that happen you ask? Well usually it happens when I have had a couple of days of downtime and tell my family that I am going to work on my book stack. My days are finished I go back to work and think to myself, "Well, I have an extra ten minutes of my planning period. I think I'll try to work on reviews for the books I read this weekend. "  Along the way the pages get ripped from my notebook and put into my calendar to be typed up. They get moved from there to any number of places and then forgotten. As I do every year at the end of the year I try to organize and clean up before I leave school.  When I am finally home I begin to do the same thing, clean and organize things on my bookshelves, my notebooks, and folders.
In this case, I was going through my composition notebooks preparing for my writing retreat and came across all types of papers. Some were notes to go into my writing notebook and some were school papers I'd scribbled a valuable writing idea on and kept the whole paper until I could transfer that small idea. In the midst of all of those papers I found not one book review, but ten I had written and never typed up.  So, I might as well get them up now. I have a couple of other books that when I see them on my TBR list I keep searching for their review because I've read the book but can't find where I wrote the review, and I know I wrote it.  Guess I need to just rewrite them and post them, because who knows when or where I will find them?  I hope you enjoy these reviews. These have been some of the most popular books in my classroom or with other teachers in my school.


Desires of the Dead by Kimberly Derting
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Source: Classroom shelves

This series has been one of my favorite. It is also one of the most stolen series in my classroom. I don’t know if they are keeping them, passing them on and they never return or what. I have bought this entire series twice just this year. Desires of the Dead is the second book in the Body Finder series. Violet has always been able to locate dead bodies. That doesn’t mean she can go into a graveyard blind folded and point them out. I’m talking about those bodies that have been disposed of.  Her family has been very supportive as has her boyfriend Jay.  This “gift” has been passed down in her family.  Unfortunately, in this book she has two people after her, the FBI and a creepy stalker. We see her relationship with Jay build, we meet new characters, Rafe and others. We see the toll this “gift” take on her and her relationships.  This is a series I would definitely recommend to more mature readers. On my shelves this one required parental permission because of some of the content and the fact I was teaching 6th graders.  I definitely recommend this book.



Skull Creek Stakeout by Eddie Jones
Genre: Middle Grade, Mystery
Source: Classroom Shelves

This is the second book in the Caden Chronicles and is what I call a clean read. Nick Caden has so many qualities for a reader to like. First and most important to me he loves to solve mysteries. He is trying to discover who murdered a man found dead on a golf course. As a fourteen year-old boy, Nick is a very likeable character for all ages who read this book.  My students will love the fact that he puts himself in danger to solve murders. In this book they will love the creep factor of an old mansion. Who wouldn’t feel creeped out if locked in a creepy old mansion? Dead Low Tied is the third book in this series. I have not yet read it, but it will be purchased for my shelves at school. If you have read any of Max Elliot Anderson’s “Sam Cooper” books you will definitely enjoy this series. Highly recommended and on the to be purchased list for my granddaughter for Christmas.



Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Source: Classroom Shelves

As so often happens I plan on reading a book, but because of all the hype behind it my students get before me. It doesn’t matter I have four copies of this book on my shelves. That just meant more students would get their hands on it. I will always let a student read it first unless they find it on my desk because I am trying to read it for a requested review from the author. Okay, sometimes I let them read it before me.  This book was awesome. In this conclusion to the trilogy we find those we loved throughout the books coping. They are coping with the devastation of a war that was largely thrust upon them. They are coping with physical and mental loss.  One thing I really loved about this book is that the author didn’t take the easy way out. She lets us see the effects war has on all parties and how each deals with it. She tied everything up neatly, yet for some they will hate the ending. Me, I loved it. Everyone wants a happily ever after ending. But, this is a realistic outcome.  I like that even better. It makes it relatable to everyone. Listening to my students talk about the book before I could read it and seeing the connections they made to real life and how something like this could really happen opened my eyes to how deep some of my students are.  Books like this make them really think about their future. That is why I loved this book and will continue to recommend it to my students.



The Cassini Code – Dom Testa

Genre: Middle Grade, Young Adult Science Fiction
Source: Classroom Shelves

The Cassini Code is the third book in The Galahad series. If you haven’t read the first two you must. I’ve had this book on my shelves for quite some time. The problem has been my students have had it checked out so much I’d not gotten to it. I took advantage of it coming in on a Friday to read it. Each book in the series seems to be better than the previous one. That to me is amazing since the first book has long been one of my favorites.  It becomes very obvious why Triana was chosen as leader. We have a new leader emerging. Merit has started a movement to return to Earth.  This discord keeps the tension going throughout the book. We have the same excellence with all of the other characters we’ve come to love, or hate and those who are freshly introduced to us.  My favorite is and probably always will be ROC. If you don’t know who this is then you definitely need to get the series and read it.



The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlit
Genre: Children, Middle Grade, Fantasy
Source: Classroom Shelves

I first purchased this book because of the cover. That rarely happens. This is a beautiful book both in story and the pictures within. Flory, a night fairy has lost her wings in a tragic accident. For most fairies this would have caused them to give up. Not so with Flory. She can’t fly, but she can survive and make the best of the situation. She makes friends with a squirrel and goes about life the best she can. Her one dream is to be able to fly again. This is a hopeful book, full of adventure. I am sure it will be loved by all who read it.




The Real Boy  by Anne Ursu

Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Source: Classroom Shelves

Oscar works for the magician Caleb. He works in the basement. He strikes up a friendship with Callie who is an apprentice to the village healer.  He is constantly tormented and put down by Wolf who also works for Caleb and thinks himself so much better than Caleb. One day Caleb disappears and Wolf gets killed. This means that Caleb must leave the basement and wait on the customers. He is shy and backwards, yet he truly has a gift. When the children of the village get very sick, Callie and Caleb set out to find out why, and to solve the problem. I loved the feeling of being vulnerable the author created with Caleb. With the boy ‘Wolf’ she created a perfect bully. One the reader could easily despise. Caleb is happy staying out of everyone’s way in the basement. He reads at night when he’s had nightmares. He waits until everyone is in bed then he sneaks into the Magician’s library and reads.  There is plenty of adventure and suspense in the book to keep you reading. The best part about all of it is the ending you don’t see coming.  This was one book that was consistently checked out of my classroom this last year.  Such an awesome and fun book to read.


Tuesdays at the Castle – Jessica Day George
Genre: Middle Grade, Fantasy
Source: Classroom Shelves

I absolutely loved this book. To me Castle Glower was almost like a character itself.  On Tuesday’s in particular the castle would get bored and create a new and hidden room. For our main character, eleven year old Celie would be off exploring the new addition. When Celie’s oldest brother graduates Wizard school her parents go off for his graduation.  This leaves siblings Celie, Rolf, and Lilah in the castle alone. Their parents are attacked on their journey and word gets back that they have been killed. As people from other lands come to pay their respect it becomes clear they are there also in the hopes of obtaining the kingdom. What they don’t realize is that this magical castle hasn’t changed anything in the king and queen’s suite and this lead the children to believe their parents are not dead. With the castle’s help they will defend their kingdom at all cost. This is a wonderfully, adventurous book to read. I really need to read the other books in the series.


Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson
Genre: Adult, Informational, Educational
Source: I purchased

Most books I have purchased in the past along this line give students sentences to correct. Jeff on the other hand has taken sentences from great works and used them to teach students.  These are mentor texts.  You can take examples he has there and use them in your classroom.  Great examples to help you with your classroom writer’s workshop.





Polishing the PUGS by Kathy Ide
Genre: Adult, Informational, Educational
Source: I purchased

PUGS, in case you were unfamiliar with this acronym stands for punctuation, Usage, Grammar, and Spelling. Kathy Ide has taken information teachers are always searching for and placed in one book to make a great resource.  I have recommended this to other teachers. However, I find this most useful for my own writing. This should be on every writer’s bookshelves.


Reading in the Wild by Donalyn Miller
Genre: Adult, Educational
Source: I purchased


Donalyn is by far one of my favorite authors when it comes to reading about ways to inspire kids to learn to love reading. I purchased this book and addedbook she makes recommendations about the right way to encourage students to read, the right way to recommend books and genres. The right way to make sure your kids are reading “in the wild”, when they are away from you, instead of only when they are in your class.  This should be a must read for all beginning teachers no matter what subject they teach. In the real world of teaching, no matter what subject you teach, if your student can’t read well then they won’t really do well in any of their classes. All subjects require the ability to read and comprehend.  Put this on your list of must read books for this year.

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Something for Everyone

I spent the week before last just reading books with the intention of writing reviews for them the next week. It seems that writing the reviews takes longer than reading the books. I have to go back and look at the notes I jotted down and then try to form them into some sort of cohesive piece of writing. Below you will find several reviews of some of the books I read. 


The Mind of the Living – J. Kaihua
Genre: Adult, Inspirational
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

A man traipses through the desert to find a man they call “Old Fool”. He is seeking a book. He finds the old man and offers him gold for the book. The old man refuses the gold and tells him he may read the book. Upon opening it the book is blank. When he asks the book a question the book speaks to him. The book is short yet full of wise advice. One of my favorite quotes from the book was:
“The only thing that doesn’t change, is that everything changes.”  I think if we were to remember this then we will be able to move ahead with no major surprises. It is a quick and uplifting book with a multitude of old pictures.  I enjoyed it.










O.K. Is Great by David Tiefenthaler

Genre: Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Since I teach middle school I am always looking for books for my shelves that will entertain and interest my students. This is that type of book. First it has a student nicknamed O.K. I am sure my students will get the name connotation there and be able to identify. After all, they are in middle school.  I don’t know of very many middle school students who don’t want to do something that will get the recognized and remembered. Often it backfires like it did for O.K.  Unlike the character in this book many of my students would just give up. However, O.K. with his new friend Leo by his side push on.

Kids will be able to identify with this character. They will recognize the hardships that go along with being in middle school and trying to live up to an older sibling who can’t seem to do anything wrong. Many kids will be able to identify with being the ‘middle child’ and what that entails. They will understand this character’s feelings and in the end, will realize that they can overcome middle school obstacles. They will identify with this character and realize they aren’t out there going it alone.



No Rest for the Wicked – Dane Cobain
Genre: Adult Horror, Thriller
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

Warning:  Some of the descriptions are graphic and so not recommended for everyone.


I don’t usually read stories that contain angels or demons. But the premise of this one was different so I agreed to read and review it. These are not the angels we read about in the Bible. These angels are attacking humans. They are choosing who will die and in what horrific manner they will execute them. Enter our two heroes, Father Montgomery and Robert Jones. They set out to stop these angels.  I won’t say too much because it would be so easy to give things away. There are lots of twists and turns.  Since I am an eclectic reader I enjoy things a little darker at times. This one fits the bill.  I have to comment on the cover, isn't it just delicious?


Stop the Diet I Want to Get Off by Lisa Tillinger Johansen

Genre: Informational
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.


This is quite a comprehensive book. The author is a registered dietitian. She has provided an extensive look at the different diets out in the world. Some of them I had never heard of before.  Some made me cringe.  I was a little saddened to learn that she placed the paleo diet into the “fad” category. I started a paleo diet approximately two years ago and not only did I finally begin to lose weight, but a lot of my health issues went away. I am no longer pre-diabetic, no longer have a heart issue. My thyroid meds have been cut in half. I no longer have acid reflux.  I believe the main message from this book is that you don’t need to just jump on the bandwagon. Do your research. Make sure you are eating healthy. I’ve seen many people follow every diet out there because a friend or a celebrity personality lost so much weight. Be informed. This rather lengthy book will help you do just that.







Mindful Parenting by Susan Burgess
Genre: Informational
Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.


I have gone through the parenting phase in my life. I would recommend this book to young parents everywhere. Parenting is without a doubt one of the hardest jobs we face. One of the things I found useful in this book was finding a balance between parenting and our own needs. Balancing our life is another area we have forgotten about. I realized that as a teacher I am often put in a somewhat parental role. Some of the advice in this book carries over into my job. It is important that we learn to apologize when we are wrong. Children respect that and it breaks the tension and teaches a lesson from which you can move on. Great advice in this book.