Nov
02
Here are the books, with Commentary, I’ve read and most admired in recent months, March-October 2023.
This Other Eden by Paul Harding, fiction
The Best of It. New and Selected Poems by Kay Ryan, poems.
A Grief Observed by C. S. Lewis, reflections on death and loss
Just a Mother by Roy Jacobson, fiction
Small Th…
Mar
17
Here are the books, with Commentary, I’ve read and most admired in recent months, July 2022-February 2023. The Commentary at the end of this post is “Taking Action for Housing-Insecure Students.”
Hearts Touched With Fire: How Great Leaders Are Made by David Gergen, nonfiction,
Coventry by Rachel Cusk, essays
…
Jul
14
Here are the books, with Commentary, I’ve read and most admired in recent months, January 22–June 2022. The Commentary at the end of this post is on book banning.
Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and The Trials of American Democracy by Jamie Raskin, memoir, history
The Power of Regret: How Looking Backward Moves Us For…
Jan
19
Here are the books, with Commentary, I’ve read and most admired in recent months, June 2021–December 2021.
Home Made: A Story of Grief, Groceries, Showing Up—And What We Make When We Make Dinner by Liz Hauck, memoir
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith, no…
Jun
05
Here are the books, with Commentary, I’ve read and most admired in recent months, June 2021–December 2021.
Apeirogon by Colum McCann, fiction and nonfiction
Letters to a Young Writer by Colum McCann (rereading), advice to aspiring writers
A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America’s First All-Black High Sc…
Sep
19
In a break with tradition, I am beginning this post with Commentary before recommending the books I’ve recently been reading. That is because the pandemic upended my usual reading habits. In fact, for a few months I was unable to read a book at all. Hence the ten months between this posting and the last one.
Comment…
Nov
12
Asymmetry by Lisa Halliday, fiction
Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff, fiction
What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir of Witness and Resistance by Carolyn Forché, memoir
Troublemakers: Lessons in Freedom from Young Children At School by Carla Shalaby, nonfiction, professional
Teach Me, Teacher by Jacob Chastain, pr…
May
24
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, October 2018 – April 2019
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil deGrasse Tyson, nonfiction, popular science
Go, Went, Gone by Susan Bernofsky, fiction
There, There by Tommy Orange, fiction
The Library Book by Susan Orlean, nonfiction
A Mo…
Oct
21
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, April 2018 - September 2018.
The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson, fiction
Educated by Tara Westover, memoir
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, fiction
The Quickwrite Handbook: 100 Mentor Texts to Jumpstart Your Students’ Thinking and Wri…
Mar
25
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, August 2017-March 2018.
Hillbilly Elegy by J. D. Vance, memoir
Remember Me Like This by Bret Anthony Johnston, fiction
The Distance Between Us by Reyna Grande, memoir
Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig, fiction
Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabr…
Aug
25
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, February 2017-July 2017.
Holding Up the Universe by Jennifer Niven, YA fiction
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, fiction
Rhythm and Resistance: Teaching Poetry for Social Justice by Linda Christensen and Dyan Watson, eds., professional
Div…
Feb
11
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, August 2016–January 2017.
Booked by Kwame Alexander, novel-in-verse
In Defense of a Liberal Education by Fareed Zakaria, argument, nonfiction
Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson, fiction
I Wish My Teacher Knew: How One Question Can Change Ev…
Aug
21
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, February 2016–July 2016.
The Woman in This Poem: Women’s Voices in Poetry. Poems selected and introduced by Georgia Heard
Alive, Alive Oh! And Other Things That Matter by Diana Athill, memoir reflections
The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parent…
Jan
31
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, August 2015–January 2016.
Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery by Henry Marsh, memoir, medical
The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George, fiction
The Construction Zone: Building Scaffolds for Readers and Writers by Terry Thompso…
Aug
24
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, January 2015–July 2015.
The Reading Promise: My Father and the Books We Shared by Alice Ozma, memoir
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction, 2015
In Defense of Read-Aloud by Stephen L. Layne, professiona…
Jan
03
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, July 2014–December 2014.
The Vacationers by Emma Straub, fiction
New Life, No Instructions: A Memoir by Gail Caldwell
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt, fiction
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, YA fiction
Delancey: A Man, A Woman, A Restaurant…
Jun
22
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, December 2013–June 2014.
Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson, biography
Mandela’s Way: Fifteen Lessons on Life, Love, and Courage by Richard Stengel, memoir, inspiration
Someone by Alice McDermott, fiction
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer, memoir…
Dec
16
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, June–November 2013.
Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy by Emily Bazelton, nonfiction
What My Mother Gave Me: Thirty-one Women on the Gifts That Mattered Most by Elizabeth Ben…
May
20
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, October 2012–April 2013.
Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshua Foer, nonfiction
On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, fiction
Fire in the Ashes: Twenty-five Years Among the Poorest Children in America by Jo…
Oct
29
Here are the books I’ve read and especially admired in recent months, March 2012–September 2012.
The Tiger’s Wife by Tea Obreht, fiction
The Comprehension Experience: Engaging Readers Through Effective Inquiry and Discussion by Dorsey Hammond and Denise Nessel, professional
Opening Minds: Using Language to Change …
Mar
15
Here are the books I've read and especially admired in recent months, August 2011-February 2012.
Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon, fiction
A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan, memoir
The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli, fiction
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair: My Year of Magical Rea…
Aug
14
Here are the books I've read and especially admired in recent months, January-July 2011.
Just Kids by Patti Smith, memoir
Freedom by Jonathon Franzen, fiction
The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobson, fiction
Major Pettrigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, fiction
Focus by Mike Schmoker, professional
Essays by …
Jun
16
Here are the books I've read and especially admired in recent months, August-May 2010.
A Happy Marriage by Rafael Yglesia, autobiographical fiction
Who's Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success—And Won't Let You Fail by Keith Ferrazzi, self-help/business
Th…
Aug
01
The Good Parents by Joan London, fiction
What Really Matters in Response to Intervention by Richard L. Allington, professional
Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence by Anne. D. LeClaire, memoir
Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating by Mark Bittman, nutrition/eating
Still Alice by …
Mar
04
Here are the books I've read and especially admired in recent months, August-February 2009.
Away by Amy Bloom, fiction
Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson, fiction
Here If You Need Me: A True Story by Kate Braestrup, nonfiction
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, fiction
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Though…
Aug
16
Here are the books I've read and especially admired in recent months, February-July 2008.
In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto by Michael Pollan, nonfiction
Why We Teach: Learning, Laughter, Love, and the Power to Transform Livesby Linda Alston, professional
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the Ame…
Feb
06
Here are the books I've read from September 2007 through January 2008.
The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar, fiction
Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky, nonfiction
Things I Overheard While Talking to Myself by Alan Alda, nonfiction
Loving Frank by Nancy Horan, historical novel
The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Stor…
Aug
22
Here are the books I've read from June through August 2007.
Toast: The Story of a Boy's Hunger by Nigel Slater, memoir
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver, nonfiction narrative
Everyman by Philip Roth, fiction
Dog Years by Mark Doty, mem…