My Daily Dose

I attended a teacher training with the author and she really helped to revamp my personal operating system.  The book might be overwhelming if you hadn't been at the training, but I'd still recommend checking it out!

This book was phenomenal.  It placed math squarely in the realm of social justice and provided tons of clear examples of how I can do this for my own students in the coming school year.  It makes my political science background swoon to see the power of math to read the world.

I first heard of this author during his RadioLab podcast about numbers and I was instantly captivated.  I teach middle school math and learning the fascinating and intricate side of math is not always a priority in my classroom (but it should be).  This book is really accessible and interesting.

This book has been lurking on my shelf for a while now and I always read some education books after the school year ends.  Worth a look if you are TFA related.

Amazing, startling, and remarkably sad story about Hurricane Katrina and the ordeal experienced by one family.  Couldn't recommend it more.

Great quick read about the founding of the KIPP network of charter schools.  I am going to work at a KIPP school here in Memphis next year and I wanted to go back to the beginning to check it out.  Definitely a great recharge book to read at the end of the year.

My first experience with Dave Eggers and not an altogether positive one.  I found this book to be really well written in spots but the loose style was frustrating to read.

I pick this up to get a sneak peek at where the Avengers 3 could be going and the payoff to the big Infinity Gem saga.  All in all it was a fun, if very convoluted, read.  Marvel Studios is going to need to simplify the plot devices and pick the major points they want to focus on.  A whole lot of characters going on here.

This book was a really unique take on a culture that has been permeated by Harry Potter and The Chronicles of Narnia.  It focuses on the question of what it would be like to exist when things such as magic where pervasive and would it be enough to overcome the incredible cynicism of twenty-somethings.

I found this book on a BuzzFeed article that suggested books based on childhood favorites.  Ironically enough my issues with this book were similar to those that I experienced with the book that this was an adult version of, The Westing Game.  A very quick, fun read this book lacks a lot of substance but is very entertaining.  Worth a look for beach reading that won't stick with you too long.

There is nothing like finding a note in someone else's book. Gives you a peek into someone else's life.

I am preparing to run the Nashville Marathon next month and today was kind of a big moment in my training.  Today was the first time I exceeded my previous long distance of 13.1, by taking on a big 18 miler.  Overall it felt good and I'm excited to see how 20 feels in a few weeks.

I am currently training for a marathon (not as well as I should be one month out) and this book was recommended by a friend.  I was blown away by it and finished it in a just a few days.  First 5 star read of 2014.

This book was a recommendation from one of my 6th graders and it piqued my interest.  I've always loved mysteries and there is nothing better than a book that reminds you what it was like reading something great when you were younger.

I only started reading Diaz's work this Fall, however I quickly became obsessed with his unique voice.  His work is extremely poignant and reveals the challenge and promise that America holds in the collective immigrant mind.  Going back to read Drown after consuming his later work was refreshing as he comments largely on the adolescent experience of the characters I came to know in This Is How You Lose Her.

For 30 days starting March 3, download or stream 100 handpicked songs by artists worth discovering at this year's music festival.

To say that I was skeptical of the first book in this series would be a massive understatement.  I love superheroes and zombies but an attempt to mash up both genres seems ridiculous, so naturally I couldn't resist.  This book does an awesome job of delving more into the characters and avoiding the trap of being a carbon copy of the original.  Very quick read but super engaging and unafraid to comment of the absurdity of it's subject matter.