Sabbatical Reading

There was probably no busier time in my life than 1992-93.  Not only was I a new mother and our little family had just moved to Denver during another corporate relocation from Phoenix, but also I was in graduate school.  Two days a week I’d board the bus at the intersection of Evans and Colorado Blvd to take the 50 min. ride to Boulder during which I’d read like a fiend.  I spent every waking hour (when I wasn’t taking care of baby Patrick) reading.  I had two primary texts and scads of secondary materials to absorb each week; I’ve never read so much in my life. The past few months I haven’t matched that level of graduate school reading, but I’ve come close (and without the burden of elaborate annotations).  

I count 35 or so books since the school year ended, in addition to a healthy helping of weekly New Yorkers and daily dips into the Star Tribune and other papers.  I’m sheepishly proud of my sabbatical reading habit, “sheepish” because I can think of several friends and colleagues who plow through any book in a day.  There are 2-3 books on my list where I can make that claim, but in general my brain doesn’t process information that quickly, plus I’m a “muller,” meaning I often gaze into the distance to think about what I’ve just read (or what I’m having for dinner, truth be told).

No one will want to read every word of the annotated bibliography that follows, but maybe you’ll see a book you also read or have been considering reading, and then you’ll be interested in my quick overview and personal reaction.  If you scroll to the end, you’ll also see a running list of titles I still want to read.

In no particular order and divided into fiction & non-fiction categories, here goes:

Fiction:

• LaRose by Louise Erdrich. I’ve never met an Erdrich novel I didn’t love & this one’s no exception. Set in modern day North Dakota, the story offers a view into two families’ lives, their reservation community, and the fictional blue collar town of Pluto.  It begins with a tragedy and works through the legacy of several generations, Ojibwe customs & history, family/community relationships, and the intergenerational trauma inflicted by the boarding school era. I was fully absorbed into the places and times of the novel, and even though I occasionally questioned why/how a certain scene or event was relevant, I still really enjoyed reading it.
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.  High school junior Starr narrates the duality of her lived experience as an African American girl between black Garden Heights (NJ) and the nearly all-white private school Williamson.  She deals with seeing her best guy friend Kahlil gunned down by a white officer, but the book complicates easy polarities by having Starr’s uncle/proxy father also be a cop.  Very real & very important read for these times.
• The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon.  A YA novel that I think many of my 8th graders would like.  There’s a fair amount of romantic overtones (not necessarily why I think they’d like it, but it would hook a few) and–what’s of greater value and significance– insights into immigration from one of the narrator’s experience from Jamaica and the other narrator’s parents’ experience from So Korea.  These offer a relatable and expansive insight into this world. I also appreciated the inter-generational viewpoints and cultural views/practices offered.  It’s very well-written and one of those YA novels that’s complex enough for adult readers.  
• Lions by Bonnie Nadzam.  This novel’s hook for me was its Colorado setting and the publisher’s tag that fans of Ken Haruf would like it (I love Ken Haruf and would recommend Our Souls at Night).  Nadzam’s writing was absolutely elegant & the voices and colloquialisms she gave the characters were captivating.  I also liked the inter-generational take on life in a small, dying town on the eastern plains of CO.  The metal-working frame is oddly interesting and there’s plenty that’s mystical.  What I didn’t like was Nadzam’s ignoring the real Colorado town of Lyons that’s north of Boulder in the foothills (not out on the desolate plains).  This is misleading and confusing for those who actually know CO.  Why give it that name when there’s a real Lions/Lyons?!
• Young Joan Young by Gabrielle Zevin – I started this novel, a fictional riff on the Monica Lewinsky/Bill Clinton affair, after hearing Zevin present at Excelsior Bay’s Book event in Sept. It offered a good start with the character Rachel’s voice in first chapter.  I enjoyed it until the “Choices” chapter written in 2nd person.  Suddenly, the marvelous, quirky, real 1st person voices were gone (previous chapter with Embeth, the congressman’s wife, was outstanding), and Zevin pulled back.  It became impersonal throughout the narration of what had happened with Aviva/Monica, but we readers already knew (or we didn’t need to know) what’s told in dull fashion.  I slogged to finish the last 50 pgs in same amount of time I spent on 1st 250 pgs.
• A Gentleman from Moscow a novel by Amor Towles.  A wonderfully narrated story amid the Russian Revolution, beginning 1924 through WWII & ending 1952 with Count Alexandre Romanov’s escape from the Hotel Metropol.  Such a rich cast of characters, dialogue, and writing.  One of my favorite recent fiction reads.  Towles creates a vast, richly-complex world and existence within the confines of a grand hotel. The Count’s voice and diction whisked me away to the time and place of the novel.  Really excellent!
• Code Talkers a YA novel by Joseph Bruchac.  Bruchac’s tribal heritage is western Abenaki and in this book he weaves Navajo (Dine’) culture and history and WWII Pacific theatre war events from the perspective of the main character, re-named Ned Begay in the opening chapters when he’s at boarding school.  Begay is a grandfather telling the story of himself as a code-talker to the reader/his grandchildren.  Great for students who love learning about WWII & great for all re. Native heritage and culture, as well as Native American contributions to WWII often unrecognized (and then recently blundered through by the racist rantings of our…um…President).
• Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes.  12 year-old protagonist Lanesha lives in New Orleans with her (unofficially) adoptive mother Mama YaYa, who is 82. Mama Yaya was a midwife who helped Lanesha’s 17 yr old mother give birth and that young woman died in childbirth. When the story opens they are celebrating Lanesha’s birthday & Lanesha narrates about her life as a 6th grader.  Soon the story turns around Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of their home during which Mama Yaya dies.  Lanesha has help from her neighbor and classmate boy and the stray dog they took in (Spot).  Short and easy reading level for the kids in your life, but good depth and powerful emotions around the situation.  
• American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang.  It’s embarrassing that I’d not yet read this classic graphic novel.  I spent an enjoyable 70-ish minutes reading it, and it was nice to be able to complete in one setting.  It’s a very thought-provoking “take” on cultural identity that weaves together myth of the monkey king with the protagonist Jin Wang.  There’s also the nice surprise when the side story — that seems like a bad, racist sitcom — turns out to be the link between Jin Wang and the Monkey King parable.
• Thalassa by my Australian friend Brenda Hall.  This novel’s epic scope spans 3 continents, 2 families, and 5 generations (Brenda spent 10 years, off and on, researching and writing it).  Her historical details and setting descriptions are extensive.  The dialogue is strong.  I need a chunk of time without distractions to really delve into it. It was really fun to be able to hear from Brenda about her writing process and choices when I visited her on Dangar Island in NSW Australia in November.
• The Crossover by Kwame Alexander. This novel written in verse gives an authentic depiction of the family life of twin boys and their parents.  They are an African American family living an upper-middle class, stable life without explicit obstacles from societal, systemic racism.  The boys’ identities are evolving under the typical adolescent strain of academics, romantic attraction, competition on the b-ball court, and worry over their dad’s health.  An excellent read for kids of all ages; I can’t recommend it strongly enough.
• All-American Boys co-authored by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely. This novel tackles the same issue as Angela Thomas’s The Hate U Give: police brutality upon young African American men.  The chapters alternate between Rashad, an academic star and ROTC 10th grader, who is beaten by a classmate’s older brother who is a cop, and Quinn, who is good friends with the cop’s younger brother and was mentored by the cop, so internal conflict ensues, and he makes the choice to become an activist.  There’s a lot to appreciate about this book and the voices who tell the story, but it drones on at too many points.  I don’t think it’s appropriate for middle-schoolers due to normalizing of drinking at parties, and I don’t think it would hold most adults’ attention.
• The Book That Matters Most by Ann Hood.  I probably wouldn’t have picked this one out unprompted, but after hearing Ann Hood at a book event, I was intrigued and bought it from her as she sat behind a folding table “hawking her wares,” so to speak.  The writing was well-crafted and the characters intriguing even if some of the plot’s episodes were implausible & melodramatic.  The premise = a newly-divorced woman joins a book group whose theme for the year is to choose the book that’s mattered most in their lives. Her life falls apart & the book group experience saves her.  It was fun in the same way that watching a romantic comedy on a Sat afternoon is fun…not gonna’ lie.
• Swamplandia! by Karen Russell.  I picked this novel up at a used book store on Manly Beach in NSW, Australia.  It’s a literary rollercoaster ride into Floridian tourist culture as its setting is a kind of “Gatorland” amusement park owned by the Bigtree family.  The story centers around a rudderless family with three teenage kids, and offers a surreal exploration of the boundaries between life and death, reality, and the occult-like imaginings of an alternate reality “underworld.”  Thirteen year-old narrator Ava is the youngest and most grounded member of her family, and her brave storytelling voice is worth the read alone.
• Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward.  I really wanted to like this book that I listened to on Audible within a couple hours of its completion when I abandoned it. Its historical setting is the not-so-historical New Orleans before & through Hurricane Katrina.  The narrator, teenager Esch, is the only girl amid three brothers, is pregnant, and coping with that secretly on her own. One brother Skeeter is fully absorbed in raising pitbull puppies & for me the story focused so much on the dogs that I just couldn’t sustain interest.  I did appreciate it’s poetic lyricism and raw imagery–absolutely stunning writing–but when the most of mundane scenes was drawn out across a broad swath of description, my mind wandered (a lot!).  No doubt this says more about me than the book, but there you have it.
• The Essex Serpent by Sarah Perry.  This book captured why I love novels: I was completely and delightfully transported to another time and place, specifically sea- and inlet-villages around Colchester within Essex, England.  The book’s protagonist Cora regains her independence and love for the natural world once she’s free from an abusive husband.  Her autistic-seeming son’s character starts slowly and evasively but builds and concludes spectacularly. All other characters are drawn so well, and Perry’s writing conveys a Victorian diction and mindset. Their habit of writing daily letters to each other is not so different than our modern-day texting. I highly recommend this one!
• Ghost by Jason Alexander. This is an excellent YA novel that’s perfect for 10-13 year olds, especially those interested in running.  It also offers a way to connect to or develop empathy and understanding for the experiences of bullying, poverty, and domestic violence.  The main character Castle (a.k.a. Ghost) heals throughout the novel & prevails over negative forces in large part from the positive support of his coach, a grocery store owner, teammates, and a loving mother.

Non-fiction — General:

• Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin.  This is a business-oriented look at what organizations “crave” when it comes to bringing out growth, change, and productivity. Not what I thought I was going to “get” for a read, but quick & I “read” it on Audible in the car, so overall it was time well-spent.
• Blindspots: The Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin R. Banaji & Anthony G. Greenwald.  How “mindbugs” have been uncovered by the IAT (Intuitive Associations Test) to show the majority of people have been hard-wired by biology (in-group preferences from infancy) and socially-conditioned to stereotype.  It maintains we have both reflective and automatic mindsets and preferences, and it describes the dangers & discrimination that occur when we act out of automatic mindsets.  I especially appreciated pages 161-162 that showed how offering advantages to members of our own group–like networking through social connections–disadvantages those outside the group.
• A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota edited by Sun Yung Shin.  A collection of 16 personal essays by MN authors who share their experiences as people of color or members of disenfranchised groups.  It was (and remains) important for me as a white person whose skin allows me to readily access resources and opportunities to read about the discrimination and racism that has affected the daily lives and identities of people of color.  Implicit bias and overt racism continue to limit opportunities and potential, yet nearly all of the essays end on a note of hope, optimism, and commitment to work to improve equity in MN.
• The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k by Mark Manson.  I listened to this on Audible during a portion of a drive from California to Minnesota, and it was entertaining enough.  The basic, oft-repeated premise is the old adage of my younger years: “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff.” It’s all about keeping life’s setbacks in perspective, staying open to possibilities, remembering that other people are caught up in their own issues (it’s often as much about them than it is “you”).  Always a good reminder, but it got a bit repetitive.  Better for 20-somethings.
• In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. This one has sat in a bookcase at home for years and what a shame I hadn’t read it sooner.  Bryson delightfully narrates his travels throughout the whole of Australia, mixing personal accounts with its history, geography, and culture.  He’s particularly humorous about (and completely obsessed by) its dangerous animals, an obsession I shared until I actually visited and only saw snakes, spiders, and jellyfish in the zoos and sanctuaries I visited.
• Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape by Peggy Ornstein.  I read this one over a weekend, feeling horrified, dismayed, and validated in what I’d thought and suspected.  Essentially, Ornstein offers data and anecdotes that college Greek life (particularly centered on a white, upper/middle class, higher education experience) is rife with expectations that the girls pleasure the boys with oral sex, and she argues we should do a better job of teaching girls about their own anatomy and pleasure in order to level the playing field.  I’ll keep it on-hand as a reference/resource.  Although she has data from a wide range of published studies, I think her self-selected group of 70 to interview whose anecdotes she shares may skew the presentation of the situation.
• Urban Tribes: Native Americans in the City edited by Lisa Charleyboy and Mary Beth Leatherdale.  A collection of Aboriginal (Canadian version of NA) & U.S. Indigenous “snippets” of experiences, ideas, values, and hopes for moving forward.  Enticing graphics and visuals & a quick read.  Offers an overview & a starting point to go deeper for further investigation.  Great to use for a classroom gallery walk.
• Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by JD Vance. This memoir continues to stay on my mind weeks after finishing it.  It helps explain the anger and alienation of the working white class many of whom live in Ohio, Indiana, Michigan and other rustbelt states that were like an Appalachian diaspora, something I hadn’t known before reading.  Vance tells his story with love for the people/his people and without judgement, so he’s credible and has a very engaging story.
• Hitmakers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction by Derek Thompson.  I was interested to read this book to understand the psychology behind consumerist culture and marketing. What I learned confirmed ideas I’d had about the roles that repeated exposure, identity/ego-formation, and “peer pressure” play, and it also offered a thought-provoking concept that has stuck with me in the weeks since I finished it: our human brains are attracted to new and fresh things that carry the ring of familiarity to them.
• What Unites Us by Dan Rather. I’m just part way through starting this one and finding it to be immensely readable (added bonus: hearing Rather’s august voice in my head).  I heard him speak Nov 30 at Pen Pals Lecture Series and was not disappointed that he maintained the larger-than-life presence and insight that he’s conveyed through his CBS years into the present.  And he’s 86 years old!
• The Story Factor: Inspiration, Influence, and Persuasion through the Art of Storytelling by Annette Simmon.  Worth reading intro through Chap 2 but after that’s it’s super repetitive and corporate-oriented.  The gist: we should all use stories to indirectly convey the morals, values, choices we wish others to make rather than say “you’re wrong, do it this way.”  Good to an extent but not always applicable; otherwise, you’ll always sound like someone’s grandpa.

Non-fiction — Education:

• Read, Write, Teach: Choice and Challenge in the Reading-Writing Workshop by Linda Rief (Heinemann, 2014). Rief grounds the year in the practice and theme of choice & uses Writers-Readers Notebooks (WRN’s) in much the same way Nancie Atwell does.  She incorporates some whole reads and a persuasive writing unit and author-genre study.  I have lots of annotations in my copy of this book if any of my fellow teachers want to borrow it.
• Pose, Wobble, Flow: A Culturally Proactive Approach to Literacy Education by Antero Garcia. I read just four chapters from this book used as an anchor text by the facilitators at the U of M’s MWP Summer Institute.  Its title reveals the controlling metaphor of teaching practice as a series of attempted approaches (poses), revisions/adjustments/corrections as a result of “wobbles” (basically refining a unit), and the sought-after feeling of “flow” that characterizes successful learning and practice.  Many good first hand accounts and situations shared in this text from School of Education at Colo State Univ, one of my alma maters!
• Writing for a Change: Boosting Literacy & Learning through Social Action by National Writing Project and Kristina Beardan.  Made several annotations within the book.  Repetitive but good in that it drills down on the process and hammers the idea of student agency and teacher as simply a facilitator.  The first part’s series of personal stories from actual classroom projects was really valuable.
• Teaching for Joy and Justice: Re-imagining the Language Arts Classroom by Linda Christensen.  So many good ideas in this resource (just review numerous annotations and post-it note flags).  What stands out in particular are the Warriors Don’t Cry and LIterature Circles Units as well as chapter on why teaching narrative writing matters.  Its approach is very consistent with Teacher’s College’s idea of doing this to lead into essay writing, which allows for the transfer of skills and starts with identifying what matters most to the writer & the passions they’ve developed from their own experiences.  The final chapter on responding to student writing is also excellent.
• Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kylene Beers & Robert Probst. I attended the MCTE workshop by the same name in October & followed up by reading the text that all attendees received that day.  The most useful aspect of the text: it offers the details around Beers’s & Probst’s BHH Reading Framework (i.e. when you read you should think about what’s in the Book, your Head, andyour Heart.  They drill down on these elements with practical, engaging strategies.

Still Want to Read —

• • Captured by Sheldon Whitehouse about how large corporate America has captured everything—elections, the jury process, regulatory agencies, etc. and how people have “self-segmented.”
  • Glass House by Brian Alexander about the 1% economy and the shattering of the all-American town.
  • A Whole New Mind and Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink
  • Acts of Faith by Eboo Patel
  • The Burning Girl by Mark Billingham
  • Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
  • Design for Dying by Renee Patrick
  • August Snow  by Stephen Mack Jones
  • Teaching with Fire: Poetry That Sustains the Courage to Teach ed. ny Sam Intrator
  • Love in the Classroom by Al Zolynas
  • Relocating the Personal: A Critical Writing Pedagogy by Barbara Kamler
  • Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art (graphic novel)
  • Becoming Otherwise: Enhanced Critical Reading Perspectives
  • Independent Writing: One Teacher, Thirty-Two Needs, Topics, and Plans by Colleen Cruz
  • Choice Words by Peter Johnston