I'm reading a couple of professional texts. Frank Smith's "Understanding Reading". -- Can't speak highly enough about its readability and "intelligence". Also, Vygotsky's "Thought and Language.". I read both years back but I'm in need of a primer....
Nobody Knows My Name by James Baldwin. I just finished Cesar's Way by Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer. My dog Winston recommended it. Wait, lesson 1, "Your dog is not human!" I went to this speaker who said, "If you tell me what books you read in the last year, I can tell you what was going on in your life that year."
Just finished Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah. Now I'm reading A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz. I try to alternate these "adult" novels with ones that my sixth graders read. "Teacher" books are reserved for the summertime when I can concentrate better.
I just finished Coraline, it was scary and thought provoking... could spark some great class discussions. Before that I read Peace Like a River, which has become one of my favorite books of all time. It has an excellent plot, great characters, and is an amazingly redeeming book. My 8th graders all read it, and most of them loved it too. I highly recommend it. The books I plan to read next are Twilight (my 12 year old son is reading it now- we don't like to see movies until we've read the books, if possible) and a historical novel called Fever ... oh, and Inkspell (read and just saw Inkheart) and I am ready for more! I'll also be reading a bunch of short stories when my creative writing class finishes them next week :-0 Hope they're goood...