January Recap

Better late than never for a recap, eh? While I've abandoned the blogging a bit in lieu of coaching and (let's face it) Breaking Bad, I still managed to read four books this January. Here they are:

1. Girl, Stolen by April Henry
Cheyenne Wilder is sleeping in the back of her stepmom's car waiting for a prescription when someone else gets in the front seat, turns the keys and drives away. Griffin had only wanted to steal the car, but instead he ended up with more than he had bargained for when Cheyenne raised her head. The big twist? Cheyenne is blind.

This book is one that I think my sophomores will really like- it has drama, suspense, action, and obviously lots of teen angst. It was a great read over Winter Break; a quick read and easy to get through

Similar Titles: Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Panic by Sharon M. Draper


2. Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed
I recommended this book in my last post. It is an amazing collection of letters from the advice columnist Dear Sugar and will make you grin, weep, giggle, and swoon. A classic for "Books to Read in your Twenties" lists- go read it! Now!

Similar Titles: Wild by Cheryl Strayed, Yes Please by Amy Poehler

3. Columbine by Dave Cullen
This audiobook really got to me. I wanted to write a blog just for this book for a long time, but I never knew how to start it. In short, this book is the quintessential story of the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Journalist Dave Cullen was a reporter on the scene in the days and weeks following Columbine, and dedicated ten years to reconstructing every detail from the 18 months prior to the shooting when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris began their plans of destruction, to years afterward, following the lives of victims and families.

Obviously, this was a tough book to handle, but, as often is the case, it is a fascinating part of our nation's history and one that as a teacher I feel bound to read and learn from. The biggest takeway from this book was the newfound knowledge that most of the stories perpetuated by the media and still repeated today were fractions of the truth. The Trenchcoat Mafia, the violence of video games, even Cassie Bernall, the "girl who said yes" are all misconceptions based on misinterpreted stories that have blown out of porportion.

This story, I think, tries to set the record straight, and it was both captivating and horrifying to learn the truth.

Similar Titles: Hate List by Jennifer Brown, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

4. Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
Single mother Kate Baron gets a call at work one day regarding her daughter Amelia. She had been suspended from her private high school in Brooklyn. When Kate arrives, she is given even more devastating news: Amelia has jumped off the roof of the school and committed suicide. Reeling from this tragedy, Kate tries to piece together the last events of Amelia's life to discover what really happened to her daughter. This book is told from dual perspectives: Amelia before the incident and Kate afterward.

Reconstructing Amelia is a suspenseful thriller that will leave you guessing until the last page. While not without some holes, I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down!

Similar Titles: Defending Jacob by William Landay, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Happy Valentine's! I have some great titles coming up this month- stay tuned :)