Child 44

Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was totally the epitome of a good summer beach read, or ideal for bringing on the plane.  It's a quick, easy read.  The writing and character development is mediocre but the plot is pretty good.  There were plenty of plot twists.  Some of it was a bit predictable, but I wasn't able to guess exactly what was going to happen in the end.  I also enjoyed that this was set in Soviet Russia in the intermediary period between Stalin's death and Khrushchev solidifying his power. The historical details were generally broad and/or vague, but still interesting and seemed factual enough.  I'd recommend this book to anyone who likes Tom Clancy or Dan Brown novels, it had some similarities to both.


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East of the West

East of the West by Miroslav Penkov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After just completing an incredibly long, dense read this was the perfect book - a collection of short stories. My rating of three stars reflects my average for all the stories in this book. There were some that I loved and would read over and over again and some then I felt "meh" about. It's definitely worth reading and the short story format makes this book fly. Prior to reading this book I knew nothing about Bulgaria's culture, this was definitely an intriguing introduction to the country. Although I know the stories are fiction I felt like I got a peek into life and customs. I'd definitely be interested in reading something else of Penkov's and would recommend this read to others.

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Infinite Jest Book Review

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely worth reading for the writing, not the plot. On my first try I quit around page 200, but the second time around I was able to persevere. The little vignettes and character development are excellent, but there are times when it becomes frustrating at the number of characters/plots introduced that don't always seem connected and don't necessarily conclude. The wit and sarcasm were what kept me going through. I'll definitely read something else of his, especially a collection of short stories which I think would be a great format for his style of writing.

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Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom Book Review

Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroom by Carol Ann Tomlinson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I read this book for a book/discussion group at my school. I'm a big fan of differentiated instruction and use layered curriculum (a way of formatting differentiation) in my classroom. While this book has a lot of really great advice and information in it, there are also some shortcomings. The book itself is quite short and for a new teachers probably does not give enough guidance to actually begin differentiating well in the classroom. This book seemed to focus more on trying to sell the philosophy rather than putting it into practice in the classroom (although it does provide some good examples, they are sporadic). It does provide a lot of great explanation in this area (ex: differentiation is not just a list of various activities, but an educational philosophy and approach to teaching), but fell a bit short on some of the practical applications of differentiated instruction.
I'm glad I read this book and would definitely recommend it to other teachers. I would also suggest it be read in conjunction with Kathy Nunley's "Layered Curriculum" which focuses less on selling an educator on the philosophy of differentiated education and more on putting it into place and managing it in the classroom.

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