Teachers are leaders and leaders are readers! I think, as teachers, it is so important we read. Not only to model to our students, but also to grow our own understanding of things outside of “our” world. Today I am sharing some of my top books of 2020 and all time. These books have brought me joy and they have challenged me to think about things outside of my circumstances. ALL of them are worth reading!
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I’m a goal setter, I always have been. In the past my goals were pretty basic like lose ten pounds this year, those kinds of things. I made goals at school but they weren’t really goals they were more like the things I had to do to get a “meets expectations.”
I think setting goals is so important for a plethora of reasons. In episode 81 of Simply Teach I talk more about goal setting (releasing on October 6th). Goals allow us to think about the BIG things we want to accomplish in our life. Goal setting allows us to figure out how to make that goal a reality.
When I was a teacher I struggled to prioritize anything other than teaching, house chores, and my volunteer work at church and with my sorority. I think it is part of what caused me to become so burnt out in teaching. And I am on a mission to make sure other teachers don’t make the same mistakes I did by encouraging goal setting for things outside of the classroom.
Learning, growing, gaining knowledge and wisdom are all goals of mine. I want to constantly be in a place of growth. Reading helps me meet that goal. Which is why each year I set a goal to read a certain number of books.
This year my goal is 36 books to have read by the end of 2020. And even though it is only September, I have already read some phenomenal books that I think you would enjoy.
Top Books of 2020 and Beyond
Here is a list of all the books I mentioned in the podcast. Head to the podcast (or click below) to listen my recap of each book
- The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
- The Martian by Andy Weir
- Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
- I Think You’re Wrong but I’m Listening by Sarah Stewart-Holland and Beth Silvers
- Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
- Stand All the Way Up by Sophie Hudson
- I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
- Becoming by Michelle Obama
Top 10 of All Time
And because I have read some really great books before 2020, I included some of my top books of all time. These are books that gave me pause when I read them and books I continue to think about to this day.
- Home is Where my People Are by Sophie Hudson
- Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
- Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
- We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
- No One Ever Asked by Katie Ganshert
- The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russell
- The Road Back to You by Suzanne Stabile and Ian Morgan Cron
- The Nightingale by Kristin Hanna
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Until next time,
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