The Next Always

Title: The Next Always
Author: Nora Roberts
Series: Inn of Boonsboro (Book 1)
Genre: Romance





Nora Roberts has always been one of my favorites. Her latest series centers around a family of 3 men and their mom who are renovating a historical building into a bed and breakfast. The first of the three men, Beckett has had a crush on Clare since he was in his early teens. She has gotten married, moved away, had 3 sons and then returned a widow. 

A nice and fluffy read. Lately I feel like I've been reading less plain, contemporary romance novels and this was a nice change. My favorite was Lizzy the ghost!

The Boys and Girls Learn Differently: An Action Guide for Teachers

Title: The Boys and Girls Learn Differently: Action Guide for Teachers
Author: Michael Gurian
Series: None
Genre: Non-Fiction




I've been doing some professional development over the summer. A few things that stuck out for me from this book:
- Males see better in a brighter light
- When testosterone is high, boys do better in math. 
- Boys need louder voices than females
- Boys learn better when they start with the general concept and then apply it
- Boys do better with abstract thinking, not necessarily manipulatives

There are a bunch of ideas that are listed that we already implement in my school.
- Rites of Passage
- Uniforms
- Ratio of 1:20 - ours is actually lower
- Team teaching and mentoring

A few ideas that I thought about bringing to the table next year as mentioned in the book:
- Stress Balls
- Buddy Rooms - Send a student to a safe place to work it out. Use another teacher who they are close with.
- BIST Model - While it's a little extreme for us, there are elements that I liked. including the Recovery Room, a THINK sheet and checking out with a teacher.

City of Glass

Title: City of Glass
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments (Book 3)
Genre: Young Adult

City of Ashes

Title: City of Ashes
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments (Book 2)
Genre: Young Adult

City of Bones

Title: City of Bones
Author: Cassandra Clare
Series: Mortal Instruments (Book 1)
Genre: Young Adult

Fifty Shades Freed

Title: Fifty Shades Freed
Author: E. L. James
Series: Fifty Shades of Grey (Book 3)
Genre: Erotica




By the time I got to this book I was in love with Christian and Ana and couldn't wait to finish!

Christian and Ana are going to get married (they've known each other how long?).  This time they experience the growing pains of a couple in the public eye.

I was disappointed in this book.  It seemed to fall flat where the others were done so well.  There was a lot of flash backs so that certain things were never covered, the drama seemed to be unexciting and the story telling was lacking.  "And then this happened, and then this happened and then this happened."  Whatever finesse had been around for the first two left during the third book.  I felt like it was a little kid telling the story without any real knowledge how to make it flow.

On top of it all I felt like it was too wrapped up in the end.  Perfect everything.

Fifty Shades Darker

Title: Fifty Shades Darker
Author: E. L. James
Series: Fifty Shades (Book 2)
Genre: Erotica




On to book 2 of the series that everyone seems to be talking about.

Christian and Ana have broken up at the end of Fifty Shades of Grey, but cannot seem to be kept apart.  They get back together when they go on a previously arranged "date" for an event.  The two have to learn to grow both as individuals and together to make it work.  This is a story about growth.

I was surprised at the growth of the two characters in this novel, and although unrealistic (who needs realistic?) in the amount of time, I still enjoyed laughing my way through the book.  Another simple and enjoyable read as long as you're not looking for the next winning piece of literature.