To kick off this series on reading, we asked fellow teachers what they’re reading and how they’re reading. Here’s what they had to say:
Leland Bene
Valhalla High School
El Cajon, California
1. What are the last three books you finished?
The last three books I read were The Handmaid’s Tale (Maragret Atwood), Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami), and Grendel (John Gardner). Each has their highlights: Gardner’s stark poetic imagery and existential musings from the point of view of Beowulf’s fearsome monster, Murakami’s muted tones, 60s musical allusions, and cool impassive voice, but Atwood’s unexpected humor surprised me most. She paints an utterly convincing (a little too convincing) portrait of dystopian nightmare, but Offred’s ironic perspective of life in Gilead showcases the banality of evil and how we can adapt to even the most monstrous violations in order to survive.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I’ve been reading a lot of fiction recently. Lately, these have been two novels my students read the first six weeks for independent reading (Murakami and Atwood). I’m currently reading Creation Lake (Rachel Kusk). I tend to read literary fiction–recent prize winners and books that are reviewed in magazines I read such as The New Yorker or The Atlantic. But I also like historical nonfiction. I would call myself a discerning reader. My wife would say I’m pretentious.
3. How do you find the time to read?
I have always loved reading, and so I make time. I try to read for 30 minutes or so before bed every night. Once I’m hooked on a book, I read after dinner while my kids are watching a K-drama with their mom–or in the hammock outside on the weekends. It relaxes me, and it keeps me honest. If I don’t value reading enough to make time for it, how can I expect my students to do it?
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
Noise cancelling headphones and finding a place in the house away from the rest of my family (when they’re awake) help me maintain focus when reading. That and an engaging book.
Gina Kortuem
St. Paul, Minnesota
1. What are the last three books you finished? Please add which one you adored most and why.
Currently reading Firestarter by Stephen King. Last few books I read were The Life of Chuck (SK), The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley, and Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (the novel, not the short story). I loved The Life of Chuck but it’s about the same as the movie (also amazing), so I think I got more out of The Midnight Feast because it was new to me.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately? Be self reflective and make some inferences about what your tastes say about you.
I tend to read “serious literature” in the summer and gravitate more towards lighter reading in the school year as a palette cleanser from the heavy/deep literature I teach. I love thrillers (Ruth Ware, Lucy Foley), dark science fiction/fantasy (Stephen King), and narrative nonfiction. I also love fiction that relates to Shakespearean literature. Some of my favorites are I, Iago by Nicole Galland (Othello retelling), Queen Hereafter by Isabelle Schuler (Macbeth prequel) and Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell (Shakespeare historical fiction).
3. How do you find the time to read?
I used to struggle with insomnia, but it’s gotten so much better since I followed my doctor’s advice and created a rigid evening routine. I take a bath almost every night and I read in the tub. After the bath I move into bed with a cup of tea or a glass of wine, also with my book. I read until I am sleepy, but that guarantees 30-90 minutes of reading each night.
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
Obviously I need my phone to be out of sight, but I also make sure my watch is off. I have an Apple watch, so notifications will distract me if I’m wearing it. I also try to read a floor away from my husband, because even if I’m in the next room over, he’ll forget I’m reading and start chatting with me if he sees me, lol.
Bryan Reid
Centennial High School
Corona, CA
1. What are the last three books you finished?
The last three books I finished are Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; Human Acts, Han Kang; and Voices of the Lost, Hoda Barakat. The one I adored the most is Adichie’s Yellow Sun. While all three are emotionally heavy, I am really taken with how Adichie writes her characters-how they come to life. Their realness and authenticity. Adichie taps into the raw humanness and how fragile it all is.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I think the types of books that have always captured my attention-even lately-are the ones where folks just aren’t seen and heard. There’s a marginalization happening and the characters are trapped, thrown away, not taken seriously, confused, nuanced. If I must be fully transparent…I read emotionally (and, I think I’m not supposed to do that, but I break that rule all the time). I can’t help but just get attached and feel. The felt characters…that’s what they are. And, when the writing is good, I’m fully invested and ready to go…with a tissue box close at hand.
3. How do you find the time to read?
Ha! I love TV and film too much so I really have to be diligent and steadfast and committed when I know reading is what I should be doing instead. Specifically, I will wake up at 4:40 AM Monday through Friday, pour my freshly brewed black coffee, and find my spot on the couch to wander away into fiction land for at least an hour. That was really specific.
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
How funny you should ask this because I literally just started doing this for the last book I just finished. I get my bookmark, and I turn it horizontally at the top of the page and then start reading and slide the bookmark down as I read so to cover the previous lines. I find my eyes want to retreat back up and this strategy keeps my mind and heart in the literary game.
Kelsey Turner
New Bedford High School
New Bedford, MA
1. What are the last three books you finished?
The last three books I’ve finished are Light Bringer by Pierce Brown, I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman, and Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. I think the one I loved the most would have to be Light Bringer. It’s the 6th book in an epic science fiction/fantasy series, and I just love the way the author manages to make the book character driven while still having an excellent plot. It always kept me guessing, and I enjoy the way the book is told from many different POVs. We even get the “villain’s” point of view, which I think makes for especially compelling reading. The book managed to make me laugh out loud, gasp, and quite literally sob. What more can you ask for! I read Homegoing to prepare for a new unit I’m going to teach in AP Literature where students will choose a book from a list of books (including Homegoing). It was excellent and I think students will both enjoy it and have a lot to say about the complexity due to the interesting structure of the novel (it tells the stories of two halves of a family essentially through many different generations). I Who Have Never Known Men was also extremely interesting. I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz about it and have heard it likened to The Road with a feminist slant, which I definitely agreed with. It was haunting, disturbing, and thought provoking.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I will always be someone who loves fantasy books more than any other. This started at age 6 when my father started reading me The Hobbit. From there we moved on to the entirety of the Lord of the Rings, then to Narnia, and then the Shannara series. By that point I got impatient and started devouring books on my own. This is the reason I love reading and honestly probably the reason I became an English teacher, so fantasy books will always hold a special and beloved place in my heart. I have been trying to branch out in recent years and make an effort to read more critically acclaimed books. My criteria for that is to look at prize winning books, books that have been on The New York Times best 100 books of the 21st century list, books recommended for teaching in AP Lit etc. I’ve heard books like this described as “literary kale” because they’re good for you in the way that they challenge you and expand your thinking. I find this descriptor to be somewhat misleading as it implies that these books also can’t be wonderful and enjoyable, literarily delicious if you will. However, I do like the idea of finding balance in reading and being intentional with my choices so that I’m not limiting my selections to what I would typically gravitate towards. I’ve found some amazing books through this journey recently, such as Demon Copperhead, The Berry Pickers, and My Brilliant Friend. I think this helps to prevent me from becoming stagnant as a reader and thinker, and continuously broadens my thinking as to what I could pick up next.
3. How do you find the time to read?
The biggest thing I do is make sure to bring a book with me everywhere I go. I started this habit as a child and I just never stopped. Whenever I have a spare moment I pull my book out of my bag and read. I also make it a point to read during my lunch at work so that I give myself a little break from the chaos of the school day. I read while my son naps, I read for at least half an hour before bed every night, and for at least half an hour when I get home from school before my son gets home from daycare. I also have a long commute to work so I listen to A LOT of audiobooks. I think the mentality I’ve always had about reading, that I think my dad instilled in me from a young age, is that reading is a fun escape from stress. It hasn’t ever really felt hard to find time to read because it’s something I go out of my way to make time for. It’s also not that I don’t like TV, but when I want to unwind I don’t often gravitate towards unwinding by watching TV. I think the biggest thing is the culture around reading that I learned when I was little is that reading is a fun and valuable way to spend your time, so it’s never felt like a chore to make time for it. I think sometimes relaxing through reading is something that our society doesn’t always see as a valuable use of time, because I think we’re largely a society that prioritizes constant hustle and action. I think there’s almost a stigma that if you’re sitting down and doing something, you’re not being productive. But my parents were always so excited to see me reading, and so excited to go to the book store or library as a family, and thrilled to discuss my latest read. This started positive associations with reading that I’ve carried with me. I absolutely hope to instill that same value in my son in the future!
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
I try to keep my phone away from me while reading, just so I’m not tempted to check a message or do anything that will pull me out of the story. I usually also have a routine surrounding reading that I stick to. I have certain spots in the house I like to read in, and I typically will make myself a cup of coffee or tea and light a candle. None of this is necessarily like a rule I have set for myself, but it’s just a habit I’ve gotten into that makes reading an even more enjoyable ritual. I also have a separate bookshelf where I keep my TBR (to-be-read) books. Something about this helps me stay focused because I’m setting intentional goals for myself about reading, so I feel even more committed to it. Sometimes I will read books at the same time as a friend, and then I feel even more motivated to maintain focus because I enjoy the social aspect of discussing the book with others.
Ben Simmons
Morrison Academy
Taichung, Taiwan
1. What are the last three books you finished?
The Sparrow – Maria Doria Russell
All the Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
The Unbearable Wholeness of Being – Ilia Delio
The one I adored most was Doerr’s book. I reread it for my AP Lit class (first whole-class novel that is not summer reading!), and even though I had been through it before, something jumped out at me in a new way. Doerr has these moments where he slips into almost prose poetry, usually at key moments of character development or emotional depth. The artistry and beauty of these passages were a needed reminder of why I teach it, and got me excited about working through it with my class.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I am in the middle of Fall Break, and I typically bring science fiction to the beach with me (we live in Taiwan, and it is still very warm and beach-ey here!). For me, a big part of reading just has to be about the joy of “getting lost” in a story, and ever since I was a kid reading Ender’s Game in the corner at the family gatherings sci-fi has been my favorite escape. I am also really intrigued by Asian writers at the moment – ex. Ted Chiang, Ken Liu, Haruki Murakami, Charles Yu – mostly because of my students. Many of them come from Asian countries, and these authors seem to speak to them in intriguing ways when I get the chance to teach their work in class. I have been trying to see what they are seeing in these writers.
3. How do you find the time to read?
I have a large, haphazard pile of books on my nightstand, from which I try to read for 30 minutes before bed each night. I tend to let the pile (mixed fiction and non-fiction) grow, and am not too bothered by putting down a book that doesn’t grab me after 100 pages or so. Life is short, and there is just too much to read to suffer through something I am not enjoying. This is usually where I get most of my reading done. It is a small thing, but this before-bed practice is my quiet, 30 minute rebellion against all the chaos and deadlines and things that try to monopolize my attention. And – for me, anyway – it is so much better than doom scrolling before bed (the ever-present temptation in times such as ours). Books also always find a place in my bag when we take vacations, go to the doctor’s office, or do anything I might have a quiet few moments.
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
I think I am in general pretty bad at focusing. Maybe it is the ADHD, but focus has always always been a challenge. I think the strategy that has worked best is controlling the environment (it is quiet, kids are asleep, no TV, phone is out of reach) and routine (just before bed, even on vacation). I can’t seem to manage it otherwise. And the payoff of enjoying a good book is worth the effort of making it a habit. Cultivate contemplative space and tech-free zones! Return to our human roots! 🙂
Brian Sztabnik
Miller Place High School
Miller Place, NY
- What are the last three books you finished?
Susan talked me into reading Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove in late July despite the fact that there wasn’t a bottle of suntan lotion or a beach anywhere in the novel. Since then, I’ve moved on to more award-winning novels, James by Percival Everett and The Correspondent by Virginia Evans. They were all remarkable, but Lonesome Dove stripped the glamor from the west and gave me a raw and gritty portrayal of two broken men, Call and Gus, leading a cattle drive to Montana. It was a Moby Dick of Texas and the Great Plains, but with greater tenderness and more punishing devastation.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I blame it on the 1980s and all the Tom Cruise movies I grew up with in which his characters have all the talent but can’t seem to get out of their own head (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, A Few Good Men, etc). I love novels with an exceptional protagonist that is battling some demons or a good hero’s journey in disguise. In Lonesome Dove with Gus and Call are former Texas Rangers that are revered, kicking plenty of ass along the way, but each is broken in his own way. In The Correspondent, its main character was a well-regarded law clerk, but has enclosed herself in her own home and within her own mind to keep a safe distance from others. When she is forced to interact with the outside world, chaos ensues.
3. How do you find the time to read?
I spent a good part of the past year relishing in the absurdity of the American political arena. It was my entertainment, and I always felt one step removed from it because I consumed it as a performance spectacle. But my phone kept notifying me each week of my ever-increasing doom scrolling. I fell trap to two insidious forces – social media’s endless scroll and the political need to “flood the zone.” The absurdity wasn’t it – it was me. I’ve cut back significantly, especially at night. Now, we watch Jeopardy as a family at 7pm, I follow that with a short, full-body workout, a quick night-time shower, and then I read the rest of the night. I also try to get the audiobook for whatever I’m reading (I have an Audible subscription). There’s a limit to my sports-talk radio appetite, so when I’m weary of it, I can crank out a few more chapters when I’’m on the go. With these small changes, I’ve read more novels in the past three months than I did all of last year.
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
Ringer off. Phone face down. Then I pick up a pen. The hand controls the mind. It primes me to be an active reader – underline, take notes, ask questions – otherwise my mind can wander if I don’t look for those things. I also have a stack of index cards on my nightstand. I write out my favorite quotes for a novel and then categorize them by subject in a shoebox. It’s so much fun to get through the shoebox periodically (often when writing an article for this site) and relive my reading life.
Susan Barber
Midtown High School
Atlanta, Georgia
1. What are the last three books you finished? Please add which one you adored most and why.
Interior Chinatown (Charles Yu)
Franny and Zooey (Salinger)
George Washington Gomez (Americo Paredes)
All of these books were great in different ways, but I absolutely loved George Washington Gomez. After reading Lonesome Dove (a book that has stayed with me) for my summer book club, I wanted to follow it with another perspective from that time period and GWG had been on my list since it appeared as a choice on the 2024 AP Lit FRQ 3 exam. This Mexicotexan novel set in a fictitious town on the Texas border explores themes of identity, culture, and racism by following Gualinto Gomez as he grows up. I LOVE a good coming of age story and this book did not disappoint. It also offered the different perspective from Lonesome Dove that I wanted.
2. What type of books have captured your attention lately?
I read across the board and don’t have a particular niche for what I like to read; however, I tend to be drawn to contemporary fiction that feature strong characters. I also love experimentation style and structure. For example, the entire story of Shark Heart is metaphor for grief, and the weaving of the literal and figurative meaning through the story was fascinating. Interior Chinatown uses the narrative structure of a screenplay – again fascinating. Franny and Zooey are two “short” stories centered on two conversations. My book club, however, is committed to reading prize-winning books (Pulitzer, Booker, National Book Award, etc.) that we have somehow missed (cue Lonesome Dove), so I’m getting my steady stream of some classics and love those just as much.
3. How do you find the time to read?
I do my best reading in the morning before my mind is distracted by all the things. I have to point out that I’m in a stage of life that I don’t have little people in the house who are dependent on me, so morning reading is much easier. My ideal morning is wake up around 6, grab a cup of coffee, and settle back into bed for an hour of reading before I get ready for work. In theory I want to read at night but am usually mentally exhausted and have trouble concentrating.
4. What is one specific strategy that you use to maintain focus while reading?
For night reading, I have found that listening to audiobooks is much easier than reading printed texts. Another “trick” I use is during times I’m particularly tired or stressed, I read books with short chapters which psychologically helps me pick up a book and stay in it because I can always read one more chapter when it’s short.
