The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, David Wroblewski (Brian)
I am an early riser, an early arriver to school. I like to be in at 6:30am. When I enter my classroom, I start each morning with 20-30 minutes of silent reading. It is my morning meditation, and I am grateful for the way in which this prioritizes my day. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle is putting me in a world that is beautiful, vivid, and raw. I’m 100 pages in, and even though I know where it is going – it is a take on Hamlet in which a father is murder, a family is betrayed, and a son must uncover it all – I am in love with Wroblewski’s style and grace as a writer.
Obama: An Oral History, Brian Abrams (Brian)
Anytime Rolling Stone, Vulture, The Ringer, or any other such publication does “An Oral History of….” (The dinner party episode of The Office, Seinfield’s “The Contest”, Nirvana Unplugged), I gobble that stuff up. I admire writers that can take snippets from a multitude of interviews and turn them into a compelling narrative. Brian Abrams’ Obama: An Oral History 2009-2017 is a masterclass in the genre. Now that we have some distance from the Clinton, Bush, and Obama years, I am going back to texts that allow me to revisit their policies and platforms and see the long-term effects, both in what they achieved and failed to accomplish during their times in the Oval Office.
The Bible (Brian)
It has been a long time since I have read The Bible cover-to-cover. I’m coming back to it because I want to stay sharp. I am not as well-versed as I once was. Even though I still know the gist of its stories and key passages, I want to revisit this text again for spiritual growth and cultural reference. I turn to this text most nights during my own witching hour, that window between 7-8 pm when dinner is done, everyone is on the couch, and it is so easy to idle that hour with doom scrolling. Now I spend it in quiet appreciation of The Bible. My day starts with quiet, meditative reading and ends the same way.
The Brothers Karamozov, Dostoevsky ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
After hearing Bryan Stevenson speak at NCTE in November and mention The Brothers Karamazov being the most influential fiction book in his life, a group of teacher friends decided to read it together. The book is long, dense, and fantastic but not for the faint of heart. I read the book in three months but honestly should have slowed down and taken a year. The intersection of family drama and theology make this the perfect read for me. 4 stars due to length and difficulty.
Small Things Like These, Claire Keegan ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
I haven’t read any of Claire Keegan until this year but am now down the rabbit hole of reading all of her works. I picked up Small Things Like These on a rare snow day in Atlanta, and the book did not disappoint. This book can be read in an hour from start to finish (the complete opposite of Brothers LOL). Keegan’s writing style and the book as a whole is simple yet beautiful. 5 stars because this is the perfect novella in every way.
Long Island Compromise, Tiffany Brodesser Akner ⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
I wanted to like this book more than I did: the prose is great, I love the concept of the story, it’s fairly fast paced. In a nutshell, a wealthy businessman is held for ranson and returned a week later; the family never discusses the trauma and moves on. The book follows different family members (from grandparents to children) over the course of decades and how this event has shaped them as people. Three stars because In the end the sum of all of the elements that I enjoy just didn’t quite add up to what they should have.
Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man, Emmanuel Acho ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
I heard Acho speak at the AP Annual Conference last summer and immediately got this book although I didn’t read it until February of this year as part of my reading for Black History Month. This book is great – no question is off the table, and Acho answers honestly. I appreciate that he is not trying to be politically correct or speak for all Black people – just his thoughts on the question. Highly recommend.
Six White Horses, Sarah Gordon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
This poetry collection (published Feb 2025) was gifted from a friend and is Southern poetry at its best. The poems are thought-provoking yet accessible, and I’ll for sure be addint this to my classroom library.
Prophet Song, Paul Lynch ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Susan)
My book club is discussing this tomorrow night, and I’m rereading since I originally read this exactly a year ago. This book is complicated: the prose is stunning but the content is difficult. Because the prose is so beautifully written, I was pulled into the story without realizing how truly disturbing the content is – which I think is part of the point. This book also has me questioning (something I want to discuss in book club) how postmodern dystopian books are different from traditional dystopia.
Brian (a high school teacher and basketball coach on Long Island) and Susan (a high school teacher in Atlanta) met on Twitter (#rip) over a decade ago and became fast friends bonding over teaching literature, building classroom culture, and the importance of a good cup of coffee. Their book, 100% Engagement: 33 Lessons to Promote Participation, Beat Boredom, and Deepen Learning in the ELA Classroom, is forthcoming from Corwin in May.
