Reading with students is fun, apparently.
I gave two nonfiction books and one fiction book perfect grades in April. The nonfiction books I read with students, one as part of a class and the other as an “assigned reading” for my leadership book club, which really is just a student and I reading together.
For those who are keeping track, this is my second consecutive month to give more nonfiction than fiction books perfect grades.
Known
I rarely reread books. There are just too many amazing books out there to spend time reading something you’ve already read.
However, I would almost guarantee that I will read Known by Mark Schaefer again. I took so much from the book the first time that I just know I’ll get more from it upon review.
The general concept of Mark’s book is becoming known as an influencer or expert in a certain area.
Mark doesn’t encourage readers to become known in their passion. As Mark writes, telling people to follow their passion assumes that they have just one, that they can identify it and that other people care about it. Instead Mark encourages readers to find their place, an interest they want to be known for, and their space, a niche of people who care about that thing.
The book helps readers identify their place and space, then make the most of it.
I’ve known and admired Mark through social media for awhile. The fact that he offered to speak to my class when I tweeted that we were reading the book, then followed through when we were done reading just shows that he practices what he teaches.
Not only did I love Known, my students did too. I also think it’s safe to say that we’re all even bigger Mark Schaefer fans now than we were before.
Radical Candor
When I started reading Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean by Kim Scott as part of my leadership book club, I wondered what I had done to us. I picked the book because it was on Michael Hyatt’s list of leadership reading, but it was heavy lifting.
I usually know I’m struggling with a book when I find myself over highlighting. Using too much ink usually means that I can’t identify what’s really important and I’m, therefore, deciding that everything is.
But once I caught on to Scott’s key conceptual models, I realize that I was taking a ton of practical advice away from the book and I was applying it immediately.
For anyone who leads a team or wants to, Scott’s book is a must read.
No Exit
My favorite fiction book of April was No Exit by Taylor Adams.
Darby Thorne is driving to Utah from Colorado to visit her dying mother when she gets caught in a snow storm. The roads are closed, so she is forced to wait out the storm in a highway rest stop building with four other strangers.
Darby wanders outside after meeting her strange companions because she’s trying to find a cell phone signal to at least call home and tell her sister where she is. While she’s walking around with her phone in the air, she sees something shocking in the van parked next to her car. There is a little girl in there, locked in an animal crate.
Darby has to figure out which of her companions the van belongs to and how she can save the little girl when they’re all trapped by the weather.
There they are! My favorite books of April. I hope you find something here to read and love.
Happy reading!
