Not Getting Rich and Good Books

I had good intentions of blogging often, but work, kid, working out (or life I guess I could say) and the fact that I still do not really like to write have gotten in the way of the witty banter and pearls of wisdom I envisioned occurring here on a regular basis. So now, what to write?
I had this idea because I was wondering about haiku and I don’t hear syllables well. So my idea was wouldn’t it be cool if there was a syllable counter online, that could be useful, plug in a word, bing you find out it has 3 syllables. Well, don’t go thinking I will be getting rich from that idea, someone beat me to it. There is not one but many. I had fun with that for a few minutes, then my short attention span kicked in and I lost interest in haiku and syllables. And I have know idea where this whole train of thought even came from, none what so ever.

I moved on (in my brain, from haiku and syllables) to the books I have been reading and I was wondering why I have been reading so much lately (define lately as the last 9-12 months for this conversation). I have always read a lot, but it just seems like more than usual lately (see above definition). Maybe this is just confirmation bias and I can’t remember prior to 9-12 months ago. I have been reading a lot of professional books, some nonfiction, and a variety of fiction. I seem all over the place with my choices too, not sticking to one genre or topic. So I was wondering why? My working hypothesis is it is my Sony eReader that is causing the massive amount of reading, that and all the RSS feeds I get about new books (especially professional). The cool thing about the eReader is the sites for buying books are not easy to browse so I spend much longer looking for books and wind up in sections I would not at a book store. I also have around 10-15 books on my eReader at any given time, and sometimes I am reading more than one. As for the RSS feeds they give me the latest books, with the internet I can go to Amazon and check it out and bam, it is on its way to my house. The up shot of all this is I am reading a ton, so awesome. Below then are few of the books I read and someone might like and a haiku, hope they are helpful.

Books:
Professional First
· Readicide: How Schools Are Killing Reading and What You Can Do About It by Kelly Gallagher
· Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov
· Conferring: The Keystone of Reader's Workshop by Patrick A. Allen
· Writing About Reading by Janet Angelillo
· Catching Readers Before They Fall: Supporting Readers Who Struggle, K-4 by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier
· Differentiated Professional Development in a PLC by Bowgren and Sever


Nonfiction next:
· Open by Andre Agassi
· East to the Dawn: The Life of Amelia Earhart by Susan Butler
· The Life of Queen Elizabeth I by Alison Weir
· 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot by Richard Wiseman
· Why Evolution Is True by Jerry A. Coyne
· Unscientific America: How Scientific Illiteracy Threatens our Future by Chris Mooney and Sheril Kirshenbaum
· Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War by Michael J. Neufeld


Fiction:

· The Lacuna: A Novel by Barbara Kingsolver
· The Help by Kathryn Stockett
· The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
· Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson (reread of a all time favorite)
· Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith
· Hastur Lord: A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross


The haiku (I know this is what you are waiting for):
Thunderstorm thrill me
Lightning thunder rain in sheets
Severe exciting

Still no idea where this hiaku thing came from but hopefully it won't come again.