Editor’s note: This post was a labour of love for everyone on the LEARN team – and from a literacy perspective it’s always good to practice what you preach!
With the 2014-2015 school year ALMOST a distant memory, the LEARN team wants to help you avoid that summertime brain drain that is bound to happen while you laze around swimming pools, beaches, lakes, porches, water parks and so on. Here are the summer book picks that we feel will help you stay mentally crisp, instead of fading away. Our criteria was simple: recommend a book you like!
The Physics of Superheroes
by James Kakalios
The Shack: Where Tragedy Confronts Eternity
by Wm. Paul Young
Life is full of challenges. It’s easy to be taken over by the negatives. For me, this book is helping me to hope and to focus on the positives in everyone and the relationships we have. Put a little love in your hearts people!
-Doris Kerec, Administrator – Financial Services
The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology
That Fuel Success and Performance at Work
by Shawn Achor
Not a book filled with bumper-sticker platitudes, this is about science… neuroscience actually. Research proves that each one of us has the ability to shape and reshape the neural pathways in the brain. With practice, we can shift our mindset to the positive, which can profoundly affect our work and life. Well written and funny!
-Kristine Thibeault, Pedagogical Consultant
Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, And Good Food
by Jeff Potter
The Practice of Contemplative Photography: Seeing the World with Fresh Eyes
by Andy Karr and Michael Wood
I love going out with my camera. It stills the mind, makes me live in the moment. This book is full of ideas on how to learn to look: finding the beauty in the mundane and the unusual, hunting out textures and spaces, searching for simplicity… And it is packed with photographs by many outstanding photographers illustrating the concepts. So I will slow down, read, and take time to focus this summer.
-Susan van Gelder, Pedagogical Consultant
The Home by the Sea
by Santa Montefiore
This book tells the tale of a little girl (Floriana) abandoned by her mother and raised in abject poverty by her alcoholic father in Tuscany in 1966. This story is moving and mysterious, it’s about love and forgiveness… and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The vivid descriptions of the Tuscan coast also kept me enraptured throughout.
-Rosie Himo, Administrative Assistant
Us Conductors
by Sean Michaels
For the pure pleasure of it I will be finishing Us Conductors by Sean Michaels, which I loved and just tore through in spring but then got sidetracked with all kinds of end-of-year commitments. I crave books with simple yet rhythmic writing like Michaels’. So, not sure what I will find to follow it. Any suggestions?
-Paul Rombough, Pedagogical Consultant
Irrationally Yours
by Dan Ariely
Not cosmological. Not theological. Not existential. Not flippant. Not profound. Not poetic. Not prosaic. Not too long. Not too short. Not meditative. Not self-help. And NOT irrational.
-Michael Canuel, Chief Executive Officer
Joy, Inc.: How We Built a Workplace People Love
by Rich Sheridan
I take a moment every week to celebrate and tweet #3HappyThingsAtWork. One book I will read this summer tells the story of a company that created an intentionally joyful culture, with profitable results! In Joy, Inc., Rich Sheridan shares how he built a workplace people love – work in pairs, daily short stand-up meetings, no walls, work-life balance, and Viking helmets!
-Dianne Conrod, Principal – Online Learning
Le baiser mauve de Vava
par Dany Laferrière
« Maman, veux-tu un baiser mauve de Vava? »
Dany Laferrière a transporté mon fils dans un imaginaire où s’entremêlent la poésie, la maladie, la vie, la tristesse, l’espoir, l’amour, les papillons jaunes et les méchants hommes aux lunettes noires. Et surtout, le baiser mauve à la princesse endormie, Vava.-Julie Paré, conseillère pédagogique
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel prize winning economist, delves into our biased misunderstandings of the world. He seeks to improve our ability to identify and understand errors of judgement and choice. I need the long summer days to explore this insightful trip into our thought processes.
-Bev White, Director of Special Projects
Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies
by Ben MacIntyre
The story of Britain’s MI-5 intelligence service’s Double Cross system whose elaborate deceptions duped the Nazis and convinced Hitler the Allies would land at Calais and Norway instead of Normandy. The success or failure of a series of elaborate plots and double-dealings turned on egos, personal tragedies, money, sexual behaviour and heroism. Vintage photographs of these flamboyant agents, their British and German senior officers and the code-breaking Bletchley Park personnel are interspersed throughout the book. If you’re not a war story aficionado but find what makes people and projects tick fascinating, I recommend this as an intriguing summer read!
-Barbara Goode, Adult General Education and Vocational Training Initiatives
Jaguars Ripped My Flesh
by Tim Cahill
How can you go wrong with a title like Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, by Tim Cahill? Pure adventure escapism. Short stories of travel from around the world.
-Thomas Stenzel, Pedagogical Consultant
The Passion Driven Classroom
by Angela Maiers and Amy Sandvold
#youmatter – these 2 words will alter your students’ confidence. These words will change their outlook on learning. I am a huge fan of Angela Maiers. Her message is powerful: make sure your students know that what they do is important! This summer, I want to read more about what she suggests to “cultivate a thriving and passionate community of learners”.
-Peggy Drolet, Online Teacher and Pedagogical Consultant
Reinventing organizations: A Guide to Creating Organizations
Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness
by Frederic Laloux
Frederic Laloux looks at organizational models over time from an evolutionary and historical perspective. He offers us the possibility of a new paradigm based on case stories of existing work places and conditions for creating or transforming organizations beyond current levels of consciousness. The author uses a colour palette of red, amber, orange, green and teal to code the models – how can you go wrong… ; )
-Christine Truesdale, Director of Pedagogical Services and Educational Technology
Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share
by Ken Denmead
With a full nest of littles to entertain throughout the summer days, this sweet project book is exactly what is needed to get my kiddies outside, creating and inventing. Projects from making a board game, to creating a comic book, to building a binary calendar. When your kids say, “I’m bored,” you now have ammo!
– Chris Colley, Pedagogical Consultant
He’s the Weird Teacher: And other things students whisper about me
by Doug Robertson
Doug is actually a Twitter friend of mine. He’s hilarious and deep, and apparently so is his book. He has written a second one also, which I may read if I like the first one. Taking all the creative energy he has to inspire his students, channeling it into a fun to read, meaningful guide to teaching.
-Audrey McLaren, Online Teacher and Pedagogical Consultant
An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth
by Chris Hatfield
In An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth Chris Hadfield talks about his early life and the events that led him to become an astronaut. He also talks about his training and his experience before, during and after his 144 days as commander of the International Space Station (ISS).
– Rob Costain, Pedagogical Consultant
The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person’s Guide to
Writing in the 21st Century
by Steven Pinker
I’ve started reading this because I love Steven Pinker’s other books, I love his most recent animated TED talk, and I want to be prepped for his visit to Montreal on October 22. It promises to be deep (as a cognitive scientist he draws on neuroscience), witty, practical and fun.
-Mary Stewart, Managing Editor of LEARNing Landscapes
Turning to One Another: Simple conversations to restore hope to the future
by Margaret J. Wheatley
“Sit down and be quiet. You are drunk, and this is the edge of the roof” – Rumi. An unexpected book from a well-known organizational and leadership practitioner, dappled with poetry and whimsy, while staying grounded in the conversations that make us human and draw us together.
-Sylwia Bielec, Pedagogical Consultant & Editor of the LEARN Blog
