Here are the reading experiences I had this month.

1. Field of Prey by John Sandford – Before I left for a recent vacation I downloaded this book by one of my favorite mystery writers.  The books I read in March were not among my favorites and I wanted to experience some fun pleasure reading while soaking up the rays on the beaches in Hawaii.  Sanford’s Prey books never disappoint- this was another interesting mystery that I enjoyed!
2. The Affair by Lee Child – Child’s Jack Reacher series is one of my favorites.  Every time I start another book I feel like I’m visiting with an old friend, albeit a violent, loner friend, but still.  This was one of favorites in the series because it flashed back to tell the story of how Reacher became the man we know him as in the current books.  I love when an author can flash back to shed new light on a familiar character.
3. Crash and Burn by Allison Brennan – This was a random deal on Barnes & Noble in the mystery Nook section.  It was actually two short stories in one book.  I enjoyed getting to know female private investigators, especially since the two books I read before it had male main characters.  It was an okay storyline and I am willing to check out another in the series to see if I really like the characters and the style of writing.
4. Explore Like A  Pirate: Gamification and Game-Inspired Course Design to Engage, Enrich, and Elevate Your Learners by Michael Matera – This is another great book published by Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.  I knew practically nothing about gamification before reading this.  Now I feel like I can have an educated conversation about it (and I plan to, regarding district professional growth opportunities!).
5. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling- This is another audiobook I enjoyed in the genre of celebrity autobiographies! While I don’t love her current show, I appreciate her wit and her love of romantic comedies.
6. A Wanted Man by Lee Child – This was not one of my favorite Reacher books, but I still enjoyed the overall experience and the twists and turns.
7. Deep Down by Lee Child- This was a short story based on Jack Reacher.  It was a quick read and different from the normal books because of the lack of violence and suspense.
8. Fostering Resilient Learners: Strategies for Creating a Trauma-Sensitive Classroom by Kristin Souers with Pete Hall – I wish I had read this book when I was a teacher or a principal!  It took me years of experience working in schools full of students who had experience a wide range of trauma to understand how to work best to support my students.  As a principal, I gave up self-care and became so unhealthy, which only added to my stress while dealing with a trauma-filled school.  This is a great read for any educator!  One line that resonated with me was, “forever changed, not forever damaged,” and is so important to remember as we work with students who have had traumatic experiences.
9. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle – One of my favorite books as a child, when I reread it this month I realized I have no idea why I enjoyed it as a child!  This was such an odd experience for me, because I didn’t love it and couldn’t, for the life of me, figure out why my younger self loved this particular story.  As a young reader I did not enjoy SciFi and the YA dystopian genre did not exist back then.  It made me sad to finish this book without loving it and thereby changing my opinion of a once-beloved favorite.

This brings my 2016 total to 30.