The Most Influential Books / On My Life and Career / Non-Fiction
Learning By Heart / Roland Barth / I quote this book more than any other for it gave me hope and taught me to trust my instincts.
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People / Stephen Covey / A classic, yes, but for a reason. He might now be an industry but he was right all along.
The Art of War / Sun Tzu / So much of what I have learned about leadership comes from those who didn’t know they were leading / He would have done a great TED Talk.
The Read Aloud Handbook / Jim Trelease / He raised my awareness around literacy and helped me raise my kid / A hidden gem of a book.
Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with Emotional Intelligence / Daniel Goleman / All of his books are good / That’s what happens when you’re right.
What Learning Leaves / Poems by Taylor Mali / Yes, a book of poetry, but not fiction in any way / Speaking truth to power can be funny, and reality is always interesting.
The Tao of Physics / Fritjof Capra / We are all spiritual beings to begin with and we are all connected to each other / Somehow that helps me get through the day.
The Web of Life / Fritjof Capra / Yes, I put two of his books here because I couldn’t decide which one I like better / There is so much we have yet to learn from systems thinkers.
What Great Principals Do Differently / Todd Whitaker / This book came at the right time in my career / Just when I needed some advice on doing the job right.
Creative Schools / Ken Robinson / Another example of a book that is right about what is wrong with our schools / Proof that we have the solutions we need.
The Reviser’s Toolbox / Barry Lane / We make literacy so hard and yet there are so many great books out there to help kids write well / This is my favorite one.
Bringing Words to Life / Isabel Beck / If we just did in schools what Dr. Beck told us we wouldn’t have the problem with vocabulary that we have now / Another favorite of mine.
The World is Flat / Thomas Friedman / The timing of his book could not have been better / We can shrink from this reality or rise to it / By the way, I still think the world is actually flat.
Mere Christianity / C.S. Lewis / We all need a little religion in us / When I question my faith, I always have C.S. Lewis to knock some sense into me.
