Why Don't Students Like School -- Daniel Willingham ---------------------- 4.5 Stars

So, this is kind of a hard rating to explain.  Basically, on a personal
level, I thought Daniel Willingham's Why Don't Students Like School was incredible.  I found it interesting and entertaining and pretty much all the things that I usually judge a book by when making a rating.  YOU, however, may not like this book at all.  In fact, unless you are a teacher, I really doubt that would you get much from this (or perhaps you would, dear reader... what do I know about you?).

 Since you are probably not a cool educator like myself and in 'the know', a bit of background: Willingham is a cognitive scientist and professor at UVA and wrote this book to try to explain how people think, what intelligence is, and mostly, how this all relates to the classroom.  He's a pretty smart guy and his research seems pretty well vetted so most of what he is saying seems to be the Truth.  What's so interesting about it though, is how little of his assertions I was aware of prior to the read.

Now, again, I am not sure if you would enjoy the material if you don't teach or are not into this stuff.  I am really into this sort of thing right now, and this book hit the sweet spot.  In the book, he focuses each of the nine chapters on a major educational question.  Things like: "Is Drilling Worth It"?  and "How Can I Help Slow Learners" and, of course "Why Don't Students Like School" (the answer: it's either too easy or too hard.. the trick: you need to find the perfect middle ground). 

Perhaps why I liked the book so much is that I found myself agreeing with much of what he argued.  Although many ideas were not taught through many of my education courses, what he states often goes inline with what I have observed during the last nine years of teaching.  Of course, a few things seem to me a bit hard to believe (i.e. there is no such thing as learning style), but most of his ideas fly with me and I think should be utilized more by teachers as they would be effectuate change and helping students.

So, perhaps I tantalized you with my positive comments and maybe you want to pick it up.  If you do, it would probably be worth it.  It's a short, easy read and he does a great job of explaining the research and the 'whys' of what he is trying to explain.  Perhaps if you do read it, you might want to go into education (if not already there).  School could always use good teachers and you'd have a good start!

Enduring Love -- Ian McEwan --------------------------- 2 Stars

I don't think I can ever recall a prior time that I have finished a book and been so frustrated.  I mean, really annoyed.  But somehow that managed to occur after I finished reading Ian McEwan's Enduring Love.

I'll try to do my best to explain but first some background on the selection of text.  I was in love with Ian McEwan.  I read his best book, Atonement about two years ago (review here), and more recently, the pretty good Amsterdam.  So, I thought I'd give Enduring Love a try as it had decent reviews and many considered it a very strong book of his.

The premise sounded fairly interesting, a guy out with his girl about to have a picnic witnesses a 'runaway' balloon about to hit power lines and he, along with 3 others, all run to try to save it.  As they do, someone dies in the process but the major story line is a bizarre obsession another person starts with the main character that is pervasive throughout the rest of the novel.  Obviously, its gets dramatic, there is a major climax and typical resolution.

So, back to the frustration.  I am frustrated with many aspects.   First, the story starts out in a very weird way (as described above) and never really gets momentum.  It is an odd story and not much more.  Second, the actual plot is incredibly frustrating.  I mean, I know it's a story, but it was so ridiculous the way it played out and what people decided to do.  Third, the ending is frustrating.  In typical McEwan fashion there are twists and major surprises but unlike earlier novels, the twists don't add to the story, just to my FRUSTRATION!  Sorry, I am a bit annoyed if you can't tell.  Fourth, I might be frustrated with myself for not liking it more.  By all accounts, it is fairly well liked by others and it is very well written.  It's not boring per se, but it is slow for long parts.  It lacks dialogue which bothers me.  I did appreciate alot of the various points he was raising about god vs. science and the individual vs. the community and all that stuff.  So, some of the frustration was with myself as well.

Overall, I actually recommend this book to check out as I think it may have been my various frustrations that prevented the novel from getting a higher rating.  It's a fast read and short, has some beautiful writing and well detailed scenes, and has a fairly interesting plot with good twists at the end.  If you do decide to read and do not enjoy, please do not get frustrated with me; I certainly gave you plenty of other reasons to be annoyed. 

The Social Animal -- David Brooks ---------- 3 Stars

Some books I read I can't even remember how they got on my list or why I ended up deciding to read them.  The Social Animal by David Brooks belongs in that category.   I think I have had this on my list for a couple years now and I finally got to it recently.  I have a feeling the blog I am about to write is going to mimic this book; not bad, but not too good either.

David Brooks is a pretty great columnist for the NY Times who does mostly political stuff...I enjoy him and he is smart.  The book's main premise, as you may guess from the title on the right, is that the real reason people are happy is not from material wealth or intelligence but rather a variety of social abilities that mostly have to do with your character and how you relate to others. 

The good -- the book is nicely written and starts out very strongly.  After an interesting introduction, I was excited to read about the ways in which a person's social skills and things things that are not considered part of 'intellect' really equate to happiness and true success.  Following, the ideas of multiple intelligences and other ways of determine true 'ability', this book focuses on similar ideas.  So, it's a pretty cool premise and some of the studies and statistics that Brooks offers are fascinating.

The bad -- its sort of a long read and it gets progressively less interesting as it continues.  As the story does not really build upon itself, you don't really appreciate it as you continue to read.  It also has some parts where he over writes and continues on for far too long with his point or his viewpoint.

The good and bad -- all of the points he is trying to make in it and items he is trying to make you understand, he does through the telling of a fictional story of two characters.   While I appreciated part of the stories and could get into them for periods of a time, in the end, it just seemed kind of hokey as each characters story would introduce his idea, then he would abandon the fictional story so he could explain his point, then he would get back again.  It was a bit odd. In some cases you could appreciate the tale about the person that sets up his argument while in others it seems forced.

Overall, its a pretty good book.  I would just recommend only reading the first half or 3/4ths as he really makes his major points early on and just (poorly) continues to try to add on or enhance those points as the story continues.  I really do believe that the premise of the book is important and needs to be better understood by people but the way he does it makes it a bit challenging.