The Good School

Title: The Good School: How Smart Parents Get Their Kids the Education They Deserve
Author: Peg Tyre
Genre: Non-fiction/Self-help
Pages: 256
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: Peg Tyre, an education journalist, brings together as much research as she can gather in this book on how to identify a good school and a good teacher for your child.  She tackles all the major questions: picking a pre-school, the importance of class size, reading, math, teacher quality, and how to make a difference at your school.
Thoughts: I think that everyone who has a school-age kid should read this book.  It does a really nice job of synthesizing a whole bunch of information, and directly and answering the questions that concerned parents would like to have answered about their child's education.  Each chapter had some clear, major take-aways, and I felt like it at least gave me a clear set of things that I want to make sure that my kids' schools have.  I also really liked that the book was very fair, and that it was not pushing a particular agenda.  Tyre was open about what we still don't know, and openly says that some of her recommendations will likely change as new evidence comes out.  I really appreciated that.  I only have two complaints about the book: (1) it used a fair amount of research, but rarely were the claims backed up by numbers.  For example, she said pre-school teachers who are very verbal (talk a lot) do a better job of helping kids learn language skills.  That's good to know, but how big was the impact?  How much do they need to talk?  I just felt like it was light on real numbers so that I could get a handle on the magnitude of the various effects.  (2) It was bit on the dry side.  Writing a book like this that isn't dry is pretty hard to do, so this is a pretty minor complaint.  Anyway, besides those two things, this was really a great book.  Highly recommended.
Disclaimer: None.

Robinson Crusoe

Title: Robinson Crusoe
Author: Daniel Defoe
Genre: Classic
Pages: 304
Rating (out of 5 stars): ***
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: The classic tale of poor Robinson Crusoe, who was stranded on a tropical island for 28 years.  Through his ingenuity, he not only survives, but comes to live in relative peace and comfort on the island, before he finally finds a way back to civilization.
Thoughts: Robinson Crusoe has been on my to-read list for a long time, and I'm glad that I finally got around to it, but it's not one that I'll highly recommend to someone looking for an exciting adventure book.  Crusoe is regarded as one of the earliest English novels, and so I think that reading it is more of an educational experience than pleasurable.  Defoe is prone to spend too long describing some things and not long enough on other parts, I felt like, so I wasn't never really captivated by the book.  I often found my mind wandering while I listend to it.  But, for being written in 1719, it's pretty darn good, and it's certainly become an important part of our culture.  I think you just have to expect some long, winding plots and some philosophizing with these old novels.  Overall, I'm glad I read it, but it was a bit of a project to get through.
Disclaimer:  None, other than the fact that Defoe is quite racist, as all white Europeans were in 1719.

To The Rescue

Title: To The Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson
Author: Heidi Swinton
Genre: Biography
Pages: 600
Rating (out of 5 stars): ****
Reviewed by: Ben
Description: The biography of President Monson.  Not much more to say than that.
Thoughts: I had heard from several people that this was a great book, and I definitely agree with them.  I feel like President Monson has a very different personality from President Hinckley, and so when that transition happened it was hard for me to imagine President Monson as the prophet.  This book really put into perspective the greatness of this man for me.  I just can't get over how many stories are in there of him listening carefully to the Spirit and then reaching out to the one.  President Monson is an incredible example of that.  And, I don't think I had fully comprehended just how long he's been in full-time service for the Church.  He was made an Apostle by David O. McKay, for heaven's sake!  I think that you have to admire his incredible endurance to serve so faithfully for so long.  Anyway, I really enjoyed this book a lot--it's chock full of great stories, it's entertaining, and it's inspiring all at once.
Disclaimer: None, obviously.