Brave New Words: How AI Will Revolutionize Education (and Why That's a Good Thing)

Sal Kahn

This is a review written by Kahn (of Kahn Academy) trying to 1) describe the current state of AI in education and 2) prognosticate about the future of AI in education. First and foremost, Kahn has a particular point of view - he is selling an AI product that has been developed by Kahn academy. The book has some useful nuggets and is pretty straight forward about how AI is affecting students right now. But even on reading it, I found it to be behind. The LLM world and educational culture is moving too fast. Or maybe more likely, the educational culture has been shifting since Covid, and we are only now, as educators, seeing the chasm between where we are and where students are (mostly I am talking about motivation and educational culture here, not student content acquisition). So Kahn's product is selling a particular point of view (highly regulated tools for motivated learners) that is simply not the reality of the current wild west of AI. 

2 stars (out of 4)

Zara Hossain is Here

Sabina Khan

Zara Hossain is a Pakistani teenager going to school in Corpus Christi Texas. Her dad is a pediatrician at the local hospital and the hospital has been sponsoring the family work visa and progress toward green card for the past 14 years. Zara has been the target of some recent bullying at school which ultimately gets out of hand. Underlying the immigration/racial stresses, Zara is also discovering her first love as a young bi- woman. The stress there comes not from her parents, who are supportive, but from the stress associated with the family of her girlfriend. In many ways, Zara is experiencing some typical teen trauma (or more likely - teen trauma typical for immigrant or gender minorities). But the telling of it feels formulaic and Zara's experience is interesting, but not enlightening to me in any real way. 

2 stars (out of 4)

Playing with Fire

Gena Showalter

Belle is a struggling 20 something who can't keep a job, can't be anywhere on time, and can't really figure out why everything isn't handed to her great self on a platter. Her current job in a coffee shop ends up with her drinking some secret formula, giving her the ability to control wind, fire, water, earth. Of course now she is pursued by a couple of paranormal agencies, and has a protector as well, as she navigates her new life and tries to "figure things out". It's a fluffy, fun sci-fi fantasy romance novel. It has similar character to the I am Number Four series, with a couple of soft-core "romance" scenes thrown needlessly in the middle. 

2 stars (out of 4)

Last Argument of Kings

Joe Abercrombie

Book 3 of the First Law Trilogy

The big finale does in fact wrap things up. Bayaz pulls all the strings he needs to pull, revealing that this entire trilogy is but a small part of a larger story. The puppet king is on the throne, the north and the south defeated for the moment, Ninefingers gets his freedom of sorts. We never really get to explore any character enough for a hero to develop. Yes, everyone is flawed. But the most heroic are secondary and left to stories untold. This world has so many possibilities, but left me flat. Sorry, can't recommend it. 

2 stars (out of 4)

Before they are Hanged

Joe Abercrombie

Book 2 of the First Law Trilogy

True to fantasy form, we are divided among disparate parts of the world. Glokta is in the south, defending a city under siege. The main of the union army is in the north battling the invading horde. And magi Bayaz has taken Ninefingers, Luthar and Maljinn (a demon-blood girl seeking vengence on the southern barbarians) on a jouney to find a hidden something (too secret to tell us). In the end, the plot is disappointing as each individual story is engaging, but nothing really takes you anywhere. Maljinn is perhaps the most intriguing character, but we will need to see if she becomes important.

2 stars (out of 4)

Past Tense

A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child

Reacher stops off at a small town that has some family history (his dad may have lived there as a child). It so happens that near this small town is an aspiring business where rich people are able to pay lots of money to bow-hunt other people. The hunted (of course) are unwilling. Reacher gets involved in a round about way, so that it almost seems like his involvement is ancillary to main story of him discovering his past. The hunted that he helps are just resilient enough to make you wonder if they needed Reacher at all. But he helps, none-the-less, setting everyone straight and reinforcing that while interested in history, he doesn't really care about or need it. On to the next small town...


2 stars (out of 4)

Genesis

Brendan Reichs
Book 2 of Project Nemesis

Min and Noah have been identified as Beta test subjects in a crazy experiment/project. Only the 64 sophomores in Fire Lake, Idaho are alive, and they have been instructed to narrow their number down to move on to the next phase. But since no-one can die (death leads to a reset), what does this mean. The immediate implication is that factions are formed and a "Lord of the Flies" battle for survival begins. This is traumatic, violent and visceral. Maybe it was necessary for Reichs as a plot device, but it goes on too long. Explore the alternative sooner. It seems like he had more fun than necessary writing this section when it could have been shortened to a couple chapters to make the point and move on to the next phase. Just my 2 cents. In the end, the class resolves its narrowing and moves on...
2 stars (out of 4)

I'm Still Here

Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness
Austin Channing Brown

For me, this book reminded be of Between the World and Me, but from the female perspective. Brown is not writing a letter, but she is writing explicitly about what it means to be black in a white world. Coates book is offering the reader a peak behind the curtain into a personal conversation about blackness, and it is frank and explicit and direct. Brown is up front about her purpose for writing, to teach about and illuminate blackness. Her tone is softer, but weirdly more direct. As a result is comes across as preachy. While reading, I felt like it was good for me to read and informative. Today, I couldn't tell you a single detail.
2 stars (out of 4)

A Darkness More than Night

Michael Connelly

Book 7 in the Harry Bosch Series

This felt like a departure, of sorts, from the Bosch formula. The first part of the book didn't really even include Bosch, except in an ancillary way. Instead, we are introduced to former FBI profiler Terry McCaleb, who now lives the retired life on Catalina Island. We are treated to his backstory, and how he now gets involved with a potential serial killer case as a consultant, brought to him courtesy of the LA County sheriff. Turns out the murder is connected to Bosch since the crime scene has lots of explicit "clues" left behind that point directly to the painter Heironymous Bosch, thereby implicating Harry. And Harry is in court testifying against a Hollywood producer bigwig who is also a serial murderer... hmmm, any connection?

I didn't really feel the connection with McCaleb or his detective-ing style, so didn't really like the story as much as the others that focus on Bosch and his neurosis. Just enough to get me to finish I guess.

2 stars (out of 4)

Trunk Music

Michael Connelly

Book 5 in the Harry Bosch Series

Coming off a suspension, Harry is back in Hollywood on the homicide desk with a new boss and new team (Edgar and new team member Kiz Rider). Catching his first case, it is seemingly a classic mob hit with a body found in a trunk above the Hollywood Bowl. The leads take the investigation to Las Vegas, where nearly the entire book takes place, and reintroduces us to Eleanor Wish (love interest from Book 1 The Dark Echo). In all, this was a strong detective story, but since it was not LA, I found it only moderately engaging. Or actually, engaging but pining for LA.

2 stars (out of 4)

The Bourne Objective

Eric Van Lustbader

Book 8 in the Jason Bourne series

Lustbader went full Dan Brown with this one. Hopefully this is not the new trend for the Bourne series. Previously the intrigue for Bourne is based on his getting pulled into political/national security/national intelligence scenarios that are complicated by the Treadstone training and his amnesia. This story inhabits that world, and those characters take part, but the story is pure illuminati. Disappointing. I give hime another try, hoping this is an aberation.

2 stars (out of 4)

Building Equity: Policies and Practices to Empower all Learners

Dominique Smith, Ian Pumpian, Nancy Frey, Douglas Fisher

This is part motivational writing to justify why equity is important in schools, and part 'how-to' for districts to assess current equity. They propose an Equity Taxonomy so you can work on different foundational problem areas, and have accompanying checklists for assessment. The book says it is for all educators, but the emphasis (most examples) are from public school districts and mostly lower schools (K-8). So while systemically this might be good for my private high school as a self assessment tool, it is not particularly useful for the individual teacher. The one exception would be the Instructional Excellence chapter that had a few good reminders on the value of explicitly establishing purpose and how to think about progression toward student centered learning.
2 stars (out of 4)

The Midnight Line

A Jack Reacher Novel
Lee Child

Reacher is on a bus to somewhere. During a pit stop he wanders over to the local pawnshop for a look-around and sees a West Point class ring. Something "must be wrong" so he pursues the origin story of this ring. His pursuit takes him to Wyoming and the local black market opioid pipeline, DEA investigations, and a purple heart earning veteran. He works with a Chicago private detective, his cute-young-thing client, and unknowingly a local persistent police officer to find the girl and shut down the regional crime boss. And then gets back on a bus to somewhere. Maybe for the first time in this series, I feel like Child has phoned it in. Reacher has become a caricature of himself, without any real effort at either exploring the psychological depths or motivations of the man. Granted, it has been sparse throughout, but never before have I noted the vacancy of the characters. Being as this is the latest publication, I can only hope this is an aberation and not the new normal.


2 stars (out of 4)