What are the best books for teachers this summer? Not for the students or for the classroom, but the best books for you – the teacher. We’ll start off with the top 5 poolside books for teachers, and then we’ll move into some more early morning reads, and then the best professional books for teachers.
Best Books for Teachers, Summer 2022
This list is our top 5 faves – taken from teacher feedback, Amazon best-sellers, and our hunches after hearing from over 3,000 teachers this year. Check out this best books for teachers list, and let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler
“Overworked and underappreciated, single mom Amy Byler needs a break. So when the guilt-ridden husband who abandoned her shows up and offers to take care of their kids for the summer, she accepts his offer and escapes rural Pennsylvania for New York City.”
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterhood
“After more than a decade, when sisters Nikki, Sami, and Tori Knotek hear the word mom, it claws like an eagle’s talons, triggering memories that have been their secret since childhood. Until now.”
In Every Mirror She’s Black
“Told through the perspectives of each of the three women, In Every Mirror She’s Black is a fast-paced, richly nuanced novel that touches on important social issues of racism, classism, fetishization, and tokenism, and what it means to be a Black woman navigating a white-dominated society.”
Best Nonfiction Books this Summer (2022)
Okay, bear with us. This section is a bit more serious. Think of it as a good airplane book or morning coffee vs. poolside or evening wine. BUT the nonfiction books here are AMAZING! They’ll stir your heart, and your mind, and invigorate your spirit.
American Detox: The Myth of Wellness and How We Can Truly Heal
“In American Detox, organizer, yoga activist, wellness disruptor, and CTZNWELL founder Kerri Kelly sounds the wake-up call. It’s time to commit to the radical work of unlearning the toxic messages we’ve been fed–to resist, disrupt, and dream better futures of what wellness really means.”
Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience
“In Atlas of the Heart, Brown takes us on a journey through eighty-seven of the emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human. As she maps the necessary skills and an actionable framework for meaningful connection, she gives us the language and tools to access a universe of new choices and second chances—a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another in a way that builds connection.”
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Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organize Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential
“For the first time in history, we have instantaneous access to the world’s knowledge. Yet, rather than feeling empowered, we are often left feeling overwhelmed by this constant influx of information. Discover the full potential of your ideas and translate what you know into more powerful, more meaningful improvements in your work and life.”
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Best Professional Books for Teachers in 2022
We started this list with the beach reads, then on to the reflective reads, and now onto the professional books.
Fifty Strategies to Boost Cognitive Engagement: Creating a Thinking Culture in the Classroom
We love this book because of its new take on Bloom’s taxonomy…more importantly, we love how the instructional strategies are actionable and will help you build critical-thinking skills, teamwork, and creativity in any classroom!
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Hacking Classroom Management: 10 Ideas To Help You Become the Type of Teacher They Make Movies About
This book is great because it’s so simple to use. Whether you’re starting out or are a veteran expert in the classroom, we promise you’ll find at least a dozen new ideas to use with your students.
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The First Days of Schools
For New Teachers: We still like this Gold Standard in classroom management and establishing procedures in the classroom.
“This is the best-selling book ever on classroom management and teaching for student achievement with over 4 million copies sold. It’s practical, yet inspiring. But most important, it works!”
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Nine Honorable Mentions
- The Plot: A Novel “Insanely readable.” ―Stephen King
- The Maidens: A Novel “A deliciously dark, elegant, utterly compulsive read…” ―Lucy Foley, New York Times bestselling author
- The Other Black Girl “Urgent, propulsive, and sharp as a knife.”
- People We Meet on Vacation “…a sparkling novel that will leave you with the warm, hazy afterglow usually reserved for the best vacations.”
- Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals “I believe we can change the world. But first, we’ve got to stop living in fear of being judged for who we are.”
- Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle “This book is a gift! I’ve been practicing their strategies, and it’s a total game-changer.”—Brené Brown
- A Search for Common Ground: Conversations about the Toughest Questions in k-12 Education “from school choice to testing to diversity to privatization.”
- Responding to Student Trauma “…a standalone resource, as a supplement to existing programs, or as a trauma response framework.”
- This is the Canon: Decolonize Your Bookshelves in 50 Books “…the novels recommended here are in turn haunting and lyrical; innovative and inspiring; edgy and poignant.”
We hope you enjoyed this list of books for teachers. Surely there are at least 2 books to enjoy this summer! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below! Which book do you want? What book did we miss on the list? What’s a book that teachers should read this summer?
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So What Did You Think About the Book List? What would you recommend?