Reading with Karen Fiery

Books I love and hope you will, too.

Welcome to the small corner of my life where reading and literacy have always played a pivotal role. Through the pages you will find recommendations to books my students and I love, as well as links to other, hopefully helpful tips and tidbits on teaching literacy and reading. This site is not meant to be anything other than suggestions of things you might like to read or learn. I’ll update it as I read new, enjoyable things.

If you would like to contact me, please feel free to do so at fieryandfitz@gmail.com

Happy Reading!
Karen Fiery
*Pictured with her best companion, Grisham Fitzpatrick (affectionally known as Grish)*
Image captured by Cameron Mills of *Cameron Mills Photography*

What are you looking for?

Books I Love

A list of books that I have loved over the years. Most posted now are recent reads.

Books My Students Love

I have taught 5-12th grade. This is just a sampling of the books my students have gravitated toward.

Read to Succeed Work

Here you will find links to my assignments for all courses required to become a South Carolina’s R2S Literacy Teacher.

A Forward:

While I separate the categories into “Books I Love” and “Books My Students Love,” I encourage you to explore both. I have learned more from and enjoyed immensely books that my students have introduced to me.

I have purposely not provided Lexile or suggested age levels for the books in the Student Recommendations. While I know these serve a purpose, I believe reading for enjoyment shouldn’t be bound by those restrictions. Read what you want to read, and enjoy reading for the sake of reading. Teaching our students to love reading is so much more important than forcing them to stick to a Lexile level that doesn’t include their favorite books.

If you don’t like a book, never be afraid to put it down. There are so many books that you should never force yourself to read something for pleasure. Not every book is for every person, nor is every book right for every time in our lives. On many occasions, I have found myself unable to gain interest in a book. It will stay on my shelf, and sometimes I circle back around and find that the same book is wonderful—my mind just wasn’t ready when I started it previously.