If you’re like me, reading is something you’re passionate about. But it’s also the one thing that always gets bumped to the bottom of the to-do list. Scratch that. On most days, reading doesn’t even make it to the to-do list. So when holidays come around, I count those days as my time to catch up on some page turning. I’ve planned, prepared, shopped, wrapped, delivered, and packed. I’m ready for our holiday road trip and excited to have some uninterrupted reading time in the car. Now all I need is a good book list to guide my reading choices.

So I asked our instructional designers what books they’d recommend. Here’s a list of our top suggestions for your winter break reading list.

10 Favorite Education Books:

• Milton Chen. Education Nation: Six Leading Edges of Innovation in our Schools. (2010)
• Linda Darling-Hammond. The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future. (2009)
• Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz. The Race between Education and Technology. (2008)
• Wendy Kopp. One Day, All Children: The Unlikely Triumph of Teach for America and What I Learned Along the Way. (2001)
• Jay Mathews. Work Hard. Be Nice.: How Two Inspired Teachers Created the Most Promising Schools in America. (2009)
• Deborah Meier. In Schools We Trust: Creating Communities of Learning in an Era of Testing and Standardization. (2002)
• National Research Council. How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. (2000)
• Diane Ravitch. The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education. (2010)
• Theodore R. Sizer and Nancy Faust Sizer. The Students Are Watching: Schools and the Moral Contract. (2000)
• James W. Stigler. The Teaching Gap: Best Ideas from the World’s Teachers for Improving Education in the Classroom. (1999)

But why stop at ten? Here are a few extras we couldn’t resist adding:

• Donna Foote. Relentless Pursuit: A Year in the Trenches with Teach for America. (2008)
• Shirley Sagawa. The American Way to Change: How National Service and Volunteers Are Transforming America. (2010)
• Paul Tough. Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America. (2008)

I know I’m stopping at the library on my way out of town. What will you be reading over the next few days and weeks? Do you have any books you’d recommend adding to our favorites list?