It's Monday, What Are You Reading October 27, 2014

 #IMWAYR, where bloggers share the books they have been reading in the past week. If you follow these links, Jen from Teach Mentor Textsand Kellee and Ricki from Unleashing Readers, you can find many great reads.

Last week I finished reading Hostage Three by Nick Lake. It was dark and disturbing, but at the same time, enlightening. It isn't something I will purchase it for my elementary school library though. 

After that, I started on The Elevator Ghost by Glen Huser. To be honest, it was too light a read after the intensity of Hostage Three. So instead of reading with my eyes, I spent more time listening to Wildwood Imperium by Colin Meloy. 

I finished The Legend of Bold Riley, a graphic novel written by Leia Weathington and illustrated by different individuals. Bold Riley is a fabulous queer role model for girls. She is strong, smart, confident, and brave. I enjoyed the story, but found the different styles of art to be a distraction.

Last Thursday, at the British Columbia Teachers Association (BCTLA) Gala dinner, I met up with Glen Huser who autographed a copy of his book for me. I was delighted to share a table with three authors whose work I admire, Irene Watts, Linda Baily, and Helaine Becker. Darlene Foster also graced our table. I am looking forward to reading her books about Amanda, a Canadian born heroine sleuth.

On Friday I attended the Vancouver Writer's Festival. In the morning I got to see Cory Doctorow. I didn't swoon, but I did pick up a copy of Information Doesn't Want to be Free as a Christmas gift for my partner. In the afternoon I went to a session titled Forty Years of Harbour Publishing, where I discovered the works of Katherine Palmer Gordon and Robert (Lucky) Bud. I bought Gordon's book We are Born With Songs Inside Us: Lives and Stories of First Nations People in British Columbia and Bud's book, Echoes of British Columbia: Voices from the Frontier, and crossed more Christmas gifts off my list. 

The important thing I learned from the BCTLA conference this year, was to remember to highlight Canadian authors in general, and local author's in particular. Next year I will set a goal for reading a number of their works.


Yesterday I started The Elevator Ghost all over again and loved it. We had to go out for dinner as I was too busy reading to cook. It is the perfect Halloween read for younger readers as it is filled with scary stories but they're not too scary. There is something about naughty boys I can't help but love. You can read my review of it by clicking the above link. 

In the next week I will continue to listen to Wildwood Imperium. In an effort to work on my my 2014 must reads list, up next is Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze by Alan Silberberg.