#IMWAYR February 13, 2017

#IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. The adult version of this meme is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date. The kidlit rendition is hosted by Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I do not recommend travelling in the winter.

My partner and I had to travel on BC Highways Thursday because he had to work on Friday. Our usual route was closed due to avalanche conditions. We headed north from our home in Oliver, to take the Coquihalla route. We arrived at the turnoff to find that not only was that route closed, no routes into Vancouver, were open. After lunch in the small town of Merritt, we got in line hoping that the highway would open at 4:00 when, according to @drivebc, the next update was scheduled. Sure enough, the road opened and we were on our way. 
The roads were treacherous! The pavement was a sheet of ice covered with a layer of water. 
About halfway over the pass, we stopped. A semi truck had jackknifed across the highway ahead of us. There was also an accident behind us. We waited for about an hour and a half till the one ahead was cleared. The group trapped behind were not so lucky and spent the night on the mountain. We managed, ever so slowly, to make our way over the pass and into the town of Hope. We thought the worst was over, but the freeway between Hope and Chilliwack was dotted with small ponds. My partner swears there were fish in some of them. A number of times, I wasn't sure we were going to make it through them. 

I might just have had enough winter.

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK

Spin: How Politics Has the Power to Turn Marketing on Its Head by Clive Veroni

PICTURE BOOKS

Dragonfly Kites: Pimihakanisa by Tomson Highway, Brian Deines (Illustrator) 2002

Dragonfly Kites: Pimithaagansa by Tomson Highway, Julie Flett (Illustrator) 2016

These are the second in Tomson Highway's bilingual Songs of the North Trilogy.

In this book Cody and Joe spend their summers in tents near lakes, far from other people. The boys create toys out of what they find on the land and turn the animals around them into pets. Everything is named. Eventually they end up tying string onto dragonflies and using them as kites.

Both these books are beautifully illustrated. I spoke of Brian Deines art in my blog post about the first in this series, Caribou Song.  Julie Flett's images capture a haunting sense of place, but it's the details in the wings of the dragonflies that are spectacular.

NON FICTION

5 stars

Radiant Child: The Story of Young Artist Jean-Michel Basquiat by Javaka Steptoe

Javaka Steptoe's illustrations are just stunning. I am very thankful for this introduction to the life and work of Jean-Michel Basquiat. I spent some time looking at it after I finished this book. This is another title where the endnotes are as interesting as the book itself. It was from these I learned how and why Basquiat influenced Steptoe's art

Spin: How Politics Has the Power to Turn Marketing on Its Head by Clive Veroni

Hurrah! I finally finished this book. Here's a bit from my blog post to give you a taste of what it is about:
"Ostensibly this is a book that shows what marketers can learn from political persuasion. For the rest of us, it's a brilliant analysis of how we are manipulated by both politicians and advertising. Spin is a book that will reframe the way you interact with the messages and information that bombard you. By the time you finish reading this, you'll be asking all kinds of different questions about what you see and hear and what's the point of the emotional punch it gives you. Before you respond to surveys and questionnaires, especially those that reveal information about who you are, you will stop and ask, who wants it and why? It's bound to help you understand how we've come into an age where facts hardly matters to many people."

NOVELS

5 stars

The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz Author & Narrator

Holy Carumba! This medieval story of three magical children is as good, if not better, than I could have imagined. I laughed. I cried. I cheered! There is something powerful about having the author read their work, but from what I have read, I will still have to find a hard copy to have a look at the illustrations. I especially appreciated Gidwitz' notes at the end talking about his research and the connections between his fictional characters and real life people.

4 stars

Sammy Keyes and the Runaway Elf by Wendelin Van Draanen & Tara Sands (Narrator)

I adore Sammy Keyes! Her adventure this time begins with a Christmas parade gone bad. There is a kidnapped dog, a blackmailer, and a troubled little elf of a girl. Sammy and Officer Borsch get over their antagonism for each other. I wept upon learning the nasty Mrs. Graybill's story and Sammy's response to it. 

Catching a Storyfish by Janice N. Harrington

5 stars

Just Wow! Harrington tells this story in poetry. Keet and her family have to leave their family home in Alabama and move to where they are closer to her grandfather. It's hard for her to adapt to a new school and make new friends. Ultimately it's a story of love, resilience and hope. 

The poetry is divine. Here's a snippet.

"WAITING

Waiting is the lace on the collar of your dress that you wear to school,

and it scratches and itches, and scratches and itches:

a long, long time."

At the end of the book, Harrington explains the different poetic forms she used in the book. It will encourage teachers to use this as mentor text.

CURRENTLY

I'm listening to Forest of Wonders by Linda Sue Park. I've started Ryan Quinn and the Rebel's Escape and am continuing to work on do Not Say We Have Nothing. I've started Bird by Bird by Anne Lamont. 

UP NEXT

I really have no idea. 

On Monday I'm picking up a box of books that I will be reading for the Chocolate Lily award. I'm excited about this! 

However, it's going to be rather time consuming, so I have to go through my books from the library, keep the ones I have to read for one of my reading goals and return the rest. I've already paused all my holds. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MUSTREADIN2017 2/36, 2 in progress

#MUSTREADNFIN2017 1/12, 1 in progress

50 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 7/50

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Goodreads Reading Challenge 47/333