#IMWAYR April 24, 2017

Hello Everyone! 

#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.

While I've finished up a number of novels, I have not been meeting my reading goals with regards to the Chocolate Lily titles. I really really meant to finish three from this box, but I've been busy with other things, and you know, life happens.

This photo shows one of the baby quilts I dropped off to be quilted this morning. Finishing up the back of them was a challenge because while working on the wedding quilt, my needle hit a straight pin. The pin was pushed into the cover plate and broke off one of the dodads that holds the plate in place. I had to hold it in place while I finished sewing. I still have 13 more blocks to finish on the wedding quilt. Then I just need to assemble them. As usual, everything takes much longer than I anticipated. My repair person just lives a few blocks away, so I hope to get it fixed soon. 

PICTURE BOOKS

3 stars

Feminist Baby by Loryn Brantz

This is a fun book that outlines the basics of what it means to be a feminist. I've bought two books for my grandchildren to be. I'm a hard core believer that feminism is for everyone, irrespective of gender. So while I liked this book a lot, I wish it had used gender neutral pronouns.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Brave Girl: Clara and the Shirtwaist Makers' Strike of 1909 by Michelle Markel & Melissa Sweet (Illustrations)

This is a must purchase book for anyone who's raising young activists. Clara Lemlich was a union organizer and main initiator of the 1909 general strike in New York City. We can be thankful to her for the many benefits unions have ensured for all of us.

I really love that Clara wasn't deterred from her goals to improve working conditions for young female garment workers like herself. Despite police brutality, jail, and men in the union who didn't think women were strong enough, she never gave up.

She remains a relevant role model for our time.

3 stars

My House is Alive: The Weird and Wonderful Sounds Your House Makes by Scot Ritchie

The book takes us through the different sounds a house makes at night. The cartoonish illustrations show a young boy's imagination at work at the same time as he learns the science behind what is causing many different noises. It might be helpful for children who are afraid of the dark. 

NOVELS

4 stars

P.S. Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia Sisi & Aisha Johnson (Narrator)

If you have not met the Gaither sisters, you are living a deprived life. Somehow I had missed the second in the trilogy, but am delighted to have caught up. Williams-Garcia has created a memorable family full of such real people that I expect that I'll run into them on the street and chat about the old days. I am fascinated by Delphine's relationship with her mother and her father. As an eldest child myself, I sympathise with her in her dealings with her younger siblings. I've been there. Williams-Garcia immerses us in the tension, the urgency and the contradiction of the late 60's and early 70's.  Watching this family live through a time in history that I remember, although I was here in Canada and ensconced in university, is another thing I love about this book. I am desperately hoping there will be a number 4.

4 stars

Adventure on Whalebone Island by M.A. Wilson CL

This book reminded me a lot of Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome. In this book, four children spend two weeks of the summer sailing on the pacific coast. They camp out on Whalebone Island for three days by themselves, and end up in the middle of more adventures than they bargained for.

This is a classic adventure story that would make a delightful read aloud. It's got ordinary children dealing with, for the most part, ordinary challenges. All these characters are authentic individuals. The adults are ideal supportive role models.

I'm not crazy about the cover, but I really enjoyed the novel.

ADULT NOVELS

4 stars

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett & Hope Davis (Narrator)

I don't have words to talk about this book here and now. While reading it I made many connections to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Maybe it's because it has been so long since that book, but Patchett's novel felt superior. Perhaps it's that there is so much going on at both macro and micro levels. The setting, her characters, and the situation are so convoluted and complex. I was gobsmacked by the ending.

I wish I could write as brilliantly about it as this review in the New York Times.

  

CURRENTLY

I put my copy of Pandas on the Eastside in a safe place when we had toddlers visiting last week, and I can't figure out where it is. It is guaranteed to be where both little and my old fingers can't find it. I'm reading Last Chance Island by Norma Charles and listening to When Friendship Followed Me Home. It feels a lot like Bridge to Terabithia. I'm going to be really ticked off if there is one more death in this book.

UP NEXT

We have an election going on here in British Columbia, and I am out working for the party of my choice. I have to carve out some time to get in some reading so I'll hold off on getting my sewing machine repaired until later in the week. I'm committing to read The MIssing Skull by John Wilson, Heart of a Champion by Ellen Schwartz, and The Griffin of Darkwood by Becky Citra.

How has your week been?

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MUSTREADIN2017 9/36 

#MUSTREADNFIN2017 4/12

50 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 11/50

Chocolate Lily (CL) 40/52 2 in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge 138/333

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