#IMWAYR July 23, 2018

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

It's been another busy week. My partner and I travelled to our house in Oliver, BC where we went to a gender reveal party for our friends' daughter. They will be having a girl. I'll be dropping off off the baby quilt at the quilters' Monday afternoon.

Other than that my brother and I travelled to go to a memorial service for one of our aunts. He didn't have any outlets that I could connect my Iphone to, so we couldn't listen to the audiobook I had picked out, (Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.) We ended up listening to the absolutely WORST BOOKS ever.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Fox & Chick: The Party: and Other Stories by Sergio Ruzzier

I loved this so much that I am in the middle of writing a blog post about it. 

It is a collection of three little stories that are perfect for fans of Elephant and Piggie and ready to move on to slightly more challenging books. It is written in a graphic format. Lovely colourful illustrations are deceptively simple. They are rich in detail and nuance. I adore the interactions between the two characters. You have to pay close attention to the facial expressions because much of the humour is revealed there.

3 stars

Fishing with Grandma (English) by Maren Vsetula, Susan Avingaq & Charlene Chua (Illustrations)

Two children go to visit their grandmother. Then they decide to go on an outdoor adventure. Readers, along with the children, will learn a lot about ice fishing. At the end of the day when they have caught more char than they can eat, they learn a lesson in generosity.

I like a lot about this book, including everything I already got mentioned. I appreciated that it is a woman taking the children to learn traditional outdoor activities. The back matter contains a glossary of Inuktitut terminology used in the book and images with accompanying information about the fishing tools used.

Th illustrations are a bit too cartoonish for my liking, but the publisher, Inhabit Media, is an Iqaluit company, so what do I know?

3 stars

Kamik Joins the Pack (English) by Darryl Baker & Qin Leng (Illustrations)

This is another Inhabit Media publication. Jake dreams of owning his own dogsled team. He brings Kamik, his dog, to visit his uncle, who is a musher and winner of many races. Jake learns that being a musher involves much more than he imagined. Then he and his uncle harness Kamik to the back of pack and take him on a run with the rest of the dogs.

I liked this for the most part. The pages are a bit heavy on the text side, but still ok. The artwork is done by Qin Leng so it is gorgeous. What I wonder though, is why an Inuit artist wasn't involved.

4 stars

Pool by JiHyeon Lee

Two children dive beneath a throng of people at a swimming pool and discover a magical underwater world. The crowd is in black and white, but this realm beneath them is abundant in colour. This is a beautiful wordless book!

3 stars

Yellow Kayak by Nina Laden & Melissa Castrillón (Illustrations)

There are specific things about this book that bring out my inner cranky old lady. First off this kayak does not look like a very seaworthy boat. Second that’s a baby out there in this tacky boat all by itself. Aside from these things, the book is visually gorgeous and I liked the poem that accompanied it.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Ordinary, Extraordinary Jane Austen by Deborah Hopkinson & Qin Leng (Illustrator)

Jane Austen is my preferred author across time and space. For a number of years I would reread her books on a regular basis. I have no idea how many times I’ve read each one. Emma is still my favourite book, but have you seen the BBC mini series production of Pride and Prejudice? It is the best film adaptation! 

Obviously I had to read this. So far I’ve read it three times. Qin Leng’s illustrations are gorgeous. I love how she captures the time period and essence of these characters. Deborah Hopkins has introduced me to aspects of Jane Austen’s life I didn’t know about. Of course I loved this! Now I’m off to read it again before it goes back to the library.

I realize I forgot to mention that this book is an important inspiration for want to be writers. The back matter is also significant. There is a timeline of important events. A section titled “Jane’s Bookshelf” provides a synopsis and quotes from each of novels. There is also a bibliography with internet and hard copy resources.

NOVELS

4 stars

Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed

Thoroughly enjoyed this. Amal is a character you can’t help but like and admire. Readers will experience vicariously how difficult it is for people in other parts of the world, especially for girls and women. I appreciated the notes at the end explaining more about indentured servitude and that many are not as lucky as Amal.

1 star

The Guns of Avalon (The Chronicles of Amber #2) by Roger Zelazny & Alessandro Juliani (Narrator)

This is one of the two audiobooks my brother had in his car. We both thought it was godawful! There were times when the similes and metaphors were so outlandish both of us would burst into laughter. When the book finally came to an end, we were both disgusted because it just left us hanging without resolving the story at all. The best thing about it was that it made the next book we listened to seem almost reasonable. Imagine my surprise when I went to look at this on Goodreads and saw that the average rating is 4.15 stars. Obviously I am not the target audience. 

2 stars

The Devil's Badland (The Loner #2) by J.A. Johnstone

Louis L'Amour would have loved this. Me, not so much, but it was better than trying to read my book and get carsick. It was palatable because it was so much better than The Guns of Avalon, but that isn't saying much. My brother will finish listening to it on his way home. I've abandoned it. This one has a Goodreads rating of 4.33. Again, I am not the target audience. 

The worst thing about this road trip with my brother was that just as we were almost home, my brother mentioned that he thought the sound system could be accessed through blue tooth. I checked and it could. Grrrrr. 

CURRENTLY

My partner and I have been listening to The Grapes of Wrath while we are in our car. Perhaps it's the contrast between this and those other audiobooks that make them seem so awful. I'm also about 2/3rds finished reading The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl.

UP NEXT

I'm hoping to get to The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya. Then I'll decide between Rebound by Kwame Alexander and Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 17/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 5/12 1 in progress

#BigBookSummer 2/4 1 in progress

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 14/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 252/333