#IMWAYR April 1, 2019

#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 lovely, mostly restful, week. My husband and I returned to Vancouver on Wednesday, just in time to babysit our grandson for a couple of days. It was fun, but exhausting. Today we are celebrating our 42nd anniversary. We had plans to go out to our favourite French restaurant, but it is closed Mondays so we have to wait for Tuesday. 

Last week I had planned to finish my part of the flower quilt that my sister and I are working on, but I left in in Oliver. Thankfully someone there is coming to the coast this weekend and will bring it down. It's all good anyway since the weather has been gorgeous and I managed to get some pruning done in the garden.

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Ollie (Gossie and Friends) by Olivier Dunrea

I adore Olivier Dunrea's books. Ollie, a stubborn young gosling, refuses to hatch from his egg. His older siblings, Gossie and Gertie have been waiting for ages, but no matter how much encouragement they give him, he just won't come out. You will have to read for yourself to find out what trickery they come up with that makes him change his mind.

I can hardly wait for Ada and her parents to come home from Korea so we can read it together. I am sure her trilingual Mom will appreciate that this version is in both Spanish and English.

4 stars

Triangle (The Shapes Trilogy #1) by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen (Illustrator)

This duo are brilliant. This book works on so many levels. Triangle is such an endearing scalawag, I can hardly wait to read Square.

Jon Klassen, the brilliant illustrator, is Canadian.

5 stars

Door by JiHyeon Lee

I became smitten with this book at Kidsbooks, but didn’t have time to fully read it before it had to go off to Korea as a gift. Luckily my library copy had just arrived.

A young boy follows a colourful flying insect through crowds of irritable suspicious people. He comes to a cobweb covered door, and using the key dropped by the insect, opens it into another realm. Colour finally makes an appearance. The black-and-white world is replaced with a family of beak faced humans and other animals that communicate with each other. Speech bubbles are full of indecipherable text. The boy picnics and plays together with them. This alternative world is full of love and friendship, the antithesis to the suspicion of the first one.

It’s when the boy ends up at a wedding reception for two dissimilar creatures that the message in this book becomes pronounced. Here in this realm, everyone gets along with everyone else no matter their species. You need to spend serious time with this wordless book to fully appreciate the art and story.

5 stars

First Laugh--Welcome, Baby! by Rose Ann Tahe, Nancy Bo Flood & Jonathan Nelson (Illustrator)

I appreciated learning about the importance of a Navajo baby’s first laugh. I love that the story is set in both the city and the country and that Jonathan Nelson shows readers a modern family celebrating ancient traditions. At the end of the book are lists of other infant ceremonies from around the world.

NOVELS

4 stars

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi & Dominic Hoffman (Narration)

This book tells the stories, in alternating chapters, of the descendants of two African women. One of them married a white man and lived a life of luxury. The other was sold into slavery in the United States. It isn’t an easy read.  Some of these stories are brutal and keeping track of all the different characters is challenging.

I learned a lot about the history of Ghana at the same time as learning more about the history of slavery and segregation in the United States.

4.5 stars

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

This book was more compelling than I anticipated. I carried it around with me for days, but when I finally started reading I couldn't stop! I'm not usually a science fiction fan, but Murderbot is a fascinating character and the story is full of intrigue, suspense and action. As soon as I finished this I put Artificial Condition, the sequel, on reserve.

NONFICTION

5 stars

Speaking Our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation by Monique Gray Smith

This book is a Netgalley title that I am very late reviewing. I tried to read it as an ebook from the library and then realized that it doesn't work well in that format. That's probably why I never finished it ages ago. I really appreciated it when I got my hands on a hard copy of it. It is an important read for all Canadians, not just the target audience of students. The book will help everyone understand our history and responsibility to ensure that our relationship with indigenous people is one of respect as we go forward. I wish it could have been around when I first started teaching. Read my review here if you want to know more. 

Monique Gray Smith is an indigenous Canadian.

CURRENTLY

I am reading Blended by Sharon Draper with my ears, and Wicked Nix by Lena Coakely with my eyes.

UP NEXT

My next audiobook will be Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. With my eyes I'll start reading Love and Laughter in the Time of Chemotherapy by Manjusha Pawagi.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 8/25 

#MustReadNFIn2018 5/12

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 6/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 21/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 115/333