Poetry Friday is hosted today by children's author & poet, Kathryn Apel at The Kat’s Whiskers. She shares two Aussie verse novels and has an exciting announcement about her new picture book. When you are done admiring all that, make sure to check out the links to other participants sharing poetry today.
I'm travelling on Friday but will be sure to connect up with all your posts as soon as I am connected to the internet again! I'll be away camping next week so I'm not sure if I will be able to connect up with you next week.
In 1958, I was five when my family joined other relatives on a logging and homesteading adventure into the Pine River region of Northern British Columbia.
I'm committed to sharing a bit every week so that I don't give up. I appreciate feedback on the construction of the poetry and ideas and questions about what information might be missing.
I have one or two poems left in this part of the story.
Miserable Physics
early December
headlights cut through
the afternoon darkness
of another winter storm
a truck fishtailed on the ice
before sliding into the snowed lot
beside our cabin
Uncle Wilf,
who worked with Daddy,
emerged from the vehicle,
his face unusually somber
us kids were happy to see him
but as he entered
Mommy froze
went quiet
just looked at him
eyes wide open
lips already forming
the word
no
Evy,
his voice cracked,
I'm so sorry
she collapsed
into his arms
whimpering
her voice
an anguished
invocation
of denial
no, no, no,
not my Donny
uncle held her
as she wept
sitting at the table
he revealed details
a tree
a snag
back broken
internal injuries
Don would be on his way
air ambulance to Vancouver
next morning
didn't know how bad it was
didn't know if he would make it
more didn't need to be said
hanging between them
was the god awful truth of
Uncle Len, Wilf’s twin,
who, having met the same fate
a few years earlier,
was now confined
to a wheelchair
both knew it was
the best to be expected
on that day
those twin demons,
fear and grief
took possession of our home
and our lives
standing there watching it unravel,
I understood only that
something had happened to
my Daddy
knew nothing about what it meant
only that it was real bad
Today's poem has been the most challenging to write. So many buried emotions have come roiling to the surface. I feel like I don't do the event justice. In the process of writing I spoke to my siblings about how they imagined our mother would react. I've come to realize that I alone have memories of who my parents were in those days before my father's accident. This has helped me make more sense of the direction my relationship with my mother veered into later on.
My brother thinks I should have named this one Widowmaker, but I thought it might give too much away. What do you think?
Here are links to previous poems in this collection.
Leaving
Characters
Journey
Arrival
Preparedness
Ready and Willing
Larder
Laundry
Diaper Duty
Skunk Trouble
Working
Pawns
Crossing
Bath Time
invincible
Explorer
Time For Fun
First Snow
#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.
I managed to get a lot of reading accomplished last week. I've discovered that I have to get up early to read before my granddaughter wakes up and demands my attention. Thanks to absorbing audiobooks, the garden is (temporarily) under control, I've cleaned out my closets and dressers, and I have washed all the crystals in the four chandeliers. They do look pretty and sparkly, but I would never put something like this in. They were here when we moved in.
If you clink on the title link it will take you to the book's goodreads page.
BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK
Poetry Friday August 23, 2019: Honouring LBH and First Snow
PICTURE BOOKS
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| 4 stars |
Today by Julie Morstad
This book is a wonderful celebration and acceptance of all the ways we humans are different.
Julie Morstad is a Canadian author who lives in my home town.🍁
 |
| 3.5 stars |
Another by Christian Robinson
I read this twice. I understand what the author is doing here - showing many different ways to see and be in the world, including possibilities for an individual to be more, but it didn't quite work for me.
 |
| 5 stars |
The Visitor by Antje Damm
This is one of those picture books that works for readers of all ages. On the one hand it's a lovely story about an unusual friendship. On a more profound level, it's a story about overcoming fear. Too many older people are fearful of, and complain about youth. The Visitor shows us how important multigenerational relationships are for all of us.
NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS
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| 4 stars |
A Computer Called Katherine: How Katherine Johnson Helped Put America on the Moon by Suzanne Slade & Veronica Miller Jamison (Illustrator)
I appreciate this biography for the younger set about Katherine Johnson, an important person in the history of NASA and space travel. I learned about her from the movie, Hidden Figures, but appreciated learning about her early life in this book.
 |
| 5+ stars |
The Crayon Man: the True Story of the Invention of Crayola Crayons by Natascha Biebow & Steven Salerno (Illustrator)
Just Wow! I could go on and on and on about why you should own this book, but this review from SLJ, by Eliazbeth Bird says everything I can think of, only better.
I am thoroughly impressed by the words and the art. I love the historical perspective. It begins with what Edwin Binney was creating before he started working on coloured crayons for children. It takes us through the process of coming up with a finished product and then in the back matter, takes the reader into a factory where crayons are created today.
I would love to have a copy of this to read during the first weeks of school.
NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Finding Orion by John David Anderson
Orion Kwirk's father and grandfather are estranged. When Papa Kwirk dies, he has set a sequence of events into motion, beginning with a singing clown bringing news of his death. When they return to his father's home town for the funeral, the family ends up on a scavenger hunt.
The title of this book is more profound upon finishing this book. When you are immersed in the story, on the surface it seems to be more about finding out where Papa Kwirk's body is, and apart from his annual Christmas visits, who he was as a person. In the process, Orion also discovers more about his immediate family, himself, and how he belongs in it.
 |
| 3 stars |
Under Suspicion (Friday Barnes #2) by R.A. Spratt
Mostly I liked this mystery. Someone is digging holes all over the grounds of the private school Friday attends. As Friday solves mini mysteries throughout the book, the holes create their own kind of chaos and seem to make no sense to anyone, not even Friday.
I mostly love the humour that flavours this book and had me laughing out loud a time or two. Here's a sample:
"Friday turned to Melanie, but she’d already dropped off to sleep again. Friday could see why Melanie never got in trouble. As far as teachers were concerned, she was the ideal student. She never interrupted or asked difficult questions, and they never had to grade her assignments because she never handed them in."
I found the description of the relationship between Friday and Ian, another student at the school, problematic. Melanie, Friday’s best and only friend, insists that Ian is infatuated with Friday. Most of the time though, Ian is essentially nasty to Friday. This is not what we want girls to accept under any circumstance. He manages to redeem himself by the end of the book, but I'm still not happy with this.
 |
| 4 stars |
The Tail of Emily Windsnap (Emily Windsnap #1) by Liz Kessler & Finty Williams (Narrator)
This was a delightful surprise. I would never have gotten around to reading this except that it was on my recommendations from kid readers list. Emily Windsnap lives with her single mom on a boat. She is a strong girl who, at her first swimming lesson, discovers that she is half merperson. The book is full of excitement, fantasy and adventure with a despicable villain to boot. Luckily, the power of love wins out in the end.
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| 4 stars |
The Long Way Home (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache #10) by Louise Penny & Ralph Cosham (Narrator)
When Peter Morrow does not return home after living a year apart from his wife, Clara, she eventually goes to Gamache for help. A collection of individuals from Three Pines set out searching for him.
I adore Louise Penny’s characters. This is why this ending is so devastating. I shouldn’t have stayed up late at night to finish it because afterwards I had trouble sleeping.
I'm obsessed with this series. I'm sure it has nothing to do with catching up to where my sister is, but she is the one who got me started.
Louise Penny is a Canadian author 🍁
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| 4 stars |
Just Call My Name (I'll Be There #2) by Holly Goldberg Sloan
I love connecting with characters I've met in previous novels, so it was a no brainer I would enjoy visiting with them again here. This sequel has lots of tension and suspense for those who like these things. I survived it. What I appreciate most about this novel, and the prequel, is how Holly Goldberg Sloan positions privileged teens with those who are in distress and brings them together with positive outcomes. This book shows us that being a survivor isn't easy, but that redemption is always possible, especially when we have help.
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| 4 stars |
Carnival Catastrophe (The Problim Children #2) by Natalie Lloyd
What I admire about these books isn't the plot so much as it is the character development. In this book it is especially true about Mona. While she is fair of face, Mona has a darker side. She has to learn to find the good in everyone and let them know she sees it. It isn't easy.
That said, the plot, full of suspense and action, is impressive too. I only wish it didn't end on a cliffhanger.
GRAPHIC
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| 5 stars |
Now You're Logging! by Bus Griffiths
I started this book as research to understand the world of logging. It became much more than this. I am still blown away. Bus Griffith's graphic novel showcases logging in the 1930's. I know the kinds of men portrayed here. They are my grandfather and uncles, especially the older ones. My younger uncles and father logged using chainsaws instead of crosscuts, but much of the industry, and certainly the culture, were similar. The romantic sections are a bit hokey, but I was charmed by the innocence of it.
I appreciated Griffith's explanations of the logging vernacular and his detailed descriptions of the different tasks involved.
The art is gorgeously detailed while the text is nearly poetic in places. I plan to use the phrase, 'It's colder than a timber tycoon's heart,' this coming winter.
My library copy is a 35th anniversary edition of a book that was partly written in the 1940's and first published in 1978.
Try and get a copy for the loggers in your life. It would make a fabulous gift. You will enjoy it too.
I finished it yesterday but want to start reading it all over again. I'll have to return my library copy and purchase my own.
Bus Griffiths is a deceased Canadian author.🍁
CURRENTLY
I'm listening to Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. I'm reading The Boy At the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Rauf and a collection of poetry, Climbing Shadows: Poems for Children by Shannon Bramer. On my device I'm reading a Netgalley copy of Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson.
UP NEXT
I'm hoping to get to Silver Meadows Summer by Emma Otheguy, The Theory of Hummingbirds by Michelle Kadarusman, A Wolf Called Wander by Rosanne Parry, Just Lucky by Melanie Florence and Gondra's Treasure by Linda Sue Park. With luck I'll also get the picture book pile under control.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2018 17/25 one in process
#MustReadNFIn2018 10/12
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 18/25
25 books by Canadian Authors 45/25
Big Book Reading Challenge 9/4 one in process
Goodreads Reading Challenge 273/333
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater at The Poem Farm. She is hosting a celebration of the late Lee Bennet Hopkins. Amy has invited everyone to write and share a poem inspired by or including a line from a LBH poem. When you are done admiring her poetry, make sure to check out the links to other participants sharing poetry today.
I had forgotten all about this till late Thursday but scrabbled together a rough draft to honour him. I have been researching trees, forests, and loggers so while reading about Lee Bennet Hopkins' devotion to poets and poetry I began to see him as a mother tree. For those of you who don't know about mother trees, according to Suzanne Simard, science communication professor at UBC, "Mother trees are the largest trees in forests that act as central hubs for vast below ground mycorrhizal networks. They support young trees or seedlings by infecting them with fungi and ferrying them the nutrients they need to grow."
Honouring Lee Bennet Hopkins (draft)
Lee was a mother tree
succoring poets and poetry
sugaring the diets of scribblers who
he debuted with much ado
Lee was a mother tree
promoting poets and poetry
collating books chock full of verse
on topics many and diverse
Lee was a mother tree
seeding poets and poetry
children in lands from far and wide
discovered verses deep inside
Lee was a mother tree
serving poets and poetry
the community he helped grow strong
grieves his passing now that he’s gone
Meanwhile, I am still slogging away on my memoir in verse. I think the end is in sight.
I was five in 1958, when my family joined other relatives on a logging and homesteading adventure into the Pine River region of Northern British Columbia.
I'm committed to sharing a bit every week so that I don't give up. I appreciate feedback on the construction of the poetry and ideas and questions about what information might be missing.
First Snow
winter came early to that land
a brief tint of autumn
announcing the end of summer
a skiff of bright white crystals
ornamented, glorified the forest
a promise:
more to come
a warning:
get ready
trussed up in
heavy coats,
mitts,
scarves,
toques and boots,
Mommy sent
Rae, Zoe and me
out to play
we three snow nymphs
cavorted 'round
our wild white world
chasing snowflakes
with our tongues
inhaling
air giddy with the
fragrance of fresh cut pine
exhaling plumes of steam
Daddy,
our tall, blond,
plaid jacketed God,
laboured in a sacred halo
of golden sawdust
quartering up
chunks of tree trunks:
fuel for the winter ahead
our squeals of glee
sang counterpoint
to the buzz of his chainsaw
and whack of an ax
clambering
to the top
of the growing
mountain of wood
we chanted
Look Daddy! Look Daddy!
We are taller than you!
glancing up at us
he hollered
Be careful up there!
when you are five
you abide
serene in the ordinary
miracles of life
oblivious to how
precious a moment is
how swiftly it can all change
Here are links to previous Pine Valley poems.
Leaving
Characters
Journey
Arrival
Preparedness
Ready and Willing
Larder
Laundry
Diaper Duty
Skunk Trouble
Working
Pawns
Crossing
Bath Time
invincible
Explorer
Time For Fun
#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.
We are back in Vancouver. After two weeks away, the garden was a wee disaster. I've spent three half days and have at least another four to six hours before it's under control. On a positive note, we are eating fresh beets, carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini and raspberries on a daily basis! Our plan is to make cucumber kimchi this week.
BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK
Poetry Friday August 16, 2019
Helping Mayor Patty by Fran Manushkin & Laura Zarrin (Illustrator)
Some Places More Than Others by Renée Watson
NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Wool by Hugh Howey
I'm not a huge science fiction fan, but ended up absolutely mesmerized by Wool. It feels at times like a western novel set in a post apocalyptic society. The world building is spectacular. The book is chock full of fabulous characters. As much as I despised one of them, I appreciate how Howey portrayed him as a sympathetic, albeit twisted, individual trying to do the right thing. Unfortunately, we all know that this is how to pave the road to hell, and this is pretty much the reality here.
I'm left with this question. Can evil ever work on the side of good?
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| 5 stars |
How the Light Gets In by Louise Penny & Ralph Cosham (Narrator)
I was on the edge the whole time I listened to this book. At the same time as it references Quebec history, (this time with a fictionalized version of the Dionne quintuplets), it reads like le Carré spy novel with all the intrigue and back stabbing going on in the Sûreté.
I sure am happy that the next book in the was available because I am devouring this series.
Louise Penny is Canadian. 🍁
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| 3 stars |
The Mighty Heart of Sunny St. James by Ashley Herring Blake
I had a hard time with this book. Let me start by saying that someone I am close to had a double lung transplant recently, so as I read this I couldn't help but wonder how realistic the medical related situations would be. Rejection is a huge worry for at least a year. In addition there are other side effects to worry about including kidney failure and diabetes from all the the drugs. That first year, monitoring your vital signs on a daily basis is so critical, that it's hard for me to accept that a 13 year old girl wouldn't take it more seriously than Sunny does. I really liked Kate, Sunny's guardian, who is a responsible adult with Sunny's best interests at heart. I wasn't so enthusiastic about the mother who didn't seem to understand Sunny's medical situation and seemed to be more interested in befriending her than acting as an adult.
I empathize with Sunny's desire to start a new life after her surgery, but it didn't always work for me. Even though I think most of the difficulties are realistic, there was too much angst in her relationships with Quinn and Margot for me.
I expect the target audience won't be nearly as critical as I am and will love this.
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| 5 stars |
The Golden Tresses of the Dead (Flavia de Luce #10) by Alan Bradley & Jayne Entwistle (Narrator)
Flavia and Dogger have set up their own detective agency. When a severed finger is discovered in her sister Ophelia‘s wedding cake, their first assignment begins. It soon turns out that this is just the start of a case that involves con artists, missionaries and murder. I am loving that Flavia seems to be maturing and appreciate Dogger more and more. I sure hope this isn't the last book in the series. On a positive note, there is a rumour that a Flavia television series in the works for CBC.
Alan Bradley is a Canadian who now resides on the Isle of Man. 🍁
POETRY
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| 4 stars |
Finding Baba Yaga by Jane Yolen
This story is a mash up of the modern and the traditional. It’s both specific and universal. My acquaintance with Russian folk lore is minimal, but I am acquainted with the original Baba Yaga tales. Vasilisa the Beautiful is new to me.
There’s a dreamlike quality to this novel in verse. I am left thinking it’s a meditation of sorts about what it means to be a woman in any time.
CURRENTLY
I'm listening to The Way Home by Louise Penny. On my device I'm rereading Other Words for Home by Jasmine Warga. I am one third into Carnival Catastrophe by Natalie Lloyd and still reading Now You're Logging! by Bus Griffiths, a graphic novel first published in 1978. I'm liking it, but it's dense with lots of logging vocabulary to figure out. After all the research I've done, I'm hyper aware of all the ways men can get hurt in the woods, so I'm full of fear as I read this!
UP NEXT
I had to send books back to the library unread. It's very distressing. I hope to find time to read the pile of picture books I have here as well as Finding Orion by John David Anderson, Friday Barnes, Under Suspicion by R. A. Spratt, and Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2018 16/25
#MustReadNFIn2018 10/12
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 18/25
25 books by Canadian Authors 42/25
Big Book Reading Challenge 9/4
Goodreads Reading Challenge 261/333
Poetry Friday is hosted today by Christie Wyman at Wondering and Wandering. She is sharing her love of trees in photography and verse. When you are done admiring her poetry, make sure to check out the links to other participants sharing poetry today.
I spent the last couple of weeks gadding and galavanting about. Trees, for all kinds of reasons, played an important part of my vacation.
We began by camping for a few days beside the Chehalis river. Surrounding us, tall cedar pillars held up the sky. The first night, rain battered the top of our tent trailer. We woke to roaring thunder and lightning streaking across the sky. Come morning, the sun was shining and we were blessed with glorious weather for the rest of our stay. We soaked in the sacredness of the forest.
While the younger crowd went off exploring on their bikes, I sat in a forest clearing and finished reading Haunted Hills and Hanging Valleys: Selected Poems 1969-2004 by Peter Trower, a BC logger and poet. That link will take you to my Goodreads review of the book, but I leave you with this bit here,
..logging's a lot like writing poetry.
Mind-cables wrench loose
the stubborn ideas,
sometimes to wedge them
in hopeless canyons
and knowing just when
to blow the whistle and cut them off
is a knack
or no small importance.
I urge you to go the Poetry foundation and read The Last Stand of Magic by Peter Trower.
Then we left the rain forest and headed off to our home in the semi desert region of Oliver BC. We sat in my brother's back yard and watched this conflagration on the mountain.
Meanwhile, I've been working on finishing up final drafts of my memoir project from 1958. I think I have two or three more poems to go. Hurrah!
I was five when my family joined other relatives on an adventure into the Pine River region of Northern British Columbia. This means my memories are somewhat sketchy and usually loaded with emotion. I've been able to fill in many blanks based on conversations with those who are still with us.
I'm committed to sharing a bit every week so that I don't give up. I appreciate feedback on the construction of the poetry and ideas and questions about what information might be missing.
time for fun
sure it was
a hard life
but
laughter and teasing
were ubiquitous
love was the language
day time
women visited and
helped one another out
my cousin Ducky,
only 8 1/2
visited often
tended us children
while Mommy got her chores done
her kindness
and joy
etched itself
onto our hearts
evenings,
folks got together
drank tea and coffee
whiskey
if it was at hand
told stories
played cards
canasta and
penny ante poker
were popular
tucked the little ones
together into bunks
head to toe
late in the evening
Mommy and Daddy
carried their
bundled up dreamers
through the
moon lit forest
home and
into our own beds
Here are links to previous Pine Valley poems.
Leaving
Characters
Journey
Arrival
Preparedness
Ready and Willing
Larder
Laundry
Diaper Duty
Skunk Trouble
Working
Pawns
Crossing
Bath Time
invincible
explorer
