#IMWAYR August 26, 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.

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

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

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

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.

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 🍁

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.

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

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