#IMWAYR December 9, 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.



With Christmas approaching faster than I would like, I'm either listening to an audiobook, or rewatching Father Brown on Netflix while I'm busy sewing and knitting. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title of the book will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

RECENT BLOG POSTS

Poetry Friday: Life Long Distance: Dialogue Poems by Robert Heidbreder

PICTURE BOOKS


4 stars
Where's Prancer? by Syd Hoff

I've been reading this classic with my grandkids these days. We love the sparse text and humorous illustrations.


5 stars
Maisy's Christmas Eve by Lucy Cousins

Poor Eddie, the elephant, gets lost in the snow on his way to Maisy's house. My two and a half year old granddaughter and I have been reading this for the last couple of months. She pretty much tells the story to me these days and makes me respond to her questions, Is that Eddie?

GRAPHIC


4 stars
Camp (Click #2) by Kayla Miller

When two best friends go to camp, their desires to follow their individual passions ends up creating conflict.
I was impressed by how the camp councillors monitored the pair’s emotional states and manage to intervene at the right moment. I also appreciated how the two girls managed to negotiate their way back into each other’s worlds.


4 stars
Stargazing by Jen Wang & Lark Pien (Colorist)

There are a lot of fabulous graphic novels around today that address the issue of how to be a friend. This is one of them. Moon and Christine are unlikely best friends. When Christine becomes jealous of Moon's increasing popularity, she does something she ends up regretting. I loved the diverse characters in this book. I loved the supportive adults. I'm going to confess here that all these friendship issue novels have helped me see my own adolescent more clearly and enabled me to forgive others and myself.

NOVELS


4 stars
American War by Omar El Akkad & Dion Graham (Narrator) 🍁

I resisted this one for a while because I anticipated it would be full of horrific scenes. It is, but then, aren't all wars full of hell? It tells the tale of a futuristic civil war in American brought about through the south's refusal to abandon fossil fuels, and the meddling of foreign agents. It is a profound look at how war strips the humanity from all of us. If you are looking for a feel good book, this isn't it. It's an important look at where we all might be headed if we don't start dealing with climate change ASAP.

POETRY


4 stars
Sea Stars: Saltwater Poems by Avis Harley & Margaret Butschler (Photographer) 🍁

Gorgeous photographs of ocean life are accompanied by delightful poetry. The back matter contains information about the species in the images.


5 stars
Life Long Distance: Dialogue Poems by Robert Heidbreder 🍁

I adored this collection of poetry. The voice is so profound, it was like visiting with my mother in law and her bridge and coffee clutch gals. So many times I just laughed out loud. I had to read bits out loud to my partner, commenting, “Doesn’t this remind you of.......” These are lines of pure sweet magic. Go read my blog post if you want to read a bit from it. 

NONFICTION


4 stars
Science Comics: Polar Bears: Survival on the Ice (Science Comics) by Jason Viola & Zack Giallongo (Illustrations)

A fictional story of two polar bear cubs is interspersed with factual information about their habitat and life cycle. What I appreciated most was how the authors made clear how climate change affects these animals.

CURRENTLY

I've restarted Dig by A. S. King, I'm listening to The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. I'm also in the middle of African Acrostics: A Word in Edgeways by Avis Harley and Rocket to the Moon! by Don Brown,

UP NEXT
I'm hoping to get to Ink Knows No Borders: Poems of the Immigrant and Refugee Experience and Spin by Colleen Nelson.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

How exciting is this? I have reached nearly all my reading goals!

#MustReadIn2018 25/25 - one in progress

#MustReadNFIn2018 11/12 - one in progress

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 25/25

25 books by Canadian Authors 94/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 399/333

14 comments:

  1. I just finished Stargazing this morning, and loved it as well. Have a great reading week!

    https://wendimlee.blogspot.com/2019/12/its-monday-what-are-you-reading_9.html

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    1. It really is a charming story with and important message.

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  2. Will look for all of these, Cheriee, maybe especially American War. As for the kids' books, Stargazing and Camp look good. I remember the Maisy books, so cute! Thank you!

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    1. Maisy is pretty popular around here these days. (almost as much as Olivier's Gossie and Friends titles. American War is exceptionally well written, but hard to deal with.

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  3. I have yet to read one of the Science Comics books, but many of my students have enjoyed them.

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    1. This was my first. I now see what the attraction is!

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  4. I agree completely on American War - tough book to read but so important and thought-provoking (and also very compelling and well-written).

    I have Stargazing up next on my little graphic novel TBR pile so am glad to hear you enjoyed it! I'm looking forward to it.

    Enjoy your books this week!

    Sue

    Book By Book

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    1. American War was one of our Canada Reads finalists. It didn't win, but came close.

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  5. Camp and Stargazing are both graphic novels I added to my collection this year. They have been favorites.

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    1. I can see why. They both deal with issues important in kid's lives.

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  6. I haven't read Camp, but I agree that it would be impressive that they two characters are able to get back into each other's worlds, as that is often not the case. I am hoping to read Fountains of Silence soon, I just got it. Hoping to see the author at the West. Wash. Children's Lit Conference in 2020. Thanks for the great shares, I will check out a few of them for sure.

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  7. I thought I had read all of the Syd Hoff books, but Where's Prancer? is new to me. I'll have to look around for it. The rest of your books look awesome, too. I'll definitely have to get over to the library and check them out. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!

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  8. I've just added a Maisy Christmas book to my massive picture book home library, they're always so popular at the library, so I knew I wanted to include some Maisy in my own little (HA not so little...) collection. :)

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  9. I've not yet started the Click graphic novel series, but I still hope to soon. And after finishing one of A. S. King's middle grade novels, I'm hoping to give Dig a try. I keep hearing about The Fountains of Silence, so I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts on that one, Cheriee!

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