The job is partly done. We have said goodbye to our house in Vancouver and moved some of that stuff to our house in our home in Oliver. The majority of it is in storage because we already have a house full of stuff here. Stuff is hell. I have tried amalgamating and sorting, but in this Covid 19 reality, there is no place except the dump to take things we no longer need. My partner has taken a number of loads already, and there is more to go. I just don't have the heart to throw away stuff that can still be used.
On a positive note, we are carving out new garden space and weeding and replenishing the dirt in existing beds and planting there. I've managed to put in a raspberry bed and a herb garden.
In the middle of all this, my reading life took a huge hit. Honestly, if it wasn't for audiobooks I would not have survived. I wish I had made time to write a few comments as I finished each one, but consider myself lucky to have even recorded what I was listening to.
In the last week I have managed to read some books with my eyes. Maybe I'm getting my reading mojo back. Maybe I just have some time to call my own. Whatever, I'm sure glad for it.
The following is a culmination of a month of reading. I'm looking forward to finding out what you have all been up to.
Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
PICTURE BOOKS
Kevin the Unicorn is having a bad day. Although he tries to keep his spirits up, his day goes from bad to worse. What helps him is learning that others have bad days too.
NOVELS: Chapter Books
This little chapter book delighted me. Ruckus is a well named Jack Terrier pup. Reece, the narrator of this book, worries about a lot of things. Will their father ever come back and live with them? Will their mother make Reece return Ruckus to the breeder? Will Ruckus ever poop out Mom's diamond earrings that he ate?
I loved Reece. Part of what I appreciated is that this kid is almost genderless. Except for the comments on the back cover of the book, I might never have figured it out. All the characters have depth - not an easy feat with this kind of book. I especially liked the earnestness of Reece's character. The issues between the parents is authentic and one many kids can relate to.
Sophie is a delightful girl who is always getting herself into messes while trying to do the right thing. In this case it's trying to save her teacher from the spider crawling on her head. Sophie is sure to appeal to fans of Junie B Jones and Piper Green.
NOVELS: Low Vocab High Interest
Roonie loves her grandmother but can't bring herself to visit her now that she has Alzheimer's and has to live in a care home. Then she ends up volunteering in the geriatric ward at the hospital for school credit. While there she bonds with an aging woman over their shared love of dancing. Her new friend helps her mend fences with her best friend and find a way to connect with her grandmother.
This started out slow, but soon had me fully engaged in these characters' lives. I ended up loving it.
This book of sibling rivalry taught me more about insects and spiders than I could have imagined. Iggy desperately wants his parents, or someone, to pay some attention to him. His best, and only friend happens to be a tarantula. So he starts a podcast that integrates his real life with his fascination for bugs of all kinds.
To be honest, Iggy's spider attachment kind of freaked me out. Comparing the softness of a tarantula to that of a kitten is just too over the top for me. That said, I was fascinated by how much I learned about spiders and other insects in the course of this short book.
NOVELS
This was a delightful look into the world of drag queens and kings. While mostly comfortable with who she is, Nima Kumara-Clark awkwardly enters this queer world. Lucky for her, Deirdre, the bodacious drag queen, takes her under her wing. Under her tutelage Nima figures out how to integrate this world with her old one and create a whole new community. There are interesting subplots that are not fully resolved here, but I'm ok with that since that's how life usually happens.
I loved these characters. I'm a sucker for any intergenerational tale, but this one is truly special. Following WW2, after their forced stay in Japanese internment camps, Hanako and her family return to Japan from America. Connecting with her grandparents is the gift in all this, but given the existing Japanese economy, there is no way out of poverty and servitude if the family stays in Japan.
I was enthralled by the story while learning more about a shameful aspect of American (and Canadian) history. This one made my eyes leak.
This was much deeper and richer than I anticipated. Just wow! Dominica Rivers attends a prestigious school that has surveillance cameras everywhere. When someone hacks into them and shares embarrassing clips of students across social media, Dominica and her friends set out to put an end to it.
Don't miss this. You can read more about it in the Quill and Quire review here.
I am so sad to say goodbye to these characters and am heartbroken that this series is done.
This audiobook turned out to be a surprise reread for me, but I'm ok with that. I've discovered that reading series or rereading familiar books is a grand way to visit friends during this time when we can't spend time with our real ones.
So much is packed into this book. Something is wrong with Leah, but it isn't until she meets up with Jasper June and starts talking that we come to understand what it is. We soon discover that Jasper June has big problems of her own, one that these two girls are not equipped to handle on their own.
NONFICTIOIN
This is a tearjerker of a story. I would have loved to have read this as part of a book club because I have lots of questions and things I wonder about.
Still, Chika will steal a bit of your heart away as you read this, just like she stole Mitch Albom and his partner's hearts.
The audiobook was just lovely as it included clips of Chika talking and singing.
CURRENTLY
I have started listening to Maybe He Just Likes You by Barbara Dee. I'm reading The Horse of the River: A Camp Canyon Falls Adventure by Sari Cooper.
UP NEXT
The Body Under the Piano by Marthe Jocelyn is qued up to be my next audiobook. Otherwise, this is what I plan to finish up this week.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2020: 8/25
#MustReadNFIn2020: 4/12
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 9/25
100 books by Canadian Authors: 79/100
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 158/333
It sounds like the moving process is exhausting! I know from past experience that getting rid of stuff can be daunting! I'm glad you have gardening as a joy and that you're having success with that. Your book list looks awesome and I've written several titles down. Thanks for sharing and have a great week!
ReplyDeleteYou always share such great books! I want to get Room 555 now: I have discovered that I super like YA about teens connecting with elderly people. And there are enough books with that plot that it's almost like a little subgenre! Me and Banksy is also new to me and sounds so good. I am glad you are finding your reading mojo a bit. It's hard with so much anxiety and change.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on your surviving moving. It is a problem to give away things. We were just discussing that with our book donation rejects which we usually donate on. I loved A Place to Belong, too, Cheriee, and you've also shared titles that are new that I bookmarked, like Me and Banksy & Room 555. I have Jasper June on my list, but still haven't read it! Lots to love here about your reviews. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteFinding Chika is one of those books that I've thought about reading, but never gotten around to. I saw Mitch Albom speak a few years ago and he talked about Chika. He gave a very inspirational and moving talk.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on finishing the nightmare that is moving! Room 555 and A Place to Belong both sound great—I loved a book by A Place to Belong's author Cynthia Kadohata called Kira-Kira, which won the Newbery. Me and Banksy sounds like an intriguing story as well—it sounds like more and more schools are putting in security cameras, which I'm sure is making kids nervous. Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens sounds great as well—I've heard good things about it! Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteI wish Roll With It hadn't had the one deragatory use of tribe in it, and I wish she was not so hard on herself (and with no one telling her any different)--those killed the vibe for me.
ReplyDeleteI loved Kira-Kira, but I haven't read Place yet--thank you for reminding me of it.
And Me and Banksy is new to me but sounds so good!
Happy reading this week :)
Oh my goodness, I can only imagine how difficult moving is during this pandemic. We were all set to put our house on the market this May and get back to the house hunting. But with the Covid-19, there are very few houses on the market in our community. Many people don't want strangers traipsing through their houses, leaving germs behind. And we were already going to struggle to find something for a family our size (which is the only reason we're planning to move -- needing space). Audiobooks have really saved me the last few months. My eyes have been so messed up the last few months, probably with the heat running during the cold months. So I've made little time for reading with my eyes (outside of picture books, I have gobs of picture books since they're easier on the eyes). Oh my, I feel your pain on The Queen of Nothing. I read the final book over night on the day it was released and then didn't know what to do with myself for days. Now I want to listen to the audiobook narration of it (since I listened to all the others). I enjoyed Roll With It and My Jasper June, but I 5-starred Maybe He Just Likes You, which is saying a whole lot for me. I felt that topic was so well addressed -- Barbara Dee really gets this age level and writes those hard situations beautifully. And I've had A Place to Belong on my list for a while. I just discovered that my library has it, so I'm off to get it through Overdrive. Thank you for all these lovely shares, Cheriee!
ReplyDeleteAnother great group of books, especially packed with Canadian books too. I should try to find the Orca Currents books you shared. I have at least one by one of those authors but these titles are new to me. I also hope to get to Roll With it and My Jasper June.
ReplyDeleteMy parents have talked about moving lately and I had been thinking it must be a really big struggle in these times to do it. Good luck getting settled, but I guess having had a place in Oliver it might be a bit easier. Thanks for all the shares!
"I've discovered that reading series or rereading familiar books is a grand way to visit friends during this time when we can't spend time with our real ones." -- What a lovely way to put that.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be moving this summer and, like you, I anticipate I'll be holding onto the stuff that can be given away. I hope you get settled in soon and the transition to the new place is pretty seamless.
Unicorn books are always popular read alouds. I love the illustrations and message of It's Not All Rainbows and of course, just the fact that the unicorn's name is Kevin. I just downloaded the sequel Why Can't We Be Bestie-Corns? from Edelweiss.
ReplyDeleteOops! Forgot to change accounts from my district email.
ReplyDeleteMoving is such a huge pain. I am super glad that we moved to our current house, but it takes so long to settle. It's exhausting and I imagine especially so during this strange time. I wish you the best.
ReplyDelete