#IMWAYR November 29, 2020

 Hello out there. It's #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.

Hurrah! I am nearly finished the reversible Piet Mondrian quilt. I still have to finish cleaning off the threads and remove any markings, but essentially it is complete. Here is a picture of it hanging on the line. I was hoping the breeze might clean off some of the threads but I'm not that lucky. 

Next I'll be working on the two Gossie and Friends quilts for my newest grandkids. I have a plan for how I want them to look, but now I have to figure out how to get there. 

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

5 stars

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story by Kevin Noble Maillard & Juana Martinez-Neal (Illustrator) 

Living across from the school my siblings and I came home for lunch everyday. The best days were those when Mom was making bread. Piles of what we called 'dough gobs' would be waiting for us. I smothered mine with peanut butter and syrup or jam. Some of my siblings liked cheese whiz. No matter the topping, it was delicious. 

This book is a comprehensive look at fry bread. It's really in two parts. The first part contains headings accompanied by illustrations and phrases. The second section at the back revisits these headings with additional detail and explanation about many of the images. 

Ultimately it is about community and the rich history of indigenous people here in North America. 

My mother learned to make bread from her mother-in-law. After reading this I wondered if the idea of frying bread dough originated with my maternal Grandmother's Menomonie heritage or from my German Grandma. Perhaps it's both since my Uncle Cliff recalls coming home after school to fresh dough gobs on those days when his mother made bread. 

Between the two sections in this book is a recipe for fry bread. I appreciate that it has yeast in it like ours does. I contemplated giving it a try, but think I will stay with our own tradition. After all, Mom's fried bread was the best.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

4 stars

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha

This is a solid nonfiction, coming of age memoir. Robin (Chuna) Ha was born to a single mother in Korea. Her father left them when she was one year old. As a child she experienced much prejudice at school because of this. Still the two of them had a good life as her mother became owner of her own hairdressing salon. They were well enough off to take holidays around the world.

Then her mother took her on a 'holiday' to Alabama where she married a divorced Korean man. Shades of American Born Chinese show up in her relationship with Ha's stepfamily, especially the children, who seem embarrassed by her. At school not only is she is isolated because of her lack of English, she is bullied and shunned. Ha's loneliness is heartbreaking. Eventually her mother separates from her stepfather.

Ha's life begins to change when her mother takes her to a comic shop and enrolls her in a comic creating class. She makes friends there and her confidence returns so that she is able to make friends with other students at school.

Then the two of them move to a city in Virginia with an established Korean population. Her mother found a job in a salon. The multicultural school is much better. Robin ends up in an ESL class with students from around the world. This group becomes her new network of friends. Eventually she connects with a group of Korean girls.

At the end of the book Ha returns to Korea with these friends. She meets up with her school friends there. What she comes to realize is that for many reasons, she is an outsider in both worlds.

While I suspect that Ha’s experience as an immigrant to America has much in common with immigrants from other places, it is also unique because of her particular background as an only child of a single mother. I appreciated how much I learned about Korean culture and gender roles from reading this book. I especially appreciated Ha’s acknowledgements at the end of the book where she talks more fully about her mother’s story.

NOVELS

4 stars

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde & Andrew Wincott (Narrator)

This is powerful satire. It's weird and wonderful and profound. When six foot tall anthropomorphized rabbits move into an English village, it's inhabitants fret that their property values will be reduced. This family has moved in next door to Peter Knox and his daughter Pippa. It turns out that Constance Rabbit and Peter were friends at university. His place of work, (an anti-rabbit arm of the government) asks Peter to make friends with the Rabbit family and keep his eye on them. Eventually Peter has to decide whose side he is on. 

3 stars

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat 

This is the story of three children growing up in a country where fire is prohibited. Two of them were born to women in prison. Because of this they are 'tattooed' and branded as criminals. The other is from a higher caste family. 

The city is ruled by a maleficent governor who brought light into the city after it was decimated by a fire. He has rigid ideas about who is worthy and who is not. 

I liked the story and came to care for the characters a lot. Unfortunately it just never grabbed me enough to make me sit down and read to find out what was going to happen. When I finally made myself finish it, I ended up skimming much of it. I wish had been more tightly edited. 

DISCWORLD NOVELS

5 stars

Monstrous Regiment by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs (Narrator)

This is going to be one of my favourite Discworld novels. (There are so many I'm going to have to come up with favourites of favourites) It is a feminist look at war, religion, and gender roles.

When Polly Perks dresses up as a boy and signs up to go to war to search of her brother, she soon discovers that the rest of the recruits in her regiment are also women disguised as men. They end up rescuing the rest of the army by disguising themselves as women.

4 stars

Eric by Terry Pratchett & Stephen Briggs (Narrator)

I wondered how Pratchett was going to bring Rincewind back from wherever he ended up in the last book.

I did not anticipate him returning as a demon summoned by Eric, a teenage boy. And yet, here it is. Eric wants three wishes: to be master of all kingdoms, to meet the most beautiful woman who ever existed, and to live forever.

Rincewind, the least powerful magician in all of the Discworld, discovers he does indeed have power.

Parody after parody parade through this tale as Eric achieves his wishes, albeit with a nasty twist. 

CURRENTLY 

I'm listening to Hollowpox: The Hunt for Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend. With my eyes I'm reading Turtle Island by Eldon Yellowhorn and Kathey Lowinger and From Me to You by K. A. Holt. The Discworld book I've got on the go right now is Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett.

UP NEXT 

My next audiobook will be whatever becomes available. I'm hoping to read (with my eyes) Flamer by Mike Curato and On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong. Alas, neither are on my #MustReadIn2020 lists, but three I'm currently reading are so I still think I might actually reach all my goals!

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

#MustReadIn2020: 22/25 - two in progress

#MustReadNFIn2020: 11/12 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 24/25 - one in progress

Books by Canadian Authors: 125/100 

Discworld Series 13/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 311/333