#IMWAYR December 14, 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.

I apologise for not getting around to commenting on everyone's posts last week. I did read them all, but time was in short supply so....

I also didn't get in much reading with my eyes. I have been very busy with house painting and sewing. I'm almost finished two Christmas tree skirts for my two sons and their families. They took much longer than I anticipated. I just have to quilt them and will share pictures of them next week. I hope I get them done!

Our house is looking more festive even if we don't have a functioning main bathroom. My winter village and North Pole figurines are on display. My wonderful partner managed to get the windows full of lights. We plan to head off into the hills Monday to cut down a tree. Then on Tuesday we will decorate it. 

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

Finding My Talk by Rebecca Thomas & Pauline Young (Illustrator) 🍁 

A couple of weeks ago I read the companion book, I Lost My Talk, by Rita Joe and Pauline Young. Rita Joe and Rebecca Thomas' father lost their language, culture and ways of knowing the world after being taken from their families and placed in residential schools.
I'm Finding My Talk is a poem about healing and recovering as much of that which was taken away as possible.
Talk is about more than language. Terry Pratchett wrote, "People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.”Words have power. Words convey meaning and provide a framework for how we see the world and connect to each other. This book is about coming home to who the Mi'kmaq people were before residential schools took it away.
Both the author and illustrator dedicate the book to their fathers. Reading these dedications nearly brought me to tears.
Pauline Young's paintings are a brilliant homage to the power of Rebecca Thomas' words.

5 stars

Mi'kmaw Animals by Alan Syliboy 🍁 

This board book showcases petroglyph style illustrations of different animals. Each creature is paired with its name on the next page. The names are given in Mi’kmaw with a pronunciation guide and in English.
The art work is just stunning!

4 stars

Blueberry Patch / Mayabeekamneeboon by Jennifer Leason & Norman Chartrand (Translator) 🍁 

First off, the art in this bilingual book is swoonworthy. I want some prints to hang on my walls.
The story shares a memory of travelling with family to the blueberry patch. Set in the late 1940's, it tells of a way of life now gone. The author's family journeyed by wagon train with other members of the community to spend a month living in tents and harvesting blueberries. It's bursting with images of nature that indicate an intimate relationship to the earth.
The pages are a wee bit text heavy even accepting that it is written in English and Anishinaabemowin. The back matter contains a list of activities to accompany the book, a recipe for bannock, and information about the two contributors.

NOVELS

5 stars

Three Keys (Front Desk #2) by Kelly Yang & Sunny Lu (Narrator)

I think I loved this sequel even more than the first in the series.
If you are looking for a book for a young activist, pick this one. Mia Tang and her friends work hard to battle racism in their school and community. It's set against the backdrop of California’s Prop 187, a law that would ban undocumented immigrants from access to health care and public schooling.

5 stars

All the Devils Are Here by by Louise Penny & Robert Bathurst (Narrator) 🍁  

The worst thing about reading the most recent Inspector Armand Gamache Novel, is having to wait for the next one to be published. 

This story takes the Gamache family to Paris, France, where Armand's godfather is deliberately attacked by a hit and run driver. He was involved in a deep investigation of a corrupt corporation and independent security force. 

As the story unfolds, the rift between Armand and his son seems to widen. It becomes more and more difficult to determine who can be trusted, and who is out to destroy them all.

DISCWORLD NOVEL

The more I read Pratchett, the sorrier I am for people who haven't yet discovered him. 

The Discworld collection is a compendium of mini series set in Pratchett's world. I recently found this image for helping keep track of them all. 

I want to give a shout out to https://goldenaudiobooks.com/. I've been listening to many of the Discworld novels for free from here. The books have to be streamed rather than downloaded, but since I'm mostly listening to them while at home working, it's not a problem for me. 

4 stars

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator)

The alchemists of Discworld have developed Moving Pictures. Victor Tugelbend, a drop out wizard from the Unseen University, is drawn to Holy Wood. As unskilled as he might be, he ends up paired with Ginger Withel and both become super stars. Of course they are helped out by Gaspode the talking dog.
It soon emerges that Moving Pictures has a detrimental effect on the reality of the Discworld especially because they open up a portal into the Dungeon Dimensions.
This parody of the movie industry is both hilarious and terrifying.

4 stars

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator)

The Auditors of Reality decide that Death needs to be replaced since he has started to develop a personality and has lost his objectivity towards humans. He sets off to live life with the rest of the Discworld citizenry. In the process he becomes even more empathic as he learns what it means to be human and die.
All the creatures on the Discworld are left to come up with a new way to configure death. Humans are slow to do this. Consequently, their life force builds up. This makes it impossible for people to die and brings the dead back to life. This is especially difficult for the recently deceased wizard, Windle Poons, who was looking forward to reincarnation. He joins the Fresh Start club, an undead-rights group, who go on to discover that Ankh-Morpork is being invaded by a parasitic life form that hatches from eggs that resemble snow globes.

CURRENTLY 

I'm still reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a book club title. The Discworld book I'm into is Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett narrated by Nigel Planer. This is at least my third go round with this book and I love it more each time. I just started Give and Take by Elly Swartz. 

UP NEXT 

A History of My Brief Body by Billy Rae Belcourt just became available so this will be my next audiobook. I hope to get to On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong and Leggings Revolt by Monique Polak. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

 #MustReadIn2020: 24/25 - one in progress

#MustReadNFIn2020: 11/12 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 29/25  

Books by Canadian Authors: 129/100 

Discworld Series 16/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 326/333