#IMWAYR December 28th, 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 hope you are all enjoying some rest, relaxation and down time during this winter holiday season. It was a bit crazy for a while here, but we are finally finding a bit of peace.  

 Every Christmas when I was a young girl, my Granny would bring over a package of her homemade divinity fudge. Each family got a box. It was the highlight of the season. My siblings and I used to fight over any extra pieces. I think Dad ate them when we were not looking. I never did learn how to make it with her, but in the last few years my sister and I have been trying different recipes in an effort to replicate it. 

Until this year, mine have been a failure. They ended up never setting, or they hardened in the bowl before I could get them out. Maybe it was the humidity at the coast. This year, in our semi desert area, I made four successful batches. Well, almost four. The first batch looked fabulous, but when I bit into them I discovered that the pecans I used were rancid. My partner and I ate too many of them while testing them out, but we did manage to save enough to give some away. 

I had a specialist appointment in Vancouver the Monday before Xmas so I missed last week. Because we were already staying with my son and his family, we stayed on to celebrate with them. The families seemed to like these quilted tree skirts I made for them. I made other gifts but forgot to take photographs of them. 

I have been thinking about the #MustRead challenge initiated by Carrie Gelson. Since she isn't prepared to host it for 2021 I am contemplating hosting it until she wants to return to it. Are people still interested in this?

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

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes & Gordon C. James (Illustrator)

Gorgeous art accompanies this powerful collections of affirmations. They celebrate all the power and joy of black boyhood.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang & Gurihiru (Artwork)

This is a fascinating take on the origins of Superman. I really appreciate how Gene Luen Yang has made connections between Clark Kent's history as an alien from another planet to one of the Lee family moving from Chinatown to Downtown Metropolis.
Tommy, the oldest, manages to adapt and seems to fit in. Roberta, his younger sister, feels like an outsider and sees Tommy as being fake. When the family is targeted by the KKK, Superman comes to their rescue. One of the younger clan members is less than enthusiastic about being recruited. His admiration of Superman helps him help the rest of them.
There is so much to admire and love about this nuanced graphic novel. Ultimately it's about overcoming hatred and accepting ourselves and others for who we are. That moment when Roberta tries to return the pen Lois Lane gave her, and discovers that the initials are based on her Chinese name, is profound.
The back matter contains a timeline that shows the relationship between the story of Superman, WW2, racism and the role Superman played in discrediting the KKK.

NOVELS

Give and Take by Elly Swartz

Maggie and her family foster a newborn until her forever parents are chosen and able to pick her up. This ends up being a serious challenge for her since she has a hard time letting go of all kinds of things. How can she let go of a baby sister she's come to love?
When her parents discover that Maggie is becoming a hoarder, they make sure she gets the help she needs to learn to let go and trust that she won't lose her memories like her Nana did.
I fell head over heels for this wonderful family. Maggie has supportive parents and two considerate siblings. I would wish for all children to have a grandfather like hers.
This kind of realistic fiction is the kind I love most. It provides a window and a mirror for students dealing with mental health issues. At the same time, it provides a model for dealing with challenges and difficulties in an emotionally healthy way.

Leggings Revolt by Monique Polak 🍁  

The local high school principal is a tyrant who enforces a misogynistic dress code with unusual fervour. Eric and some of his friends have moved from a local all boys school to attend this coed institution. He ends up on the school council - a patsy group created to implement the principal's rules.
Eric is a good kid who makes some mistakes with how he treats girls, but then realizes he has screwed up and apologises. When the principal arbitrarily announces that leggings are a dress code violation and a girl he fancies gets expelled for wearing some, he decides to do something about it. I really appreciated the solution that Eric and other students finally came up with.
Add this to a collection of books about young activists.

DISCWORLD NOVEL

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

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator) 

The quote in my blog's header is from this book. 

This is a reread for me. I love this book so much that no sooner did I finish listening to it this time, I started all over again. (That makes three reads in total) If you enjoy twisted fairytales, and are interested in trying one of the Discworld novels, this might be your way in. 

"Stories don't care who takes part in them. All that matters is that the story gets told, that the story repeats. Or, if you prefer to think of it like this: stories are a parasitical life form, warping lives in the service only of the story itself.

It takes a special kind of person to fight back, and become the bicarbonate of history."

The admirable witches from the Discworld: Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and Granny Weatherwax, take on this role. Magrat Garlick inherits a wand from Desiderata, a witch and Fairy Godmother. This makes Magrat fairy godmother to Emberella. Desiderata leaves instructions to tell Nanny and Granny that they must not go with her to Genua, where Emberella lives. 

I love the interaction between these witches. I love their bickering, their bawdiness, and their interpretations of foreign places and foreigners. But mostly I love their humanity and their integrity.

You can read the full review I first wrote about this book here. 

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator) 

The people of Omnia worship a warped version of the god Om. Things have changed a lot since his last manifestation and the deity the people honor has no connection to who he is. When he ends up manifesting as a turtle with no divine powers, Brutha, a young novice, is the only one who can hear him. At first Brutha is a naive youth who does as he is told, but as the novel develops, and he meets with people outside of his own faith, he begins to think for himself. Even the god Om undergoes a transformation and begins to care about the people who believe in him. 

This book brilliantly satirises multiple aspects of religious life. Pratchett pokes fun at religious institutions, people, practices and the connection to politics. It never feels heavy handed because Brutha is such an endearing character. 

The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett, Bernard Pearson & Isobel Pearson

This is one of the books that Inspector Vimes reads to his young son in one of the Discworld novels. Young Geoffrey is sent to stay with his Grand-mama in the big city of Ankh-Morpork when his mother is having “great expectations”

In the city Geoffrey becomes fascinated by poo. As he begins collecting samples from different animals, his Grand-mama’s gardener helps him set up a museum in an old shed. The book is full of details about how a medieval city might deal with its ‘night soil.’

NONFICTION

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

This is an important, profound book. It has much to teach all of us about gratitude, sharing, and reciprocity. These are all critical things if we are going to ensure our existence upon the planet. Ultimately we must defeat the Wendigo of greed and selfishness that leaves us empty, and find a new way of democratically being in the world. It’s going to be hard for many of us to start thinking of all the plants and animals as our equals, but without it we are in serious trouble.

CURRENTLY 

I'm reading Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce. The Discworld novel I'm into is Men at Arms. I'm listening to A History of My Brief Body by Billy Rae Belcourt 

UP NEXT 

I plan to start Hatch by Kenneth Oppel, the second in his Overthrow series. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

 #MustReadIn2020: 25/25

#MustReadNFIn2020: 11/12 one in progress

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 29/25  

Books by Canadian Authors: 130/100 

Discworld Series 14/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 335/333