#IMWAYR January 4, 2021

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.

We have enjoyed a wonderful winter break and hope you did too. New years eve was quiet. I didn't get so much reading in because I have been watching TV with my partner, writing book reviews, completing my #MustReadIn2020 update, working on my #MustReadIn2021 goals weeding my GoodReads account, and enjoying the cold snowy weather. We went hiking by the river, and built snow people in our front yard. We went sledding twice and, despite numerous upsets, I emerged unscathed. We had fun! 

This crazy carpet was a wild ride although I didn't end up flying off til near the end. At least I didn't hit any trees. 

After the second snowfall we headed up into the other side of the valley. It was a classic winter wonderland. The plastic sled I was on kept flying off the track and tipping over. Then I tried going down the hill on an inner tube. It stayed on the path but was slow and boring. 

I'm still working on my #MustReadIn2021 goals. Leigh Anne Eck at A Day In the Life and I are working collaboratively to host #MustReadin2021 this year. When you are ready, sign up at Leigh Anne's Round-Up post here. I will be the bossy one who reminds you about the voluntary updates. Note that it takes two people to handle what Carrie Gelson at There's A Book For That managed all on her own. 

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. 

RECENT BLOG POSTS

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes

#MustReadIn2020 December Update

Outside Art by Madeline Kloepper

PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

Outside Art by Madeline Kloepper 🍁

Animals look inside a window and watch an Artist at work. All of them respond to the question, what is art? Each one understands it through their own perspective of their world. I am a huge fan of Kloepper's illustrations. You can read my full post about this book here. 

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

3 stars

RESPECT: Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul by Carole Boston Weatherford & Frank Morrison (Illustrator)

The book provides highlights of Aretha Franklin's life in rhyming verse. Frank Morrison's artwork is spectacular. The back matter contains additional information about her life.

I wanted to love this more than I do. Unfortunately the rhyming verse just didn't work for me. I went back to read it a second time to just focus on it, but it didn't help. 

5 stars

Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin

Wow! Jason Chin takes us from comparing the size of an eight year old to this book, and then into the vastness of the universe. It's just brilliant. The back matter contains additional illustrated information.

This reminded me of a NFB short film, Cosmic Zoom by Eva Szasz. Created in 1968, this wordless film begins with a boy and a dog canoeing on a river. The camera freezes and then animation takes out from this place into the far reaches of the universe. It then zooms back to the canoe and inside the young boys blood stream. If I was still teaching I would begin with Chin's book, and then show this.

NOVELS

3 stars

Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce

I'm a fan of mysteries so I was hoping to love this. It was ok. Perhaps I was swayed by the reviews that connected it to the Flavia de Luce series of which I am a hard core fan.
Myrtle is a very smart oddball of a Victorian girl. She's fascinated by criminal science and jurisprudence. Her father is a prosecuting attorney. Her governess, Miss Ada Hudson, does her best to rein in Myrtle's more outrageous suppositions, but otherwise is fairly open.
When their cantankerous elderly neighbour is murdered, the two of them try to find out who was responsible.
I appreciated all the plot twists and turns in this. My concern is that it's a bit long and I'm not sure it will appeal to younger readers.

NONFICTION

5 stars

History of My Brief Body by Billy Rae Belcourt 

I listened to this book read by the author. I did it in smaller chunks over a longer time, but this is a book that needs to be experienced in print format. I have ordered my own copy.
You will want to spend time reading and rereading sections both for the beauty of the prose as well as for the profoundness of the subject matter.
Billy-Ray Belcourt writes with powerful clarity. His words mine reality for essential truths. In the process, white readers like myself come to understand more clearly how colonialism pervades all aspects of NDN life.
I wish I could write about this book with as much clarity as Sheniz Janmohamed does here in this review in Quill and Quire.
I now plan to read everything Billy-Ray Belcourt has written.

5 stars

Legacy: Women Poets of the Harlem Renaissance by Nikki Grimes et al. 

Just wow! This compendium of poems and artwork just about knocked my socks off.  "This swoon-worthy anthology is a celebration of Black womanhood. It is pure pleasure to be introduced to women poets of the Harlem Renaissance and modern Black woman painters through it." You can read the rest of my blog post here. 

DISCWORLD NOVEL

4 stars

Men at Arms by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator)

This murder mystery might be intense, but it is still as hilarious as the other titles in the series. I love all the references to literature and popular culture. 

A serial killer is on the loose on the eve of Captain Vines' upcoming wedding to Sybil Ramkin, the richest woman in Ankh-Morpork. The murderer's weapon is a gonne, Discworlds first and only firearm. It was thought to have been destroyed by the Assassins' Guild but has a mind of its own and is able to manipulate whoever holds it. 

Referencing the King Arthur myths, rumours emerge that Lance Constable Carrot Ironfoundersson might be the rightful heir to the throne. The murderer's plan is to kill all the guild leaders and sink Ankh- Morpork into chaos so that Carrot can be named King. 

Diversity recruiting has come to the watch. Trolls, Dwarfs and other kinds of 'humans' are hired. Carrot takes a fancy to Angua, one of the new recruits. He realizes that she is a werewolf only after losing his virginity to her. He doesn't handle waking up to a wolf in his bed well. 

CURRENTLY 

I'm reading Hatch by Kenneth Oppel with my eyes. The Discworld novel I'm into is Soul Music. I've just started listening to Black Water by David A. Robertson. 

UP NEXT 

I'm hoping to start All You Can Ever Know, A Memoir by Nicole Chung and Monkey Beach by Robinson, Eden next. As a round 2 Cybils judge I'm looking forward to reading all the finalists in the graphic novel category. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

 #MustReadIn2021 0/25 one in progress

#MustReadNFIn2021 0/12

#MustReadPBIn2021 1/100

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 1/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 

Discworld Series 15/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: /333