#IMWAYR June 13, 2022

 Welcome readers! It's #IMWAYR time again, when bloggers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to. 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. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next. 

This summer I'm once again joining Sue Jackson and others to participate in the 2022 Big Book Summer Challenge. Click on the link if you want to know more about this fun event. I have a list of sixteen books that I may or may not get to this summer. You can have a look at it here.

As I write this on Sunday, it is day thirteen, and I'm still dealing with Covid. The line on the test that confirms positive is fading, so I'm optimistic that it won't last forever. I am feeling better, but my respiratory tract system is out of control and small bits of work exhaust me. These days, while napping is my favourite pastime, I do sneak out into the garden to pull weeds for short intervals and do the odd bit of housework. Thankfully my partner is the main cook around here. 

I did manage to find the time and energy to make an apron for my daughter in law whose birthday was last week. I will send it off to her as soon as I can leave the house. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.

PICTURE BOOKS 

A special thanks and shoutout to Max @ Completely Full Bookshelf for introducing these first two book to me.

4 stars

Every Little Kindness by Marta Bartolj (Illustrations) October 12, 2021

This wordless book gobsmacked me from the get go. The art work is brilliant. It's mostly sepia toned with significant bits in red. Following these bright splashes of colour is important because it provides clues for where an act of kindness has been and where it will go next. I like how acts of kindness are inspired not just by being on the receiving end, but also by watching kindness in others. 

4 stars

Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild & Charlene Chua  🍁 (Illustrator) January 1, 2021

Making new friends is challenging for most of us - even in the best of times. For Violet, it's even harder. She is infatuated with Mira, a popular girl in her class. As friendly as Mira is with her, Violet can't get over her own anxiety and shyness to invite Mira to have adventures with her. Even when she crafts a special valentine for Mira, it's not certain that Mira will ever get it.
I love the sweetness in this book. It's a perfect mirror for queer children and any of us experiencing our first crush.

5 stars

Gibberish by Young Vo March 01, 2022

Thanks to Beth Shaum @ A Foodie Bibliophile for the introduction to this one.

Gibberish is the perfect picture book to read at the beginning of a new school year: especially if you have new language speakers in your class. As someone who once taught English as a Second Language, I highly recommend it for all teachers. If I was still working, I would read it to the staff at our first group meeting.
Dat, a young boy, heads off to school in a place where he doesn't know the language. Everything sounds like gibberish to him. On top of that, People can't seem to get his name straight. It's all overwhelming for the young boy. Then a young girl takes him in hand. She invites him to play with her and, as she befriends him, ends up helping him learn this new language.
The imagery in this book is absolutely brilliant. Vo reveals Dat's experience by portraying the speakers of gibberish as black and white cartoonish characters, while Dat himself is shown more realistically in colour. While his emotions are shown clearly, the reader has to work a bit harder to unpack those of the rest of his cartoonish classmates. As Dat's comprehension of this new language increases, we see glorious colour and realism emerge all over the pages.

Young Vo shows Dat's world transform across the span of one day. It is really my only quibble with this book. I know it's only a metaphorical day, but I worry that children might think that learning a new language is easier than it really is.

5 stars

I'll Go and Come Back by Rajani LaRocca & Sara Palacios (Illustrator) March 29, 2022

This is a lovely story about a girl (Jyoti) and her grandmother (Sita Pati). They live in different countries and speak different languages, but the love between them overcomes those barriers. At first Jyoti and her family visit with Sita Pati in India. Then Sita Pati visits Jyoti in United States.
The title of the book comes from Tamil words of parting the author's grandmother taught her to say, instead of goodbye. Enjoy this book trailer. 

NOVELS

5 stars

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett May 1, 2003

Each night before I go to sleep I set the timer and listen to an audiobook. Focusing on the book while I nod off keeps my brain from getting caught up in worrying about the things that otherwise keep me awake.
The book has to be one I have already read, and one without any terrifying bits in it. I've discovered that many of Pratchett's Discworld novels are perfect. Some nonfiction works too.

In The Wee Free Men, Tiffany Aching manages to rescue Wentworth, her little bother, and Roland, the Baron’s son, from the Queen of the Elves. It is a gripping adventure wherein a talking toad, the Nac Mac Feegles, and a frying pan play important roles in the rescue. The remarkable thing about Wee Free Men is that I have now read or listened to it more times than I can remember, and with each read, even when I'm half asleep, I find more to marvel at.   

ADULT NOVELS 

4 stars

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn March 29, 2022

Kate Quinn pretty much had me from the first paragraph of this book. I was fascinated by her fictionalized portrayal of the life of Mila Pavlichenko. Pavlichenko was a Russian Sniper during WW2. After recording at least 311 official kills, she was part of a congregation of Russian students who were sent to the United States to try and encourage that country to engage in a second front against the Germans. Once there she was taken under the wing of Eleanor Roosevelt.
I got so caught up in her story I forgot about what is now happening in the Ukraine. Upon reflection I can't help but acknowledge that how we see stories of war and the participants, really depends upon whose side we are on.

ADULT NON FICTION

5 stars

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake May 12, 2020

Merlin Sheldrake is frigging brilliant.
Not only is this book full of fascinating information about fungi, it is a delightfully entertaining read that's easy to digest. (pun intended) Listening to it read by the author is an absolute treat. He fills the narrative with nuances of emotion, especially wry humour and excitement.
This book is mind bending in multiple ways. (again, pun intended) The scope of what he takes on in this book is almost overwhelming. Even though I knew a bit about systems theory and fungal networks, my head nearly exploded trying to rid myself of old notions of how the world works and fit a new world view into it.

If you are only going to read one nonfiction title this year, make sure it's this one.

CURRENTLY

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives by Matt Richtel

Satellite Love by Genki Ferguson  🍁

Rez Rules by Chief Clarence Louie 🍁

UP NEXT 

Worser by Jennifer Ziegler

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 12/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 9/18 one in progress

Canadian Authors 31/100 two in progress

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 11/25 one in progress

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 1  one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 135 /250