#IMWAYR February 27th, 2023

Welcome! 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.

I had a good time with the grandkids last weekend. They sure seem to be growing up fast!

Unfortunately my respiratory tract infection turned into an ear infection and I ended up with a ruptured eardrum. Perhaps because I now can't hear out of one ear, their noise didn't bother me a bit! 

Once they returned home I managed to complete two blog posts talking about the graphic novels I read as a Cybils' Judge. 

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.

POSTS LAST WEEK

Cybils Finalists: 2022 Young Adult Graphic Novels

Cybils Finalists: 2022 Elementary Graphic Novels

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Emile and the Field by Kevin Young & Chioma Ebinama (Illustrator)

I would give this picture book more stars based on the artwork alone. When I read it with my two granddaughters, we were dumfounded by the glorious beauty of Chioma Ebinama's illustrations. 

The story is a simple one of a boy who loves a field where nature flourishes. Until winter comes, he revels in being the only one there. In winter however, the field is full of other children sliding down the perfect slope. His father helps him come to understand that it's not his field, and that having other people appreciate the splendour of the place is a good way to ensure it lasts.

5 stars

Still This Love Goes On by Buffy Sainte-Marie & Julie Flett (Illustrator) September 02, 2022 🍁

Julie Flett's illustrations beautifully accompany Buffy Sainte-Marie's song lyrics. The love in this book seems cosmic. It feels like a love song to place, culture and the whole world, and in return, from these things to us. 

The music and lyrics are included in the book, but you can listen to it in the following video.

   

Fish and Sun by Sergio Ruzzier June 22, 2021 4 stars

Two unlikely characters become friends in this sweet reader. I love Ruzzier's illustrations.

Fish and Wave by Sergio Ruzzier  May 17, 2022 4 stars

This is another book about unlikely friendship, but it's also about accepting and taking pleasure in how we are different. 

I picked these two Ruzzier titles, along with some other books from the library because my grandkids were coming for the weekend. I've increased my rating because the almost three year old had me reading it them a number of times. My five year old grandson, who was playing a game with others, kept coming over to see what was happening. 

3 stars

Uni and the Perfect Present by Candice Ransom, Lissy Marlin, Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager (Illustrator)

This little reader is an adaptation of the Uni the Unicorn series created by Amy Krouse Rosenthal & Brigette Barrager (Illustrator). In this book, Uni tries to figure out what to get for their perfect friend, Silkie. My oldest granddaughter was excited to see this book about unicorns, but wasn't as excited about the story, even if she could almost read it herself. 

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION

      

4 stars each

Apatosaurus (Rookie Read-About Dinosaurs)by Wil Mara March 1, 2012 

Stegosaurus (Rookie Read-About Dinosaurs) by Wil Mara March 1, 2012

My almost three year old granddaughter once told me, "I'm not interested in princesses and pretty things. I like monsters and dinosaurs." We just tell her it's ok to like all these things. 

Of course I had to pick up a couple of these dinosaur books from the library for her. They are ideal nonfiction titles for little people. We read them a number of times! 

GRAPHIC

4 stars

Anne: An Adaptation of Anne of Green Gables by Kathleen Gros 🍁

I enjoyed this modern retelling of Anne of Green Gables. In this iteration, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert live in an apartment in a city. They were hoping to foster a younger child, but end up with Anne. I liked that the personality of the original Anne remains mostly intact in this book. I like that there is more diversity in the different characters (even if it is only skin colour deep.) I was delighted to see the same kinds of conflicts in the original books played out in a modern setting. I'm still struggling with the ending. In my youth I read every book in the series, so for me, it strays a little too far from the original romantic arc for Anne and Gilbert. I've asked my queer niece who is a librarian what she thinks about it, but she hasn't read it yet. I suspect it's just nostalgia that's getting in my way of fully appreciating this version. 

5 stars

Demon in the Wood by Leigh Bardugo & Dani Pendergast (Illustrator)

This book is a prequel to the Shadow and Bone series.
"Before he led Ravka’s Second Army, before he created the Fold, and long before he became the Darkling, he was just a lonely boy burdened by an extraordinary power." I really enjoyed learning more about the villain from the later books, and even came to have sympathy for him. Dani Pendergast's artwork is just spectacular!

 ADULT YA NOVELS

4 stars

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 🍁 June 30, 2020

This book is way far out of my comfort zone. If it wasn't a Canada Reads finalist, I'm sure I would never have made it beyond when the protagonist, Noemí, begins to have nightmares. Now I'm really glad I finished it. At first I wasn't sure how the book pertains to this years theme of shifting perspective. However, once I was removed from the aftermath of immediate trauma, (I don't read horror at all) I began to see that while this book is of the horror genre, it's so much more. It highlights the actual horror inherent in systems of patriarchy and misogyny, classism, racism, and capitalism. Sometimes you have to see these things from a distance to recognize how close they are to you, or at least to see them in a new light.

ADULT MEMOIR

4 stars

Half Bads in White Regalia by Cody Caetano 🍁 May 31, 2022

I was gobsmacked by the writing in the this one. I wish I had it as an audiobook since it reads like poetry. Yet at the same time as I was in thrall of the word-smithing, I was horrified for Cody Caetano and his siblings. It's a memoir about growing up in a family with two essentially incompetent parents. At one point in the book Cody Caetano and his two older siblings were abandoned in their family's deteriorating home. They were without electricity, heat, and food, in a mould infested water soaked house. I am in awe of how much love overflows, in spite of how violent and crazy it all was. It's a testimony to the influence of the author's older sister that the siblings turned out so well. 

CURRENTLY

The Power of Story: On Truth, the Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era by Harold R Johnson 🍁

If you are looking for a book to change the way you see the world, I'm pretty sure this is it. 

Dead City by James Ponti

Blood Scion by Deborah Falaye 🍁

I've had to put this book on hold while I finish reading the Canada Reads finalists. Also, it is way to intense for me to finish when I'm not feeling well. 

UP NEXT 

Hotline by Dimitri Nasrallah 🍁

Orwell's Roses by Rebecca Solnit

Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 5/24

#MustReadNonFiction 0/20 1 in progress

Canadian Authors 14/75 2 in progress

Indigenous Authors 5/20 1 in progress

Canada Reads Finalists 3/5

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 52/200