IMWAYR April 23, 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 have been away. I have been busy. I did not read much. I have been writing. All this is true and why I have not been posting. I am doing my best to not get overly stressed. It isn't easy.

 

Last weekend our guild quilt show was a smashing success. As co-chair of the committee, I can't take much credit. It's because of the individual committee members that it went off so brilliantly. Since it was my first quilt show, I did a lot of worrying. I am really good at that.

You can read about the show here. 

My reading life has been in fits and starts. I have picked up and abandoned a lot of titles. I sent a huge pile of library books back to the library unread. After reading Orwell's Roses by  Rebecca Solnit, I thought I would reread 1984. I got about half way into it before realizing it was way too dark and only going to get darker. 

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.

MOST RECENT BLOG POST

FREE VERSE FRIDAY #4 APRIL CHANGE

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Lift by Minh Lê & Dan Santat (Illustrator) May 5, 2020

When Iris' little brother takes over her job of pressing elevator buttons, she is seriously miffed. In retaliation she presses the button so many times that it breaks. When the repairman tosses the broken piece into the garbage, she rescues it and tapes it onto her bedroom wall. She's surprised and delighted to discover that pushing the button opens a portal into other worlds.

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION

5 stars

The Animal Toolkit: How Animals Use Tools by Steve Jenkins (Illustrator) & Robin Page August 30, 2022

Just Wow! I have ordered copies of this for my two grandkids for their 6th birthday.
It's gorgeously illustrated (as is anything created by Jenkins.) Sure I'm impressed by the quality of the information, but it's how it's presented that really wows me. Each page has a paragraph explaining the tools the species is using. The simply captioned illustrations show the animal using it. I also really like the silhouetted sections that show the size of the creature compared to a human. The back matter contains additional information about the animals in the book, but really, it's not needed.

MG FICTION

4 stars

Haven Jacobs Saves the Planet by Barbara Dee & Mehr Dudeja (Narrator) September 27, 2022

I almost abandoned this one because it seemed like it was going to end up as one of those mean girl kind of books. I continued because this is Barbara Dee, and she has never let me down before. She didn't this time either.
Haven is full of eco-anxiety. It gets in the way of her completing her school work, but after a conversation with her social studies teacher, gets an extension. In science class they discover that their local river is in trouble. Species are missing and the acid ph level is too high. With the help of others, Haven organizes a river awareness and cleanup party. When she realizes that it isn't enough, she tries to emulate her hero, a Greta Thunberg kind of character. In the end, with the help of her teachers, parents, and others, she discovers a way to make a serious difference.
I ended up really liking this story. I like that Haven's relationship with the girl she had problems with is resolved and becomes a positive one. I like that there are all kinds of students and adults working along side Haven to improve the world. I like that Haven becomes a role model herself, but I think the most important message here, is that real change can only be accomplished if we work together.

ADULT FICTION

4 stars

All the Seas of the World by Guy Gavriel Kay & Simon Vance (Narrator) May 17, 2022 🍁

Some readers suggested that reading the previous books would help figure out all that was going on. This might be true. I did have trouble keeping track of who was who and what was happening to them. That the author inserts little snippets of life for ordinary people doesn't help. I liked Simon Vance's voice as narrator, but suspect that had I read this with my eyes, my confusion might have been less of an issue.
You might think after that little spiel, that I didn't enjoy this book. You would be wrong. In spite of being confused more often that I like to be, I got completely caught up in this fantasy. The writing is gorgeous. The world building - a combination of historical reality and fantasy is powerful and authentic. The characters are appealing and real - even the nasty ones!

5 stars

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill May 3, 2022

I thought I had written about this when I finished it, but discovered that I didn't. I think I wanted to mull it over, but what I really wanted, was to read it with a book club. I was/am desperate to talk about it with others who have read it. 

This book made me crazy with rage. Having lived through, and grown into my teens in the 1950's and 1960's, I lived through this reality. I saw my mother struggle through it. Unfortunately, it feels all still relevant today. I would like to transform into a dragon. 

4 stars

A Match Made for Murder (Lane Winslow #7) by Iona Whishaw & Marilla Wex (Narrator) April 28, 2020 🍁

I was delighted to return to this world and these characters. Lane and her husband, Darling, are in Arizona on their honeymoon. A murder in their hotel ends up pulling them into the investigation.
Meanwhile, back in Nelson, Sergeant Ames has a murder, and a missing teen girl to deal with. It turns out that the different cases in two different countries are connected.
I liked that this one addresses the issues of domestic and sexual violence for women and girls.

ADULT NONFICTION

5 stars

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (Author and Narrator) November 1, 1993

What an amazing story teller!
I listened to this read by the author. It was an intimate experience - as though she was still here chatting about her life. If my library had her next book in audio format, I would have downloaded it immediately to continue.

CURRENTLY

The Book of Goose by Yiyun Li

The Woman All Spies Fear: Code Breaker Elizebeth Smith Friedman and Her Hidden Life by Amy Butler Greenfield

UP NEXT 

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet by  Jenny Ferguson 🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 6/24

#MustReadNonFiction 7/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 17/75 

Indigenous Authors 9/20 

Canada Reads Finalists 3/5

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 69/200