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.
My husband and I went out for curry dinner last night to celebrate Father's day. We brought home enough leftovers for a couple more meals. Hope all the dads out there had a wonderful day.
What the heck happened to summer? It was so cold yesterday that I finally gave up and turned on the furnace! It was only 9°c this morning! The good thing about this weather is that I have been able to get the garden weeded. I've been harvesting cucumbers and radishes and yesterday I picked the first zucchini. The raspberries are coming on and wow are they delicious!
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.
CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS
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| 4 stars |
Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley January 29, 2019
Mary Walker was an exceptional woman who wore whatever she wanted. She was an abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war and surgeon, and the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.
I enjoyed reading about her but wish more people had accepted women and girl's right to wear long pants before I went to school in the 1960's.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Gaia: Goddess of Earth by Imogen Greenberg & Isabel Greenberg (Illustrations) August 9, 2022
I was already a gushing fan of Isobel Greenberg's graphic novels and illustration, so I was predestined to love this feminist, graphic retelling of the myth of Gaia. I wish so much that I was still working in the library so I could purchase this book and share it with readers.
The first part of the book introduces readers to the different gods and goddesses with both an illustration and a write up. The rest of the book is the story of these characters told from Gaia's perspective.
I am looking forward to reading more work by this duo.
Miriam Brockman and her family have moved to a small town to run, what they soon discover to be, a very run down motel. Miriam is left looking after her little brother while the family is busy working to get it halfway decent for guests. In spite of this, Miriam makes friends with Kate, whose grandmother owns the diner next door. She also connects with Maria, the young adult housekeeper who works at the inn.
When it looks like both the diner and the motel are going to fail, Miriam and Kate come up with a plan to save them all. Whether or not it is ethical, no matter how successful it becomes, is an issue neither of the girls really wants to deal with.
There are other side issues - Miriam is terrified of water but her uncle, who is helping out at the inn until school starts in September, is helping her learn to swim. There are some differences between Miriam's Jewish family and the Christian community, but mostly they adopt a few of each other's foods and get along. When antisemitism raises it's head, and a near tragedy occurs, the family are supported by the rest of the community.
When it looks like both the diner and the motel are going to fail, Miriam and Kate come up with a plan to save them all. Whether or not it is ethical, no matter how successful it becomes, is an issue neither of the girls really wants to deal with.
There are other side issues - Miriam is terrified of water but her uncle, who is helping out at the inn until school starts in September, is helping her learn to swim. There are some differences between Miriam's Jewish family and the Christian community, but mostly they adopt a few of each other's foods and get along. When antisemitism raises it's head, and a near tragedy occurs, the family are supported by the rest of the community.
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| 5 stars |
Spell Sweeper by Lee Edward Födi & Sandy Rustin (Narrator) November 30, 2021 🍁
Cara Moone attends a prestigious school for wizards - but her family can't know what they do because magic is kept a secret from ordinary people. Unfortunately Cara failed the wizard aptitude test and is stuck in the spell sweeper department. She and her mates are left to clean up residual dust, leftover when their classmates and teachers perform magic. Because of her job, she's on the spot when a monster shows up and reveals a rift in the fabric of magic. To fix the problem, Cara ends up working with her arch enemy, Harlee Wu, to stop the people causing it.
This book is full of important messages for ordinary, non wizardly people about accepting and valuing ourselves for who we are. It highlights how important it is to challenge our biases and assumptions about other people and species.
This was a really good read. I sure hope that this is not the end of Cara Moone's story.
When her brother, Devin, heads off to university, Riley Henderson is bereft and bewildered. He took care of everything for her, including introducing her to dungeons and dragons. Over time Riley finally makes new friends and starts up a new D&D group. When her brother drops out of school and returns home, he wants things to go back as they were, but Riley and her mother have learned to cope just fine without him. Riley realizes that it's time for her to be the one to look after her brother.
I loved the relationships between Riley and her friends. I loved how they helped and supported one another.
I loved the relationships between Riley and her friends. I loved how they helped and supported one another.
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| 4 stars |
The Island of Monsters (Spirit Hunters #2) by Ellen Oh & Amielynn Abellera (Narrator)
This is about the level of horror I can manage. It begins with a spirit eating demon devouring Harper Raine's ghostly friends. Working with her grandmother they manage to find and destroy it. Then when the family is on vacation on a tropical island, they come upon a nest of the creatures. They are devouring the souls of living people and have marked her little brother. Harper's grandmother can't come to help her, so it's up to her to save him and destroy these evil creatures.
The first book in this series, Ancillary Justice, is the only book to have won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and the Arthur C. Clark Award.
It is the second in the Imperial Radch Series, staring Breq, a soldier who used to be a warship. Breq is now captain of her own ship. She ends up at Athoek Station where her goal is to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew and was forced to kill.
The Rache are a nongendered culture. What we would call feminine pronouns are used for everyone.
"Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy has become one of the new classics of science fiction. Beautifully written and forward thinking, it does what good science fiction does best, taking readers to bold new worlds with plenty of explosions along the way."
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| 5 stars |
Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch #3) by Ann Leckie & Adjoa Andoh (Narrator) October 6, 2015
I downloaded this book as soon as I finished the second, but forced myself to listen to other audiobooks that would expire first. I finished one of those, but couldn't wait any longer. I just had to start listening to this one. I needed to be back in Ann Leckie's world. I kind of wish I never had to leave it. I adore her multidimensional characters. I relish the way my mind was bent trying to grasp what it would be like to be both an individual and part of a unit of cognitively connected mind - and what it would be like to lose that connection. I love that this book takes a deep look at what it means to be human, to have personhood, to what Leckie calls, have significance.
Gut by Giulia Enders & Jill Enders (Illustrator)
An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong
Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin
The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki & Carrielynn Victor (Illustrator) April 11, 2023 🍁
UP NEXT
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca & Priya Ayyar
Hoops by Matt Tavares
READING GOALS
#MustReadFiction 10/24 one in progress
#MustReadNonFiction 8/20 one in progress
Canadian Authors 23/75
Indigenous Authors 9/20
Big Books Summer 2023 - 1/5
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 90/200
Oh my, Cheriee—9ºC in summer is quite the frigid temperature! But I'm glad it worked out and you got to work on your garden.
ReplyDeleteAll these books look amazing! Mary Wears What She Wants looks so intriguing, especially with the beautiful cover art, and the topic of women being able to wear what they choose is definitely an important one.
About Roll for Initiative, I feel like there are so many D&D-adjacent books being published now, which is exciting for all the fans of that game! (I've never played D&D, but I feel like I'm adjacent to the kind of person who does.)
I'm definitely not much for horror either, so the Spirit Hunters series might be a bit much for me!
The Ann Leckie books sound simply amazing, though—I love your point about contemplating the idea of being an individual and also being mentally connected to others.
Thanks so much for the thoughtful post, as always!
I hope at some point in your life you end up as a teacher. I always love how thoughtful your responses to blogs are. I feel seen. I know that students of yours, if you even have any, will receive the best feedbook on their work.
DeleteMy sons played D&D when they were in their teens. The youngest turns 40 this year, and their group still meets once a week to continue.
I'm so happy you found Mary Wears What She Wants - I just love this book and always find students are surprised by her story.
ReplyDeleteI bet they are. They used to be astonished when I told them that I couldn't wear pants to school.
DeleteJust the opposite here, Cheriee - we've had very rare perfect weather all of May and so far in June - surprisingly dry and moderate temps. But today, it feels more like a typical June day here - 88 and humid! We had to turn on the a/c while you were turning on the heat!
ReplyDeleteAll of these books look great, especially No Vacancy and Roll for Initiative.
Enjoy your books this week, and I hope it warms up for you!
Sue
2023 Big Book Summer Challenge
May broke all kinds of records for heat, and now we are having lower than average temperatures in June. At least we have not had to deal with smoke from the forest fires raging across the country!
DeleteI loved Roll for Initiative, and it's been really popular with my students, who labor under the delusion that I can teach them how to play D&D. Although my daughters play, I HATE games. Also, I can't imagine how I could teach them such a long game at any point during our days. Glad that you got a lot of reading done. It's been chilly here as well, but I'd rather have that than the heat!
ReplyDeleteDon't know why I keep putting in comments as anonymous or TEST today!
DeleteI once had a student teacher who created a unit on the gold rush using a D&D format. The students cheered when it was time to play it.
DeleteI don't mind games, but it is really about what it is and who I am playing with. I learned to play poker with my uncles, and have never had as much fun since.
I think we had a virtual event with Spell Sweeper. It did sound intriguing.
ReplyDelete