#IMWAYR September 11, 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 contemplated skipping this week, but since we are having a huge 70th birthday celebration for my husband next weekend, decided I better do it now. 

I have been sewing again. Sewing is usually my happy place. This is true even when I'm not listening to an audiobook, but this dress for my youngest granddaughter caused me a lot of grief! Between technological problems that started with the printer dying as I was printing the pattern, to me screwing up one of my sewing machines, and my brain not figuring stuff out right, If it could go wrong, it did. In spite of all that, I'm happy with how it turned out. Crossing my fingers it fits her!

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian or Indigenous Canadian Author and or Illustrator.
3sewin

 

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

CHILDREN'S CHAPTER BOOKS

5 stars

The Princess in Black and the Prince in Pink by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale & LeUyen Pham (Illustrator)

It's hard to imagine that this series could get better, but the addition of the Prince in Pink, might just do it. 

The Prince in Pink is a Knight who does the usual knightly things, but when he transforms into the Prince in Pink, he's the person you want to have around when it's time to prepare for a party. 

Add a grumpy and misunderstood Emu into the mix, throw in a lot more pink, glitter, and glamour, and get ready for a foot stomping read. 

I can't wait to read this with my grandkids. 

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION GRAPHIC NOVELS

5 stars

The Raven Mother (Mothers of Xsan, 6) by Hetxw'ms Gyetxw (Brett D. Huson) & Natasha Donovan (Illustrations) September 6, 2022  🍁

Raven Mother is the most recent collaboration by two brilliantly gifted people. I've written about this series in depth previously. If you follow that link you will see examples of the artwork and see why I love these so much. 

I've yet to find such profound nonfiction that looks at different species, not only in the context of their physical environment, but also in the context of the culture of the people who share the land with them. The authors integrate these two realities, in both images and text, so that readers can't help but understand the Xsan's intimate relationship with their part of the planet. 

ADULT/YA FICTION

4 stars

Witch King by Martha Wells & Eric Mok (Narrator) May 30, 2023

I suspect that this book might be easier to follow if it wasn't an audiobook. This is mostly because it jumps back and forth in time and these transitions might be easier to follow with the regular print demarcations. There are also a lot of supporting characters!
In spite of this, I ended up loving this book and hope for a sequel. This is in large part because I became invested in Kai, an immortal, body switching, demon. We meet him as he comes to awareness in an underwater prison where a mage is attempting to capture his energy to use as his own. It doesn't end well for the mage and his compatriots.
This is a book I'm going to have to read with my eyes. It's so rich and complicated that I am certain I missed a lot more than I aware of.

ADULT/YA NON FICTION

We are Still Here by Nahid Shahalimi (Editor) August 16, 2022  🍁

"Artist and activist Nahid Shahalimi compiles the voices of thirteen powerful, insightful, and influential Afghan women who have worked as politicians, journalists, scientists, filmmakers, artists, coders, musicians, and more."

This is a book I want everyone to read. It's not an easy one. In the middle of a dystopian reality, these women are so full of hope. It's the recent Barbie movie after Ken returns to Barbieland, only it is real life, and it's much much worse.

CURRENTLY

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee

UP NEXT 

Slow Horses by Mick Herron

The World We Make by N.K. Jemisin

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 16/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 13/20

Canadian Authors 34/75 

Indigenous Authors 16/20 

Big Books Summer 2023 - 16 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 138/200