#IMWAYR June 10, 2024

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. Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next.

I hope you all had a fabulous reading week. I sure did!

I almost have the garden under control, but of course, this is always just a temporary illusion. We have started eating the lettuce and by next week this time we will be eating raspberries from the garden. I'm not really getting enough peas to make into a meal, but personally I prefer just picking them and eating them anyway. I purchased some more flower boxes at a yard sale so I get to go to the nursery again to find more things to plant. I'm considering just putting strawberries in them. My grandkids will be delighted. 

I needed motivation to do a good house cleaning so we had people over for supper on the weekend. 

I find that if I have a book in my head the time just flies by and I accomplish much more than I thought I would. What do people who don't listen to audiobooks do when they are cleaning house or gardening? 

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.

PREVIOUS BLOG POST

FIRST FRIDAY POETRY JUNE 2024

PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

Let's Go! by Julie Flett May 7, 2024 🍁

Let's Go pays homage to skateboarding, skateboarders, and their community. It's the story of a young boy who longingly watches the skateboarders "'cacussh! cacussh!" past his window. Eventually his mother brings him her skateboard from when she was his age. When he finally gets to the skate park, he is overwhelmed by so many riders on their boards. Then a couple of other boarders sit with him. They watch until they feel brave enough to join the crowd. Later on the boy supports another new boarder in the same way.

I appreciate that Flett shows us that it takes time and practice to get good at skateboarding. 

I also appreciated the author's note at the end of book where she talks about being inspired by her son and his skateboarding experience.

3.5 stars

The Sasquatch, the Fire and the Cedar Baskets by Joseph Dandurand & Dionne Paul (Illustrations) June 6, 2020 🍁

A lonely young sasquatch grows up on his own after the death of his parents in a flood. He forages for food and hangs out with bears during the salmon run. After he grows up he meets a young female sasquatch. The two of them pair up and have a child. The lady sasquatch created thousands of cedar baskets that they filled with water and left around the forest. When a forest fire eventually came, the sasquatch poured the baskets of water over it until the fire was out. 

I like the juxtaposition of traditional art with photographs of real life. These illustrations connect the story to the land and hints at all kinds of spirits the land holds. Although I like these illustrations, I think the story might just work better being read out loud to children. Joseph Danduand is a poet and gifted story teller. His words are all you really need. You can listen to him read this here. 

4 stars

Benny the Bananasaurus Rex by Sarabeth Holden & Emma Pedersen (Illustrator) April 4, 2023 🍁

The only thing Benny, the tyrannosaurus rex, likes more than dinosaurs, is bananas. He is warned that if he eats too many bananas he will turn into one. Benny isn't worried. He happily devours his bananas in many different iterations. From banana pancakes, to banana, peanut butter and bacon sandwiches, to tacos with fried bananas and banana peppers, Benny just can't get enough. Then one morning Benny wakes up and discovers he has turned into a bananasaurus rex! Benny couldn't be happier!
The book is a fun read. Both the illustrations and text are full of puns.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

5 stars

The Moth Keeper by Kay O'Neill March 7, 2023

When you pick up a Kay O'Neill graphic novel, you know you will be immersed in an enchanted reality that includes a coming of age tale wherein truths about being human and living your best life will be revealed. They didn't let me down here. 

Anya is learning to be a Moth Keeper. The job entails looking after the lunar moths that allow the Night-Lily flower to bloom once a year. The flower is essential for her community to survive. Eventually Anya is capable enough to guard the lunar moths on her own. Then one night, she falls asleep and the moths go missing. I deeply appreciated that even though Anya blamed herself, the community did not. They saw it as their failure to support her when she needed them. I really wish the real world was more like this. 

As I read this book I realized that as much as I love graphic novels, I depend a lot on text. This book has pages and pages of wordless panels. I had to slow down and focus on what was happening in the images more than usual. I'm so glad to have been forced to do this. I think I appreciated Anya's loneliness and heartache more deeply because of it. 

5 stars

As I Enfold You in Petals (The Spirit of Denendeh #2) by Richard Van Camp, Scott B. Henderson (Illustrator), Nickolej Villiger (Letterer), Donovan Yaciuk (Colorist) April 25, 2023 🍁

Curtis, an Inuit young man realizes he has to get sober and heal himself. He knows that to succeed, he needs to heal his people. In order to do this, he needs the help of the little people. Before this, he must get a powerful crime leader on his side. Ultimately, in order to heal, they must all help each other. 

This is the second indigenous title I've read that talks about little people. I picked it up because when I was young, my Menominee grandmother used to talk about the little people. I thought she meant fairies and elves. Since then I've discovered that many Indigenous groups have stories of little people. 

The realistic artwork in this graphic novel is gorgeous.  A lot is packed into such a few pages. It's an emotional read that ends on a note of hope. I am impressed by how rich and complicated the characters are in such a short graphic novel. 

ADULT/YA FICTION

5 stars

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree (Author and Narrator)

I enjoyed this book as much, if not more than Legends and Lattes. This one features a book store so I might have appreciated it a wee bit more. I especially loved the epilogue!

This prequel tells us more about Viv, the owner of the coffee shop in Legends and Lattes.  After being wounded during the hunt for a powerful necromancer, she was left behind in the village of Murk to heal. Viv ends up spending time in a rundown bookshop, befriending Fern, the owner, and helping her spruce up the shop and turn it into a thriving business. In the process Viv learns to love books and reading. She has a bit of a romance with the town baker, a dwarf named Maylee. When she is mostly healed, Viv, Gallina, another fighter, and a skeleton homunculus, head out into the country to deal with a nest of monsters. While away they discover evidence that the necromancer is much closer. 

I love that this series is populated mostly by women. There are some male characters, but all the significant ones are female. I love that it is about friendship, acceptance, and helping each other out. I appreciated the energy of the battle scenes. I adore the little griffin, Potroast, who brings humour into the tensest of moments. 

ADULT/YA NON FICTION

5+ stars

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst by Robert M. Sapolsky May 2, 2017

"Robert Morris Sapolsky is an American academic, neuroscientist, and primatologist. He is the John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Professor at Stanford University, and is a professor of biology, neurology, and neurosurgery. His research has focused on neuroendocrinology, particularly relating to stress."

I read Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will in January of this year. I have questioned the notion of free will since my teens, and in that book Sapolsky provided scientific reasoning that supported my thinking. I immediately put a hold on Behave at my local library.
In Behave, he explains in much greater detail the science behind why we do the things we do. Our understanding of human behaviour has come a long way since I took psychology courses at university in the 1970s! This brilliant book reads like a modern textbook outlining the multiple factors involved in why humans and other primates act the way they do. The short answers might be: it depends and it's complicated.

At 790 pages, (26 hours) it's a long book. I promise you it's worth it. Behave is one of, if not the best, nonfiction book I've ever read. I didn't want it to end. 

If this book isn't on your radar, it really should be. 

CURRENTLY

More Than Money: How Economic Inequality Affects Everything by Dyer, Hadley 🍁

The War of the Witches by Zetta Elliot  🍁

A Blanket of Butterflies by Richard Van Camp, Scott B. Henderson (Illustrator), Nickolej Villiger (Letterer), Donovan Yaciuk (Colorist) October 20, 2015  🍁

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Study for Obedience by Sarah Bernstein  🍁

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu 🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 12/25 

NonFiction 17/24 one on the go

Canadian Authors 32/50 three on the go

Indigenous Authors 12/25 one on the go

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 98/200