#IMWAYR JULY 8, 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.

We were lucky to have our sons and grandchildren visiting over the Canada Day long weekend. It meant lots of book sharing, snuggles, and fun! We had enjoyed collecting, washing and painting rocks. The best time was the afternoon we spent hanging out at the river. 

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.

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FIRST FRIDAY POETRY JULY 2024

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Dipnetting with Dad by Willie Sellars & Kevin Easthope (Illustrator) September 20, 2014  🍁

This is told from a young boy' perspective. He is excited to be going with his grandfather and father for the first time to learn the Secwepemc method of fishing known as dipnetting. There's a lot to be done even before they get to the river. The nets have to be checked and any holes mended. After a traditional ceremony at the sweat lodge, they are on their way. 

A double page spread shows them taking a 'looky-loo' of another person dipnetting in the river. I'm not sure that my grandkids understood how dangerous this is, but I do, since my Stó꞉lō cousins who dipnet fish farther south, have lost family members to the river. 

At the bottom of the trail, the boy is tied to a hook bolted to the rock so that if he slips, he won't fall into the water. Dad fishes first and then it's the boy's turn. It takes a few tries, but soon he has his first salmon in the net, out of the river, and into the rock pit built for holding the fish. When they have caught enough fish, They take their sacks of fish home where the family wait in the yard for them to begin the next part. Everyone chips in to gut, wash, and prepare the fish for freezing and drying. 

This book was a hit with all the grandkids. We were all fascinated by the process, not only of the fishing, but of how the fish were dealt with once they got them home. I love how detailed this ends up being - not only the fishing part, but the whole process of smoking and drying the fish. I appreciate the humour that fills this story. It's there in the illustrations as well as in the text. I especially like that it shows us the connection between environment and culture and how it is integrated into all aspects of the family's life. 

Now I want to know Grandma's secret ingredient for making the tastiest smoked salmon around!

The Author, Kúkwpi7 Willie Sellars, of the Williams Lake First Nation, was one six recipients of the 2023 British Columbia Reconciliation Award. 

4 stars

Be a Good Ancestor by Leona Prince, Gabrielle Prince & Carla Joseph (Illustrator) May 17, 2022 🍁

"Rooted in Indigenous teachings, this stunning picture book encourages readers of all ages to consider the ways in which they live in connection to the world around them and to think deeply about their behaviours."

This is more nonfiction than fiction. It's a book that focuses on connections, and how being a good ancestor means being aware of how our actions now can make a difference in the future. I really like how Carla Joseph's artwork helps makes these connections from small beginnings to global good. I like how the book progresses from concrete ideas of raindrops eventually becoming rivers, and rivers becoming life, to more abstract ideology of how thoughts can become ideas which can then become change. 

4 stars

Sweetgrass by Theresa Meuse & Jessica Jerome (Illustrator) 🍁

Matthew and his Auntie are taking Warren sweetgrass picking for the first time. Readers learn along with Warren, what to wear, what to look for, how to harvest sweetgrass, and to remember to thank creation with their sacred medicine. Then when they return home, it's time to clean and braid it. We come to understand the importance of sweetgrass, and how it is used in indigenous cultures across Turtle Island.

I admired Jessica Jerome's artwork. The book is text heavy, so it would make a good read aloud for younger readers. 

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Walking Together by Albert Marshall, Louise Zimanyi, Emily Kewageshig (Illustrator) 🍁

This is a deeply philosophical book about what it means to walk together in a good way not only with other people, but also with the land and the creatures who live upon it. Emily Kewageshig's illustrations are truly stunning. 

The book was inspired by the teachings of the Mi'kmaq spiritual leader Chief Charles Labrador, who said, "Go into the forest, you see the Birch, Maple, Pine. Look underground and all those trees are holding hands. We as people must do the same."

YA/ADULT GRAPHIC NOVEL MEMOIR

5 stars

A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached, Edward Gauvin (Translator), Trina Robbins (Introduction) October 22, 2007

Zeina Abirached takes us to East Beirut, 1984, the Christian side of the civil war in Lebanon. Her memoir shows us what life was like for ordinary people caught up in conflict beyond their control. 

Zeina's parents have gone to visit her grandmother, Annie, who lives a few blocks away and left her and her younger brother home alone. A barrage of shelling has kept them there. The family had moved into the foyer of their apartment. It was the only safe place to be should the building be bombarded. While the parents are away, other members of the building join the children. When each person arrives, we learn their back story. As the evening progresses we come to understand that even if their parents never make it home, the children will be well loved and cared for. 

When the entire household has arrived, the tension in the space begins to build. A phone call from the grandmother says the parents left for home an hour ago. One of the household, Chucri, heads out in search of them. Thus begins an intolerable time of waiting.

This book is stunningly beautiful. I was blown away in the very first frames by the patterns in black and white. I had no background knowledge about this civil war, so before I went much further, I went and read a bit about it. When I came back to the book, these patterned images made much more sense to me. I appreciated the forward by Trina Robbins, and the new afterward by the author. 

If you are a fan of Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, then you must read this. 

 

ADULT/YA FICTION

3 stars

The Sunset Years of Agnes Sharp by Leonie Swann, Amy Bojang (Translator) & Moira Quirk (Narrator)

I wasn’t sure about this book to start with. At first it seemed like just a take on the Thursday Murder Club books. 

Agnes and her friend Lillian set up Sunset Manor as a home for seniors so they have a place to live at the end of their lives and don’t end up in some kind of drugged out stasis in a care home. The story begins with a missing gun and a dead body in the garden shed. Then the police show up to tell them that there has been a murder next-door. Agnes, who is a former police inspector decides they will find out who the murderer is and pin Lillian's death on them.

Parts of this were hokey, but in spite of that, I ended up getting sucked right into this this story. Agnes is an interesting character. I was fascinated as her back history emerged, especially upon discovering that she isn’t a very reliable narrator on top of her issues related to aging. There are some totally ludicrous events that I’m not sure did anything other than provide black comedic relief. They certainly didn’t bring the plot forward, although it did provide more information about the other members of the house. 

ADULT/YA FICTION

5 stars

The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee June 2, 2016

I fell in love with Siddhartha Mukherjee's writing in The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human, so of course I had to read more of his work. Siddhartha Mukherjee is a natural story teller who makes complicated subjects easy to comprehend. I appreciate how he integrates his personal and cultural background, as well as social context, into his books about science. This was published in 2016, so a lot has happened in the world of genetics since then. It's still worth reading for the detailed overview of history alone. 
This is my second big book for Sue Jackson's Big Book Summer Read Challenge.

CURRENTLY 

The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese May 2, 2023

Betty: The Helen Betty Osborne Story by David Alexander Robertson & Scott B. Henderson (Illustrator) April 27, 2015 🍁

After Annie by Anna Quindlen & Gilli Messer (Narrator)

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride & Dominic Hoffman (Narrator) August 8th 2023

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 13/25 

NonFiction 20/24

Canadian Authors 37/50 one on the go

Indigenous Authors 17/25 one on the go

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 121/200