FIRST FRIDAY POETRY SEPTEMBER 2024

I'm joining Beverly A Baird & Linda Schueler in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when we, and anyone else who joins, writes a poem and pairs it up with a photo relating to it.

Our grandkids visited a few weeks ago. After a couple of days of rain, we decided to go hiking in the hills. Our four year old was as infatuated by the smell of sage as I was, and collected pocketfuls of it. She called it her perfume. 

I started this poem a week or so ago before I headed off visiting friends and family on Vancouver Island. I worked on it off and on, but couldn't get it to come together. My brother, James Weichel, helped me see what I needed. I'm not sure I'm really satisfied, but I've run out of time!



after the deluge,
we hike the old reed creek trail

passing a copse of trembling aspen,
we come to a meadow
where stoic, lonesome,
lodgepole pines
reign across millennia

breathing deeply
we embrace the fragrance
of silver grey sage
still giddy from
last night’s downpour

her sweet perfume
extends our senses
expands awareness

enough for us 
to become,
however briefly,
one with all of creation
singing praise 
to the goddess of rain

later on
we trek home
healed and whole,
hearts lifting
along with
the last bits of mist
rising from green hilltops
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#IMWAYR August 26th, 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 have the grandkids here so I'm scribbling these reviews off to get a post in today. I will be away next week at my nephews 50th birthday celebration so I won't be posting then. I'll try to at least read everyone's blogs, but I can't guarantee commenting. 

The girls and I have been reading some picture books together, but I'll talk about those next time round. 

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.

MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS

5 stars

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko & Javier Prusky (Narrator) June 11, 2024

Eleven year old Hank Hooperman and his toddler sister, Boo, are loveable, unforgettable characters. When their mother doesn't come home for a week, Hank stays home from school and does his best to look after Boo. When he realizes they are in serious trouble, they take a long bus trip to his grandmother's best friend, Lou Ann, in search of help.
Asking for help means the involvement of child services and the foster care system. It means the two children may end up being separated. 
Lou Ann bonds with Boo, but isn't so crazy about Hank even though he does his best to make her like him. Thankfully Lou Ann's neighbour, Ray, takes a liking to Hank and Boo.
When the children's mother returns, Hank has to make the kinds of choices that no eleven year old should ever have to make. 
This is a middle grade novel so of course it's going to have a relatively happy ending, and it does, but I wept buckets before it got there. 

ADULT/YA FICTION


The blurb of this book says that it is 'perfect for fans of The Rose Code and The Nightingale.' I agree. I am a fan of both those titles, and I enjoyed this book as much. 
I especially appreciate that this book is set in Canada and shows us the Canadian experiences and perspectives of women involved in World War ll.
Dot and Dash Wilson might be twin sisters, but they are not remotely alike. Dot is quiet, reserved, loves to solve puzzles and is fascinated by morse code. Dash is outgoing, athletic and into mechanics and flying. When war breaks out, their cousin and adopted brother enlist. Soon after that Dash joined the Wrens. Eventually Dot also joins up. After a stint working on motors in a nasty machine shop, Dash winds up working with Elsie MacGill, building and test flying Hawker Hurricane planes. From there she joined the Air Transport Auxiliary in Britain. Dot's trajectory was very different. Right from the start her capacity for solving puzzles and seeing patterns was recognized and she ended up in a covert listening and codebreaking station connected to Bletchley Park in England. Soon after that she was transferred to Camp X, a top-secret spy school. 
A family tragedy ends up causing a rift between the sisters. This is resolved by the end of the war, but it isn't until forty years later that Dot is finally able to tell Dash about her secret life. 
I appreciated that the story is told from both sisters perspective. I liked that while both sisters found romance, they were minor side plots. I loved how strong and independent both of these women were. I especially appreciate how much research Genevieve Graham put in, and how much more I learned about Canada's war efforts than when I was in high school history class. This is my first book by her, but it sure won't be my last!
 
CURRENTLY 

The Probability of Everything by Sarah Everett & Jordan Cobb (Narrator) June 27, 2023 🍁

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver 

I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism by Lee Maracle (2nd edition September 1, 1996) 🍁

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Cougar Annie's Garden by Margaret Horsfield August 1, 1999  🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 13/25 one on the go

NonFiction 21/24 

Canadian Authors 46/50 one on the go

Indigenous Authors 23/25 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 151/200   

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#IMWAYR August 19, 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.

It cooled down enough last week for me to show most of the weeds in the garden who is the boss.Unfortunately we all know it's a temporary situation. 

I'm hoping to pick enough tomatoes to make some salsa, and of course, I have a whole lot of other vegetables to deal with. I also have a quilt to quilt before next weekend. Those weeds will be partying again soon!

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.


I'm planning on keeping this library book until my grandkids arrive next week. I'm certain they will enjoy this look into what being a Vet entails. Beginning with a table of contents, it is loaded with all kinds of important text features. The brightly coloured illustrations show worlds of diversity in both the animals and human beings who work with them. I appreciated all the captioned diagrams and the timeline of the history of veterinary medicine. The Did You Know sections extend the information on that page. 
I'm willing to bet that at least one of my grandkids will be interested in becoming a Vet after reading this book. The write up suggests that this book is appropriate for 6 to 9 year olds. I think it is also an important book for middle grade students. Even adults like myself can learn a lot from it!

MIDDLE GRADE NOVELS


This is a fabulous time travel book! 
When Dally's grandfather dies, her mother takes the envelope he left her and puts it in the safe till Dally is of age. After an argument with her mother, Dally secretly opens the safe and removes the envelope. Inside is information about a bank account, but it also includes a map. When she decodes the map she sets off to find the location he has marked. It turns out to be the Secret Library where books are portals to specific times in history. Each time she opens a volume, not only does she learn secrets from the past, she learns about her remarkable ancestors. Dally's mother is very strict and rigid. Her secret visits to the library are the only adventures she gets. Yet the library has a downside. It has chosen Dally to be the next librarian, but she is only 11 and not ready to give up her life outside the confines of it. 
I loved Dally and ached for her in her confrontations with her mother. It was obvious that Dally had to do something. What she finally came up with was brilliant!


ADULT/YA GRAPHIC NONFICTION


This was an exceptionally hard read for me. The gritty, black and white illustrations tell the story of one of the many Missing and Murdered Indigenous Woman and Girls in Canada. 
Betty left her home on the Norway House Reserve to move to a larger centre so she could attend secondary school and eventually become a teacher. One night, on her way home from visiting with friends, she was abducted by a group of white men who brutally raped, beat, and killed her. 
As the novel develops the two story lines: that of Betty's evening and that of the group of white men, I had to stop reading. Even though I knew what was coming, I couldn't continue. It took me over a month before I convinced myself to bear witness to Betty's story and finish the book. This medium made her story come to life and become real to me in a way that just reading the facts of her case never could. 
Betty, who was just a year older than me, was only 19 years old in 1971 when she was murdered.

ADULT/YA FICTION


This is the most recent in the Lane Winslow series. Lane and some friends head up the mountain above King's Cove to see what caused an explosion. They discover a wounded child who they rush to get to the hospital. When Lane returns to investigate the cause of the blast, she finds a dead woman.
Back in Nelson, the police are investigating the murder of the local jeweller and theft of expensive items from his store. As the two cases are unraveled, it is discovered that they are related.
I love this series in part because I get to read a compelling cosy mystery that is populated with delightful characters. I also appreciate that Iona Wishaw fills these novels with information about Canadian history. In this case the focus is on Japanese Internment, but there is also mention of the Sons of Freedom, a radical Doukhobor group. The story behind the balloon bomb and its connections to Japan was fascinating. Another thing I love about this series is that it reminds us that there have always been good people even against historical backdrops of intolerance. 

CURRENTLY 

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver 

I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism by Lee Maracle   (2nd edition September 1, 1996) 🍁

The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman by Gennifer Choldenko June 11, 2024

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

The Secret Keeper by Genevieve Graham April 2, 2024 🍁

Cougar Annie's Garden by Margaret Horsfield August 1, 1999  🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 13/25 

NonFiction 21/24 

Canadian Authors 45/50 

Indigenous Authors 23/25 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 149/200   

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#IMWAYR AUGUST 12TH, 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 don't think we’ve ever had so much company in one summer. It seems like the house is barely empty, and then another crew arrives. This week looks pretty quiet until Friday when we will have more house guests! 

The garden is out of control these days. Not only do we have more cucumbers, eggplant, beets, tomatoes and Swiss chard than we know what to do with, the weeds are doing their best to take over. I'll be using the down time this week listening to audiobooks and trying to get it under control!

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


I adored Willodeen! If I love a character, I end up loving the book. I loved Willodeen, but I also loved the two older women who took her in after a disaster left her an orphan. I loved Connor, the friend she didn't think she needed. I suspect that when we admire characters, it's much easier to take in the important messages an author sneaks into their novel, and this novel is loaded with them.  It's so much more than about a brilliant character coming of age and belonging. It's loaded with important lessons about moving beyond first impressions, acceptance of difference, learning to speak out for what's important, ecological interdependence, and the scientific method. 

ADULT/YA FICTION


‘Western Lane is a mesmerising novel about how silence can reverberate within a family in the aftermath of grief. The story unfolds on a squash court; the reader quickly learns how sport can act as a balm for the living. It is also about sisterhood, and about the love that remains after a devastating loss. The language in this novel is truly something to be savoured. Western Lane contains crystalline prose that also feels warm and tender, which can be a difficult balance to strike.’ (Booker Prize)

I was completely invested in eleven-year-old Gopi's world. Since her mother's death, it's been a world of squash, sisterhood, and grief. I know knew nothing about this sport before reading this book, but feel intimately connected to the game now.  


"In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known in the neighborhood as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Causeway Housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range."
James McBride writes the most brilliant characters. His work is hilarious, heart wrenching, and full of sweetness and hope. I fell in love with his writing in The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store. I'm now on a mission to read everything he writes. 

3.5 stars

The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair & Sarah Nichols (Narrator) June 4, 2019

I enjoyed this story of a two women from different backgrounds who have opened up a matchmaking business. When one of their clients is murdered, and another is accused of the crime, Miss Iris Sparks and Mrs. Gwendolyn Bainbridge are certain the police have it wrong.
This is a great historical mystery series that I plan to read more of.

I am the kind of reader who mostly needs characters I can fall in love with. This is one of those kinds of books. I love the integration of four generations of people coming together to save their community centre and each other. 


3 stars

Every Time I Go on Vacation, Someone Dies Catherine Mack & Elizabeth Evans (Narrator) April 30, 2024

This was a mostly fun cosy mystery with a lot of suspects. I appreciated the humour and moments of honesty between the characters. 

CURRENTLY 

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver 

Lightning Strikes the Silence by Iona Wishaw May 7, 2024 🍁

The Secret Library by Kekla Magoon

I Am Woman: A Native Perspective on Sociology and Feminism by Lee Maracle   (2nd edition September 1, 1996) 🍁

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

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

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 13/25 

NonFiction 20/24 one on the go

Canadian Authors 43/50 two on the go

Indigenous Authors 22/25 one on the go

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 145/200   

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FIRST FRIDAY POETRY AUGUST 2024

I'm joining Beverly A Baird & Linda Schueler in a "year long poetry practice – on the first Friday of each Month," when we, and anyone else who joins, writes a poem and pairs it up with a photo relating to it.

We've had house guests off and on all summer. I had to sneak away from the grandkids this morning to scratch out this little ditty. 

It's hot. Really really hot. Forty-four degrees in the shade kind of hot. The official forecast doesn't show this, but our backyard does. I took this photo of our heat pump thermometer after it had cooled down somewhat this afternoon. 


Thankfully our neighbour has a swimming pool that they share with the neighbourhood. 


dog days

eggs sizzle on the sidewalk,

leaves shrivel on the vine,

but the pool is cool and refreshing,

so we are coping just fine.

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