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.
‘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.
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| 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.
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| 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
Enjoy your weeding and listening this week! Allison Montclair's series is one I also enjoy both in print and as audiobooks. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed The Right Sort of Man, but the sound on the audiobook I had was just terrible. It was too hard to concentrate when I couldn't make out what was being said. I won't blame the book for that though. I will give the series another go because I likes the two women.
DeleteSo many great books here, Cheriee, as always!! I made note of Western Lane—it sounds painful but incredibly beautiful, and I want to read more books that kind of dig into a specific situation and split it open and show the meanings inside. And I love what you wrote about Willodeen, about readers being more open to a story's messages when the characters are lovable—I've never thought of it that way, but it makes so much sense that we would *want* to learn from characters we believe are on our side! The quote you share from Deacon King Kong is striking, for sure, and I love the premise of How to Age Disgracefully.
ReplyDeleteLike Kathy above, I hope you enjoy your weeding and audiobook-listening—that sounds like a peaceful time, even if the influx of weeds is a little bit stressful! It sounds like the garden is thriving in spite of them, though. And I hope you enjoy having company at the end of the week—if I were in your shoes, I'd probably be half-delighted to see so many people I care about, and half-wondering where all my quiet reading time went!
Thank you for the wonderful post, as always—it's always nice to spend time here reading your thoughts on everything! Enjoy your week!
I am slowly, but surely, getting the weeds under control. At the same time I am trying to deal with all the produce! I've been cooking up a storm and freezing food for eating in the winter.
DeleteThe best thing about How to Age Disgracefully is how realistic and quirky the characters are. I appreciate that they all have their flaws.
A nice variety of books on your reading list last week 🙂
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by and commenting.
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