IMWAYR September 30, 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!

Last week is one I will be happy to forget. I did something to my back - somehow one of my ribs got dislocated. It was excruciatingly painful. I couldn't move without causing myself pain. My sweet husband had to help me get in and out of bed. Thankfully, a visit to the chiropractor helped get it back in place. It's still uncomfortable, but I'm able to function on my own.

Weather wise, we had two days of lovely hot summer weather before Autumn, quite literally, blew itself in with a storm of epic wildness. We had left the dining room window open, and it blew my fig tree over. By the time I got home from work, my guy had already cleaned up the mess.

 
The grandkids arrived Thursday night and will leave for home Monday morning. It looks like a small hurricane tore through our house, but we love the wildness. All too soon it will be quiet, clean, and boring again around here. The two older ones are now serious readers. I introduced Ada, who is seven, to Zita the Space Girl, and she became an instant fan. I now plan to get her that series, and Everett, also seven, Ben Hatke's Jack series as Christmas gifts.

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.

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Boobies by Nancy Vo August 30, 2022  🍁

I love Nancy Vo's picture books and think I've just turned my two four year old granddaughters into fans as well. This one is all about boobies of course: who has them, how many they have, what they look like, and what they are for. When I asked the girls how many stars they would give this book, 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5, they responded, 100, and 100 million. 

4 stars

When You Can Swim by Jack Wong May 2, 2023 🍁

Jack Wong's book is a celebration of the freedom water affords us when we learn to swim. It presents worlds only available to us after we master that skill. 

I read this first by myself, and then with the grandkids. I asked them to pretend they were professional readers so they could give me feedback. The two four year olds thought the book made them want to become swimmers. The eldest, already swimmers, wanted to explore some of the places here. Their reactions to the illustrations were mixed. They all loved the pictures of water, but were less enthusiastic about the faces. I noted that a multicultural cast of characters fill these pages. Everett noticed that one swimmer had a prothetic leg. None of the children commented on the lyrical text, that for me at least, read like free verse poetry. 

Their final starred evaluations were; 3/5, 4/5, and the two youngest gave it 100 million stars. 

YA/ADULT GRAPHIC NOVELS

4 stars

Wendy by Walter Scott November 11, 2014 🍁

I wasn't sure about this at first because it is a man writing about a woman's experience. Then when I got into it, I was reminded of a friend who was involved in the art scene in Vancouver while I was in the process of raising children and teaching. Wendy's stories, even if they are from a younger generation, could well have been hers. 

Wendy is a wanna be artist surrounded by other wanna be artists. There's a raw honesty to this collection of stories about her and others in the scene. I suspect that many of us could say we know people like this. Maybe we've even been Wendy at some time in our lives. She's young and makes all kinds of mistakes, but through all the satire, Walter Scott shows us her humanity and has us rooting for her. Near the end there are glimmers that she will be ok. I especially loved her conversation with her grandmother. 

I picked this up because I read an interesting review about the most recently published Wendy novel. I decided to read the earlier books while waiting for it. I now can't wait to find out how she gets on.

ADULT/YA FICTION

5+ stars

The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters, Aaliya Warbus (Narrator) & Jordan Waunch (Narrator) April 4, 2023 🍁 

This is the story of a Mi’kmaq family from Nova Scotia who travel to Maine every year to pick berries. In 1962, their four year old daughter, Ruthie, vanishes. A massive search reveals nothing. Her six year old brother, Joe, was the last to see her. He carries his feelings of responsibility and trauma with him into adulthood. 

The story is told from the two children's perspectives just after Ruthie's disappearance. 

I know about, and know Sixties Scoop survivors. What I especially appreciate about this book is that we learn about what life was like for them and their families after they were gone.

CURRENTLY 

A Poetry Handbook by Mary Oliver 

The Vagina Bible by Jen Gunter 🍁

The Book of More Delights by Ross Gay 

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

Weyward by Emilia Hart, Aysha Kala (Narrator), Helen Keeley (Narrator) & Nell Barlow (Narrator)

UP NEXT (MAYBE)

Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

The New Girl by Casandra Calin  🍁

READING GOALS 

#MustRead2024 16/25 one on the go

NonFiction 23/24 one on the go

Canadian Authors 55/50 three on the go

Indigenous Authors 25/25 one on the go

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 164/200