#IMWAYR November 29, 2021

Hello everyone. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

There is some positive news regarding the recent flooding and road closures in my part of the world. Routes for essential traffic have opened up so the mail and other necessities are being delivered. The grocery store shelves are stocked and life seems pretty normal. We are a bit worried about whether our sons and their families will be able to make it for Christmas because of road conditions, but have already determined to celebrate later if it doesn't work out. 

We've had a wonderful week here. Well, except that we have piles of cupboards taking over the main floor of the house ready to install as soon as the valence is finished. Everything takes a lot more time than you anticipate. I'm making progress on my baby quilt, so hopefully it won't be true for it.

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

4 stars

Princesses Versus Dinosaurs by Linda Bailey & Joy Ang (Illustrations) September 15, 2020 🍁

This picture book/graphic novel hybrid is hilarious! Princesses and dinosaurs argue over whose book this is. Each group brings in their big guns - a T Rex for the dinosaurs and a dragon for the princesses. It doesn't turn out like the original two groups planned.
I appreciate the diversity in the princesses. I love that by the end of the book the princesses and the dinosaurs have learned to appreciate one another and have fun together.
The colourful artwork was created digitally.

5 stars

The Little Ghost Who Was a Quilt by Riel Nason & Byron Eggenschwiler (Illustrator) September 1, 2020  🍁

This is a sweet story about being different, and coming to accept yourself just are who you are. I love that because the little ghost is a quilt instead of a sheet, it gets treated and admired just like regular quilts are. Riel Nason is a Canadian quilter and author. Check out some samples of her work here. You can see examples of Byron Eggenschwiler's other artwork here. 

4 stars

Hey Little Rockabye: A Lullaby for Pet Adoption by Buffy Sainte-Marie & Ben Hodson (Illustrator) May 12, 2020  🍁

After finishing this book I really wished I wasn't allergic to creatures with fur. It made me miss my childhood cat terribly.
I read this first and then went in search of Buffy singing this song. It was even better when I reread the book with her voice and the rhythm of the music in my head.
Ben Hodson's digitally rendered artwork is loaded with charm. It shows the story of a young girl and her diverse family adopting a dog from a shelter.
The back matter includes song lyrics and music, photographs of Buffy Sainte-Marie with some of her animals and a note from the author.
Listen to the song here. https://youtu.be/bLMUjeuhKkU

4 stars

Knot Cannot by Tiffany Stone & Mike Lowery (Illustrations) April 7, 2020   🍁

This book is a lot of fun!
The blurb says it is "a pun-packed look at friendship, jealousy, and being yourself." That's pretty much it. Knot envies Snake who can do a lot that Knot cannot. But when danger lurks, it's Knot who saves the day. If this isn't enough to encourage you to purchase a copy, The language is mostly simple enough to add to your reader shelf. I love the different kinds of knots at the end of the book.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Gizmos, Gadgets, and Guitars: The Story of Leo Fender by Michael Mahin & Steven Salerno (Illustrations) September 7, 2021

This is absolutely wonderful!
If you know anything about guitars and music from the past 6 or 7 decades, you will have heard of a fender guitar. This is the story of how Leo Fender went from tinkering away at broken radios to making world famous musical instruments.
Steven Salerno's art is the perfect accompaniment. The original illustrations were created crayon, ink, gouache, and pastel on paper. They were scanned, imported into Photoshop, and finished. I love how a history of technology and musical genres is revealed through these images.
The back matter contains an author's note with additional information about Leo Fender, a bibliography, and glossary.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

4 stars

Phoebe and Her Unicorn by Dana Simpson September 2, 2014

My four year old granddaughter is crazy about unicorns. This series was always popular in my school library, so I thought I would read this to see if it might work for her. I now see why it was always checked out. Alas, although this story about a girl who becomes best friends with a unicorn is witty, heartwarming, and precious, it's still too old for her. I'm open to alternative suggestions if you have any. 

5 stars

Living with Viola by Rosena Fung  🍁

I'm in the process of writing a full book review for this graphic novel. It's an intense look at how personal anxiety is exacerbated by external situations. It's heartbreakingly brilliant.

NOVELS

5 stars

Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch & Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

When I get into a series, it's because of the characters. Sure the writing is good, but it's that writing that creates individuals that my brain and heart comes to think of as real. A new book is like a visit with an old friend. That's how I feel about Ben Aaronovitch's Peter Grant series. Peter is a bit young to be an old friend, so I think of him as a kid I've watched grow up. He's a police office who is also a wizard in training. In this adventure he ends up in the countryside tracking down two kidnapped girls. Unicorns and the Fay are involved in the abduction.

I've read these with my eyes and ears. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is Peter Grant to me! If you are a fan of mysteries, fantasy and like clever wit in your reading life, I highly recommend this series!

Now that I've finished rereading it, I swear it's better the second time round. 

The Furthest Station by Ben Aaronovitch & Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Mystery, encounters with ghosts, talking foxes, river gods and goddesses, and magic are what I have come to anticipate and love from this series. In this novella. an increase in victorian ghost sightings causes Peter Grant; Jaget Kumar, his counterpart at the British Transport Police; Abbigail, Peter's young cousin; and Nightingale to patrol the underground. They track down and interview the spectres hoping to find out what is causing this increase in hauntings. It turns out to have it's origins in modern reality.

I first read this with my eyes, but without Kobna Holdbrook-Smith's narration, Peter Grant's character didn't come through. This time I was delighted to listen to it.  

NONFICTION

5 stars

All Boys Aren't Blue by George M. Johnson

This book blew me away. George M. Johnson's memoir put me in mind of Thomson Highway's Permanent Astonishment, a memoir I recently finished. While they are decades apart in age, both of these queer men are from diverse backgrounds. Johnson is black while Thomson is Indigenous. Both of them radiate love and joy. Both are important reads for other boys like them who aren't blue, and for the rest of us who want to be allies. 

CURRENTLY

The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch

Goldilocks: Wanted Dead or Alive by Chris Colfer & Jon Proctor (Illustrator)

UP NEXT 

Hunting by Stars (A Marrow Thieves Novel) by Cherie Dimaline

The Vanderbeekers Lost and Found by Karina Yan Glaser

More picture books from my #MustReadList

UPCOMING BLOG POSTS

Living With Viola by Rosena Fung

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 29/25 

#MustReadNFIn2021 12/12 

#MustReadPBIn2021 70/100 

Big Book Summer Challenge 9 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 36/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 113/100

Canada Reads 2021 5/5 

Discworld Series 41/41

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 405/333 

How to Change Everything: The Young Human's Guide to Protecting the Planet and Each Other by by Naomi Klein & Rebecca Stefoff

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released February 23, 2021, by Puffin Canada.

"As the impacts of climate change get worse and worse, change for the better means much more than trying to keep temperatures down. It means rebuilding society to not just stop climate change, but to achieve climate justice. It means changing the way we live so we heal the planet and secure a fair and livable future for all people, with no one and no community left behind."

How to Change Everything is a compendium of much of Klein's work, organized and assembled in a format for young readers. It's an easy and compelling read that's an ideal overview of climate change for all of us. I'm impressed by how thorough and thoughtful it is. The authors manage to introduce important vocabulary and integrate economic and environmental realities into a coherent narrative. 

The publication includes many different nonfiction text features. The layout includes highlighted sections that tell the stories of different climate activists. Readers will learn about people like Esperanza Martinez, Aldo Leopold, Rachel Carson, Jackson Hinkle, Celeste Tinajereo, and more. There are photographs, labeled diagrams, and flowcharts. The back matter includes a public letter signed by important authors and individuals in the environmental movement. They are requesting the preservation of ecosystems to remove large amounts of carbon from the atmosphere. There is also a bibliography titled, Find Out More, and a Notes section that reference Klein's original work. I wish it had an index and glossary. Perhaps the final copy will. The information is organized into three sections. The first one looks at the world as it now is. The second looks at the history of how we got here and the the third examines strategies for where we go now. 

In section one, the authors examine where we now are with regards to climate change. They write about Greta Thunberg and the student strike for climate change. Examples are provided that explore what climate change looks like. They write in depth about the tragedy of New Orleans before and after the hurricane. We are shown how neoliberal/free market policies failed the city in numerous ways. First it failed to ensure protection for the citizens in the event of such a catastrophe. Second, the for profit recovery efforts not only wasted money, but also made it impossible for people to be able to afford to return to their homes. This is Disaster Capitalism in action: "When the rich and powerful take advantage of painful shocks to widen existing inequalities instead of correcting them." It resulted in the decimation of features considered necessary for the public good. Even the education system was privatized in the rebuilding of New Orleans. 

The authors present alternatives to this kind of disaster response with the proviso that "recovery and green projects must lift up communities, not just corporations." 

Aspects of different sacrifice zones and the role of environmental racism are revealed. We are shown how land and people are sacrificed because of our dependence on fossil fuels. Indigenous and poor people are generally the victims of these kinds of climate cruelty. Ultimately, "people who pollute the least end up suffering the most." We see this climate injustice manifest in 'white power eco-fascism' and the attempt to keep climate refugees out of the country. 

Climate change is clearly defined. It includes both the science underlying it, and the many ramifications of it. The authors explain the terms carbon budget: the amount of carbon we can add to the environment before we have a total disaster on our hands, and climate debt: the amount owed by developed countries to developing ones because of the damage caused by their disproportionately large contributions to climate change. Historically western nations have used most of the budget: 1/5th of the population has used up 2/3rds of the CO2 emissions. 

The next section looks at the history of fossil fuel development, the beginnings of modern capitalism, and the emergence of the environmental movement. The development of coal powered steam engines resulted in fossil fuel based manufacturing. This in turn lead to the onset of consumerism and modern capitalism. The authors show how industrialization goes hand in glove with a significant alteration in our relationship to the earth. Rather than being caretakers, extractivism became the new normal. Europeans saw themselves as masters of everything on the planet. It was theirs to use and colonize. Early 'sacrifice zones' included the coal miners who ended up with black lung, polluted water, slavery and the killer smogs in London. 

The environmental movement arose in response to the decimation of the planet from industrialization. It began with 19th and 20th century conservatism. Upper class individuals and organizations worked to save wild places. It's because of them we have national parks here in North America. Aldo Leopold, often referred to as the father of wildlife ecology and Rachel Carson, the mother of the environmental movement, provided alternatives to the extractivist philosophy and a way to live as caretakers of the earth. Carson is especially known for highlighting the disaster of chemical spraying. The legal system was first used in 1948 in the USA to pass a law to control water pollution. Other laws followed to protect the air, wilderness and rivers. Some legislation focused on protecting human health and others to preserve the natural world. The Superfund act in 1980 was passed to force industry clean up and or pay for cleaning up their messes. (I wish it had worked. Here in BC in 2021, we are left cleaning up the toxic messes from mining operations. The oil/tar sands in Alberta are a whole other debacle.)

Carbon emissions continued to increase, but 1988 was a pivotal year. Industry scientists had been forecasting climate change since the late 1970's. It was a recognized fact. Everyone was onside and aware of the need for change. All political parties accepted it. At the World Conference on Changing Atmosphere in Toronto, Canada, world leaders agreed to reduce their emissions. 

And yet, it all fell apart. 

The authors present a couple of reasons. One, the human nature theory presumes that humans "are not capable of sacrificing present convenience to forestall a penalty imposed on future generations." The other is the rise of neoliberal/free market ideology. This led to a decrease in regulation and a rise in profit and economic growth no matter the waste or cost. Out of this emerged a deliberate system of denial and lies. Even when corporations seemed to be onside, they were mostly engaged in greenwashing: attempts to encourage surface level changes that made no significant difference in carbon emissions. 

Today we are at a place where we have to cut our global emissions in half by 2030, and eliminate them by 2050 if we are to avoid catastrophic climate disaster. 

The words of Brad Werner, a systems theorist, provide hope. He asserted that "the balance between earth's resources and ecosystems on one hand and human consumption on the other is becoming unstable." Yet he goes on to affirm the role of resistance to change this. Examples of social movements and laws are provided to show what people have done to protect their homes and the planet. 

The final section deals with strategies for dealing with where now are. A number of ideas are presented and evaluated. Some like Carbon Capture and Geoengineering are not only risky, they don't address the increase in emissions. Other ideas like Planting Trees and investing in Alternative Energy by way of solar and wind power are looked at positively. 

The authors continue on to talk about a Green New Deal. They begin by explaining the successes and problems of the original New Deal, and then proceed to outline a format for a new one. The three main principles of it are as follows:

1. Stop new fossil fuel endeavours

2. Slow down and end existing production 

3. Increase the use of renewable energy

They go on to show how hundreds of millions of new jobs would be created from the third principle. 

In the adoption of a Green New Deal, "We must make sure that no one is excluded or left behind because they lack political power. We must recognize that when it comes to climate change, business interests are not the same as the people's and the planet. We must not let corporate and business interests make all the decisions, although we must also work to sustain our economies, including businesses that want to be part of the solution. We must seek deep change based in shared, democratic decision-making, with all of our voices heard."

Puerto Rico and Greensburg Kansas are presented as communities who were able to stave off disaster capitalism. They managed to reinvent themselves focusing on community based, sustainable solutions like those proposed in the Green New Deal. 

The last part of the book includes a "toolkit for young activists." Numerous strategies for how individuals can become activists in big ways and small are highlighted. Young activists who have been involved in making change are introduced. Some are involved changing their schools and community. Others are working at a more global level. Felix Finkbeiner in Germany, working for larger change, initiated the planting of over a million trees. Autumn Peltier, an Indigenous Canadian Water Warrior, told the United Nations, "We can't eat money or drink oil." 

Ultimately, the authors of this book assert that while we might not be able to change the past, we can and must change the future. It's imperative to start NOW! 

Purchase one copy for yourself and extra copies for the young activists in your life.

#IMWAYR December 28th, 2020

 Hello out there. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I hope you are all enjoying some rest, relaxation and down time during this winter holiday season. It was a bit crazy for a while here, but we are finally finding a bit of peace.  

 Every Christmas when I was a young girl, my Granny would bring over a package of her homemade divinity fudge. Each family got a box. It was the highlight of the season. My siblings and I used to fight over any extra pieces. I think Dad ate them when we were not looking. I never did learn how to make it with her, but in the last few years my sister and I have been trying different recipes in an effort to replicate it. 

Until this year, mine have been a failure. They ended up never setting, or they hardened in the bowl before I could get them out. Maybe it was the humidity at the coast. This year, in our semi desert area, I made four successful batches. Well, almost four. The first batch looked fabulous, but when I bit into them I discovered that the pecans I used were rancid. My partner and I ate too many of them while testing them out, but we did manage to save enough to give some away. 

I had a specialist appointment in Vancouver the Monday before Xmas so I missed last week. Because we were already staying with my son and his family, we stayed on to celebrate with them. The families seemed to like these quilted tree skirts I made for them. I made other gifts but forgot to take photographs of them. 

I have been thinking about the #MustRead challenge initiated by Carrie Gelson. Since she isn't prepared to host it for 2021 I am contemplating hosting it until she wants to return to it. Are people still interested in this?

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book. 

PICTURE BOOKS

I Am Every Good Thing by Derrick Barnes & Gordon C. James (Illustrator)

Gorgeous art accompanies this powerful collections of affirmations. They celebrate all the power and joy of black boyhood.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Superman Smashes the Klan by Gene Luen Yang & Gurihiru (Artwork)

This is a fascinating take on the origins of Superman. I really appreciate how Gene Luen Yang has made connections between Clark Kent's history as an alien from another planet to one of the Lee family moving from Chinatown to Downtown Metropolis.
Tommy, the oldest, manages to adapt and seems to fit in. Roberta, his younger sister, feels like an outsider and sees Tommy as being fake. When the family is targeted by the KKK, Superman comes to their rescue. One of the younger clan members is less than enthusiastic about being recruited. His admiration of Superman helps him help the rest of them.
There is so much to admire and love about this nuanced graphic novel. Ultimately it's about overcoming hatred and accepting ourselves and others for who we are. That moment when Roberta tries to return the pen Lois Lane gave her, and discovers that the initials are based on her Chinese name, is profound.
The back matter contains a timeline that shows the relationship between the story of Superman, WW2, racism and the role Superman played in discrediting the KKK.

NOVELS

Give and Take by Elly Swartz

Maggie and her family foster a newborn until her forever parents are chosen and able to pick her up. This ends up being a serious challenge for her since she has a hard time letting go of all kinds of things. How can she let go of a baby sister she's come to love?
When her parents discover that Maggie is becoming a hoarder, they make sure she gets the help she needs to learn to let go and trust that she won't lose her memories like her Nana did.
I fell head over heels for this wonderful family. Maggie has supportive parents and two considerate siblings. I would wish for all children to have a grandfather like hers.
This kind of realistic fiction is the kind I love most. It provides a window and a mirror for students dealing with mental health issues. At the same time, it provides a model for dealing with challenges and difficulties in an emotionally healthy way.

Leggings Revolt by Monique Polak 🍁  

The local high school principal is a tyrant who enforces a misogynistic dress code with unusual fervour. Eric and some of his friends have moved from a local all boys school to attend this coed institution. He ends up on the school council - a patsy group created to implement the principal's rules.
Eric is a good kid who makes some mistakes with how he treats girls, but then realizes he has screwed up and apologises. When the principal arbitrarily announces that leggings are a dress code violation and a girl he fancies gets expelled for wearing some, he decides to do something about it. I really appreciated the solution that Eric and other students finally came up with.
Add this to a collection of books about young activists.

DISCWORLD NOVEL

The more I read Pratchett, the sorrier I am for people who haven't yet discovered him. 

Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator) 

The quote in my blog's header is from this book. 

This is a reread for me. I love this book so much that no sooner did I finish listening to it this time, I started all over again. (That makes three reads in total) If you enjoy twisted fairytales, and are interested in trying one of the Discworld novels, this might be your way in. 

"Stories don't care who takes part in them. All that matters is that the story gets told, that the story repeats. Or, if you prefer to think of it like this: stories are a parasitical life form, warping lives in the service only of the story itself.

It takes a special kind of person to fight back, and become the bicarbonate of history."

The admirable witches from the Discworld: Nanny Ogg, Magrat Garlick, and Granny Weatherwax, take on this role. Magrat Garlick inherits a wand from Desiderata, a witch and Fairy Godmother. This makes Magrat fairy godmother to Emberella. Desiderata leaves instructions to tell Nanny and Granny that they must not go with her to Genua, where Emberella lives. 

I love the interaction between these witches. I love their bickering, their bawdiness, and their interpretations of foreign places and foreigners. But mostly I love their humanity and their integrity.

You can read the full review I first wrote about this book here. 

Small Gods by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator) 

The people of Omnia worship a warped version of the god Om. Things have changed a lot since his last manifestation and the deity the people honor has no connection to who he is. When he ends up manifesting as a turtle with no divine powers, Brutha, a young novice, is the only one who can hear him. At first Brutha is a naive youth who does as he is told, but as the novel develops, and he meets with people outside of his own faith, he begins to think for himself. Even the god Om undergoes a transformation and begins to care about the people who believe in him. 

This book brilliantly satirises multiple aspects of religious life. Pratchett pokes fun at religious institutions, people, practices and the connection to politics. It never feels heavy handed because Brutha is such an endearing character. 

The World of Poo by Terry Pratchett, Bernard Pearson & Isobel Pearson

This is one of the books that Inspector Vimes reads to his young son in one of the Discworld novels. Young Geoffrey is sent to stay with his Grand-mama in the big city of Ankh-Morpork when his mother is having “great expectations”

In the city Geoffrey becomes fascinated by poo. As he begins collecting samples from different animals, his Grand-mama’s gardener helps him set up a museum in an old shed. The book is full of details about how a medieval city might deal with its ‘night soil.’

NONFICTION

Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer

This is an important, profound book. It has much to teach all of us about gratitude, sharing, and reciprocity. These are all critical things if we are going to ensure our existence upon the planet. Ultimately we must defeat the Wendigo of greed and selfishness that leaves us empty, and find a new way of democratically being in the world. It’s going to be hard for many of us to start thinking of all the plants and animals as our equals, but without it we are in serious trouble.

CURRENTLY 

I'm reading Premeditated Myrtle by Elizabeth C. Bunce. The Discworld novel I'm into is Men at Arms. I'm listening to A History of My Brief Body by Billy Rae Belcourt 

UP NEXT 

I plan to start Hatch by Kenneth Oppel, the second in his Overthrow series. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

 #MustReadIn2020: 25/25

#MustReadNFIn2020: 11/12 one in progress

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 29/25  

Books by Canadian Authors: 130/100 

Discworld Series 14/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 335/333 

#IMWAYR December 14, 2020

Hello out there. It's #IMWAYR time again, when readers share what they have been reading and find out what others have been up to in the past week. Kathryn hosts the adult version of this meme at Book Date. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

I apologise for not getting around to commenting on everyone's posts last week. I did read them all, but time was in short supply so....

I also didn't get in much reading with my eyes. I have been very busy with house painting and sewing. I'm almost finished two Christmas tree skirts for my two sons and their families. They took much longer than I anticipated. I just have to quilt them and will share pictures of them next week. I hope I get them done!

Our house is looking more festive even if we don't have a functioning main bathroom. My winter village and North Pole figurines are on display. My wonderful partner managed to get the windows full of lights. We plan to head off into the hills Monday to cut down a tree. Then on Tuesday we will decorate it. 

Titles with a 🍁 indicate this is a Canadian Author and or Illustrator. 

Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book. 

PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Finding My Talk by Rebecca Thomas & Pauline Young (Illustrator) 🍁 

A couple of weeks ago I read the companion book, I Lost My Talk, by Rita Joe and Pauline Young. Rita Joe and Rebecca Thomas' father lost their language, culture and ways of knowing the world after being taken from their families and placed in residential schools.
I'm Finding My Talk is a poem about healing and recovering as much of that which was taken away as possible.
Talk is about more than language. Terry Pratchett wrote, "People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.”Words have power. Words convey meaning and provide a framework for how we see the world and connect to each other. This book is about coming home to who the Mi'kmaq people were before residential schools took it away.
Both the author and illustrator dedicate the book to their fathers. Reading these dedications nearly brought me to tears.
Pauline Young's paintings are a brilliant homage to the power of Rebecca Thomas' words.

5 stars

Mi'kmaw Animals by Alan Syliboy 🍁 

This board book showcases petroglyph style illustrations of different animals. Each creature is paired with its name on the next page. The names are given in Mi’kmaw with a pronunciation guide and in English.
The art work is just stunning!

4 stars

Blueberry Patch / Mayabeekamneeboon by Jennifer Leason & Norman Chartrand (Translator) 🍁 

First off, the art in this bilingual book is swoonworthy. I want some prints to hang on my walls.
The story shares a memory of travelling with family to the blueberry patch. Set in the late 1940's, it tells of a way of life now gone. The author's family journeyed by wagon train with other members of the community to spend a month living in tents and harvesting blueberries. It's bursting with images of nature that indicate an intimate relationship to the earth.
The pages are a wee bit text heavy even accepting that it is written in English and Anishinaabemowin. The back matter contains a list of activities to accompany the book, a recipe for bannock, and information about the two contributors.

NOVELS

5 stars

Three Keys (Front Desk #2) by Kelly Yang & Sunny Lu (Narrator)

I think I loved this sequel even more than the first in the series.
If you are looking for a book for a young activist, pick this one. Mia Tang and her friends work hard to battle racism in their school and community. It's set against the backdrop of California’s Prop 187, a law that would ban undocumented immigrants from access to health care and public schooling.

5 stars

All the Devils Are Here by by Louise Penny & Robert Bathurst (Narrator) 🍁  

The worst thing about reading the most recent Inspector Armand Gamache Novel, is having to wait for the next one to be published. 

This story takes the Gamache family to Paris, France, where Armand's godfather is deliberately attacked by a hit and run driver. He was involved in a deep investigation of a corrupt corporation and independent security force. 

As the story unfolds, the rift between Armand and his son seems to widen. It becomes more and more difficult to determine who can be trusted, and who is out to destroy them all.

DISCWORLD NOVEL

The more I read Pratchett, the sorrier I am for people who haven't yet discovered him. 

The Discworld collection is a compendium of mini series set in Pratchett's world. I recently found this image for helping keep track of them all. 

I want to give a shout out to https://goldenaudiobooks.com/. I've been listening to many of the Discworld novels for free from here. The books have to be streamed rather than downloaded, but since I'm mostly listening to them while at home working, it's not a problem for me. 

4 stars

Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator)

The alchemists of Discworld have developed Moving Pictures. Victor Tugelbend, a drop out wizard from the Unseen University, is drawn to Holy Wood. As unskilled as he might be, he ends up paired with Ginger Withel and both become super stars. Of course they are helped out by Gaspode the talking dog.
It soon emerges that Moving Pictures has a detrimental effect on the reality of the Discworld especially because they open up a portal into the Dungeon Dimensions.
This parody of the movie industry is both hilarious and terrifying.

4 stars

Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett & Nigel Planer (Narrator)

The Auditors of Reality decide that Death needs to be replaced since he has started to develop a personality and has lost his objectivity towards humans. He sets off to live life with the rest of the Discworld citizenry. In the process he becomes even more empathic as he learns what it means to be human and die.
All the creatures on the Discworld are left to come up with a new way to configure death. Humans are slow to do this. Consequently, their life force builds up. This makes it impossible for people to die and brings the dead back to life. This is especially difficult for the recently deceased wizard, Windle Poons, who was looking forward to reincarnation. He joins the Fresh Start club, an undead-rights group, who go on to discover that Ankh-Morpork is being invaded by a parasitic life form that hatches from eggs that resemble snow globes.

CURRENTLY 

I'm still reading Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer, a book club title. The Discworld book I'm into is Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett narrated by Nigel Planer. This is at least my third go round with this book and I love it more each time. I just started Give and Take by Elly Swartz. 

UP NEXT 

A History of My Brief Body by Billy Rae Belcourt just became available so this will be my next audiobook. I hope to get to On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous Ocean Vuong and Leggings Revolt by Monique Polak. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

 #MustReadIn2020: 24/25 - one in progress

#MustReadNFIn2020: 11/12 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 29/25  

Books by Canadian Authors: 129/100 

Discworld Series 16/41 - one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 326/333