Showing posts with label Book Club. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Club. Show all posts

#IMWAYR, July 25, 2022

Welcome readers! 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. Jen at Teach Mentor Texts and Kellee and Ricki at Unleashing Readers host the kidlit rendition. These are fabulous places to start your search for what to read next. 

Our oldest son and his family are arriving on Wednesday. We are excited. I've downloaded all the Charlie and Mouse books to introduce to Everett, our five year old grandson. I think we have enough board and picture books to keep Lydia, who is almost two, entertained. I'm not sure if I will get a post in next week (or even how much reading I will actually accomplish) since they will be here til Sunday. 

It's predicted to be hot this week with temperatures climbing to over 40 °C.  Thankfully we have central air conditioning, a shaded backyard, and our neighbours encourage us to use their pool. 

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.

MG NOVELS

I started reading this only to discover the story was really familiar. I realized I had read it before, but couldn't remember how it all ended so I decided to continue reading. I'm glad I did.
There is a lot going on in this verse novel. Eleven year old Macy is deaf following a bout of meningitis when she was four. There has always been just her and her mom, but now her mother is getting married to a man with twin six year olds. Macy is not happy and does not want her life to change. Unfortunately, her life just get worse. She has no idea how to complete a family tree project. She gets in a fight with her best friend and ends up isolated at school. Her mother sends her over to help Iris, their aging neighbour, sort out her books. In the process, Iris and Macy become fond of each other. It turns out that Iris might have the key for how to get Macy's life back on track - so long as Macy doesn't do something really disastrous first.

5 stars

The Wherewood by Gabrielle S. Prendergast   🍁

Don't make a deal with the Fae. 
Salix (a Nixie) and Finola (a Faerie) have tricked Blue into going on another adventure into the Faerieland. They end up first in Wherewood, a land where lost things end up. It's a problem if you haven't lost anything, since the only way out is to find what you are missing. Things end up going from bad to worse when they eventually end up in Witherwood, a cursed land now ruled by Olea, the former evil queen of Nearwood. 
This is the second in Prendergast's Faerie Woods series from the Orca Currents collection. Imagine Holly Black for reluctant, struggling readers. Like The Crosswood, this is loaded with fast paced action and plenty of humour. I came to enjoy the characters even more and am looking forward to reading the last in the series. 

The Orca Currents collection are "are short, high-interest novels with contemporary themes written specifically for middle-school students reading below grade level. Reading levels from grade 2.0 to 5.0. Interest level ages 9-12"


The thing I enjoy most about Pratchett is that he takes well known stories and messes around with them. This book is a feminist look at war, religion, and gender roles. 
"Polly Perks joins the Discworld army to find her brother Paul. "Ozzer" cuts off her blonde braids, dons male garb, belches, scratches, and masters macho habits - aided by well-placed pair of socks. The legendary and seemingly ageless Sergeant Jackrum accepts her plus a vampire, troll, zombie, religious fanatic, and two close "friends". The best man for the job may be a woman."
When Polly Perks signs up to go to war to search for her brother, she soon discovers that the rest of the recruits in her regiment are women disguised as men. They end up rescuing the rest of the army by disguising themselves as women.
In the end, Polly reminisces, "You think you’re the hero, and it turns out you’re really part of someone else’s story."
 
ADULT FICTION


This was a book club book. We had previously read Meet Me at the Museum by the same author. Not only did everyone enjoy that one, we probably talked more about it than any other we have read together. 
I preferred the first one, but the characters in this are rich and unique. It's the story of friendship between three women from disparate walks of life. Eve has been let go from the job she worked at for 30 years. Sally has left her husband. Anastasia, the owner of the boat, has to have an operation to remove cancer. The most important thing about all of them is how they show us that we are never too old to come of age.
I found myself trying to convince my partner that we should go on vacation touring the canals of Britain. He told me that Britain is experiencing a drought and it isn't a good idea. 
I prefer the title, The Narrowboat Summer and wonder why the title of the book is changed to this in more recent publications. 

As a Jane Austen fan, this has been on my to read list since it was first published. When Bloomsbury Girls, the next in the series, became available, I went to remind myself what had happened previously. I was shocked to discover I hadn't read it. Luckily it was available immediately. I enjoyed it much more than I anticipated. Natalie Jenner has written some glorious characters. I appreciated the strong women and girls. I admired most of the men. I loved the sense of community, the love for Austen, and the multiple romances. I was shocked by the group's decision for Adam, and kept thinking it couldn't end like that. I'm still not sure I'm happy with that part of this book, but I still loved the story. 

ADULT NONFICTION


Grieving is hard work. It's triggered by places, events, and sensory experiences. For Michelle Zauner, it's H Mart, a Korean grocery store, that provokes overwhelming grief for her mother. 
This book is a memoir of her life with her Omma until she died of cancer when Michelle was only 25. It's a story of love, loss, learning, and coming as close to acceptance as we can. It's full of Korean culture and food. 
I am lucky to have a Korean daughter in law and two grandchildren from her. We have shopped together at H Mart and other Korean grocery stores. My daughter in law, like Michelle's mother, is beautiful inside and out. All this helped me to connect to her story at a personal level. I pray my granddaughters never have to go through what she did. 

CURRENTLY

Bloomsbury Girls by Natalie Jenner  🍁
The Summer We Saved the Bees by Robin Stevenson  🍁

UP NEXT

The Lucky Ones by Linda Williams Jackson
Diggers by Terry Pratchet
Forbidden City by James Ponti
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1983 by Cho Nam-Joo

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 15/24

#MustReadNonFiction 12/18

Canadian Authors 46/100 

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 12/25

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 6 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 173 /250

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#IMWAYR May 24th, 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.

It's Victoria Day Weekend here in Canada. For the past thirty odd years I have been getting together with a group of close women friends at a large cabin on the ocean. For the last two years it has been cancelled due to Covid 19. We have rescheduled this year for the end of September when we anticipate everyone will have had their second vaccination. I miss the intimacy and joy of being with my cherished friends. I miss the respite of being away from ordinary life. I don't miss long weekend ferry traffic. 

My garden is almost in. We just have to plant the basil seedlings and then it's weed, weed, weed, until harvest begins. It won't be long since the beans and zucchini are flowering and my raspberries and tomato plants have green fruit! 

I have been complaining that it feels very very dry this year. There have been attempts at rain, but it hasn't been much more than pretend. I decided to see how this year compares to previous Mays. The local average for this month is 58 mm (2.3 inches) of precipitation. So far this year we have had 1.9 mm (.074 inches). No wonder the earth is dry as a bone. I was digging in areas we don't water and discovered that there is not a hint of moisture for at least 25 centimetres. I hope we get plenty of rain in June (but not in the cherry season) because as it is, this sets us up for a very nasty fire season. 

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. 

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK


Barnaby by Andrea Curtis & Kass Reich (Illustrator)

Stunning photographs pair up with poetry in this picture book about fog. Like other books by Sayre, the end papers are full of scientific information that connects to each page in the book. I had a bit of trouble with the poetry in this one. The rhythm and rhyme didn't quite work for me. I kept having to go back searching for a pattern that wasn't really there. I would like to have just read it as a poem.

4 stars

Weekend Dad by Naseem Hrab & Frank Viva (Illustrations) August 1, 2020 🍁

When a young boy’s parents separate, he spends the weekends with his father. This book details his first experience of this. At first it’s uncomfortable and scary, but then he and his Dad do the same things they always do on the weekend. Two achingly sweet bits make this book noteworthy. First, the boy leaves his stuffy behind so his father won’t be lonely. Second, the father gives his son a letter reminding him of his love. The muted artwork by Frank Viva has a graphic novel vibe.

A fox takes a fantastical journey across the world's oceans in search of a rare aquatic plant. The labeled diagrams provide information about real underwater plants. Check out my blog post here to read more and see images of the artwork.

The rhyming poetry works like a charm in this counting picture book. Not only will readers learn numbers, there is also a message here about acknowledging and celebrating the ways in which we are both different and the same. Check out my blog post here to read more and see images of the artwork.

5 stars

Barnaby by Andrea Curtis & Kass Reich (Illustrator) April 15, 2021 🍁

This book has hidden depths that I overlooked initially. At least for me it did. I discovered a kind of darkness beneath my first impression of it being a metaphor for sibling rivalry. If I was still doing critical literacy workshops with picture books I would add this one to my collection of titles. Check out my blog post here to read more and see images of the artwork.

NOVELS


I had a hard time at the beginning of this book when Nala, the protagonist, pretended to be someone she wasn't, just to get a boy's interest. I have known women who do this. So I cheated and read the ending. I liked the way it turned out so I decided to go back and read it all to find out how it got there. Some people think doing this is a travesty, but for me, life is too short to read a book I won't like.

Ok, so this is Renée Watson and I should have known better.

Nala is a character I came to adore. She's got lots to teach all of us at any age about how to love ourselves. I love her positive attitude towards her big body. I love her relationships with her grandmother and the other folks at the center where they live. I liked that this book celebrates being who you are, and that you don't have to be a specific kind of person. I adore the depth Renée Watson gives to all her characters.

This is probably a YA title, but because there is nothing more than kissing in it, I would happily purchase it for grade six and seven students to read.

MEMOIR


I had never heard of Duchess Goldblatt before someone recommended this for our book club title. I doubt I would have picked it up otherwise, but I'm glad to have read it. You know how sometimes, when you finish a book, your heart feels full? This is one of those. 
It integrates the life of the imaginary character of Duchess Goldblatt with the author's own life. 

Ethan Lou, a Canadian journalist, set off to visit his dying grandfather and other family in China for the 2020 Lunar New Year Celebrations. It in was supposed to be the first leg of a vacation that would take him travelling around the world. He got caught up in the beginning of the Covid 19 epidemic. Travelling through Asia and Europe, he writes of the virus' impact at both a personal and societal level. He references previous world pandemics like the Black Plague and the Spanish Flu and shows how each one transformed the world. 
Since Covid has led to a paradigm shift in how diseases are spread, some of the science he writes about has changed, but aside from that, this is a fascinating read. 

DISCWORLD NOVELS


I finally finished this, but I took so long to read it that I decided to start over again and listen it without so many interruptions.

I like that so many characters from across the Discworld (aside from the witches) make an appearance in it. I like that even here at the end of his life, Pratchett introduces a new character, Dick Simnel. Dick is a self taught engineer who  invents the steam locomotive. Sir Harry King, the wealthy sanitary entrepreneur, pairs up with him to develop the railway. The development of it in the Discworld parallels many of the same issues as the development of the railway in the real world. There are difficulties crossing different kinds of terrain. There is even the pounding in of the last golden spike upon completion. There are issues of job losses as one kind of technology supplants another. There are worries about wildlife and farm animals on the tracks. 

At the same time as the railway is being developed, the king of the Dwarves is having problems with a fundamental sect who are trying to stop the rest of the Dwarves from moving forward. The group engages in numerous terrorist attacks culminating in a coup at the Dwarf palace while the king is away. The railway, even though it is unfinished, is enlisted to get him home to deal with the uprising as fast as possible. While this novel is full of adventure, battles, and political intrigue, it highlights the folly and danger inherent in letting any kind of fundamental religious faction have power over ordinary citizens. 

This is the last book published before Pratchett died, and the second to last in the Discworld collection. In it Pratchett shows us how much the Discworld has progressed from the beginning. Immigrants, (trolls, dwarves and goblins) are not just there to do the jobs that the rest of the population don't want to do. They are are considered people integrated into and influence the rest of Ankh Morpork society. 

CURRENTLY 

This is what I have on the go:

Bloom by Kevin Panetta
Harvey Comes Home by Colleen Nelson
Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl

UP NEXT

Kid Gloves by Lucy Knisley
Pine Island Home by Polly Horvath

BLOG POSTS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK

Anne's School Days by Kallie George
Lentil Soup by Carole Tremblay, & Maurèen Poignonec
Bad Sister by Cherise Mericle Harper
 
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 14/25

#MustReadNFIn2021 5/12 

#MustReadPBIn2021 32/100 

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 16/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 53/100

Canada Reads 2021 4/5 

Discworld Series 40/41 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 196/333 

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#IMWAYR August 31, 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 have big plans for what I want to read in the week, but as Robert Burns says,

"The best-laid schemes of mice and (wo)men
Go oft awry."

So it is for me. Between company and canning, by the end of the day I'm exhausted. Instead of reading I put my feet up, pull out my knitting and turn on the TV. At least I have my audiobooks during those times when I'm working and don't have other people around.

 Here are a few photographs of what we've/I've accomplished in the last few days. There is more canning but it's already on shelves in the coolroom.







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.

 GRAPHIC NOVELS
4 stars

Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju & Ryan Estrada

I was fascinated and terrified by this look into the recent history of Korea. The experiences of numerous real people are amalgamated into the narrative. It tells the story of a group of young readers who meet to read and discuss banned books in 1983. You might be surprised by how dangerous reading is perceived to be under an authoritarian government. Spies are everywhere at the university campus. Many students are paid to go so they can inform on other students. Conflict with police and arrests were common.
The end of the book takes us to a reunion of the book club in 2016. They are in the middle of another protest, but this time the participants are from all ages and all walks of life. I would probably bring this into my Elementary school library for upper intermediate readers. I see it as a real world jumping off point after students have read Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.

 NOVELS
4 stars

 Parachutes by Kelly Yang, Cassie Simone (Narrator) & Karissa Vacker (Narrator)

 This is a rollercoaster of a read. It's the story of two girls from different worlds who come together because of the prestigious private school they attend. Dani De La Cruz and her mother struggle to make ends meet. To help them out financially her Mom sets them up to host an international student, Claire Wang. Claire, a privileged wealthy Chinese foreign student, and Dani seem to have nothing in common.
The story is told from the perspective of both these girls. While they come from different backgrounds, a misogynistic system of rape culture makes both of them vulnerable.
5 stars

 Audacity by Melanie Crowder

This novel in gorgeous verse is a fictionalized account of the life of Clara Lemlich. She fought hard to unionize and improve the working conditions of women garment workers in New York in the late 1900's. It follows her and her family as they leave their village in anti semitic Russia and travel across Europe to England. After a time there they manage to get steerage passage to the United States.
Shortly after arriving, Clara got a job working in a sweatshop as a seamstress. Her meager earnings supported her whole family, including her father and brothers who spent the day studying. Clara was frustrated by the unfairness of her situation. Passionate about educating herself she attended classes at night to improve her English. At one point she was offered a scholarship to go to college where she could fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. Still the working conditions under which she and other workers toiled were so horrific, unsafe, and unfair, that she ended up having to choose between that dream, and that of helping all the other suffering women workers. In the end, in spite of the violence she endured by strikebreakers, goons, and police, she continued organizing for the union.
The backmatter contains information about Clara Lemlich and shows that she was an activist up until she died in 1982. It also includes the transcript of interviews with her children and grandchildren. There's a glossary and a bibliography. Alas, there is no recipe for the rugelach her family spoke so fondly of.

 CURRENTLY

 I'm still reading Yara's Spring by Sharon McKay & Jamal Saeed. (I'm not a fan of reading digitally) My loan for the audiobook of The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by by Karina Yan Glaser expired before I could finish it. I'm now listening to Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg. I crowdsourced part of my #MustRead list this year and the sequel to it was one of the recommendations so I'm reading this first. Everytime I read a book by Fannie Flag I am in awe of how beautifully she crafts her characters .

UP NEXT

 I will make time for Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins. (It will be my 10th big book of the summer.) I hope to get to Monsters by David Robertson. My next audiobook will be Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. There is a pile of picture books I need to get to as well.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

 Big Books Summer 2020 9/10

#MustReadIn2020: 18/25

#MustReadNFIn2020: 8/12

 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 17/25 100

Books by Canadian Authors: 105/100

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 244/333
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#IMWAYR May 13, 2019

#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 missed posting last weekend because I dropped my laptop on the floor and damaged the screen. It could have been much worse, but I am still $550 dollars poorer.

I'm continuing to write and work on poetry just about every day, but I'm only posting on Poetry Friday. These days I'm working on drafts for a family memoir.

We are away in our Oliver home this weekend. I am feeling blessedly rested and managed to almost get my NetGalley commitments under control.

BLOG POSTS IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS

 What Makes Girls Sick and Tired by Lucile de Pesloüan & Genevieve Darling (Illustrations)

You Are Never Alone by Elin Kelsey & Soyeon Kim (Illustrations)

Poetry Friday May 3, 2019

Poetry Friday May 10, 2019

 Also, if you are interested, Links to all my poems from the Poem a Day Challenge are here.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS
Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully

 Mattie Knight was an amazing girl and woman! I found this book on the shelves in the library I am working in. I put it on display at the checkout counter, meaning to read it to a group of students. I read something else, but one young girl wanted it. After she finished it, it was checked out in turn, by three other girls.
Mattie was an innovative inventor who among her many achievements, created the machine that makes paper bags with a flat bottom and started her own business producing them.
Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor: The Woman Who Loved Reptiles by Patricia Valdez & Felicita Sala (Illustrator)

 Joan Procter was an amazing young woman who accomplished more in her short lifetime than many people do in twice as many years. That she accomplished it while in chronic pain is even more remarkable. I had never heard of her before reading this book. Not only did I learn about her, but I learned a lot about reptiles. I’m still not going to go in search of Komodo Dragons in the wild, but it’s good to know that if they are well fed they are gentle creatures.
Patricia Valdez text is poetic. Felicita Sala artwork is gorgeous as usual.
The back matter includes two pages of additional information, photographs of her as a child and as an adult, as well as an extensive bibliography. This book held rowdy grade 6 and 7 students in rapt attention.
The Streak: How Joe DiMaggio Became America's Hero by Barb Rosenstock & Terry Widener (Illustrations)

 As I finished this book I couldn’t help but wonder if anyone will ever beat DiMaggio's record. Pitchers throw balls much faster today than they did then. Still his accomplishment is phenomenal.
I can’t help but wonder who stole Betsy Ann, DiMaggio's bat and why.
I appreciate that Rosenstark connected his story into the larger picture of the world at war, and showed us how his success inspired a nation.
The back matter includes of all kinds of additional information. There’s a note with more details about DiMaggio. There’s a chart of his statistics. There’s an extensive bibliography that includes websites that were active at the time of publication. 
I'm planning on testing this on that rowdy grade 6/7 group this week. 
What Makes Girls Sick and Tired by Lucile de Pesloüan & Genevieve Darling (Illustrations)

 This feminist manifesto addresses a spectrum of issues that encompass all the ways that sexism destroys the lives of girls and boys. In places it isn't a comfortable read, but then, generally it isn't comfortable being a girl either and in some places it's harder than others.
Pair this book with Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson & Ellen Hagan. Their characters could have written this book.
Both of these contributors are Canadian. 🍁
You Are Never Alone by Elin Kelsey & Soyeon Kim (Illustrator)

 The whole earth is our community and we exist within "the blast of it's love."
Elin Kelsey and Soyeon Kim, with lyrical text and gorgeous art, make the interconnectedness of life here on our blue planet very clear. The positive message is scientifically based. Our relationships benefits us in remarkable ways. These two creators remind us that "Mother Nature has your back."
Elin Kelsey has a home in Victoria BC, and Soyeon Kim now lives in Toronto. 🍁

 GRAPHIC
New Kid by Jerry Craft

Jordan's parents have forced him to go to a posh private school, although what he really wants to do is study art. He struggles to fit in and make new friends, but manages that well enough. That would usually be enough in a graphic novel, but in the middle of all that, the book addresses issues of racism and stereotyping. Although there's some bullying, mostly we are just exposed to ignorance. I really appreciated the level of kindness that is portrayed. It's a brilliant story that belongs in all school libraries.

 NOVELS
Tilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience by Monique Gray Smith

 This book is based on the author’s life. Tilly started drinking while in grade seven. She didn’t stop until she was in her twenties. This is her story of becoming sober, healing, and finding out how to help others.
Through it, readers discover the experiences of many indigenous people across Canada: residential schools, 60’s scoop, dysfunctional families, poverty, addiction, abuse and survival. It’s heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. There’s a reason the full title of this book includes, A Story of Hope and Resilience.
Monique Gray Smith is an indigenous Canadian. 🍁
Property of the Rebel Librarian by Allison Varnes & Monika Felice Smith (Narrator)

 This book is a lot like Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.
I liked June, her sister, and most of her friends, but I hated her parents, the principal, and the school board. Of course I'm pretty sure that this is what is supposed to happen.
When her parents get involved with banning books in her school library, and getting the teacher librarian fired, June opens up a lending library in a locker next to hers. Even though she eventually gets caught, in the process she makes new friends and discovers the person she was meant to be.
I had a hard time accepting that this scenario could actually happen. Perhaps there are places in the United States where there are no teacher unions, and all parents are right wing rednecks, but it's hard to believe this is possible. I also can't imagine that there are no parents who would advocate for reading choice.

If there's anything in this scenario that chills me, it's that it shows how easily people can be lead down a dark and dangerous path.


When a Ghost Talks, Listen (How I Became a Ghost #2) by Tim Tingle

 This continues the story of Isaac, a young Choctaw boy, who died on the Trail of Tears and became a ghost. Readers learn more about the horrific conditions the people underwent on that journey as well as more about Choctaw culture. The important learning here is how General Pushmataha died. Like the youngsters at the end of the story, I can't help but wonder if the scenario here is true or not.
Tim Tingle is one heck of a story teller! I wish I could claim he is Canadian, but he's Choctow American. 
Watch Us Rise by Renée Watson & Ellen Hagan

 I wish I had teenaged nieces to give this to. Told in two voices, the story introduces us to two young girls who challenge misogyny at their high school. Their intersectional analysis of how girls are treated there ends up creating conflict and gets them into trouble. Both of them learn much about themselves and each other before the end of the book.
I especially enjoyed reading the girl's poetry.
Pair this up with What Makes Girls Sick and Tired by Lucile de Pesloüan & Genevieve Darling

 NONFICTION
Feel Free: Essays written and read by Zadie Smith

 This was my introduction to Zadie Smith. I will absolutely read more. In this collection of essays she addresses a huge spectrum of issues. She analyzes the dismantling of public libraries, the misogyny and beauty of rap music, racism, how she came to adore Joni Mitchel's music, and much more. Each essay is brilliant and fascinating.

 POETRY
The Journals of Susanna Moodie by Margaret Atwood & Charles Pachter (Illustrator)

 I found this gem on a bookshelf in the flea market. I was looking for logging history but as soon as I read the first poem I knew I had to have it. How’s this for a poem ending?
“I am a word
In a foreign language.”
An added bonus is that someone penciled in notes in the margins. I can compare my interpretations of the different lines and sections with their's.
Margaret Atwood writes these poems from the perspective of one of Canada’s most famous pioneers. Now I think I’m going to have to find and read Susanna Moodie’s real journals.
Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author. 🍁

 CURRENTLY

 I am listening to Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography written and narrated by Andrea Warner. With my eyes I'm reading Ebb and Flow by Heather Smith. I'm also immersed in numerous a couple of nonfiction titles dealing with the history of logging in BC. I've just started Space Boy by Stephen McCranie.

 UP NEXT

 I will start The Essential Gwendolyn Brooks and hope to get to Internment by Samira Ahmed before it has to go back to the library. I will also try to get the growing pile of picture books under control.

 PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

 #MustReadIn2018 12/25

 #MustReadNFIn2018 6/12

 25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 9/25

 25 books by Canadian Authors 27/25

 Goodreads Reading Challenge 161/333
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