Showing posts with label Climate Crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Climate Crisis. Show all posts

#IMWAYR January 2, 2023


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. 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.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Hope you all had a wonderful winter break. We had the whole family here over Christmas. It was gloriously exhausting. I read a lot of Christmas picture books with my grandkids, but am not sharing those today. 


I'm working on all kinds of projects these days, but not finishing much. 
I haven't started a final update for my MustRead read challenges last year. 
I'm beginning to think about what might go on my MustRead lists for this year. 
I managed to get holds on just about all the books I will need for my job as a round two Cybil's Awards Judge. 

Today I'm just trying to get caught sharing what I've read since my last post December 12th. 

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

Poppy's House by Karla Courtney & Madeline Kloepper (Illustrator) June 7th 2022 🍁

A young girl spends time with her Poppy (grandfather) at his house on top of a hill in Newfoundland. This collaboration between Karla Courtney and Madeline Kloepper brims over with the love between the two of them as they go about their days together doing ordinary things. Thanks to Linda Bai for the introduction to this. 


Thanks to my friend Linda B for reminding me about this book. A boy notes one snowflake, then another and another. Still, the adults around him, the radio station and the TV report no snow. Fortunately for the boy, snow pays them no mind and continues to fall. The boy and his dog cavort in the falling snow along with characters who have escaped from the Mother Goose book shop. In the end the world is covered in white.


Wow!
Boy and dog and grandfather with beard walk to the river to watch the sun go down. On their way home boy and dog notice the darkening sky and the lighting of the windows. Three slightly maniacal rhyming poems of shoppers interrupt the dreamy lyrical prose portraying a magical world where the lights of Christmas, Kwanza, and Hanukkah shine in shop windows.

5 stars

Patchwork by Matt de la PeΓ±a & Corinna Luyken (Illustrator) August 30th 2022

I read this twice. This beautiful book affirms our complex humanity. Everyone, no matter their age, should read this book.

5 stars

The Three Billy Goats Gruff by Mac Barnett & Jon Klassen (Illustrations) October 18th 2022 πŸ

This is a brilliant retelling of one of my all time favourite fairy tales.

5 stars

A Very Mercy Christmas by Kate DiCamillo & Chris Van Dusen (Illustrator) September 27th 2022

I purchased two copies of this to give to my sons and their families. As I was wrapping them I figured I should read it first.
I'm so glad I did.
I'm sure it will become one of my favourite Christmas stories. How can it not when it shows how one person, in this case Stella Endicott, manages to bring joy to the her world by heading off carolling all by herself. All kinds of ordinary miracles occur and in the end, as is always the case in a Mercy Watson tale, there is toast.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

I knew next to nothing about Maya Angelou’s life before reading this picture book biography. Watson’s poems and Collier’s emotional artwork surpassed the brilliance I expected from them. Through their collaboration we come to know more about Angelou’s life: not only the events that formed her, but the emotional consequences of them.
Five stars is not enough.

4 stars

Finding My Dance by Ria Thundercloud & Kalila J. Fuller (Illustrator) September 13th 2022

Ria Thundercloud began jingle dancing when she was only four years old. She moved onto fancy dancing and from there on into tap, jazz, modern, contemporary and ballet. She travelled the world before returning home. She is an inspiration for all children who, like her, have dance in their souls.

I am enchanted by this chapter book. It's the story of an oddball witch who travels with her mother to the city of New Warts to shop at Broomingdales.
If you haven't figured out that this book is full of delightful puns, mostly there, I am sure, to entertain parents, then read that second sentence again.
The main message of this little story is to be yourself, help out when you can, and enjoy making new friends. Those are pretty good guidelines for witches of all ages.


MG NOVELS



Three different children from different parts of North America have to deal with the immediate consequences of the climate crisis. Their experiences are revealed in alternating chapters. A girl in Florida deals with a category 5 hurricane. Another girl in California is trapped inside a massive forest fire. In Churchill Ontario, two boys are stalked by polar bears.
This is similar in format to Gratz's Refugee.

I'll be publishing a full review of this book tomorrow. It's a lovely story about the relationship between a young girl and her grandmother. When the grandmother dies, the girl begins to believe that she has been reincarnated into someone else's body. 

MG NON FICTION

4 stars

Meet David Suzuki (Scholastic Canada Biography) by Elizabeth MacLeod & Mike Deas (Illustrator) September 2021  πŸ

David Suzuki is one of Canada's most respected Canadians. In 2004 he came fifth in The Greatest Canadian Contest. Since 2006, David Suzuki has scored at or near the top of the Reader’s Digest Most Trusted Canadian poll. I really appreciated learning so much about him in this short biography.
He was born in Vancouver BC, in 1936 and in 1942 his family was one of 22,000 Japanese Canadians forced into internment (prison camps) in the interior of the province.
After the war Suzuki's family moved to Ontario. He went to university in the USA and became a world renowned geneticist. Back in Canada he taught at different universities, and established radio and television programs about science. His focus on the environment was always part of what drove him. These days he actively works to get the rest of us aware of and involved in dealing with the climate crisis.

4 stars

Meet J. Armand Bombardier (Scholastic Canada Biography) by Elizabeth MacLeod & Mike Deas (Illustrator) September 6th 2022  πŸ

If you are a Canadian, you have most probably heard the word Bombardier - especially in the context of jet manufacturing. This delightful biography lets us know more about J. Armand Bombardier and his amazing inventions. His first inventions were vehicles that let people travel on top of the snow. They were used for delivering groceries and milk. There was even a school bus snow mobile that could carry 25 children. He developed special carriers to move men and equipment during world war two. Eventually he created the first small machine for personal use, the Ski-Doo, that became a recreational success.

YA & ADULT FICTION


This was a delightful post Christmas read. It's a feel good, joyful novel about coming home to a place you've never been before. It's about finding family in people around you and letting go of the past. It's about growing up and finding love in yourself and others. It's got just enough romance to make your heart sigh. It is exactly what I expect from this author.
It's been seven years since Sarah Addison Allen's last novel. It was worth the wait.


A missing son, a mysterious murdered man, and a gang of thieves lead Inspector Darling, Lane Winslow, and Ames into all kinds of territory. From Nelson's high society to the dark underbelly of corrupt immigration workers and a white supremacist cult, they do what they can to bring justice to their part of the world.


A Russian operative with plans to retire and move to England is betrayed. On his way to a gulag he escapes and makes his way to Canada to connect with Lane Winslow, the only person he feels he can trust.
In the meantime, a elderly Russian woman has come to Nelson in search of her missing brother. She ends up staying with Lane until a better home is found for her. She seems to be a harmless painter.
While Ames is in Vancouver taking a course to become a sergeant, his replacement is proving to be less than satisfactory.
Out in the forest a hunter is found with his throat cut.  
Are any of these people who they claim to be?
Will Inspector Darling and Lane Winslow finally tie the knot?  
I especially appreciated learning more about Russian history in this book.

CURRENTLY

The Extraordinaries by TJ Klune
The Universe in You by Jason Chin

UP NEXT 

Blackmail and Bibinka by Mia P Manansala
Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
Whatever other Graphic Novels become available
READING GOALS FROM 2022

#MustReadFiction 24/24

#MustReadNonFiction 17/18

Canadian Authors 86/100 three in progress

Indigenous Authors 20/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 288/250



Posted by 12 comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

#IMWAYR April 4, 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. 


Just a reminder to everyone participating in #MustReadIn2022,  I will host an (entirely optional) update at the end of the month. How are you doing?

Hope you all had a fabulous time last weekend. I visited with my grandchildren and their parents in the big city of Vancouver, BC. My eldest son and I took the two youngest cousins to the aquarium. After reading The Soul of an Octopus a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to see that the octopus was in a much larger space with other native plants and animals. We searched and searched for it in the large tank, only to find it hiding in a small cave right in front of us. On the way out I purchased rubber octopuses for the children and (with apologies to Sharon Lois and Brahm) we sang this made up song almost all the way home: 

One octopus went out to play
Inside a kelp forest one day
She had such enormous fun
She called for another octopus to come....
 
We came home on Tuesday and the first thing I did was get caught up on the Canada Reads debates. This is the first time I have read all the books before the event. I wasn't really invested in having any of them win, but was sad to see Life in the City of Dirty Water by Clayton Thomas-MΓΌller get voted off so 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.

PICTURE BOOKS 

5 stars

Shirley Chisholm Dared: The Story of the First Black Woman in Congress by Alicia D. Williams & April Harrison (Illustrator)

I had heard of Shirley Chisholm, but after Katherine Johnson, in her autobiography, talked about her, I determined it was time to learn more. 
Shirley Chisholm was a truly remarkable woman who certainly lived up to her father's words to, "Make something of yourself." No matter whether she was working as a teacher's aid or an elected representative, this daring, rebellious, persistent, troublemaking woman worked hard for her immediate community and all people. We need more politicians like her.

3 stars

I Have the Right to Save My Planet by Alain Serres, AurΓ©lia Fronty (Illustrations) & Shelley Tanaka (Translation) πŸ April 1, 2021

This is a book that looks not only at the rights children have with respect to the planet, but also at what they can do to protect it. It is an important book - one that I would absolutely have in my school library, even if it does get a bit preachy in places. I was irritated because the bold print in my digital copy was a jumbled mess that was impossible to decipher at times.
I adored the artwork!

CHAPTER BOOKS


I introduced Ada, my eldest granddaughter to this, the first in Kallie George and Abigail Halpin's adaptation of Maud Montgomery's famous Anne of Green Gables. It was a reread for me. I am impressed again by how rich this version is and how it captures the essence of Anne's story so authentically. Ada is now hooked. I will read the next in the series to her when I see her again at the end of the month. 

5 stars

The Princess in Black and the Mermaid Princess by Shannon Hale, Dean Hale & LeUyen Pham (Illustrations) February 01, 2022

My granddaughter and I loved this new Princess in Black book.
While out on a friend's boat, the Princess in Black and a few friends meet Princess Posy, a real live mermaid. Princess Posy has problems with kraken who terrorize her cute sea goats. The friends try to help her, but fighting under water is very different from fighting on land. Still, they inspire Princess Posy to take on and battle the kraken on her own. 
I love that this book in the series encourages children (especially girls) to speak up and use their voice on behalf of themselves and others. 

MG & YA NON FICTION


What an amazing woman!
Katharine Johnson’s story is the story of African American life in the 20th century.
She was a truly gifted learner who excelled at school. Her parents worked hard and sacrificed to ensure that all their children went to college. This was rare enough for white families and even more unusual for black ones.
She taught school, married, and had children before landing a position at NASA. Eventually she was an integral part of a team that put men on the moon.
In this book we get to see, through her perspective, the events of a century. 
I was fascinated by how, in spite of white politicians attempts to make education for black students more difficult, in many ways, these actions resulted in better education for black learners. Black teachers had to be much more qualified than white ones to get a teaching position, so their students were taught by superior educators. When universities were being forced to integrate, black students received grants to go to universities outside the state. Students ended up attending places like Columbia and New York State instead of the inferior campuses in Virginia - all on the government’s dime.
By the time I finished this book I was enchanted by Katharine Johnson herself. She was a brilliant, compassionate, community minded woman who worked hard her whole life to make life better for African American citizens of all ages. Irrespective of skin colour, the world needs more people like her.
The world would be a much better placed if everyone believed these words of wisdom given to her by her father. "You are no better than anyone else, and no one is better than you."


Ruta Sepetys never lets me down. I was completely enthralled by this novel that highlights the life of Romanian teens under the brutal rule of Nicolae CeauΘ™escu.
At the height of his reign, it is estimated that at least one out of every ten people was informing on the people around them.
I want more adults to read books like this. I believe that all those misguided people who think that they live under tyranny because they are asked to get vaccinated and wear masks, might come to realize how lucky they really are.

ADULT NOVELS 


Richard Powers is a force to be reckoned with. If he writes it, I will read it. 

Theo Byrne is raising his son, Robin, on his own after his wife, Ally, was killed in a car accident. Robin is a special kind of child to raise. He might be on a spectrum of some kind. What is for certain is that he is brilliant. Robin seems to have no impulse control and Theo is pressured to put him on drugs. Instead he sets him up in an experimental neurofeedback project. Robin makes dramatic progress until the project is cancelled because of political interference. Then it's just a matter of time until disaster strikes.


I think we talked more about this book in our book club than any other book. Maybe it is because we are all of age with the protagonists. Maybe it is because we were able to make some profound connections to our own lives. It is an epistolary novel - a conversation through letters between two lonely aging adults. We were all content with the unresolved ending.

NON FICTION


The world as we know it is in a precarious position. Here where I live, drought, heat waves, forest fires and floods, prove we are already experiencing the effects of the climate crisis. If we don't act now, there won't be much of a liveable future for our children and grandchildren. 
Naomi Klein addresses numerous climate crisis and extinction related issues in this collection of long form essays. I especially appreciate those articles that explain why we desperately need a green new deal, what it means, and how we can achieve it. 

5 stars

Deep House: A DreadfulWater Mystery by Thomas King January 15, 2022 πŸ

It's no secret that I am a hardcore Thomas King fan. I have read almost everything he has written. His DreadfulWater series is a particular pleasure. Thumps DreadfulWater is a retired Native American cop who now lives in the small town of Chinook. He makes a living taking and selling photographs, and helps out the local sheriff when crime visits the small town. The characters take me back to a radio show, The Dead Dog Cafe, that King wrote for CBC radio. The books are so loaded with humour I find myself chortling and guffawing on a regular basis. At the same time, Thomas King slips important indigenous issues within the context of his brilliant story telling. 

ABANDONED


I had a hard time with this reread. I knew the ending for some of these characters and Hernandez' writing is so good, that I just dreaded revisiting what happens. I gave up on the ebook and tried to reread a hard copy, but returned it to the library unfinished. 

CURRENTLY

Audiobook - Those Kids from Fawn Creek by Erin Entrada Kelly
I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki & Yoshi Yoshitani (Artist) πŸ
The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim & Janet Hong πŸ (Translation)

UP NEXT 

Audiobook - Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac πŸ

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 8/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 5/18

Canadian Authors 21/100

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 9/25 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 81/250
Posted by 10 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

#IMWAYR July 26, 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.


The world is on fire. At least, our part of it is. As of Sunday, we have 1,217 fires burning in our province. One of them is raging across the valley from where I live. So far it has burned 6,871.8 hectares (16,980.6 acres) It's moved from the grassland areas where people live into the treed area above it. On Sunday evening we sat on our front lawns with friends. Looking through our binoculars, we watched trees candling. I wept. 
 

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


This book features a diversity of boys engaged in all kinds of activities. They all focus on positive attributes. The books works to eliminate toxic masculinity from boys and men.

4 stars

Story Boat by Kyo Maclear & Rashin Kheiriyeh (Illustrations) πŸ

A family of refugees makes their home in different places on a daily basis. It’s the small things: a special cup, blanket, or light, that comfort them.
Rashin Kheiriyeh’s lovely artwork “was created with the coloured pencil and watercolour, oil and acrylic paint and painted paper, with additional natural materials including wood, wall and cut paper.”

4 stars

Escape Goat by Ann Patchett & Robin Preiss Glasser (Illustrations)

When this adorable goat decides it wants to see more of the world, it ends up getting accused of all kinds of things it didn’t do. I loved Robin Preiss Glaser‘s detailed artwork. She used ink and watercolour to create these illustrations. Many thanks to Shaye Miller for turning me onto this book.

4 stars

The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen πŸ

This is dark and weird and screamingly hilarious.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

The Bat by Elise Gravel πŸ

Elise Gravel creates absolutely delightful nonfiction titles for younger readers. They are so much fun, you hardly know you are learning. She proves that bats are fascinating in this one. I appreciate that she even mentions how we humans are threatening bats with extinction.

5 stars

Nicky & Vera: A Quiet Hero of the Holocaust and the Children He Rescued by Peter SΓ­s

I knew about the kindertransport, but this similar story is new to me. Nicolas Winton was a young man in 1938 when he arranged for 669 Jewish children to leave Czechoslovakia before the German invasion. Vera is one of the young girls he saved. This beautiful book, that celebrates the good that an ordinary person can do, gave me shivers.

CHAPTER BOOKS 

4 stars

Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-Be Best Friend by Dawn Quigley & Tara Audibert (Illustrations) πŸ

Jo Jo is a first grade Ojibwe girl. Her first best friend is a cat. She’s not sure about Fern, her school best friend. At the same time as this book is delightfully funny, it also deals with the important topic of how to be a friend.

Jo Jo reminds me of Junie B Jones.
Tara Audibert is Canadian. 

NOVELS

4 stars

Ways to Grow Love (Ryan Hart, #2) by RenΓ©e Watson

There is less cooking in this second Ryan Hart novel, but that's because Ryan has so much going on in her life! Her pregnant mom is on bed rest so she spends more time with her Grandma. She's busy reading books from the library for their summer reading program. There is the excitement of summer camp with her best friends. It isn't until the end of the book that we see this young chef cooking up a storm again.
Ryan learns a lot about caring for all your neighbours, even the ones you don't know. She comes to understand forgiveness. At the end of the book, Ryan discovers the overwhelming love of a baby sister when she arrives.

5 star reads

Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon & Bahni Turpin (Narrator)

Every time I read something by Nicola Yoon, I fall more in love with her writing. If you add Bahni Turpin's narration into the mix, you get about as close to perfection as is possible.

I thought this would be a light fun romance. I needed it after all the intense adult nonfiction I've been reading. It has many of the aspects of a fun filled romcom. It's even got a bit of magic.

Ever since Evie Thomas caught her father kissing another woman, she doesn't believe in romance. Then she developed the ability to read the past and future of kissing couples. None of them have had happy endings. This new ability of hers led her to a dance studio where she ended up partnering with X, a gorgeous young man. The two of them enter a dance contest. Of course they fall in love. It seems perfect until Evie has one of her visions while the two of them are kissing.

What suprised me about this book is how deeply it looks into the nature of love. It's a lot about forgiveness, living for the moment, and embracing the love you get for however long you are lucky enough to have it.


This book deals with sexual assault.
Kiran Kaur was raped by her brother in law to be, a police officer, when she was still in Punjab. She left to go to Simon Fraser University, and didn't tell her mother about her pregnancy til she had safely arrived in Canada. Her mother doesn't believe her. 
Kiran was lucky to make a good friend, Joti, at university. Kiran moved into their house and Joti's family became Kiran and her daughter, Sahaara's family. 
Kiran remained in Canada as an undocumented immigrant while Sahaara grew up. When Sahaara was eighteen, Kiran was picked up by border officials. This is when Sahaara learned about her mother's history.
This book tells the stories of Kiran and Sahaara. At first Sahaara wonders about who her father was, and then when she finds out she struggles with hating herself. 
This is written in both poetry and prose. It's intense - so intense that I could only read it in bits and pieces. It's an emotionally hard read that speaks authentically about the reality of sexual assault and it's ramification for survivors. It's a story of love, survival, and speaking your truth. 


“This [is] has been a book about people trying to solve problems created by people trying to solve problems.”

We are living in the Anthropocene age. In our meddling with ecosystems, we always end up making things worse. We have destroyed our planet to such an extent, that we have put our species at great risk. A review in the New York Times states, "Leaving the natural world to repair itself isn’t an option anymore — or, at least, it’s not an acceptable one, considering the death and suffering that would inevitably ensue."
Kolbert writes about different mega projects either in the works, or in the research stage, in an effort to mitigate the worst of the damage. All this just so we can save ourselves from ourselves. She shows us an electrified river created to keep the voracious Asian Carp out the the great lakes water system. She talks about the terraforming attempts to return land to the areas around New Orleans. There are attempts to remove carbon from the atmosphere and turn it into rocks, ideas for seeding the atmosphere with diamonds, and projects to genetically modify coral polyps in hopes of saving the Great Barrier Reef. It isn't very hopeful.
As I finish this we have another wildfire burning out of control across the valley from us. It's the fourth fire in our vicinity this year. We haven't even reached the traditional fire season yet. While Kolbert didn't talk about fires in her book, I can’t help but make the connection between the constant roar of the helicopters and airplanes in the air here trying to keep us safe and what it's costing us to cope with this aspect of the climate crisis.

CURRENTLY 

Code Name HΓ©lΓ¨ne by Ariel Lawhon with Barrie Kreinik & Peter Ganim (Narrators)
The Disability Experience: Working Toward Belonging by Hannalora Leavitt 
History Is Delicious by Joshua Lurie

UP NEXT
 
The Fabulous Zed Watson! by Kevin Sylvester & Basil Sylvester
Bruised by Tanya Boteju
I'll continue to work at getting the picture book pile under control.

BLOG POSTS PLANNED FOR NEXT WEEK

A Kid Is a Kid Is a Kid by Sara O'Leary
History Is Delicious by Joshua Lurie

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2021 20/25 

#MustReadNFIn2021 8/12

#MustReadPBIn2021 48/100 

Big Book Summer Challenge 5 one in progress

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 24/25

Books by Canadian Authors: 76/100 - one in progress

Canada Reads 2021 4/5 

Discworld Series 41/41

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 276 /333 

Posted by 8 comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)