Showing posts with label Cybils. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cybils. Show all posts

#IMWAYR January 24th, 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 that if you are participating in the #MustRead challenge, Leigh Anne Eck at A Day In the Life is hosting the last update for 2021 here. When you are ready, post your #MustReadIn2022 goals here. The links are open until the end of January.

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.

4 stars

Ducks! by Deborah Underwood & T.L. McBeth (Illustrations) Feb 11, 2020

A young duck gets distracted by a butterfly. When it thinks to go back to it's flock, they have disappeared. As they go in search of them they find lots of clues, but NO DUCKS. I love T.L. McBeth's minimalist illustrations. The expression on the little duckling's face is delightful.


My sons were fans of Richard Scary books. This is a lot like those, except with a whole lot more humour. (Children might not get all the puns, but their parents most likely will!) I imagined reading this with my 4 1/2 year old grandchildren. I’m pretty sure they will love it.
If I was still in the library I would probably get a couple of copies of this to support primary teachers who do community projects with their students.

NONFICTION 


This biography is visually stunning. I adored it. The images, combined with the straight forward, easy to read text make it a model for what nonfiction texts for elementary and middle grade readers should aspire to be. I read it a couple of times and each time I was more impressed by it. "It takes young readers through Anning's many fossil finds and scientific breakthroughs. At the same time it doesn't stint about the hardships Mary and her family endured. It makes clear the challenges she faced because of her poverty, gender and class." 

GRAPHIC NOVELS

These days I'm mostly reading graphic novels for the Cybils awards. I will do a post to share my thoughts on all of them after we pick a winner. From the ones I've finished so far, that's promising to be a daunting task. 

Here's what I read last week. If I previously reviewed the book, I've provided a link to it.



Jukebox by Nidhi Chanani June 22, 2021
    My original review is here. 


Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte &  Ann Xu (Illustrations) October 27, 2020
    My original review is here.


NOVELS


I listened to the audiobook and was mesmerized by the writing, the story, and Dion Graham’s narration.

Washington (Wash) Black was born into slavery on a plantation in Barbados. The brutality he grows up with is horrific. When he was just a boy, Christopher, (Titch) the plantation owner’s brother, takes him on as his assistant. He teaches him to read and introduces him to scientific thinking. It turns out that Washington is a gifted artist.
Wash is present when a cousin of the brothers kills himself. Knowing his brother will blame Wash, Titch and Wash flee the plantation. They travel to America and, fleeing a relentless slave catcher the brother has sent after them, end up in the Arctic where Titch abandons Wash, who is still a child.
There are more journeys in store for Washing Black. To start, he leaves the Arctic and ends up in Nova Scotia.
As he grows up alone, Wash becomes a young man searching to figure out who he is, who he can be, and how he fits in the world. It’s an almost impossible task. He finds some peace, but all the while he’s haunted by Titch’s abandonment and lives in fear of the slaver catching up to him. As a black man with a disfigured face, he’s easy to track down. Even when he connects up with another scientist and his daughter, he’s never really acknowledged as a human being with the right to be recognized for his own work.
The ending left me heartbroken.
There is so much in this novel to unpack. To start there’s the relationship between the captured octopus and Washington. Then in tandem with the author, take a hard look at who Abolitionists were and explore the contradictions between what they said and how they acted. 
I wish I had read this with a book club.

PS - Esi Edugyan has won two Giller prizes (this is one of them) and her books have been nominated for for many more awards.

MEMOIR


Learning how people come to be the people they are is always fascinating. I really appreciated Clayton Thomas-Muller's brutal honesty in this. His life was full of hard things - some are difficult to read about. He didn't always make the kinds of choices people might think are the right ones, but he's come out of it being a staunch environmental activist at the same time as working hard to become the best person he can be. The first part of the book deals with his early years and the second half focuses more on his activism. In many ways his story is the story of Indigenous rejuvenation, reclamation, and celebration.
Reading reviews about this book is interesting. Some readers complain it is too much about his activism. Others say it's too much autobiography. I think the intersection of these two make it just right. 

CURRENTLY

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad & Dion Graham (Narrator) 

My Last Summer with Cass by Mark Crilley  (Cybil title)

Spílexm: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence by Nicola I. Campbell

UP NEXT 

Everyone Knows Your Mother Is a Witch by Rivka Galchen

Nubia: Real One by L.L. McKinney & Robyn Smith (Illustrator) (Cybil title)

I have almost finished reading and rereading the finalists in the graphic novel categories in my role as a round 2 Cybils judge. I'm looking forward to finding time for other books.

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 2/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 1/18 one in progress

Canadian Authors 5/100 one in progress

Canada Reads Longlist 5/23 one in progress

Indigenous Authors 2/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 26/250
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#IMWAYR January 17, 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. 

Here in Canada the Canada Reads longlist was announced. Canada Reads is hosted by CBC (our national broadcaster.) While it's an adult challenge, many high school classes also participate. The theme this year is books that “inspire readers to reflect on community.” I immediately went to my library and put all the books (except the three I've already read) on hold. I will read from the longlist until the shortlist is announced on January 26. Then I try to read those before the debate in March. 


Just a reminder that if you are participating in the #MustRead challenge, Leigh Anne Eck at A Day In the Life is hosting the last update for 2021 here. When you are ready, post your #MustReadIn2022 goals here. The links are open until the end of January.

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

When Langston Dances by Kaija Langley & Keith Mallett (Illustrator) September 07, 2021

The art in this just gobsmacked me. It's drop dead gorgeous. Langston is such an adorable boy you will want to scoop him off the pages and hug him.
But wait, there is so much more to adore about this book. It's in the beauty of the bodies, the relationship between mother and child, the joy in the child's face, the challenging of gender norms.
The first time his mother takes him to see a ballet, Langston falls in love with dance. He practices in front of his mirror. On the way to his first class he shows off his moves to everyone he meets. The end of the book moves us into the future where we see Langston as a young man dancing on a stage.  

This book is so beautiful I had to read it twice.
We follow a young girl and her father as they travel through their city on the way to a violin recital. The illustrations provide us with a rich backdrop that highlights the sensory experiences of the young girl, who is blind.
Ashley Barron's artwork was rendered in cut-paper collage, watercolour, acrylic and pencil crayon, with some digital assembly.


This is an essential book. That it's beautifully written and illustrated underscores the unspeakable horror of the event. In 1921 a white mob attacked and destroyed the thriving black community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. This picture book is an important introduction to this episode in history and a lead into doing more research.
I checked this out of my library to read again to compare it to one of the graphic novels I have been reading. If you haven't read this one, you must. 

GRAPHIC NOVELS

These days I'm mostly reading graphic novels for the Cybils awards. I will do a post to share my thoughts on all of them after we pick a winner. From the ones I've finished, that's promising to be a daunting task. 

Here's what I read last week. If I previously reviewed the book, I've provided a link to it.



Cranky Chicken by Katherine Battersby September 07, 2021 🍁


NOVELS


I adored the references to Ada Lovelace, Charles Babbage, and his thinking machines and how it ended up being connected to the development of artificial intelligence. Peter Grant is right on his game in this one - dealing with upcoming fatherhood, a nefarious tech company, and all kinds of subterfuge in his new role as undercover operative.


This was a hard book to read. It is a story about the pain and rage felt by indigenous women. It's about unconditional love - or the lack of it.
It's the story of four generations of women. We see how the actions of one generation reverberate, directly or indirectly, through the following ones. In spite of the terrible things that happened to her, I ended up so angry with Margaret, the grandmother. My heart ached most for the recent generation of women. The foster care system leaves much to be desired.
What I liked most about the end of this book is that it leaves us with a glimmer of hope for their futures.

CURRENTLY

Washington Black by by Esi Edugyan (audiobook) 🍁

Chunky by Yehudi Mercado

Fossil Hunter: How Mary Anning Changed the Science of Prehistoric Life by Cheryl Blackford (review coming next week)

UP NEXT 

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad will be my next audiobook.

Since I'm a round 2 Cybils judge, I am busy reading and rereading the finalists in the graphic novel categories.  Hopefully I will find time for other books.

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 2/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 1/18 one in progress

Canadian Authors 5/100

Canada Reads Finalists /5 one in progress

Indigenous Authors 1/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 18/250
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#IMWAYR January 10, 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 that if you are participating in the #MustRead challenge, Leigh Anne Eck at A Day In the Life is hosting the last update for 2021 here. When you are ready, post your #MustReadIn2022 goals here. The links are open until the end of January. 

Our kitchen flooring was installed this week. I am quite smitten with this green marmoleum. It looks truly gorgeous when the sun shines on it. 



We took our Christmas tree down on Saturday and the house seems bereft without it and the rest of the decorations. (Although, I am not unhappy about not having to constantly clean up spruce needles.) We are keeping the outside lights on for a while longer. 

In spite of deconstructing Christmas, catching up on housework that I've let slide, and working on my second Olivia Dunrea quilt, it's been a relaxing week.  

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.


Reading Goals for 2022
In beautifully soft images readers are invited to look at sadness from a new perspective. Rather than trying to avoid it, or hide it, we are invited to get to know it. Ask it's name, ask where it comes from and what it needs, spend some time with it, do things together.
Every school library should have this book. People of all ages should read it.


After I reviewed this book last fall, one of my book club members suggested we do a book club to talk about it. I reread it twice last week and am still as in love and confounded by it as I was then. If anything, I have more questions. I am very excited that Sara O'Leary is joining us. Here is my original review. 

4 stars

Merry Christmas, Anne by Kallie Georg & Geneviève Godbout (Illustrations) October 05, 2021 🍁

I'm pretty sure it was Aaron Cleavely @Wriggling Bookworms who introduced me to this book. Among the many different (and wonderful) books Kallie George writes, are adaptations of the Anne of Green Gables stories. She captures the essence of the original novels in picture and chapter book format. This is a lovely look at how Christmas was celebrated in the past (even before I was born.) Geneviève Godbout's illustrations, rendered in pastels and coloured pencils, are gorgeous. 

GRAPHIC NOVELS

These days I'm mostly reading graphic novels for the Cybils awards. I will do a post to share my thoughts on all of them after we pick a winner. From the ones I've finished, that's promising to be a daunting task. 

Here's what I read last week. If I previously reviewed the book, I've provided a link to it.


My Body in Pieces by Marie-Noelle Hébert & Shelley Tanaka (Translator) April 1, 2021
My original review is here.


The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor June 15, 2021



The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag June 01, 2021


MEMOIR 

5 stars

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day by Kathlyn J. Kirkwood & Steffi Walthall (Illustrator) January 4, 2022

This memoir in verse is the perfect read as we near Martin Luther King's birthday, January 15th. It tells the story of how MLK day was made into law. One of the things I like most about it is how it inspires us all to become foot soldiers for change.
If I was still working in the library I might order two copies.
You can read my full review here. 

CURRENTLY

Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth 
I'm working my way through this slowly because it's a lot to take in. My copy has to be returned to the library soon so I've put another hold on it.

Cheer Up: Love and Pompoms by Crystal Frasier & Val Wise (Illustrations) (a Cybils title)

False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
I listen to this as I'm falling asleep since it's a reread for me and I'm not tempted to stay awake to find out what happens.

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette
I'm almost done this audiobook.

The Waiting by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim (The Cybils graphic novels have forced me to put this book aside for now)

UP NEXT 

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad will be my next audiobook.

Since I'm a round 2 Cybils judge, I am busy reading and rereading the finalists in the graphic novel categories.  Hopefully I will find time for other books.

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction /24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 1/18 one in progress

Canadian Authors 2/100

Indigenous Authors 0/25 one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 9/250
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#IMWAYR February 1, 2021

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 started sewing on the two Gossie and Friends quilts for my youngest grandkids. I'm beginning with the characters first and will do the rest of the little animals next. Then I'll get to all the scenery and background stuff. I will have to embroider eyes and other details eventually. I hope to get them finished at least before they start school!
Here's where I'm at now. After creating a few test pieces, I sewed all the yellow parts.  I've created patterns for most of the rest and have started stitching the orange bits (beaks, legs and feet). 



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. 

RECENT BLOG POSTS


PICTURE BOOKS

3 stars

Anonymouse by Vikki VanSickle & Anna Pirolli (Illustrations) 🍁 

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be published February 9, 2021.
In this nod to Banksy, an anonymous mouse creates art for creatures in an unnamed city. Anonymouse provides a delightfully unique perspective for these animals. Sometimes it makes them laugh. Sometimes it makes them think.
Even after Anonymouse disappears and moves on, the world of the animals is changed forever. They have learned to see and create beauty in their own ways.
Anna Pirolli's palette of hot pink, purples and browns was created digitally.
I really appreciated the idea that art can change how we view the world. I only wish that Anonymouse had been ungendered. 


I got this for Christmas from a couple of my grandchildren. Told in rhyming verse a grandmother tells her grandchild how and why she loves them. It's full of universal truths about this special relationship.
I only wish my grandkids were here for me to read this with them.


This is another Christmas gift from the same two granddaughters. Told in rhyming verse, a little bear gives reasons for why they love their grandmother. It sure captures the essence of this special relationship between the generations. I can hardly wait to read this with my little darlings.


The good thing about learning about a new series late in the game, is that you get to read a whole bunch without waiting for the next one to come out. Snail and Worm was instant love for me. As If I don't already miss my grandkids enough, I really wish I could go visit with them just to read these books with them. These two creatures are interesting friends. The three stories in each book are told from their perspective. In the first story here readers learn how they met. In the second, Snail climbs a flower while Worm cheers it on, and in the last one, we meet their pets. Seriously, these are the best!

5 stars

Snail & Worm Again by Tina Kugler

Here I am, a grown woman devouring early chapter books. I tell myself it's research so I have ideas of what books to get my grandkids, but honestly, they are fun to read all by myself.
Snail and Worm are charming friends. The three stories in each book are full of sweetness and humour. In the first one Snail and Worm think that Snail has grown wings. In the second, they mistake a penny for a mirror and admire themselves in it. In the last one, Snail is sad because they compare themselves to other animals and things. Not only are they hilarious, important messages are shared!

5 stars

Snail and Worm All Day: Three Stories About Two Friends by Tina Kugler

Oh No! I have come to the last book available in this series aboout the charming Snail and Worm!
The books just keep on getting better and better. Yes they are full of silliness, but Kugler manages to sneak in some important ideas while making us laugh.
Like the others, the book includes three short stories. In the first one here Snail might be having a bad day, but sees that great things are happening around for others. In the second, Snail mistakes a turtle for a dragon in a cave. In the last one, the two friends collaborate on a bedtime story.
I seriously adore these! They are perfect for fans of Elephant and Piggy.

NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

How to Promenade with a Python (and Not Get Eaten): A Polite Predators Book by Rachel Poliquin & Kathryn Durst (Illustrations) 🍁 

If I was still working in a school library, I would purchase this in a heartbeat. It's got just the right amount of facts, farce and fear to engage readers of all ages. I only wish I could have found out more about Kathryn Durst's process for creating these vibrant illustrations. To find out more about this title, check out my full review here.

5 stars

Nesting by Henry Cole

This book is gobsmackingly gorgeous. It follows a couple of American Robins as they meet, build a nest, lay four eggs and raise the chicks. There is a note at the end with additional information about these creatures. 

GRAPHIC NOVELS


Go with the Flow by Lily Williams & Karen Schneemann

A young teen brings the issue of lack of menstrual awareness and support to her school. Whether or not this one wins the Cybil award, I would purchase it for my school library. 

You know how you finish a book and wonder what took you so long to read it? This is one of those. 
It's been called Northern Gothic and that's a pretty good a description. It reminded me in parts of Jesmyn Ward's work written a decade later.
The story focuses on Lisa and her nuclear family. It begins with her brother Jimmy's disappearance on a boat with his girlfriend's uncle. Her parents head south to where he was last seen, while Lisa remains in Kitamaat. While waiting, Lisa's reminiscences cycle round from the present into her past and back again. She revisits her relationships with her Uncle Mick, her grandmother, Ma-ma-oo, and the spirit world. What's fascinating here is how these two people connect her Haisla roots to the modern world of AIM. Eventually she heads off in a boat to meet up with her parents. She ends up on Monkey Beach, and a confrontation with the spirit world.
I can't begin to gush enough about the beauty of the writing here. I swear I was transported to the Northwest coast in the rainforest of the Haisla and Heiltsuk people. I was swept up into her character's lives.
Just Wow!

4 stars

Vi by Kim Thúy (Author and Narrator) 🍁 

I read this because it is the One Eread Canada book and I adore Kim Thúy's writing.
Like her book Ru, it tells of a family who had to flee Vietnam and ended up in Canada.
Vi is the youngest in a family with three older brothers. Her father, who stayed behind, was brought up as a spoiled, wealthy, young man. He never changed. Her hardworking mother doted on him. Vi is a product of her Vietnamese upbringing and the westernized world of Quebec. This book explores her cultural and family roots. It focuses on the conflict between then and now in both Canada and Vietnam. I was fascinated by the connection between her mother's relationship with her father and Vi's relationships with the men in her life.
 
DISCWORLD NOVELS


Rincewind and the rest of the wizards from Unseen University end up in "Australia" which is in the process of evolving. Pratchett messes around with Time Travel in this one. 


Commander Sam Vimes, Duke of Ankh, and his wife, Lady Sybil, are sent off to Überwald on a diplomatic mission to represent Ankh-Morpork at the inauguration of the new King of Dwarfs. Along with them, Lord Vetinari send Detritus, a troll, and Corporal Littlebottom, a dwarf to represent ethnic minorities in the region.

The Scone of Stone, a sacred relic to the Dwarves necessary in the crowning of the new King has gone missing. Officer Angua's werewolf family are involved in the plot. The delegation is caught up in the middle of machinations that may erupt into civil war between different factions of Dwarves. Vimes is cornered by, and has to outrun a pack of werewolves. Through it all, Sam and Lady Sybil learn more about each other and she manages to tell him that they are going to have a baby.


“A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.”
This book is eerily prescient given the plethora of misinformation and lies being spread through media today.
Moveable type comes to the Discworld and William de Worde, Discworld's first investigative reporter, starts up a newspaper, the Ankh- Morpork Times. In response, the engraver's guild starts up the The Ankh-Morpork Inquirer, a rag filled with fictitious news. William and his team, reporter, Sacharissa Cripslock and iconographer, Otto, a vampire, get caught up in a conspiracy that has been set in motion to destroy the patrician.
 

Pratchett's Witches miniseries are some of my favourite novels in the Discworld. When this short story showed up next in my reading of the collection, I was more than ready for a visit with Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax. Granny Weatherwax is the most powerful witch on the Discworld. When the Lancre Witch Trials come around, a committee of organizers ask Granny to step aside so that other witches have a chance to win. What Granny does, is become nice, very very nice about it all. It's hilarious and terrifying all at the same time.

CURRENTLY 

I'm reading Patron Saints of Nothing by by Randy Ribay. I've started This Wound Is A World, a collection of poetry by Billy-Ray Belcourt. I'm listening to a title from Canada Reads long list, All Together Now: A Newfoundlander's Light Tales for Heavy Times by Alan Doyle.

UP NEXT 

I will be reading and reviewing Super Detectives by by Cale Atkinson. I plan to start Crossing Home Ground by David Pitt-Brooke, a book club title that focuses on the region where I live. If I finish Belcourt's poems I want to start reading Our Corner Store by Robert Heidbreder. The next Discworld title will be 
Thief of Time. 
I've finished all the Cybil graphic novel finalists that I can get my hands on. I'm hoping to access the remaining three, but am not holding out hope. 

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS 

#MustReadIn2021 4/25 

#MustReadNFIn2021 2/12 

#MustReadPBIn2021 7/100

Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 4/25 one in progress

Books by Canadian Authors: 9/100

Canada Reads 2021 1/5

Discworld Series 25/41 

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 47/333 

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