Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Religion. Show all posts

#IMWAYR April 11, 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? My goal is to have a post ready April 25th for you to connect to.

How have you all been? I've been fighting a sinus infection for the past week or so. My head feels like it's full of cotton and it's been hard to focus on my reading. Luckily I had a stack of graphic novels and picture books to while away the time. 

In spite of the foggy head I have managed to do some poetry writing every day so far this month. I shared a poem about my mother with my family, but other than that, I'm just enjoying the writing. 

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

Everybody in the Red Brick Building by Anne Wynter, Oge Mora (Illustrator) October 12, 2021

Loved this cumulative story that begins with a baby waking in the middle of the night. The baby wakes up others and the sounds build up until everyone goes back to sleep to the cumulative quiet noises of night.

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS

5 stars

Stacey's Extraordinary Words by Stacey Abrams & Kitt Thomas (Illustrator) December 28, 2021

As a person who is not a brilliant speller, I am not a huge fan of spelling bees. That said, I am a huge fan of Stacey Abrams and was delighted to read this picture book memoir about her early life as a spelling bee contestant.
I suspect that if I had grown up thinking about words the way Stacey did, my spelling might have been at least slightly better. I hope this book inspires readers to be as persistent as Stacey about all of their goals. I also hope it encourages teachers to teach language with this kind of joy and creativity.


At first I thought this was going to be a take on the ant and grasshopper story. Initially it seems like this, but then ends up in an exciting adventure.
Two mice, Cornbread and Poppy, might be best friends, but they are as different as chalk and cheese. As winter approaches Poppy is not ready, but Cornbread is prepared to go with her into danger to help her find enough food to get her through the winter. They are forced to journey up the high mountain where danger and delightful surprises await them.
I'm getting this one for my grandkids for their fifth birthdays.
This book reminded me of Avi's Poppy series. I'll be suggesting my sons do it as a read aloud.

YA GRAPHIC


This book is about growing up and coming into your own power. The tension between Mandy and her superhero mom, StarFire, represents the separation of all children from their parents. It’s more challenging for Mandy because her mother seems to be the exact opposite of her. It’s only by distancing herself, and facing true danger, that she discovers how much they have in common.


Keum Suk Gendry-Kim calls this autobiographical fiction. It's loaded with truth about her mother's life growing up and fleeing North Korea when the communists took control. It introduces readers to the lotteries where a few hundred separated families are able to see one another for a short time. The tale is harrowing and heartbreaking.
This week I'll be picking up Grass by Keum Suk Gendry-Kim, a story about the Korean Comfort Women.

5 stars

Shadow Life by Hiromi Goto  🍁 & Ann Xu (Illustrations) March 30, 2021

Death might be stalking Kumiko, but she is not ready for it just yet.
This book is profound. It reminded me of my mother and mother in law who were not ready to give up their independence when circumstances forced them to. I'm no spring chicken myself and see hints of those dark shadows that follow Kumiko around.
I love that while this book centres on Kumiko now, we are also introduced to the strong young woman she once was.


Things heave been pretty much the same at Fawn Creek school until the exotic new girl, Orchid Mason arrives. She's got her own secrets, but that doesn't stop her from changing her classmates lives. She introduces them to a new way of looking at themselves and accepting who they are. Before she leaves she also shows them how brave and genuinely good they can be to one another.

ADULT NOVELS 

5 stars

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman & Martin Jarvis (Narrator)

I just refinished listening to this in preparation for season 2 on Amazon Prime. 
This book is so much fun to read (or listen to.) It's easy to imagine how much fun Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman had writing it.
Two children are born. Another, the antichrist, arrives at the hospital and his planned substitution goes awry.
Consequently his strategic upbringing is meted out to the wrong child. This really screws things up, as nothing takes. Meanwhile, the real antichrist grows up in a small village with loving parents and a cohort of close friends.
Considerable celestial and satanic energy have been put into preparing for Armageddon. As the time draws near, the armies of good and evil are ready and waiting for the antichrist to take over the world and destroy it.
But what if the main actor decides to change plans?
This novel is peopled by a delightful cast of characters, including The Gang of Them, a 'fussy angel and a fast living demon', witches and witch finders, and the four Horsemen of the apocalypse.
It's also full of rich ruminations on religion, life, and what it means to be human.

CURRENTLY

Audiobook - Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram

All the Quiet Places by Brian Thomas Isaac 🍁

UP NEXT 

Stuntboy, in the Meantime by Jason Reynolds & Raúl the Third (Illustrations)

The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity by David Graeber & David Wengrow

Golden Gate (City Spies 2) by James Ponti

A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 8/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 5/18

Canadian Authors 24/100

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 9/25 one in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 89/250
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#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 

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