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.
I sit here on the Monday morning of Canadian Thanksgiving weekend midst the detritus and chaos that can only mean that the grandchildren have been visiting. After a few minutes pondering whether I should clean up, go back to bed, or write a blog post, I realized it's been a month since my last one. Either we have been away, or we have had company. Considering that for the next two weekends our house will be full of guests again, and the mess can wait, here I am.
I wish I had done more reading, but being around people so much seriously cuts into my reading life. At least what I have read has been worth it! I'm not going to share everything I read in the last while, just what I think is important or exceptional.
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.
Clicking on the title will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
I was lucky to grow up in the same small town as both my grandmothers. My sons were lucky that it was only a 5 hour drive to visit their grandparents in the same small town. My grandchildren are not so lucky. One set have grandparents in Korea.
I loved the parallels between the two grandmothers who might live on opposite sides of the world from each other, but fit into the child's life in the same ways.
I loved the parallels between the two grandmothers who might live on opposite sides of the world from each other, but fit into the child's life in the same ways.
The five year olds were fascinated by this take on the traditional story - so much so that I was requested to read it more than once. The grandson especially liked it. It was a reminder to me how important it is to interrupt traditional narratives. Next time they visit I will share The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs by Jon Scieszka.
Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep by Elaine M. Alexander & Fiona Fogg (Illustrator) April 5, 2022
I picked up this book because I was off to visit my grandkids. The 2 1/2 year old is a hardcore Bruce fan. Unfortunately, this was over her head and she really didn't get the humour. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Peek a Bruce, both of our favourite titles.
I dug these two The Old Witch titles out from my personal collection to read with my grandkids while they visited this weekend. When I was working I would put as many in the series as we had in our school library on display for Halloween. They were always popular, even if I did have to push a bit to get them started.
The Old Witch goes to a Halloween ball dressed as herself. She is mistaken for an elderly lady who usually dressed up as an old witch. When she doesn't win first prize for her outfit, Old Witch is very angry. She has plans for retribution but luckily, the farmer's wife has a plan to stop her.
The Old Wizzard invites the Old Witch over to show her his newest invention, a hot air balloon gondola. He tells her that she won't need her broom. Luckily, she sneaks it in when he isn't looking. It ends up being a good thing.
Barry Squires, Full Tilt by Heather Smith September 22, 2020 🍁
This book is full of humour, love, and heartache. I adored it. While I was reading it with my eyes, I kept imagining it read by Mary Walsh, or other members of the cast of This Hour has 22 Minutes.
It’s 1995 and 14 year old Barry Squires is full of bravado and piss and vinegar. His life is complicated. He has a port wine birthmark on his face that makes him a target for bullies. His mother is going through baby blues after a surprise child later on in life. Barry adores his baby brother Gord.
After watching the Full Tilt dancers perform, Barry desperately wants to become a member of this troupe of Irish dancers. He watches Riverdance twice and does nothing but practice all the moves. He figures he’s a shoe in. He plans to dazzle Father O'Flaherty with his skill and finds all kinds of ways to practice. Part of this is entertaining the residents of the old folks home.
The problem is that Barry has a temper that he can’t control. He’s also a bit of a prima donna.
The book is loaded with unique and colourful characters. Almost all of them are on Barry's side. When he meets Saibal, a brown skinned lad his own age whose family are long time Newfies, they become instant best friends. Together they do their best to get up to no good. A lot of that involves taking Gord out in his stroller for long walks around the town. When tragedy strikes, Saibal is there for him.
Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag #2) by Zetta Elliott, Ron Butler (Narrator) & Soneela Nankani (Narrator) October 22, 2019 🍁
I ended up enjoying the second in Zetta Elliots fantasy series even more than the first. Kavita, who stole one of the baby dragons Jaxon was supposed to deliver, is having trouble as the little rascal continues to grow and has now learned to escape from her room. She confides in Aunty, the elderly woman who lives with her. The two of them head out to see if they can find someone who will help them return the dragon to it's own world. They end up in serious trouble.
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd (Author and Narrator) May 3, 2022
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson & Kevin T. Collins (Narrator) February 14, 2017
NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS
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| 5 stars |
Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep by Elaine M. Alexander & Fiona Fogg (Illustrator) April 5, 2022
I wasn't sure how this one was going over when I first read it to my five and two and a half year old granddaughters. The eldest left when I was still reading, but it turned out that the youngest truly enjoyed it. I had to read it to her twice. Then she managed to convince her father and grandfather to read it to her at least two other times.
I would definitely have purchased this for our school library. It makes a brilliant addition to lifecycle collection. I appreciated the additional information in the back matter, the glossary and the index. Fiona Fogg's illustrations make this a fascinating and creepy read.
READERS
I picked up this book because I was off to visit my grandkids. The 2 1/2 year old is a hardcore Bruce fan. Unfortunately, this was over her head and she really didn't get the humour. I enjoyed it, but not as much as Peek a Bruce, both of our favourite titles.
They delighted both my five year old grandkids. I encourage you to read them if you can find any copies. They are humorous readers full of interesting plot twists. At their heart is a delightful sweetness. The two we read have different illustrators. This led to an interesting conversation about which books we liked best based on the artwork. I checked the series out and discovered that almost all the books have different illustrators. I don't think you would find this in a series today. If I was still teaching I would dig out as many different copies as I could and do a critical literacy lesson looking at how the different kinds of artwork influence our perceptions of character.
I went looking for more information about Ida DeLage and could find nothing. If you have any knowledge about her, please let me know.
I preferred the illustrations in this to the previous one because Old Witch is more human and less of a caricature.
MG NOVELS
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| 5 stars |
Barry Squires, Full Tilt by Heather Smith September 22, 2020 🍁
This book is full of humour, love, and heartache. I adored it. While I was reading it with my eyes, I kept imagining it read by Mary Walsh, or other members of the cast of This Hour has 22 Minutes.
It’s 1995 and 14 year old Barry Squires is full of bravado and piss and vinegar. His life is complicated. He has a port wine birthmark on his face that makes him a target for bullies. His mother is going through baby blues after a surprise child later on in life. Barry adores his baby brother Gord.
After watching the Full Tilt dancers perform, Barry desperately wants to become a member of this troupe of Irish dancers. He watches Riverdance twice and does nothing but practice all the moves. He figures he’s a shoe in. He plans to dazzle Father O'Flaherty with his skill and finds all kinds of ways to practice. Part of this is entertaining the residents of the old folks home.
The problem is that Barry has a temper that he can’t control. He’s also a bit of a prima donna.
The book is loaded with unique and colourful characters. Almost all of them are on Barry's side. When he meets Saibal, a brown skinned lad his own age whose family are long time Newfies, they become instant best friends. Together they do their best to get up to no good. A lot of that involves taking Gord out in his stroller for long walks around the town. When tragedy strikes, Saibal is there for him.
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| 4 stars |
Dragon Thief (Dragons in a Bag #2) by Zetta Elliott, Ron Butler (Narrator) & Soneela Nankani (Narrator) October 22, 2019 🍁
I ended up enjoying the second in Zetta Elliots fantasy series even more than the first. Kavita, who stole one of the baby dragons Jaxon was supposed to deliver, is having trouble as the little rascal continues to grow and has now learned to escape from her room. She confides in Aunty, the elderly woman who lives with her. The two of them head out to see if they can find someone who will help them return the dragon to it's own world. They end up in serious trouble.
After their return from the magical world, Ma, Jaxson's mentor, fell into a coma. Jaxson, along with Kavita's brother, Vikram, and their new friend, Kenny, set off to find a gate to the other realm in hopes of finding a cure for her. In the process they meet with Kavita and have to work together to keep the baby dragon safe, and return it to where it belongs.
Like the prequel, this is full of adventure and excitement. I liked that Kenny and Aunty proved to be much more than they first seemed to be. I appreciated learning about the history of black people in India.
I enjoyed this so much that as soon as it was finished, I downloaded the next in the series.
Zetta Elliott was born and raised in Canada, but now lives in the United States.I enjoyed this so much that as soon as it was finished, I downloaded the next in the series.
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| 5 stars |
Hummingbird by Natalie Lloyd (Author and Narrator) May 3, 2022
As soon as I started reading Hummingbird, I fell in love with Natalie Lloyd's writing all over again. She reminds us of what is really important: that what we need and what we think we need, might not be the same things.
She does this by creating characters so real and heartfelt that we can't help but root for them. Perhaps I'm drawn to twelve-year-old Olive, who because she has osteogenesis imperfecta, must use a wheelchair. I grew up with a parent who used a wheelchair and am always happy to see characters of any age wheeling around. Of course, Olive's spunk and optimism makes it impossible not to admire her. I like that it's her athletic stepbrother who has insecurity issues while Olive almost spills over with confidence and determination.
She does this by creating characters so real and heartfelt that we can't help but root for them. Perhaps I'm drawn to twelve-year-old Olive, who because she has osteogenesis imperfecta, must use a wheelchair. I grew up with a parent who used a wheelchair and am always happy to see characters of any age wheeling around. Of course, Olive's spunk and optimism makes it impossible not to admire her. I like that it's her athletic stepbrother who has insecurity issues while Olive almost spills over with confidence and determination.
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| 5 stars |
Last Day on Mars by Kevin Emerson & Kevin T. Collins (Narrator) February 14, 2017
Thanks to Aaron @ Wriggling Bookworms for the introduction to this one. Now that I finally finished it I have to wonder, what took me so long?
I was drawn into this world right from the get go. I remained entranced throughout.
It's the story of a couple of teens, Liam and Phoebe, who, because of their parents research work, are scheduled to leave on the last airship from Mars just before the sun goes supernova.
It's full of suspense, action, and mystery. It involves time travel, the discovery of aliens, and for the two teens, a whole new way of looking at the universe.
Bree and her single parent father are moving to Florida. She is worried, but ends up meeting Clara, a girl from her new school, in the lobby of their building. Bree looks forward to joining the Math club, but it turns out to be full. So are all the other clubs. Well, all except for Swimming. Not only can Bree not swim, she's afraid of the water. The only good thing is that Clara is also a member. After cutting swim club enough times, her father finds out and hires Etta, an older swimmer, to teach her to swim.
No one is more surprised than Bree when she makes it on the school swim team, the Mighty Manatees. The worst thing about swim meets is the group of mean girls at Holyoke Prep, a private school with top of the line amenities. They go our of their way to harass the swimmers from the public school. Things start looking up when their coach enlists Etta's help with the team, but the team itself still can't seem to come together to support one another.
I liked this book a lot. I like how it introduces readers to the history of segregation with respect to swimming and pool access. I like the relationship between Bree and her father. He works too much, but still does his best to support his daughter. I also really liked the intergenerational friendship between Etta and Bree. I appreciated that when Bree went out of her way to locate the members of Etta's swimming team, her own team began to coalesce.
I liked the bright colourful artwork. I especially admired the yellow of the Mighty Manatees compared to the other teams. On top of all the history and drama, Johnnie Christmas has added strong character development. I loved that ending with Bree and her father.
I hope there is a sequel, and expect the target audience will too.
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) N.K. Jemisin & Robin Miles (Narrator)
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Marin Ireland (Narrator) & Michael Urie (Narrator) May 3, 2022
Tova Sullivan, 70 years old and recently widowed works cleaning the local aquarium at night. She works to take her mind off the loss of her husband and Eric, her 18 year old son who went missing many years earlier. She bonds with Marcellus McSquiddles, a pacific octopus, after rescuing him from being tangled up in cords on one of his nightly escapes from his tank.
Cameron, raised by a loving aunt, is a an aging garage band rocker with no goal or focus in life. When he is given a box of his mothers, he thinks he has a line on who his father is and sets out to find him. He ends up working in the same aquarium as Tova.
Marcellus McSquiddles, a pacific octopus, narrates this story. He deduces what happened to Eric and sees things in these two that they can't see for themselves. In his nightly excursions he does what he can to help them realize it.
The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander & Karen Cass (Narrator)
This is an ideal feel good novel. Not only does it have romance, it's got lots of conversations about books for people of all ages.
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers & Em Grosland (Narrator) July 12, 2022
I loved this continuation of the story of Sibling Dex and Mosscap. I loved the deepening friendship between these two characters. But when it ended, I screamed, "No, No! this can't be all there is!"
It continues the conversation about what it is that we humans need. It provides a model for living together in healthy communities where people look after each other and their environments.
While I wait for the next one in this series, I suppose I should start reading Becky Chambers other work.
I was drawn into this world right from the get go. I remained entranced throughout.
It's the story of a couple of teens, Liam and Phoebe, who, because of their parents research work, are scheduled to leave on the last airship from Mars just before the sun goes supernova.
It's full of suspense, action, and mystery. It involves time travel, the discovery of aliens, and for the two teens, a whole new way of looking at the universe.
No one is more surprised than Bree when she makes it on the school swim team, the Mighty Manatees. The worst thing about swim meets is the group of mean girls at Holyoke Prep, a private school with top of the line amenities. They go our of their way to harass the swimmers from the public school. Things start looking up when their coach enlists Etta's help with the team, but the team itself still can't seem to come together to support one another.
I liked this book a lot. I like how it introduces readers to the history of segregation with respect to swimming and pool access. I like the relationship between Bree and her father. He works too much, but still does his best to support his daughter. I also really liked the intergenerational friendship between Etta and Bree. I appreciated that when Bree went out of her way to locate the members of Etta's swimming team, her own team began to coalesce.
I liked the bright colourful artwork. I especially admired the yellow of the Mighty Manatees compared to the other teams. On top of all the history and drama, Johnnie Christmas has added strong character development. I loved that ending with Bree and her father.
I hope there is a sequel, and expect the target audience will too.
YA & ADULT FICTION
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| 5+ stars |
The Obelisk Gate (The Broken Earth #2) N.K. Jemisin & Robin Miles (Narrator)
My God but I absolutely adore this series. If you haven't read it, I highly encourage you to get started. The world building and characters are frigging brilliant. I read it twice.
It is set on a supercontinent facing a fifth season (what could turn out to be millennia of winter). The tale is told through the perspectives of Essun, a mother and gifted orogene (person with magical ability,) and Nassun, her adolescent daughter. Essun is hunkered down in the Castrima Comm where she is learning more about her powers from Alabaster, a previous lover, who is near death. Nassun's story begins with her discovery of the murder of her younger brother by their father. They embark upon a journey to a place where he thinks Nassun can be cured of her orogene.
The only bad thing about finishing this book is having to wait for the last in the series to become available.
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| 5 stars |
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, Marin Ireland (Narrator) & Michael Urie (Narrator) May 3, 2022
This book made my heart sing.
There are three different stories all coming together.Tova Sullivan, 70 years old and recently widowed works cleaning the local aquarium at night. She works to take her mind off the loss of her husband and Eric, her 18 year old son who went missing many years earlier. She bonds with Marcellus McSquiddles, a pacific octopus, after rescuing him from being tangled up in cords on one of his nightly escapes from his tank.
Cameron, raised by a loving aunt, is a an aging garage band rocker with no goal or focus in life. When he is given a box of his mothers, he thinks he has a line on who his father is and sets out to find him. He ends up working in the same aquarium as Tova.
Marcellus McSquiddles, a pacific octopus, narrates this story. He deduces what happened to Eric and sees things in these two that they can't see for themselves. In his nightly excursions he does what he can to help them realize it.
The Littlest Library by Poppy Alexander & Karen Cass (Narrator)
This is an ideal feel good novel. Not only does it have romance, it's got lots of conversations about books for people of all ages.
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers & Em Grosland (Narrator) July 12, 2022
It continues the conversation about what it is that we humans need. It provides a model for living together in healthy communities where people look after each other and their environments.
While I wait for the next one in this series, I suppose I should start reading Becky Chambers other work.
CURRENTLY
The Merciless Ones (The Gilded Ones, #2) by by Namina Forna
2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 7
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 227/250
Invisible by Christina Diaz Gonzalez
The Project by Courtney Summers 🍁
UP NEXT
I've had these books on my up next list for a number of weeks now. I do mean to get to them but must admit that they are merely suggestions.
UpGrade by Blake Crouch
We, Jane by Aimee Wall April 27, 2021 🍁
Batter Royale by Leisl Adams June 7, 2022 🍁
Batter Royale by Leisl Adams June 7, 2022 🍁
READING GOALS
#MustReadFiction 21/24
#MustReadNonFiction 14/18
Canadian Authors 57/100 one in progress
Canada Reads shortlist 5/5
Indigenous Authors 15/25 one in progress
