Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Science Fiction. Show all posts

#IMWAYR June 19, 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.

My husband and I went out for curry dinner last night to celebrate Father's day. We brought home enough leftovers for a couple more meals. Hope all the dads out there had a wonderful day. 

What the heck happened to summer? It was so cold yesterday that I finally gave up and turned on the furnace! It was only 9°c this morning! The good thing about this weather is that I have been able to get the garden weeded. I've been harvesting cucumbers and radishes and yesterday I picked the first zucchini. The raspberries are coming on and wow are they delicious! 

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.

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS

4 stars

Mary Wears What She Wants by Keith Negley January 29, 2019

Mary Walker was an exceptional woman who wore whatever she wanted. She was an abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war and surgeon, and the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor.
I enjoyed reading about her but wish more people had accepted women and girl's right to wear long pants before I went to school in the 1960's.


I was already a gushing fan of Isobel Greenberg's graphic novels and illustration, so I was predestined to love this feminist, graphic retelling of the myth of Gaia. I wish so much that I was still working in the library so I could purchase this book and share it with readers.
The first part of the book introduces readers to the different gods and goddesses with both an illustration and a write up. The rest of the book is the story of these characters told from Gaia's perspective.
I am looking forward to reading more work by this duo. 

MIDDLE GRADE FICTION
Miriam Brockman and her family have moved to a small town to run, what they soon discover to be, a very run down motel. Miriam is left looking after her little brother while the family is busy working to get it halfway decent for guests. In spite of this, Miriam makes friends with Kate, whose grandmother owns the diner next door. She also connects with Maria, the young adult housekeeper who works at the inn.
When it looks like both the diner and the motel are going to fail, Miriam and Kate come up with a plan to save them all. Whether or not it is ethical, no matter how successful it becomes, is an issue neither of the girls really wants to deal with.
There are other side issues - Miriam is terrified of water but her uncle, who is helping out at the inn until school starts in September, is helping her learn to swim. There are some differences between Miriam's Jewish family and the Christian community, but mostly they adopt a few of each other's foods and get along. When antisemitism raises it's head, and a near tragedy occurs, the family are supported by the rest of the community.

5 stars

Spell Sweeper by Lee Edward Födi & Sandy Rustin (Narrator) November 30, 2021 🍁

I have been meaning to read some Lee Edward Födi for ages. Now I wish I hadn't waited so darn long.
Cara Moone attends a prestigious school for wizards - but her family can't know what they do because magic is kept a secret from ordinary people. Unfortunately Cara failed the wizard aptitude test and is stuck in the spell sweeper department. She and her mates are left to clean up residual dust, leftover when their classmates and teachers perform magic. Because of her job, she's on the spot when a monster shows up  and reveals a rift in the fabric of magic. To fix the problem, Cara ends up working with her arch enemy, Harlee Wu, to stop the people causing it. 
This book is full of important messages for ordinary, non wizardly people about accepting and valuing ourselves for who we are. It highlights how important it is to challenge our biases and assumptions about other people and species. 
This was a really good read. I sure hope that this is not the end of Cara Moone's story. 


When her brother, Devin, heads off to university, Riley Henderson is bereft and bewildered. He took care of everything for her, including introducing her to dungeons and dragons. Over time Riley finally makes new friends and starts up a new D&D group. When her brother drops out of school and returns home, he wants things to go back as they were, but Riley and her mother have learned to cope just fine without him. Riley realizes that it's time for her to be the one to look after her brother.
I loved the relationships between Riley and her friends. I loved how they helped and supported one another.

4 stars

The Island of Monsters (Spirit Hunters #2) by Ellen Oh & Amielynn Abellera (Narrator)

This is about the level of horror I can manage. It begins with a spirit eating demon devouring Harper Raine's ghostly friends. Working with her grandmother they manage to find and destroy it. Then when the family is on vacation on a tropical island, they come upon a nest of the creatures. They are devouring the souls of living people and have marked her little brother. Harper's grandmother can't come to help her, so it's up to her to save him and destroy these evil creatures. 

The first book in this series, Ancillary Justice, is the only book to have won the Hugo Award, Nebula Award, and the Arthur C. Clark Award.

I adored this book even more than the first. 
It is the second in the Imperial Radch Series, staring Breq, a soldier who used to be a warship. Breq is now captain of her own ship. She ends up at Athoek Station where her goal is to protect the family of a lieutenant she once knew and was forced to kill.
The Rache are a nongendered culture. What we would call feminine pronouns are used for everyone. 
"Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch trilogy has become one of the new classics of science fiction. Beautifully written and forward thinking, it does what good science fiction does best, taking readers to bold new worlds with plenty of explosions along the way." 

5 stars

Ancillary Mercy (Imperial Radch #3) by Ann Leckie  & Adjoa Andoh (Narrator) October 6, 2015

I downloaded this book as soon as I finished the second, but forced myself to  listen to other audiobooks that would expire first. I finished one of those, but couldn't wait any longer. I just had to start listening to this one. I needed to be back in Ann Leckie's world. I kind of wish I never had to leave it. I adore her multidimensional characters. I relish the way my mind was bent trying to grasp what it would be like to be both an individual and part of a unit of cognitively connected mind - and what it would be like to lose that connection. I love that this book takes a deep look at what it means to be human, to have personhood, to what Leckie calls, have significance. 

CURRENTLY

Gut by Giulia Enders & Jill Enders (Illustrator)

An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us by Ed Yong

Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki & Carrielynn Victor (Illustrator) April 11, 2023 🍁

UP NEXT 

Glass Town by Isabel Greenberg

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca & Priya Ayyar

Hoops by Matt Tavares

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 10/24 one in progress

#MustReadNonFiction 8/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 23/75 

Indigenous Authors 9/20 

Big Books Summer 2023 - 1/5

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 90/200


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#IMWAYR June 5, 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.


It has been a while since I last posted - just over a month. I started writing a number of times, but life just got in the way. I am determined to write at least every other 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.

MOST RECENT BLOG POST


PICTURE BOOKS

I downloaded this book to read with Ellis, my dinosaur crazed three year old granddaughter. There isn't much about dinosaurs in it, but it is a fun, alphabet, rhyming book about what animals can't do. Then in the back matter there is a bit of information explaining what each of the animals can do! Ellis wasn't to interested in it, but her six year old sister was fascinated. 

CHILDREN'S NONFICTION PICTURE BOOKS


I nabbed this book from the library because I am a ginormous fan of Isabel Greenberg, the illustrator of this. Am I ever glad I did.
It is a book to help us (children and adults) grasp the enormity of large numbers. I say help, because really, how can anyone come close to making sense of a number like 100,000,000,000,000,000. Most of us can't really grasp 1,000,000,000.
I really appreciated that these massive numbers were written in words at the bottom of the pages where they were mentioned. My favourite page explains that the 10,000,000,000,000,000 ants that live on this planet weigh as much as the 7,500,000,000 people who they share it with.


I started reading this because of Isabel Greenberg's artwork. I ended up loving all of it.
This book makes connections that show how how important the ocean is to our lives, even if we live a long distance from it.
Did you know that seven out of every ten gulps of air you take contain oxygen created by ocean plants?
It's full of fascinating tidbits information about ocean creatures.
I especially appreciate the end of this book where it cycles back to us, revealing the many ways human actions affect the oceans.
Author's notes in the back matter expand on the information in the book.

These underwater photographs are just stunning.
They give the reader a glimpse of the world under the sea just off the coast of South Africa. It reveals a multitude of creatures who inhabit that realm.
While an octopus is shown, I expected a bit more about it. I think this is just because of the author and the text on the bottom of the cover.

YA FICTION


This is the story of a Metis teen who is the child of rape. Her biological father, just released from jail, is stalking her, claiming he will financially support her eduction goals if she will add his name to her birth certificate. 
This book is all about being 'the other.'
It's a story of romantic and sexual love. It shows a family working together to make a better life for each of it's members. It's about friendship and how important it is to be there for and stand up for the people we care for. 
It's also kind of terrifying. 

5 stars

The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill February 28, 2023

There I was with a group of women friends. They were outside in the sunshine, drinking wine, chatting and laughing while I was inside, totally absorbed by this weird and wonderful feminist retelling of The Crane Wife. 
I always loved Kelly Barnhill's children's books. I am now a hard core fan of her books for adults. Ok, since the protagonist here is a 15 year old girl who is trying to keep her brother safe and her family together while her mother works on her artwork, it's probably a YA book - or maybe it's just a book for readers of all ages. Things get extremely dark when her mother brings home a large crane, and she seems almost unaware of his brutality.

ADULT FICTION

4 stars

A Lethal Lesson by Iona Whishaw & Marilla Wex (Narrator) April 27, 2021 🍁

Lane ends up working as a substitute teacher after discovering the existing teacher  unconscious from a beating. This book addresses issues of abuse for women and children. 

4 stars

Framed in Fire by Iona Whishaw  & Marilla Wex (Narrator) April 26, 2022 🍁

When Lane goes to visit her friend Peter Barisoff in New Denver, she meets up with Tom, an indigenous man, who is looking for traces of his ancestors. They find Peter working in his garden where the three of them unearth a body. 
This book reveals a bit about the history of the indigenous people who once inhabited the West Kootenays. It also addresses issues of racism and prejudice. 

I was enthralled by this story of two friends, Fabienne and Agnès, growing up a small community in France after the war. The two thirteen year old girls write a novel. (Fabienne tells the story while Agnès transcribes it.) They get the local postmaster to help them get it published, with Agnès presented as the author. Her life is changed because of this. Ultimately this book is about about how much one of them will sacrifice to improve the life of the other.
I will reading more by Yiyun Li. Her writing is beautiful. 

While this book is fiction, it is based on true events and the characters are, in many ways, composites of the lives of real women. 
It's the story of the prochoice abortion movement. It connects women across time - from the abusive maternity homes and deadly backroom abortions of earlier years, to the women and men who provided safe (but still against the law) abortions with the help of different kinds of underground networks, and finally to today, where in Canada at least, abortion on demand is still, theoretically at least, available. Finding a nearby clinic is impossible in some parts of the country. It's also about motherhood and what women go through to achieve it. 
Ultimately, it's about choice. 

I especially like the way Leckie deals with gender in this book. In the protagonists culture, everyone is a she, whereas in other cultures she often errs and misgenders people. We never really know what (if any) gender she is. I'm fascinated by her imagining of AI in a future world. I liked a lot about this book and am now reading the next in the series. It might even be better than the first. 


There are few things as satisfying as finding yourself lost in a book. I had no real idea of what I was in for when I started this, but ended up being fascinated by Elizebeth Smith Friedman's life and the times she lived through. She was brilliant. If she was alive today, I suspect she would have been one of the world's finest computer programers.
Not only did I learn more about codes, I learned about the their use and abuses across the span of her life. It was fascinating to learn about how the different aspects of government interacted.
Elizebeth and her husband were both code breakers and makers. As is usual in these cases, it was he who garnered most of the credit while they were alive. Her life is remarkable given that she was a woman born 1892. Getting an education was no mean feat. Becoming one of the countries foremost code breakers of her time is an especially remarkable accomplishment.


I worried this would be harder to listen to, but Yeonmi Park is almost dispassionate about some of the horror she and her family experienced. By North Korean standards, her family, at least until after her father was arrested, were privileged. Following his incarceration for smuggling, things changed drastically. 
Park and her mother's escape from North Korean to China is a story of sexual abuse and slavery. With the help of a missionary group, she eventually ended up in South Korea where she became involved in the human rights movement. She now lives in the USA. 

CURRENTLY

Gut by Giulia Enders & Jill Enders (Illustrator)
VenCo by Cherie Dimaline 🍁
Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
The Secret Pocket by Peggy Janicki & Carrielynn Victor (Illustrator) April 11, 2023 🍁

UP NEXT 

Roll For the Initiative by Jaime Formato

READING GOALS 

#MustReadFiction 6/24

#MustReadNonFiction 8/20 one in progress

Canadian Authors 21/75 

Indigenous Authors 9/20 

Big Books Summer 2023 - 1/5

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 82/200


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#IMWAYR October 24, 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.

Life has been busy, but we have no company scheduled for the next while, the garden is sort of under control, and I feel like I might have my reading mojo back. Today is a catch up post from the last couple of weeks, but I hope to be back on track posting and responding regularly every Monday for the next while.

November 2nd is I Read Canadian Day!

The finalists for the Governor General Literary Awards were announced last week. Some I've read, but those I haven't are now on my wish list. 
I do my best to read as many books by Canadian authors as I can. Four of the titles I finished this week fit this bill. All the books I am currently reading meet that criteria. I'll be reading only Canadian authors in the near future. Next week I plan to do a blog post on the Canadian Authors I have read in the last year or so. In the meantime, here are some links to I Read Canadian Day from 2021.
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

A Spoonful of Frogs by Casey Lyall 🍁 & Vera Brosgol (Illustrator) July 19th 2022

If you don't already have this in your school library, hurry up and purchase it for your Halloween collection. 
It's hilarious. It isn't obvious at first, but a witch is making a batch of soup on a cooking show. It actually sounds pretty good except for the cup of fly extract. Then she tries to catch a spoonful of frogs. If you have ever tried to catch a frog, you will appreciate the impossibility of getting one to sit on a spoon. Children of all ages will chuckle at the witch's antics as she tries to pull it off. 


I wish I had read this with my grandchildren to find out what they think of it. As much as I appreciated this book, (I am a sucker for these kinds of generational relationships) I wonder if they would find it as engaging.
It's the story of an immigrant family bringing a seed from home and planting it in their new country. In this case, the walnut tree grows tall while the boy who planted it becomes elderly and frail. He gives a nut from the tree to his granddaughter and tells her the story of how she came to receive it. Together they plant it in a pot and nurture it.
When he eventually dies, the girl and her mother plant the sapling outside beside the mother's and grandfather's trees.
I liked how this story shows us death in the larger context of the cycle of life, but doesn't diminish the young girl's grief.
I would pair this book with The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland.

When city hall doesn't have the information a young boy wants, inspired by his grandmother, he sets out to collect the data for himself.
He goes door to door collecting information about who in his neighborhood has a dog, and the dog's name. Not everyone has a dog, so he ends up collecting data about all sorts of different pets. Eventually, this data is used to create a dog park in the community.

Thanks to Myra @ GatheringBooks and Linda @ Teacher Dance for introducing this book to me. 

While this story is told from a child's point of view, I completely connected to it. While I miss my grandchildren and sons, this little person misses a grandparent. It's hard for all of us to live so far apart.
Suzy Lee's depiction of the grandmother had me thinking about the Korean grandmother of two of my granddaughters. At least I get to see our darlings once in a while. Since Covid, she hasn't even seen the newest, now two and a half, except through FaceTime. I am very lucky. 

NON FICTION PICTURE BOOKS 


This has been nominated for a 2022 Governor General Literary Award. Once you read it you will understand why.
Honestly, I wasn't sure I would like it, but the author is Canadian, and it has that nomination. I ended up completely enthralled. Time is a tricky idea. Julie Morstad provides multiple metaphors and concrete examples of what time feels and looks like. Her artwork is just gorgeous. 
As I was reading I wished it had been around when primary teachers would come to see me looking for a book on this very topic. I can envision using it with different ages as a springboard to thinking about time as a big idea and writing our own poems and books. I hope to get the chance to use it with students.


Dan Gemeinhart gets to me every time I read a book from him. I can't help but adore his characters. This one is a story about friendship and belonging. It's quirky, bizarre and full of sweetness with a hint of magical realism thrown in.
I started and finished it in one sitting.
Ravani Foster is a lonely boy who while staring out his window one night, sees a group of children move into the house across the street from in. He is befriended by Virginia, one of the girls. That friendship is the catalyst that changes all of their lives.
I especially appreciated the tone of the omniscient narrator. It is reminiscent of an old time story teller, every once in a while dropping in hints of what disasters might be coming next.

This bilingual tale (Spanish and English) is the story of a crew of Latino students who end up working together in their school cafeteria for community service.
We come to see them as unique individuals with different kinds of struggles, but just like the homeless mother and child they try to help, their differences are invisible to their supervisor who assumes they are all the same.


This was a lot of fun. Rose, a waitress and wanna be chef, serves a special dessert to a food critic and ends up getting an invitation to a cooking contest. If she wins she will be able to pay for tuition and living expenses at a top culinary school. It takes a bit, but eventually she convinces Fred, her best friend, to partner her. Winning half of $500,000 dollars will go a long way to help out his family's struggling restaurant.
The contest proves to be more harrowing than they could have imagined. By the end, they learn a lot about cooking, but even more about their feelings for each other.
I liked a lot about this book, especially the recipes for the different desserts! I'm hoping to get to making some macarons in the near future!

YA & ADULT FICTION

4 stars

The Merciless Ones (The Gilded Ones, #2) by by Namina, Forna & Filippa Suenson (Narrator) May 31st 2022

I'm certain that I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if I hadn't just finished The Obelisk Gate before starting it.
In spite of this, I ended up completely engaged in this continuation of Deka's story. It's chock full of action, convoluted plot twists, secrets, and betrayal. It's fine enough that I would have started the next one right away had it been available.
 

This was brilliant. I was totally hooked from the get go. It's the story, set in a not to distant future, of genetic engineering gone terribly wrong. Logan Ramsay's mother was a brilliant geneticist whose misguided, but well meaning work, ended up destroying food crops. It resulted in a famine where 200 million people starved to death.
Her son, now working for a branch of the American secret service, ends up contaminated by a virus that changes his genome. He ends up with different kinds of super powers. His sister also has them. It turns out that their mother, once presumed dead, is responsible for both of them. She wants them to take up her work creating a race of super humans in order to save the world. The two siblings disagree with each other about her goals and end up in a conflict that will leave one of them dead.

3 stars

The Project by Courtney Summers February 2nd 2021  🍁

Unfortunately I did not finish this book. I tried my best and made it 75% of the way.
I don't generally read books that are considered thrillers, but I adored Sadie by Courtney Summers so I was determined to give this a go. The problem for me is that Sadie is a strong character, whereas Lo Denham is weak. 
In the end I abandoned the audiobook, downloaded the ebook and read the last 10% or so. I went and tried to scan through what I missed, but the violence was too much for me. The last bit was enough to satisfy my curiosity about what happened to the characters without having to vicariously experience the brutality.
What I liked most about the book was the insight I garnered about how people can be seduced into joining a cult.
 
CURRENTLY

Rachel Bird by Becky Citra  🍁   
The Witch's Apprentice by Zetta Elliott October 22, 2019 🍁
Weird Rules to Follow by Kim Spencer October 18, 2022 🍁
Ducks by Kate Beaton September 13th 2022 🍁

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.

We, Jane by Aimee Wall April 27, 2021  🍁
Butt Sandwich & Tree by Wesley King  🍁
Crows: Genius Birds by Kyla Vanderklugt  🍁
When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

I will deal with the rest of the pile of picture books by Canadian authors or else!
  
READING GOALS

#MustReadFiction 22/24 

#MustReadNonFiction 14/18 one in progress

Canadian Authors 61/100 four in progress

Canada Reads shortlist 5/5 

Indigenous Authors 15/25 one in progress

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 7

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 238/250

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#IMWAYR October 12, 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.

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.
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.

5 stars

The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig Eugene Trivizas &  Helen Oxenbury January 1, 1993

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.

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.

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. 

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. 
  

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. 
I preferred the illustrations in this to the previous one because Old Witch is more human and less of a caricature. 

MG NOVELS

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.

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.
 
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.

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.

YA & ADULT FICTION

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. 

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

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. 

CURRENTLY
   
The Merciless Ones (The Gilded Ones, #2) by by Namina Forna
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  🍁

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

2022 Big Book Summer Challenge 7

Goodreads Reading Challenge: 227/250

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