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 big plans for what I want to read in the week, but as Robert Burns says,
"The best-laid schemes of mice and (wo)men
Go oft awry."
So it is for me. Between company and canning, by the end of the day I'm exhausted. Instead of reading I put my feet up, pull out my knitting and turn on the TV. At least I have my audiobooks during those times when I'm working and don't have other people around.
Here are a few photographs of what we've/I've accomplished in the last few days. There is more canning but it's already on shelves in the coolroom.
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.
GRAPHIC NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Banned Book Club by Kim Hyun Sook, Ko Hyung-Ju & Ryan Estrada
I was fascinated and terrified by this look into the recent history of Korea. The experiences of numerous real people are amalgamated into the narrative. It tells the story of a group of young readers who meet to read and discuss banned books in 1983. You might be surprised by how dangerous reading is perceived to be under an authoritarian government. Spies are everywhere at the university campus. Many students are paid to go so they can inform on other students. Conflict with police and arrests were common.
The end of the book takes us to a reunion of the book club in 2016. They are in the middle of another protest, but this time the participants are from all ages and all walks of life. I would probably bring this into my Elementary school library for upper intermediate readers. I see it as a real world jumping off point after students have read Ban This Book by Alan Gratz.
NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Parachutes by Kelly Yang, Cassie Simone (Narrator) & Karissa Vacker (Narrator)
This is a rollercoaster of a read. It's the story of two girls from different worlds who come together because of the prestigious private school they attend. Dani De La Cruz and her mother struggle to make ends meet. To help them out financially her Mom sets them up to host an international student, Claire Wang. Claire, a privileged wealthy Chinese foreign student, and Dani seem to have nothing in common.
The story is told from the perspective of both these girls. While they come from different backgrounds, a misogynistic system of rape culture makes both of them vulnerable.
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| 5 stars |
Audacity by Melanie Crowder
This novel in gorgeous verse is a fictionalized account of the life of Clara Lemlich. She fought hard to unionize and improve the working conditions of women garment workers in New York in the late 1900's. It follows her and her family as they leave their village in anti semitic Russia and travel across Europe to England. After a time there they manage to get steerage passage to the United States.
Shortly after arriving, Clara got a job working in a sweatshop as a seamstress. Her meager earnings supported her whole family, including her father and brothers who spent the day studying. Clara was frustrated by the unfairness of her situation. Passionate about educating herself she attended classes at night to improve her English. At one point she was offered a scholarship to go to college where she could fulfill her dream of becoming a doctor. Still the working conditions under which she and other workers toiled were so horrific, unsafe, and unfair, that she ended up having to choose between that dream, and that of helping all the other suffering women workers. In the end, in spite of the violence she endured by strikebreakers, goons, and police, she continued organizing for the union.
The backmatter contains information about Clara Lemlich and shows that she was an activist up until she died in 1982. It also includes the transcript of interviews with her children and grandchildren. There's a glossary and a bibliography. Alas, there is no recipe for the rugelach her family spoke so fondly of.
CURRENTLY
I'm still reading Yara's Spring by Sharon McKay & Jamal Saeed. (I'm not a fan of reading digitally) My loan for the audiobook of The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue by by Karina Yan Glaser expired before I could finish it. I'm now listening to Welcome to the World, Baby Girl! by Fannie Flagg. I crowdsourced part of my #MustRead list this year and the sequel to it was one of the recommendations so I'm reading this first. Everytime I read a book by Fannie Flag I am in awe of how beautifully she crafts her characters .
UP NEXT
I will make time for Forward Me Back to You by Mitali Perkins. (It will be my 10th big book of the summer.) I hope to get to Monsters by David Robertson. My next audiobook will be Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi. There is a pile of picture books I need to get to as well.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
Big Books Summer 2020 9/10
#MustReadIn2020: 18/25
#MustReadNFIn2020: 8/12
Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors: 17/25 100
Books by Canadian Authors: 105/100
Goodreads Reading Challenge: 244/333
#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.
My partner and I went off for a few days to our home in the Okanagan Valley. On our way we discovered that a cousin of mine had died and his funeral was on the following Saturday. We decided to stick around for that. Besides lazing around, baking, eating and reading, I got all the windows washed and vacuumed and dusted the basement. Then on Saturday we travelled east with another cousin and his wife to the service, a three hour drive from there and another three hours back. Early Sunday we got up, tidied the house, and headed back to Vancouver. We sure are glad to be back with our grandkids!
Today is a big day here in Canada as we are voting to elect a new federal government. Not only to I have to get out early and vote, I have to pick up and prepare food for book club at my place at 1:30. I'm also booked to go and help get out the vote for the candidate of my choice after that. All this means that I will try and read everyone's post later this week. Keep your fingers crossed that we will end up with a progressive government.
Titles with a 🍁indicate this is a Canadian Author.
Clicking on the title of the book will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
RECENT BLOG POSTS
PICTURE BOOKS
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| 5 stars |
The Lion and the Bird by Marianne Dubuc & Claudia Zoe Bedrick (Translator) 🍁
A lion finds a wounded bird. He nurses it back to health. The next spring the bird flies off with the rest of it's flock. The lion, missing the bird, goes on with his life waiting and hoping. While this book is about friendship, it also reminded me about parenting. It's nearly wordless. The illustrations are breathtaking. Dubuc is the queen of how to use empty space. She reveals so much emotion and story in her images. I'm not even sure it needs the sparse text that's there.
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| 5 stars |
Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed & Anoosha Syed (Illustrator)
This is a delightful story about friendship, cooking, and trying new things. Anoosha Syed's bright art highlights a community very much like the one I live in. On top of that, there is a recipe at the back of the book.
Guess what we are having for dinner tomorrow?
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| 4 stars |
I'm Worried (I'm Bored! #3) by Michael Ian Black & Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Illustrator)
While there are some humorous aspects to this book, ultimately it's a serious book about dealing with anxiety. While I doubt anxious children will suddenly recover from their worrying after reading this book, it might help them realize they are not alone. What it does well is provide an opportunity for building empathy and understanding in others.
Debbie Ridpath Ohi is Canadian. 🍁
NOVELS
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| 4 stars |
Tree of Dreams by Laura Resau
I appreciated so much about this book. There is a lot going on. It begins with a betrayal between two best friends. Our protagonist, Coco, and her mother own El Corazón, a chocolate shop that is losing money and will soon have to close. She enters a contest to win a trip to the Amazon where she plans to track down a special mother tree and find a treasure. Leo de la Cueva, her former best friend, also enters the contest. It's a tie so both of them, their mothers, and their elderly landlord take off on a journey into Ecuador. They end up to a remote Huaorani village in the heart of the Amazon. There Coco discovers that there are many different kinds of treasures.
Young readers will appreciate this story of redemption and forgiveness while they learn what devastation of the rainforest means to indigenous people. They will also learn a lot about chocolate making and how it makes everything better! I especially loved the magical realism aspects to the story that integrates science and wonder.
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| 5 stars |
Are You Ready to Hatch An Unusual Chicken? by Kelly Jones & Katie Kath (illustrator)
The first book in the series made me want to own my own flock of chickens. Living in the city makes that difficult. Upon finishing this one, I’m seriously contemplating moving to the country just so I too can be a poultry farmer.
In this book Sophie learns how to hatch unusual chickens. For the rest of us, it’s a lesson in how to hatch regular ones. It turns out that one of her chicks has truly unusual powers. Will Sophie get to keep it after a visit from the unusual poultry inspector? Read the book and find out!
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| 4 stars |
A Royal Guide to Monster Slaying by Kelley Armstrong & Xavière Daumarie (Illustrator) 🍁
This is an action packed novel full of monster fighting and narrow escapes. Rowan, queen elect turned monster hunter, doesn't always think things through. This lands her into all kinds of trouble. If she is to take on the mantle of the Royal Monster Hunter, she going to have to kill a gryphon. Luckily she manages to find friends in unlikely places to help her.
I was ok with all the monster chasing, subterfuge and betrayal, but nearly stopped reading when monster spiders entered the story. Why did their have to be spiders? I pretty much skipped that section.
This is the first in a series but comes to a satisfying conclusion none the less.
I couldn't help but make connections to Tamora Pierce's Alanna series, only this one is for a younger crowd.
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| 4 stars |
Commonwealth by Ann Patchett & Hope Davis (Narrator)
I was nervous about this adult novel. As soon as I started listening I realized I had started it before. I must have picked it up, started it, and then left it. I'm not sure I would have continued with it this time except I had a lot of work to do and this was the only audiobook I had to listen to.
Somehow, I became fascinated with this dysfunctional family. I couldn't stop listening.
It's the story of a divorce and six step siblings who learn to get along with, and even love one another. There are a lot of characters - some of them seemingly despicable. Yet Ann Patchett fills them all with humanity and tenderness. These are not caricatures. These are people - children and adults dealing with their circumstances and surviving.
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| 5 stars |
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin & Scott Brick (Narrator)
This is another adult novel. It celebrates the treasures and pleasures of being a reader. It’s loaded with romance, mystery, and even parenting tips. It highlights that we are made up of stories. It’s about love in all its many facets.
“There is only one word that matters.... We are what we love.. We are that we love.”
My eyes leaked a bit.
NON FICTION
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| 4 stars |
After Life: Ways We Think about Death by Merrie-Ellen Wilcox 🍁
This is an appropriate middle grade resource for learning about death. It's certainly an interesting read. It provides a broad spectrum of information about many aspects of dying, death and grief. I like the multicultural nature of the book. I liked the layout. You could read it cover to cover, or just browse through it reading a section that interests you. It includes ample captioned photographs, diagrams, side bars, and fact boxes. The headings are highlighted in different colours. A life expectancy map shows where people have the longest life span. A chart shows what happens to a body after death. The back matter contains a resources list, a glossary and an index.
My only quibble is not so much that the font is small, although for my eyes it is, but that often text on photographs blends in making it challenging to read.
I would definitely purchase this one for my elementary or middle school library.
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| 4 stars |
Undocumented: A Worker's Fight by Duncan Tonatiuh
This is a book that needs to be shared again and again with people of all ages. It tells the story of one undocumented worker in the United States and introduces readers to others. The author's note at the end provides additional information.
I worry about the accordion fold format of the book. Published in the ancient Mixtec codex that represents this worker's background, I fear for it's durability in a school library. I also found some of the font difficult to read against the background.
CURRENTLY
I've just started listening to Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. I'm in the middle of The Ghost Collector by Allison Mills. I've barely finished What the Eagle Sees by Eldon Yellowhorn, a Netgalley title, and will be writing a blog post about it this week. I made no progress on The Creativity Project by Colby Sharp or The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago because I left them in Vancouver. Sigh...
UP NEXT
I'm trying to decide between Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong, and Wicked Fox by Kat Cho. Laurie Hnatiuk has recommended I read the scary novel, Button Hill, by Canadian author, Michael Bradford. I did check out a digital copy from my library, but I'm still trying to dig up enough courage to start it.
PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS
#MustReadIn2018 23/25
#MustReadNFIn2018 11/12 - one in progress
25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 22/25 - two in progress
25 books by Canadian Authors 74/25
Big Book Reading Challenge 10/4
Goodreads Reading Challenge 338/333
