#IMWAYR September 14, 2015

I love Mondays! It's time to check in with other bloggers to find out what they have been reading and discover some fabulous reads for myself. Jen From Mentor Texts and Kellee and Rickie from Unleashing Readers host this event, so check out their sites for a list of participants' blogs to check out. 

I was unable to post last weekend, because we were marrying off my younger son. I survived the production, but only just. I do not recommend do it yourself weddings. I'm already saving up for my other son to do a destination event when and if he ever ties the knot. For at least 5 days I had absolutely no time to read. Ok, maybe I read for 5 minutes until I fell into bed exhausted.

Was it worth it? Of Course!

Because of wedding frenzy, I also didn't get my Must Read update posted. I hope to get around to it by the end of the month Carrie Gelson! By that time I might have more books finished...

This is what I read in the past two weeks. Nearly everything has been brain candy: books that entertain and delight without leaving me overwrought.

NOVELS

The Forbidden Stone (The Copernicus Legacy, #1) by Tony Abbot

4 stars

I was hoping fans of Abbot's Underworld and Secrets of Droon series would appreciate this one as well, but it hasn't been flying off the shelf. Perhaps it is because this seems like a tome compared to the ones in those series. I picked it up to listen to in hopes of figuring out how to sell it to that crowd. Kirkus gave it a starred review and the write up at goodreads make it seem very compelling. 

It's the story of a group of children and one adult who have to work together to figure out clues and find ancient relics before an evil organization gets to them. I liked the friendship between these kids. The story is loaded with adventure. It will introduce readers to many significant historical figures. My conclusion is that it is ok. It's not stellar, but I can see the appeal in this kind of tale. Now that I know what it is about, I look forward to seeing if I can convince readers to try it out.

4 stars

 Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles, #2) by Marissa Meyer

I admit to loving this series. It's just fun with strong female characters. I love the combination of science fiction and fairy tale. Cress is waiting for me to start soon. I am really looking forward to introducing my readers to these books. For me, the only problem with getting into this kind of series is that I'm falling farther and farther behind on my must read list. 

4 stars

Beholding Bee by Kimberly Newton Fusco

I enjoyed this book a lot. It is a sweet story about a young girl who manages to overcome numerous obstacles to find a place for herself in the world. There are many aspects to this one. It's an historical novel about family and friendship. Readers will become aware of the suffragette movement, the difficult times of the second world war, and the importance of inclusion of all children into regular classrooms. Adults and teachers who read this one will be reminded of their power to improve or destroy the worlds of children in their community. (Hurrah! this is one of my must read books)

4 stars

The Terror of the Southlands (The Very Nearly Honorable League of Pirates, #2) by Caroline Carlson

This is one of the series I am totally infatuated with these days. I love the spunky Hilary Westfield and her piratical friends. These reads are pure pleasure with hints of deeper understandings about our present day world.

4 stars

Jinx by Sage Blackwood

I enjoyed this story that is loaded with all kinds of traditional fairy tale tropes. I appreciated the complexity of the many characters especially of Simon Magus, Jinx's guardian. It is a superb coming of age saga that mirrors many of our own culture's foibles and flaws. (Hurrah! this is also one of my must read books)

3 stars

The Hidden Gallery (The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place #2) by Maryrose Wood

I'm quite enchanted by these Incorrigibles and their governess, Miss Penelope Lumley. In this book the family heads off to London while their manor house is being repaired after the Christmas fiasco. While there, the children get into all kinds of mischief and Miss Lumley learns more about her employer, the children and even her own mysterious background. To add to it all, there is a hint of romance. 

Waistcoats and Weaponry (Finishing School #3) by Gail Carriger

4 stars

I adore these books. If you are not acquainted with this series, you need to run right out, grab the first one, and not stop reading until you are done. The series is a conglomerate of steampunk, paranormal, spy and mystery. It focuses on Sophronia and the friends she meets at her very unordinary finishing school. At Mademoiselle Geraldine's, students learn much more than the social graces. For a start, their curriculum includes spying, assassination techniques, the art of seduction, and thinking for themselves. 
In this book Sophronia and her friends end up stealing a train that is loaded with stolen technology (purloined by a vampire hive from the Picklemen). If the Picklemen get their hands on it, they will cause chaos in London and the rest of England. I love the political intrigue, the humour, the adventure and most especially, I love Sophronia and her candid and honest reflections on her life. 
The next and final book in the series won't be out til November. I can hardly wait. Because I think it will require a sophisticated reader, for now I've only ordered the first book for our library. I've got a passel of girls I want to try it out on. I really hope they enjoy these as much as I do!

PICTURE BOOKS

With help from another teacher, I had students new to Dickens in the library for a couple of days this week. They were there while we made sure that our planned organization would work.  We spent time getting to know each other and creating our own twisted fairy tales. These are the picture books we read together. 

4 stars

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg.

On Tuesday our vice principal read this charming picture book. It was new to me. I was delighted by the surprise ending. I might have been less surprised, but while he was reading, I was getting other materials ready and just listened. Unfortunately we don't have this one in our library.   

Courage by Bernard Waber

5 stars

I love this book. I've read it a number of times over the years to groups, but last week I read it to this group of students. Starting the day out with this book, followed by a conversation about the different kinds of courage we need for different things, seemed to help them begin to take risks. In fact, nearly all of these 40 children did a short presentation telling the rest of us about their name. 

Prince Cinders by Babette Cole

4 stars

This is one of my favourite twisted fairy tales. It's so much fun to read. Prince Cinder's fairy godmother is terribly incompetent. I love how pretty much anything that can go wrong, does go wrong, except of course that sometimes going wrong turns out to be exactly the best thing that could have happened. Everyone laughs when the prince, who wants to be big and hairy like his brothers turns out to be big and hairy, but not quite like his brothers. 

Interstellar Cinderella by Deborah Underwood & Meg Hunt (illustrator)

3 stars

I wanted to enjoy this book more than I did. Unfortunately, the poetry ended up annoying the heck out of me and got in the way of my enjoying this book. In addition, I tried to read it to a group of children using my epson projector, but the print didn't show up against the background. I appreciated the humour, but my students missed out on many of the technological references. Aside from these piddly little complaints, this is a fun book. I liked the ending. 

CURRENTLY
I'm listening to Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella. I'm glad that I had no idea what it was about before starting it. It isn't brain candy, but it isn't overly angst producing either. I admit so far that this mother irritates the heck out of me. While I've been working on my must read list, I realized that many of the titles on my netgalley list have already been archived. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin is still there so I've started that. 

UP NEXT

As soon as I finish these books, I'm hoping to get back to my must read list. This is going to be a challenge since boxes of new books I ordered at the end of the summer have arrived in the library. I hope to get them opened and processed soon!

Jinx by Sage Blackwood

Jinx has been on my must read list for two years. I'm so glad I got around to finishing this beautiful coming of age fairytale.

At the age of five, Jinx's stepfather took him into a forest where he planned to abandon him (in Hansel and Gretel fashion) to the dangers of the Urwald, a forest rife with werewolves, trolls, and numerous other dangerous creatures. Simon Magus, a wizard who may or may not be evil, rescued him and eventually Jinx became his apprentice. 

Their relationship is complicated. While Simon cares for him, he doesn't take Jinx seriously. Like many adult child relationships, Simon assumes he knows what is best for Jinx. Unfortunately, Simon seems incapable of understanding who Jinx really is, or accepting that Jinx has his own special kind of magical power. Jinx can listen to the trees in the Urwald, and see auras that help him understand what people are thinking. Then Simon, acting in what he thinks is Jinx's best interests, removes part of Jinx's power.  

Feeling betrayed, Jinx set off on his own to get his power back. Along the way he met up with two other travellers, Elfwyn, a girl in a red hooded cape, and Reven, a well bred young man new to the Urwald. Both are burdened with their own curses. The three of them join forces to find a way to free themselves. Elfwyn's grandmother, a powerful witch, sends them off to find an evil sorcerer, the Bonemaster. He captures them and holds them prisoner hoping to lure Simon Magus into a trap while rescuing them. While they wait, the children come up with a plan of their own. 

I enjoyed this story of uneasy friendship between these three children who have all been damaged by their families. Still, I admit that there were aspects that didn't quite work for me. For example, I don't understand how the children could have any trust at all that the Bonemaster was unaware of their plotting against him. 

Like all good fairytales, Jinx reflects who we are as a people right back at us. The Urwald is one of the most satisfying enchanted forests I've come across in my reading life in a while. It's a beautifully terrifying metaphor for how dangerous the world can be, should we step away from generally agreed upon norms. I'm looking forward to reading more by this author.