Library Matters

#IMWAYR January 22, 2018

Kidsbooks, our local children's book store had a huge sale this week. I went with a friend and managed to spend less than $100 on books.

I miss my library budget.

As well as the books I've talked about below, I purchased a copy of The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His A B C's by Patrick McDonnell. I talked about it here. I didn't actually purchase Rot by Ben Clanton, but I did sit and read it and then proceeded to tell my librarian friends that they should have a copy in their libraries.

BLOG POSTS LAST WEEK

Tyson Hesse's Diesel Ignition

New Super-Man: Made In China volumes 1-6

BABY BOARD BOOKS

Unless she is really tired, actually reading books with Ada, my seven month old granddaughter is getting more and more challenging. She wants to be interacting with everything near her these days. If you give her a book she will sit opening and closing it for a good while (in baby time) before trying to chew on it. My partner has given her her own real paperback novel that she loves to fan the pages of. When I am reading with her, she wants to turn pages so I have to 'help' her get the next page to turn. She will turn it back and forth for a while before Grandma gets bored and forces her to go on to the next one.

Here is some of what we have been rereading.

5 stars

Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox and Helen Oxenbury

We get a bit more actual focus with this one because Ada is fascinated by other babies and fingers and toes these days.

4 stars

Look At You by Kathy Henderson, Paul Howard (Illustrator)

This one works for the same reason that the Mem Fox title does.

5 stars

Little You by Richard Van Camp and Julie Flett (Illustrator)

There is something about the colour in this one that encourages Ada to calm down, (a nearly impossible task.)

4 stars

Ojibway Animals by Jason Adair

I think it's a combination of the gorgeously coloured images and my making the animal sounds that keeps our little one paying attention to the pages in this book.

PICTURE BOOKS

Dear Girl, by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Paris Rosenthal, Holly Hatam (Illustrations)

5 stars

I purchased this book for my son, daughter in law, and granddaughter based on reviews of people I trust. I'm sure glad I did.

This books is a celebration of being who you are. My favourite page spread reads:

Dear Girl,

Find people like you.

Find people unlike you.

That's good advice for everyone!

Rot, the Cutest in the World! by Ben Clanton

5 stars

If I was still in the library I would absolutely purchase this book and read it out loud to every class in the school from K to grade 7. Not only is it hilarious and sweet, it’s got a surprise ending that includes an important message about how beauty is defined. If you don’t fall head over heels for Rot, you probably don’t have a heart.

Love by Matt de la Peña (Goodreads Author), Loren Long (Illustrator)

5 stars

I got shivers right from the first page of this book. I didn't read any more then. I just added it to my shopping cart. At home tears came to my eyes with each page I turned. Loren Long's illustrations take Matt de la Peña's words and together they raise up powerful truths. I can see why people are lauding this book and claiming it will be the book to hand out to graduates.

Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth by Oliver Jeffers

5 stars

Oliver Jeffers wrote this book for his son, filling it with the things he thought he needed to know. If I were purchasing a book for a graduate, it would be a challenge to choose between this one and Matt de la Peña's, Love. This one also gave me shivers. It's beautifully illustrated pages are filled with ideas that everyone should understand.

An example is the page spread that reads:

People come in many shapes, sizes and colours.

We may all look different,

act different and sound different...

... but don't be fooled, we are all people.

I love this book so much that I might have to purchase a couple of extra copies, one for each of my grandbabies.

MIDDLE GRADE & YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standosh & Kirby Heyborne (Narrator)

3.5 stars

Emotionally, the book feels like it starts up where Bridge to Terabithia ends. Right from the get go Ethan is dealing with the loss of his best friend Kacey. We don't know a lot about what happened to her at first. We are just thrown into an emotional roller coaster.

The family moves out of Boston to live with his mother's estranged father in a small town in Georgia. Ethan and his brother Roddy manage to bond with their Grandfather Ike, but there is a lot of friction between Ike and their mother. To add to all this, Ethan's parents are keeping secrets from him.

At his new school Ethan makes friends with Coralee, a vibrant young woman with secrets of her own.

It takes a hurricane and near disaster before all the characters start being honest and accepting of each other.

GRAPHIC NOVELS

4 stars

Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani (MG)

I'm working on a full blog post for this one. It's the coming of age story of an American girl whose mother immigrated from India. I loved the use of colour to emphasize the magical elements.

5 stars

Suee and the Shadow by Ginger Ly & Molly Park (Illustrations) (MG)

I'm working on a blog post for this one too. It is probably my favourite of all the graphic novels I've read so far for the Cybils. I love the character development, the crisp illustrations, the story arc and the inherent messages for kids and adults.

3.5 stars

New Super-Man: Made in China (Volumes #1-6) by Gene Luen Yang (Writer), Viktor Bogdanovic (Artist), Richard Friends (Inker), Dave Sharpe (Letterer) (YA)

I'm not really a superhero comic fan, so this one was a challenge. Luckily there are layers of meaning and intrigue and I was fascinated by the cultural implications of a western style superhero inserted into a Chinese reality. Also, it's Gene Luen Yang!

4 stars

Diesel:Ignition by Tyson Hesse (YA)

It took me a while to appreciate the protagonist, Dee Diesel in this superhero style comic. While I have some serious problems with this novel in regards to the way the female bodies are depicted and the stereotypical conflict between the only two female characters, the artwork and world building is just stunning.

CURRENTLY

I've just started listening to Turtles All the Way Down by John Green & Kate Rudd (narrator). I'm still working on Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough by Doug Saunders for book club. Spill Zone, the graphic novel by Scott Westerfeld & Alex Puvilland is so intense I've had to take a short break or I would have finished it.

UP NEXT

I'll continue reading from the pile of graphic novels for the Cybil awards and whatever picture books arrive from the library.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MustReadIn2018 4/25

#MustReadNFIn2018 1/12 - 1 in progress

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 1/25

Cybil Graphic Novels 4/12 - 1 in progress

Goodreads Reading Challenge 21/333

New Super-Man: Made in China volumes 1 - 6: by Gene Luen Yang with art by Viktor Bogdanovic.

In the first few pages of this book my expectations of how a Superman story might unfold were trashed. Right off the bat Kong Kenan does not seem to be hero, never mind superhero, material. Granted, I haven't read any kind of Superman comic for close to five decades, but this New Superman didn't seem to have much in common with the Mr Nice Guy of my youth. Nonetheless, he is targeted by a secret, scientific foundation to become China's new Superman.

I should have known better than to doubt Gene Luen Yang. While my interest flagged a bit after that beginning, I continued to read. It didn't take long before I was completely engaged by the novel.

The story arc is fabricated of layers of convoluted intrigue. Ancient mythology is integrated with modern Chinese politics. It is full of complexity as multiple cadres of super powered individuals claim to work in the best interests of China. Readers will question the motivation of many if not all of them. Then there are surprising revelations. Alliances are formed and broken.

The continuing question is what kind of hero will Kong Kenan become? Which side is the right side? Who will he end up supporting?

The illustrations are primarily shades of blue with some other warmer colours. It includes classic action scenes loaded with energy and power. The facial expressions work most of the time but other times there is a kind of blankness (is this supposed to be stoicness?) to the characters. Some individuals seem truly evil, but this can be deceptive. In this novel, who to trust is a major dilemma.

I liked the humor that wends its way through the text, although, and this is my only real complaint, the font is very small. However, given that I feel this way about all the graphic novels I'm reading these days, this seems to be more about my aging eyes than anything else.

What I appreciated most about this novel was the character development. Kong starts out as a self centred narcissist, but over time begins to mature into a more considerate person. I like how his relationships between the other Chinese Justice League members, Wonder Woman and Batman, evolve and consolidate making this a book about friendship and trust. I suspect readers will be anxious to read the next in the series, especially with that ending!

Tyson Hesse's Diesel Ignition

Diandra (Dee) Diesel’s father, Tungston Diesel, disappeared years ago in a raid by the Teppan, a nation of birdmen, who are their archenemies. On her 18th birthday, she will inherit control of Peacetowne, the airship colony she calls home. She looks forward to taking over ownership, but has not learned anything about running it. She is brilliantly lazy with no awareness of her latent superpowers other than that she creates a lot of static electricity.

The day before her birthday Dee finds a machine made by the Teppan. She manages to start it without knowing how. When the birdmen come looking for it, Dee and her robot escape, but Peacetowne is destroyed. She thinks she saw her missing father on the Teppan vessel.

When Dee crash lands in a wasteland on solid ground she is rescued from vicious coyotes by her brother Bull who she has not seen in years. The two of them come up with a plan to destroy the Teppan who have headquarters in Stableburg, Bull’s city. If they survive that they plan to warn the Gass people of the Teppan plans, see if they can find the ruins of Peacetowne, and rescue Tungston Diesel.

There are a number of things I liked about this book.

Gorgeous illustrations loaded with details reveal fabulous worlds. Action scenes are vibrant and powerful. Bright oranges, reds and yellows contrast with dark greys, greens and blues. Emotion is fully realized on the different individual faces. The witty repartee and humour of the text makes the reading fun. It is populated with mostly multifaceted characters who grow and develop as the story progresses. Irresponsible and selfish, Dee Diesel is not at first a sympathetic character. Thankfully, by the end of the book, she has matured somewhat. I even came to grudgingly admire her.

I appreciated the complexity of the relationships between the different groups. While the Teppan are considered enemies, we learn that they were irreparably damaged by chemical warfare in a previous conflict.

I do have a number of quibbles with this and for me at least, they are not inconsequential. First, the font is so small I had to go and find my reading glasses, (although to be fair, this is a reality for all the graphic novels I am reading these days.) Second, while I appreciate the strength of Dee and Cap, who pilots Peacetowne, I do not like the Barbie doll shaped bodies of these two young women. Finally, the trope of conflict between the only two women in the novel just irritates the heck out of me.

While the novel ends with a satisfying conclusion, there are still plenty of questions to be resolved in sequels. I can’t help but wonder if Tungsten Diesel is working for the Teppan voluntarily or involuntarily. How many of Peacetowne’s residents, if any, survived the crash. I might have to read the sequel to find out.

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#IMWAYR JANUARY 15, 2018

#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 Readers host the kidlit rendition. Whatever you are looking forward to in your next great read, these are fabulous places to start your search.

Here in our home in Oliver, BC, I'm writing in front of the living room window. The brightness of the snow compensates for the grey overcast sky. As dusk settles into dark I am struck by the quiet of this place and realize I have internalized this peace. Small towns might have their limitations, but in this deep winter calm and respite from the rest of the world, they are piddling. Monday we return to the hum of background noise that is the city. I am missing my family there, but at the same time, sad to be leaving here. Tomorrow I will run around like a chicken without its head cleaning up things I should be doing now, but I'm sitting here, having finished a draft of this post, a glass of wine at my side, and revelling in this moment of being right with the world.

CHAPTER BOOKS

Not For Sale by Sara Cassidy & Helen Flook (Illustrations)

4 stars

I read the sequel to this last year and loved it so much that I've been meaning to read this one ever since. Cyrus and his brother, Rudy, are happy in their house in the city and don't want to move. But their parents aren't working as often as they once were and they need to downsize.
Cyrus comes up with a plan to stop the sale of the house. It almost works.
What appealed to me in the sequel was the fabulous characters Sarah Cassidy has created, and I ended up loving them even more now.
If you have readers who are fans of Laurel Snyder's Charlie and Mouse, but are ready to move on to a bit more challenging material (the publisher states that the reading level is for children from seven to nine) this series will appeal. This is a warmhearted family that will make you laugh and love with them.

MIDDLE GRADE & YOUNG ADULT NOVELS

4 stars

Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate

Katherine Applegate writes, "In Kek's story I hope readers will see the neighbor child with a strange accent, the new kid in class from some faraway land, the child in odd clothes who doesn't belong, ... I hope they see themselves"
She certainly succeeded.
In my teaching career I worked with different children from different places. It wasn't till I spent time immersed in a different culture and language that I began to understand what it might be like for them. This books unveils the trauma and culture shock new immigrants deal with.

5 stars

The War I Finally Won (The War That Saved My Life #2) by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley & Jayne Entwistle (Narrator)

I was challenged at first by Jayne Entwistle’s narration because as soon as I heard her voice I was confused as to what book I was listening to. Entwistle’s voice IS Flavia de Luce from Alan Bradley’s series. I quickly adjusted and was completely pulled into the story. I absolutely adore these characters!
The prequel had a satisfying conclusion, so it really wasn’t until I started this one that I realized how much still needed to be resolved. While Ada struggles to come to grips with her new life and learn to trust, she teaches the rest of us many important lessons about being human and might even help us resolve issues of our own.

5 stars

Dear Martin by Nic Stone

This book belongs on the same shelf as The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. While we can try to understand what it means to be black in America it's only when the experience is personalized as it is in these two novels that we really begin to apprehend the gravity of the reality.
I was not prepared for the death in this book. I continue to reflect on the significance of this because while nobody should ever have to anticipate the possibility of it, I've come to realize that it's probably my white privilege that allowed me to be ignorant of what was to come.
I appreciate the complexity in this book. Nice Stone has created authentic characters and posited them in untenable situations. I hope that we learn to do better by their real counterparts from reading literature like this.

4 stars

Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr

This is a beautifully satisfying book set thousands of years ago during the Bronze Age in the Mediterranean.
The gods have carved out a brutal destiny for Aissa. Discarded by her priestess mother upon her birth because of perceived imperfections, she was rescued by Kelya, a wise woman, and adopted into a loving goat herding family. She was orphaned at four when raiders killed her father and kidnapped her mother to sell into slavery. Following this she was dropped in the servant quarters and abandoned to the heartlessness of the other servants and considered a cursed child by them and other villagers. Eventually she was cast out and forced to survive on her own.
When she gets her wish to leave the island and become a bull dancer, she has no inkling of what horrors are in store for her and what she will have to overcome before she finds acceptance.
I liked so much about this novel. Wendy Orr has created a fabulous world to get lost in. I appreciated the map at the beginning of the book that helped me understand the island more concretely. She's populated it with feasible characters. It's impossible not to care about Aissa as she struggles and triumphs through all her trials.

ADULT NONFICTION

4 stars

Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown & Karen White (Narrator)

I am deeply inspired by Brené Brown’s work. This book motivated so much, that I have decided to make vulnerability my personal word for the year. I hope it will enable me to build stronger connections to my family, friends, and people I meet and work with. I'm going to have to purchase my own copy.

CURRENTLY

I'm listening to The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standosh. I'm still reading Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough by Doug Saunders for book club, and have just started Cast No Shadow, a graphic novel by Nick Taplanasky and Anissa Espinosa.

UP NEXT

I now have a pile of graphic novels to focus on for the Cybil awards. I'll start listening to whatever audiobook becomes available next.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MUSTREADIN2018 3/25 - 1 in progress

#MUSTREADNFIN2018 1/12 - 1 in progress

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 1/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 10/333

#IMWAYR January 8, 2018

#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 haven't been blogging for over a month due to illness. I've hardly been reading because I just couldn't focus. The 'plague' grabbed me by the throat and held me down for at least two weeks. I thought I was finally recovering and then it got worse. Three days before Christmas I dragged myself to my doctor. I had developed a secondary bacterial infection all over my head and left with a prescription for antibiotics. Within 24 hours I was starting to feel almost human. I really only got my reading mojo back about a week ago, so while many of these are recent reads and others are books from December.

I'm hoping you all had fabulous winter breaks. What I really wanted for Christmas was family portraits and my partner managed to organize us all and made it happen. Here are the two of us with our gorgeous grand babies.

PICTURE BOOKS

The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC's (the Hard Way) by Patrick McDonnell

This is the best alphabet book I have read in ages, maybe even forever. A cat runs away from home and ends up having madcap adventures. It’s wordless with nothing but the letters and brilliant illustrations to help readers figure the story out. I’m definitely getting a copy of this to add to my collection.

Life Without Nico by Andrea Maturana & Francisco Javier Olea (Illustrations)

This picture book deals realistically with the loneliness of separation and loss. When Maia’s best friend, Nico, has to move away, she is overwhelmed with a feeling of emptiness. Over time this dark and empty hole is filled with a new kitten, new friends and new experiences. When Nico does eventually return, she experiences new kinds of worry.
This is a beautiful book to use when children are dealing with grief and loss whether it’s temporary or permanent.

INFORMATION

Miguel's Brave Knight: Young Cervantes and His Dream of Don Quixote by Margarita Engle & Raúl Colón (Illustrations)

I read this book because I want to read everything Margarita Engle writes. Raúl Colón’s illustrations bring her poems to life in this biography. I am now fascinated by Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. I now also want to read the famous novel. Thanks the the author’s note in the back matter, I’ve put a specific translation on hold at my library.

Two Truths and a Lie: It's Alive! by Ammi-Joan Paquette & Laurie Ann Thompson

If you want to be raising your children to be critical thinkers, every house and classroom from grade two up should own a copy of this book. It will probably help the adults in your house and your community to learn to identify hoaxes more easily too. I admit that I had to work hard in some of these sections to figure out what stories were false.

MIDDLE GRADE

The Best Man by Richard Peck & Michael Crouch (Narrator)

This was the sweetest coming of age novel I've read in ages and just might be my favorite Richard Peck novel. This family is right up there with the Penderwicks and the Fletchers.

Tumble & Blue by Cassie Beasley

This is a book about love, friendship and secrets. The Montgomery clan is gathering at the original home for the death of the matriarch and waiting to see who will be picked to head off, when the red moon rises, into the Okefenokee swamp in search of a magical alligator named Munch. Blue Montgomery has been abandoned by his father in the middle of this. He ends up overcoming his anger, bonding with his cousins and befriending a member of their arch enemies’ clan, Tumble Wilson. Changing their families destinies is going to be up to them.

ADULT & YA

#Notyourprincess: Voices of Native American Women by Lisa Charleyboy & Mary Beth Leatherdale (Editors)

If you haven’t read this and it isn't on your to read list, it should be. This collection of voices from modern Indigenous women across North America is inspiring and enlightening. Here are a few snippets:

Because history moves like a fever and heat down through the arteries of generations
Because PTSD to the family tree is like an ax
Because colonization is the ghosts of buffaloes with broken backs
Because today only burning flags could be found at the ghost dance of my people
from Stereotype This by Melanie Fey

You are allowed to cry
You are allowed to scream
But you are not allowed to give up.
If you ever need a hero
Become one.
from Dear Past Self by Isabella Fillspipe

Mennonite in a Little Black Dress: A Memoir of Going Home (Mennonite #1) by Rhoda Janzen & Hillary Huber (Narrator)

Sue Jackson wrote good things about this book and I have a friend who was raised Mennonite so when I saw it was available as an audiobook, I downloaded it. It was a delightful listen full of love and self deprecation. I laughed out loud throughout and learned a fair chunk about what growing up in this faith is about. I'm looking forward to hearing what my friend thinks of it.

Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese & Tom Stechschulte (Narrator)

I will read anything by Richard Wagamese because as uncomfortable as I might get in the middle of his work, I am always completely satisfied by the end. In this novel he takes us into the world of Franklin Starlight, a young man who was abandoned by his father after his mother died in childbirth. He was raised by a good man who kept their secrets. In this narrative Franklin takes his father, Eldon, into the mountains, so he may be buried in the traditional Ojibway manner. On their journey those secrets are revealed.

Shanghai Girls (Shanghai Girls #1) by Lisa See & Janet Song (Narrator)

This is my first Lisa See book. It won't be my last. The reason I read historical fiction is to understand the past and other people's experiences of historic events. This novel spans considerable geography and time. Because of the action of their gambling father, two sisters are forced to marry two Chinese Americans and left to flee Shanghai and the invading Japanese army on their own. When they make it to America they are interned for a number of months. Eventually they are united with their American family and build a home there. Although this book does not have a 'happy ending' the writing is just gorgeous.

CURRENTLY

I'm listening to Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown, and am reading with my eyes, Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough by Doug Saunders for book club, and have just started Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate.

UP NEXT

I hope to finish Cast No Shadow by Nick Tapalansky and Anissa Espinosa, Dragonfly Song by Wendy Orr, and Dear Martin by Nic Stone while we are spending a winter week or so at our home in Oliver, BC. My next audiobook will be The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. When I arrive back in Vancouver I will be focusing on reading a pile of graphic novels for the Cybil awards.

PROGRESS ON MY READING GOALS

#MUSTREADIN2018 1 in progress

#MUSTREADNFIN2018 2 in progress

25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 1/25

Goodreads Reading Challenge 5/333

#MustReadIn2018: Fiction, Nonfiction and Indigenous Authors

Carrie Gelson at There's a Book for That, hosts #MustRead. If you have a "want to read" list on Goodreads (or somewhere else) that goes on forever, then you might be interested in joining for 2018. All you have to do is choose any number of specific books on that list, and do your best to read them all.

I couldn't manage to winnow my list down to a manageable number this year so I've taken a lesson from other readers and changed things up. I have three lists of books that I plan to read from this year. Of course I will enjoy other serendipitous reading of books that catch my fancy. I like my new approach to these lists because it keeps me focused at the same time as it permits me to read with some flexibility.
The two lists here include a fiction and nonfiction list that I plan to read from. The other is a more flexible list of books by Canadian Indigenous authors that I plan to read at least 24 books from. You can see that list here. I'm also working on a Must Read Picture Book list but will see where that one goes.

I'm hoping to read at least 25 books from the following fiction list.

~~Ban This Book by Alan Gratz~~
~~Book Scavenger (Book Scavenger, #1) by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman~~
The Boys Who Challenged Hitler: Knud Pedersen and the Churchill Club by Phillip M. Hoose
Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
The Daybreak Bond by Megan Frazer Blakemore
~~Dear Martin by Nic Stone~~
Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
~~A Dirty Job (Grim Reaper, #1) by Christopher Moore~~
Echo After Echo by Amy Rose Capetta
An Elephant in the Garden by Michael Morpurgo
~~The Ethan I Was Before by Ali Standish~~
~~Eugenia Lincoln and the Unexpected Package (Tales from Deckawoo Drive #4) by Kate DiCamillo~~
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
~~Give Me Some Truth by Eric Gansworth~~
~~The Grave's a Fine and Private Place by Alan Bradley~~
~~Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie~~
~~Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate,~~
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
I Love You, Michael Collins by Lauren Baratz-Logsted
~~Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus by Dusti Bowling~~
The Last Grand Adventure by Rebecca Behrens
The Law of Finders Keepers by Sheila Turnage,
~~Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds~~
Making Bombs for Hitler by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Moon Shadow by Erin Downing
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Once by Morris Gleitzman
The Only Road by Alexandra Diaz
Piecing Me Together by Renée Watson
~~Restart by Gordon Korman~~
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner
The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall
Smart Cookie by Elly Swartz
Sophie Quire and the Last Storyguard (Peter Nimble, #2) by Jonathan Auxier
Sunny by Jason Reynolds
The Theory of Hummingbirds by Michelle Kadarusman
Thousand Star Hotel by Bao Phi
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
Under Suspicion (Friday Barnes #2) by R.A. Spratt
~~The War I Finally Won by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley~~
The Way Home Looks Now by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
~~We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson~~
What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein
Where You'll Find Me by Natasha Friend
Wires and Nerve by Marissa Meyer
~~Wish by Barbara O'Connor~~
You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins
Zero Repeat Forever (The Nahx Invasions #1) by Gabrielle Prendergast

From this list of Nonfiction titles I plan to read at least 12

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A. van der Kolk
~~The Bee Book by by Fergus Chadwick, Steve Alton, Emma Sarah Tennant, Bill Fitzmaurice, Judy Earl~~
~~Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer~~
Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today's Feminism by Daisy Hernandez
~~Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brené Brown~~
~~Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Robert Probst~~
Firewater: How Alcohol Is Killing My People (and Yours)
by Harold Johnson
Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls: 100 Tales of Extraordinary Women by Elena Favilli
Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World by Kelly Jensen
The Hunting Accident by David L. Carlson
The Inconvenient Indian: A Curious Account of Native People in North America by Thomas King
Love and Laughter in the Time of Chemotherapy by Manjusha Pawagi
~~Maximum Canada: Why 35 Million Canadians Are Not Enough by Doug Saunders~~
Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Jon Krakauer
~~On The Move: A Life by Oliver Sacks~~
The Rose That Grew from Concrete by Tupac Shakur
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari
The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home by Arlie Russell Hochschild
Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating
Strong Is the New Pretty: A Celebration of Girls Being Themselves by Kate T. Parker
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate by Naomi Klein
Waiting for First Light: My Ongoing Battle with PTSD by Roméo Dallaire
~~We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie,~~
~~We Were Eight Years In Power by Ta-Nehisi Coates~~
Women in Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed the World by Rachel Ignotofsky

Update On My Reading goals for 2017: MustReadIn2017 & Others

In 2016, I managed to read all the books on my must read list. Alas, this is not the case for 2017. In fact, since the last checkin, I finished a mere three books from my fiction list. I read nothing from my nonfiction list. I might have finished more of these but was too sick to read or even listen to books throughout the month of December.

This is what I finished since our last update.

Murder, Magic, and What We Wore by Kelly Jones

This book was pure fun. It’s set in the Regency period in England. When Annis’ father is killed in France, he leaves her and her Aunt Cassie nearly destitute. Annis soon figures out that her father was a spy and is determined that she will become one to avenge his death. When she is rejected, their new maid, Millicent, helps disguise Annis so she can use her dressmaking magic to earn a living. The book is full of twists and turns and clever humour. Although this book didn’t wow me like Jones' Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, (a book that is truly exceptional) I’ll read a sequel if she writes one.

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud & Emily Bevan (Narrator)

Lockwood, Lucy, George, Holly, and Quill Kipps discover the cause of 'The Problem.' The how and why ghosts are invading our realm is caused by an individual with a lot of political clout. This puts the crew in peril as the perpetrators decide to retaliate by murdering them all.
As satisfying and wonderful as this book is, I can't bear to think that it is the last in the series. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to these fabulous characters. Since this fictional world isn't really completely cleaned up, I'm not giving up hope that there might be at least one more to come.
Perhaps the rumoured TV series will be enough, but I doubt it.

I Believe in a Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo

This is a sweet coming of age romantic fiction that follows the formula set out in romantic Korean dramas. Teen romance is not my favourite genre, but I ended up enjoying this anyway. Thankfully there isn't excessive amounts of angst or heavy breathing. The diverse collection of characters is endearing in spite of, or perhaps because of their flaws. The only somewhat snarky relationship ends up getting resolved positively. I adored the relationships between Desi Lee and her father, and you will too.

I started but abandoned Last Night I Sang to the Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz. I didn't hate it. The font was just so tiny. I even tried it on my device but whatever the format was, I couldn't increase the size.

In spite of not completing all the books on this list, I don't consider it a failure. Once I started reading from my nonfiction list, I became interested in reading more nonfiction and ended up reading at least 15 adult information books last year. Ideally I had hoped to read at least one a month, and even though I didn't get to all the ones on my list, I still read more adult nonfiction than I did the year before. That's a win, right?

The fiction titles from my list were mostly fabulous.

Not only is The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas the best book on the list, it's probably one of the top three books I've read all year. I loved it so much that I purchased a copy since I know I will reread it at least one more time.

Other books that I thought highly of include (in no particular order)

The Empty Grave by Jonathan Stroud
The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill
Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien
Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel
The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
Short by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Falling Over Sideways by Jordan Sonnenblick

My favourite nonfiction title was When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanith. I also enjoyed Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Ann Lamott and Spin: How Politics Has the Power to Turn Marketing on Its Head by Clive Veroni.

Other Reading Goals:

I had plans to read 50 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors to celebrate 150+ years of Canada but only finished 34. There were many wonderful picture books on the list. I ended up purchasing two copies of We Sang You Home by by Richard Van Camp & Julie Flett; one for each of my grandbabies. The best part of this personal challenge was discovering some stunning writers. I highly recommend Nobody Cries at Bingo by Dawn Dumont. (Upon finishing it, I read just about everything else she has published.) The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline was dark and profound. Medicine Walk and Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese were stellar reads. The Break by Katherena Vermette is another dark and memorable read. I know that one of my reading goals for next year will be to read at least another 25 adult titles from this category.

I finished all the Chocolate Lily titles for which I was a juror. I appreciated this opportunity to read many different kinds of books by local writers.

Finally, I challenged myself to read at least 333 books this year. I ended up reading 398. I think this indicates that while I didn't finish everything on my lists, I still managed to get in a lot of reading this year!