For the last few years I have joined Carrie Gelson at There's A Book for That and other readers in committing to reading books from our Want to Read lists on Goodreads. The time has come to take final stock of our progress. I (just barely) accomplished all of my reading goals for this year, finishing up the last two on Christmas and Boxing day. PROGRESS ON MY 2018 READING GOALS #MustReadIn2018 25/25 #MustReadNFIn2018 13/12 25 Books by Canadian Indigenous Authors 25/25 Goodreads Reading Challenge 433/333
break for applause here I did something different this year and it worked for me. I curated collections of books to read from, and committed to reading a certain number of them. I wish I could have gotten to all of them and suspect that many of these unread ones will end up on my 2019 lists. Here's what I discovered with this method: I didn't feel anxious or pressured to read a book I wasn't in the space for, so it was easier to find something from the list and just read for the pure pleasure of reading. As a testimony to the power of curated lists, just about all of the books on my lists were exceptional. You can read my original post here. Clicking on the subheadings in the rest of this post should take you to my Goodreads collections in case you want to add any of the titles to your own lists. MUST READ FICTION Since our last update in September, I finished these books.
I would highly recommend all of them, but A Monster Calls is the book I am most thankful was on my list. Patrick Ness can really write! These are the best books I've read from this list this year.
I finished up these information titles since my last update:
I gave five out of five stars to Shark Lady: The True Story of How Eugenie Clark Became the Ocean's Most Fearless Scientist by Jess Keating; Seven Fallen Feathers: Racism, Death, and Hard Truths in a Northern City by Tanya Talaga; Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann; and The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A. van der Kolk. It was a rich reading list!
From my original NF list, these are the best of them.
MUST READ INDIGENOUS There was some overlap with these books and the ones from my Indigenous list. I've completed these since the last update in September:
I especially enjoyed Tilly and the Crazy Eights by Monique Gray Smith. Seven Fallen Feathers by Tanya Talaga is just flat out one of the best and most important books I've read this year. From the books by Indigenous authors I've read this year, I've given half of them 5 out of 5 stars.
Now I'm looking forward to reading how the rest of you made out with your lists!
#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. This week is the culmination of two weeks of reading. Instead of writing or reading blog posts last week, I prioritized getting caught up on my bags of library books. I failed at that, but at least I tried. I missed you all and am hoping to squeeze in time to read what you have all been up to!
I am working full time till the 21st. This takes a huge chunk out of my reading life! Of course, all the books I had on hold at my library arrived all at once! I'm already so far behind that I ended up taking a huge bag of them back unread. I spent a few hours early Sunday morning catching up on picture books before adding them to the bag. Sigh... Not only does working take away from how much I read, it limits what I can handle. I've returned a couple of audiobooks after realizing that they were ratcheting up my stress and anxiety levels when what I needed was to be able to relax. I'm still working on a few knitting and sewing projects, but have realized that I have to pare down my list of homemade Christmas gifts. At least I can afford to splurge a bit on my children and grandchildren right? Hopefully I'll get caught up in my reading over the winter break.
Sir Simon, a ghost, gets transferred around a lot. When the house he is in becomes occupied by a grandmother and her grandson, Simon tricks the grandson, Chester, into doing his ghost chores for him. Chester is not very good at it. The next day Sir Simon is filled with remorse and ends up helping Chester with his daily chores. Sir Simon is not very good at it. But they are good at is being friends with each other.
I loved this one! It’s full of gorgeous art and a delightfully humorous story that will make readers feel good.
Little star and her mother, Big Star, make a huge moon cake. At night Little Star gets up to nibble on it. Each night the moon cake disappears, bit by bit, revealing to us the phases of the moon. When it’s all gone Little Star and her mother make another cake.
The golden yellow against the black background make these illustrations stunningly gorgeous.
My granddaughter and I opened this book together sight unseen. She was mesmerized by the first page, her hand frozen in the act of turning to the next one. “Mommy!” she exclaimed, pointing to Big Star.
Even 18 month old children show us how important it is for books to be mirrors.
The best picture books are those you read through the first time and then go back to indulge yourself in the illustrations.
This is one of these.
Right from the front endpapers, where upside down creatures fly across the page, it was obvious I was in for a treat.
As a storm approaches, Grandad and grandson decide it’s perfect weather for kite flying. The problem is they can’t find the kite. As they search for it they unearth all kinds of things that remind them of other adventures that they’ve had together. Eventually they find the kite and head off on a new one.
If you are not acquainted with this series that highlights relationship between a grandfather and grandson, set against the backdrop of different kinds of weather, then you are living a deprived life.
I can not imagine not having a garden to muck about in, so I have much empathy for Mae. Not only does she have to move and leave her friends behind, she also has to leave her garden.
This beautiful picture book shows how she creates her own garden and makes new friends at her new home in the city.
The illustrations in this book are gorgeous. A granddaughter looks forward to visits from her grandmother who brings a marvellous purse with her. It’s full of all kinds of accessories that the child puts on as she explores it. At the same time as all this is going on we see how sweet and loving the relationship is between these two.
As the Grandmother is explaining the contents, this bit struck me, “This coin purse holds my coins, of course, but it also holds memories. Your grandfather brought it back from Japan for me. So when I do something small like put away change, I do something big and think of him, too.”
Whether or not Jelly Roll Morton actually invented jazz, is not as important as acknowledging that he was definitely integral to its development. This picture book paints, in words and images, significant events in his life. Music was the magic that eased his tears.
It reads like a myth which is completely simpatico for someone of his influence and fame. The back matter contains additional information about him and a suggestion for what albums to listen to.
Sean Qualls' art provides the ideal backdrop for Jonah Winter's text that begs to be read like slam poetry. It is all so brilliant I had to go back and reread it numerous times.
Dizzy Gillespie did not have an easy beginning. He lived with an abusive father and was bullied by other children. When he discovered the trumpet, he blew all his anger and pain out into it. Eventually he created a new kind of jazz called bebop.
I appreciated the additional information at the back matter that provided additional information about him.
This book is a collection of short biographies. It highlights different individuals across time and space who spent their lives working for peace. Some of these individuals were familiar to me. Others, like Ginetta Sagan, the founder of Amnesty International, an organization I support, were new to me.
If I were still teaching and in charge of curriculum projects, I would use this book to initiate a unit researching the lives of other peaceful heroes!
This is a picture book memoir that deserves a place in high school libraries. Andrea tells the true story of how she met and fell in love with Dave. Andrea is an artist and Dave a plastic surgeon so it seemed like they might not have enough in common. In this book Andrea confronts her understanding of herself as flawed. It’s the kind of book many younger and older people will relate to. The grade 6/7 group I shared it with appreciated it.
Many thanks to Elisabeth Ellington to introducing me to this. The following is the NFB film that preceded the book. I think the book is better.
I’m so glad I dove into this book about Eugenie Clark, the Shark Lady. She was born at a time when it was very challenging for women to be more than wives and mothers. She dove into her passion for sharks and eventually earned her PHD. The world is much wiser about sharks because of her advocacy and work. Hopefully this book with its brilliant illustrations will encourage many more children to dive into their own dreams.
This book gave me all the feels. I’ve known about Viola Desmond for a while but am always happy to read more about her. I like the way this is formatted. The main text is written as regular nonfiction narrative. The illustrations are a graphic format with speech bubbles. Each compliments the other. Viola was a strong woman who ended up in trouble for wanting to sit in the white’s only section in a movie theatre.
It’s perfect that this book is published now, since this fall Viola Desmond is the first woman to appear alone on our Canadian ten-dollar bill.
The sun really is a big deal! This book is loaded with all kinds of information to show you why. It's got page after hilarious page of it laid out in comic format. There are detailed diagrams, process charts, fact boxes and many more interesting text features. There is a glossary near the back of the book that explains the bolded words you find in the book. There is a Did you Know...? Section at the end that provides more information.
Jenson has trouble fitting in and is bullied by some other students in his school. Ultimately, with the help of members in the Newspaper club, things get better for him and other students.
The best thing though was seeing Jorge, the main character in Crush, who my middle school year old self has a crush on!
This book is so beautiful. I wish I could give it more than 5 stars on Goodreads.
It's the story of six children from a special learning class who spend unsupervised time talking to each other once a week. The stories they share hold a finger on the pulse of American reality today.
I don't think I've appreciated one of Jacqueline Woodson's novels this much since I read The House You Pass On Your Way.
There are all kinds of places where I stopped and revelled in the writing, but I had to actually stop and copy this poem so I would not forget it:
"And in the night, when the dog barks at shadows, tell him
It seems a bit of an oxymoron to say that reading or listening to a murder mystery is relaxing. Nonetheless, for me at least, this is true, so long as it is a 'cosy mystery.' I think I'm becoming addicted to Louise Penny and her tales of Inspector Gamache. It seems that the poor Inspector can't even take a vacation without having to deal with murder. I especially enjoyed the exploration into dysfunctional family dynamics in this one. It's left me wondering if there are any other kind of family dynamics besides dysfunctional ones. If I ever finish the next 10 or so books in this series, I will finally be caught up to my sister who introduced me to them.
CURRENTLY
I'm listening to Weather or Not from the Upside-Down Magic series by Sarah Mlynowski,Lauren Myracle & Emily Jenkins. I'm reading, with my eyes, The Law of Finders Keepers by Sheila Turnage. I've started, but not made much progress on a graphic novel, The Unwanted: Stories of the Syrian Refugees by Don Brown. I have The Seventh Most Important Thing by Shelley Pearsall on my device and need to get back to that since it's one of my last MustRead titles!
UP NEXT
If I should I actually finish everything I already have on the go, I will dig into those bags of library books and see what jumps out at me.
#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.
It's been a more successful week all round for me. I read some fabulous books and spent time with both of my grand children. I managed to do a bit of housework and got serious work done on some hand made Christmas gifts! I'm still undecided about whether or not to send my baby quilt off to be quilted as I don't think I will have time to finish it, but I won't get it back in time for Xmas if I don't. I'm working on some placemats and completed an apron for my daughter's mother who is in Korea. I'm also knitting away at gloves for one of my daughter in laws.
I'm very thankful for audiobooks which allow me to do at least two things at once.
Clicking on the title link will take you to the Goodreads page of the book.
This
book will wow you. It’s partly because of the art on the textured paper. Not
only is it visually stunning, there’s a tactile component that had me running my hands across the pages as I turned them.
Each
of the different parts has a different maze. I couldn’t help myself from
stopping and wending my way through them.
Although
I don’t really comprehend all parts of this poem, it gave me pause to reflect on my own life. I think I understand the big
idea. As an agnostic, it’s kind of how I expected the king to be. Many thanks to Myra @ Gathering Books for turning me onto this poem. I'm looking forward to reading other versions.
This
continues the story of Joe and Cody who are out fishing and picnicking on the
ice. Mama and Joe were cuddled in the sled. Cody and Papa were just setting the
nets under the ice when the dogs began chasing after a fox, taking Mama and Joe
with them.
The
story is written in both English and Cree. Brian Deines' art is gorgeous, but
I'm still hoping that this book, like the others in the series, will be
released with illustrations by a modern indigenous artist.
Mark
Teague is hilarious. I'm delighted that the teacher librarian I was in for set
out this book and another for me to read with groups of children.
Wendell
and Floyd are always late for school and their teacher never believes that they
nearly capture by space creatures, attacked by pirates, or delayed by a plague
of frogs.
The
next day they leave very early and take a shortcut to school. It wasn't a good choice as they end up having even wilder adventures. Fortunately they
arrive at school in time, (barely) as there is no way their teacher, Ms Gernsblatt would have believed what
happened!
This
is the other book I read to primary students last week. I'm not sure the
kindergarten group enjoyed the humour as much as the older ones did. Ike LaRue
is a bad dog who has been sent to obedience school for a couple of months. The
contrast between what he writes in his letters home to Mrs. LaRue (shown in
black and white images) compared to the reality (shown in colour) is hilarious.
Even though school is more like posh summer camp than a prison, Ike is so
unhappy without Mrs LaRue that he runs away from the school.
5 stars
Owl
Moon by Jane Yolen & John Schoenherr (Illustrator)
I
picked this book up to read after discovering that Heidi E.Y. Stemple, the
author of Counting Birds: The Idea That Helped Save Our Feathered Friends, is
the young girl in this story and Jane Yolen's daughter. It tells the story of
one evening when a father and his young daughter go out into the woods to call
down an owl. It's beautifully poetic with gorgeous artwork. Knowing of the
family's involvement in the Audubon Christmas Bird Count added deeper meaning to the
story.
I
discovered this delightfully creepy series at a school library I worked in this
week. It's written for elementary school students grades two and up. Zombies in
Nature shows how different kinds of parasites take over a host's body and turn
them into zombies. Super Powers in Nature shows us different plants and animals
with capabilities that you might only expect to read about in comic books.
Both
have brightly coloured photographs with captions explaining the image. I like
the question and answer format on most of the two page spreads. Significant
words in the text are highlighted in bold red, with a different font than the
rest of paragraph. These words can be found in the glossary at the end of the
book. The back matter also includes an index, a read more section, and links to
websites. There is also a bit about the author.
I
read both of these to groups of children this week and they were fascinated by
them. I was planning on reading the rest of the series by myself, but the
children ended up checking them all out. I'll be seeing if find any more of
them in my public library.
This
book tells the story of Frank Chapman and how he initiated the Audubon Christmas Bird Count. You must go
and read my review for a peek at how absolutely stunning Clover Robin's illustrations
are.
Eric
Walters is one of my favourite Canadian authors. Sam and her father, along with
a secret partner, run an elephant sanctuary. They live a comfortable life doing
meaningful work. Initially Sam has a bit of conflict with her father's
girlfriend, but that gets resolved positively. Then the birth of a new baby elephant changes everything. I learned a lot about elephants while reading this
enjoyable novel and readers will too. The science fiction component (which
really isn't that far fetched) adds a fascinating complication.
I'm always worried when reading books that get loads of praise because it can
set the book up for unrealistic expectations. In this case, however, every positive
thing you read about this book is true. In fact it's difficult to actually
oversell this one.
The story is set and told in alternative time frames: the present day and in 1957. Two youngsters, Candice
Miller and Brandon Jones, set out to solve a decades old puzzle that involves the ramifications of a tennis match between a black and white team, and ends up being a search for a missing fortune. The historical aspects teach us much about life
in America during the early days of the civil rights movement, while the modern
day aspects show us how much has changed, and how much farther we have to
go.
I love the references to novels and literature. I love these characters and
their families!
I had the strangest case of déjà vu as I started this
book. I was sure I had read about these characters before. It took me a while
before I realized they were introduced in a short story in Flying Lessons, a collection of short
stories by different authors. This is a 3.5 roundup for me. I wanted to abandon
this book a couple of times but my friend, Carrie Gelson, told me to persist. I
did and I'm glad for it since I enjoyed the second half of the book much more
than the first. I loved the close inter generational family relationships. I
didn’t like the mean girl component but I appreciated that Merci finally found
some true friends she could honestly be herself with. My gripe with this book is that it took me so
long to really get engaged. In my experience most kids won’t give a book this
much effort to get to the good stuff.
I
started out listening to this adult novel but when it expired, finished it up through
a fast read Ebook from my library.
I
thought I had written a review, but must have forgotten to save it, or only
thought about what to say.
Transcription
is a spy story set during the second world war. It's a fast paced mystery with
complicated twists and turns and heart pounding intrigue. What else would you
expect from this author?
CURRENTLY
I'm
listening to Lu by Jason Reynolds and reading, with my eyes, Harbor Me by
Jacqueline Woodson. I've started Brave by Scetlana Shmakova.
UP
NEXT
My
goal is to read all the picture books I have out from the library! I also plan
to read The Law of Finders Keepers by Sheila Turnage. It's one of my MustRead titles for this year and my library finally has it in!
PROGRESS
ON MY READING GOALS
I thought I was almost finished my goals only to discover that the Eric Walter's Elephant book I read this week wasn't on my list! I still have a month though and will start one of my last few books next week.
