Getting Ready to FOOLSCAP

Last week was pretty quet around here. It rained all the time which discouraged me from venturing out much. It's time to nail down the final details of our Foolscap convention which is taking up a lot of my thinking. I can't wait to meet Seanan McGuire!

I can now stack my stash of last years unread Cybils into one giant pile -- progress! Currently Reading is around hovering around 32 as a result of me starting so many of them.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading that I'm going to sign up for. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed.  I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:




Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original News "Girl," Nellie Bly, Deborah Noyes. Cybils Nonfiction.

This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab. Cybils YA. I have high expectations for this author, as I've read some of her fantasy books written as V.E. Schwab.

The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell, Mira Grant. Mira Grant, aka Seanan McGuire, is the Guest of Honor at Foolscap next weekend, so I am catching up on her books.

Prudence, Gail Carriger. My next Reading My Library book, as well as a series I've been meaning to start.

Bull, David Elliott. Cybils poetry (2017). Hip hop and modern version of Crete's Minotaur, with each character using their own form of poetry.

This Land Is Our Land, Linda Osborne. Cybils nonfiction. Looks optimistic.

Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Seanan McGuire. Another series from our Guest of Honor.

Shadow Magic, Joshua Khan. Cybils middle grade fantasy.

I finished:




Ten Days a Madwoman: The Daring Life and Turbulent Times of the Original News "Girl," Nellie Bly, Deborah Noyes. Cybils Nonfiction. Interesting but shallow biography of Nellie Bly, with emphasis on the stint in the madhouse and the trip around the world (which I had forgotten about). It left me wanting more.

Arabella of Mars, David Levine. This was a lot of fun -- I enjoyed the crazy science of ships sailing between planets, and the Regency style inheritance and social mores, and I found Arabella an engaging and worthy protagonist. Enough for me to hunt up the next book speedily.

Slacker, Gordan Korman. Cybils middle grade fiction. Fun melody of different voices, each a stock character (gamer, college-applicant, jock, delinquent, counselor, etc.) but with enough energy to sound distinct and believable (mostly). There are a few laugh out loud moments.

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. My Tuesday Night Book club and Sword & Laser are both reading this. Worth reading again, but most of my club complained about the Russian doll effect -- the book is framed as a letter from a guy to his sister describing what his new friend said, including what that guy said that his monster said, including what the creation said that his neighbors said. At some point it's hard to sustain concern.

The Day the Dead Came to Show and Tell, Mira Grant. I've forgotten most of Feed, so I think I'm missing some character references, but I didn't need them to find the story of a first grade teacher attempting to lead her students out of a locked-down zombie infested school thrilling. I like the science aspect of the virus as well as the news-story style of description and was impressed by my ability to handle the multiple child deaths.

Bull, David Elliott. Cybils poetry (2017). The hip-hop of Poseidon's voice didn't really grab me, but I suspect that is because I am old. I would certainly hand this to kids with an interest in Greek mythology.

This Land Is Our Land, Linda Osborne. Cybils nonfiction. A history of American immigration from about the 1880's on, from both coasts. It discusses the prejudices against immigrants as well as the different waves, striving for an even tone until the final epilogue where the author lets her Statue of Liberty flag fly.

Prudence, Gail Carriger. In some of the earlier books by this author I sometimes felt the sense of humor was mistimed; I kept tripping over it. This one matched me much better, or maybe I'm learning Carriger's rhythms and I enjoyed it tremendously, laughing out loud several times.

This Savage Song, Victoria Schwab. Cybils YA. It mostly met my expectations, although I had a hard time cheering for the character whose goal was to become an evil dictator. Clearly she would not succeed, but just aiming in that direction made her unsympathetic. The monster created by a massacre was more endearing.

When the Moon Was Ours, Anna-Marie McLenore. Cybils YA. This meditation on magic realism was pretty but didn't really work for me. I found the main characters less interesting than their nemeses, the "mean girls" on the farm next door. Their problems were largely imagined -- one character spends most of the book dreading talking to his mom to tell her something hugely obvious. There was a lot of that sort of teenage angst.

Made in China: The New Superman Vol 1, Gene Luen Yang. 2017 Cybils graphic novel. I was rarely confused about who was what, but I was distracted by pulling away from the narrative for most of the story. I find obnoxious teenagers dull. I find kidnapping and torturing antithetical to heroism, so I never liked the agency that recruited our main character. The ending dealt with some of these issues, but I'm not eager to continue the series.

Bookmarks moved in:





Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 34. I'm listening to this through the Baen Free Radio podcast, and I really enjoy that the length of the episode varies tremendously, mostly depending on how long the middle interview goes. So it's harder to predict the pace of each chunk.

The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion. My next Reading My Library audio. I'm enjoying this a lot but there's a lot of social embarrassment that makes me switch to a podcast to cool off.

Rebel, Rachel Brown & Sherwood Smith. Politics, long lost family, trauma recovery, and scavenging. These kids live busy lives.

Beast, Bria Spangler. I kind of wish the cover hadn't spoiled the big reveal -- a shy boy is getting a girlfriend, and he wasn't paying attention when she told him she was transgender, so she thinks he's incredibly open to the idea, and he just thinks she's somehow really impressed that he likes her, which astounds and gratifies him. It's really cute but they are clearly rolling for a cliff edge.

The Plot to Kill Hitler, Patricia McCormick. Cybils nonfiction. Rich kid grows up in Germany, mourns a brother lost in World War I, and becomes a pastor interested in social justice. No wonder he has a problem with Hitler.

Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson. This is really good. I wish I had read it in time for book club. I like the anchoring in one case but the range over many problems his organization is addressing.

Booked, Kwame Alexander. Cybils poetry. So far I'm liking this much more than Alexander's previous book. The casual misogyny is still annoying, but sadly realistic.

California Bones, Greg Van Eekhout. Magical heist book! I'm catching up on an old Sword & Laser pick.

Fashion Rebels, Carlyn Beccia. Cybils nonfiction. Apparently my fashion icon is Ellen DeGeneres. That seems fair.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock. A boyfriend is having trouble letting go, making it hard to be friends.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Before reading a book, the teacher using some possible new vocabulary words to set the context, so that kids recognize and apply them correctly, reinforcing their use.

2018 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2017! 4/104-ish. Finished a comic book and a poetry book.
2. Cybils 2016!  85/107-ish. I am belatedly working hard on this.
3. Reading My Library: Continued The Rosie Project, which has a fun Australian narrator and a light hearted story. Finished Prudence and lined up Potions and Pastries.
4. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 9/51. Added New York and Massachusetts. Looking at possible Alabama and Oregon entries..

Planning Reading Or Reading Plans

I'm making progress on my pile of the books I meant to read last year. On the other hand, I seem to be avoiding my kitchen, which is making it hard both to cook and to keep it clean. And I'm avoiding all my other responsibilities as well. Hmm.

On the plus side, I've plowed through a lot of five minute chores I've been procrastinating on, which gives me an excuse to reward myself with another 30 minutes of reading.

I still have two piles of last years Cybils, some started and some just glaring at me. Currently Reading is around 32 as a result.

The Book Date does a weekly roundup of what people are reading, want to read, or have read each week called It's Monday! What Are You Reading that I'm going to sign up for. There's also a version that is kidlit focussed.  I'll go look to see what everyone else was reading at either Teach Mentor Text or UnLeashing Readers.

This Week I started:




The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion. My next Reading My Library audio. It's actually from the shelf above The Homesman, but I checked out two at once before my big holiday road trip.

Slacker, Gordan Korman. A Cybils middle grade fiction.

Bubonic Panic, Gail Jarrow. A Cybils nonfiction.

Arabella of Mars, David Levine. Fun space stuff.

A Storm Too Soon, Michael Tougias. Cybils nonfiction.

Booked, Kwame Alexander. Cybils poetry.

Sachiko, Caren Stelson. Cybils nonfiction.

Fashion Rebels, Carlyn Beccia. Cybils nonfiction. 

Made in China: The New Superman Vol 1, Gene Luen Yang. 2017 Cybils graphic novel.

Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, Ben Hatke. Because I wanted to see what happened.

Change of Heart, Norah McClintock. From my shelves.

Hmm. Looking at this list it seems a bit excessive.


I finished:





Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman, Lindy West. My Feminist Book Club meets this Monday, so I hope I remember enough to speak intelligently. Last time I read the book as soon as they announced the date, and three months later I was "Uh, I liked it, I think." I liked her stance of fat shaming, although I would push back a bit on how much any minority can expect the majority to change to accommodate them. And I really liked her abortion chapters.

The Homesman, Glendon Swarthout. A Reading My Library audio. I managed to finish the last excruciatingly dull tracks, where somebody I didn't care about wandered about making bizarre decisions and doing dull things. He was either predictable or stupid. Sometimes both. Authors -- if your main character leaves, either end the book or take the time to make some other character important to the reader.

Bubonic Panic, Gail Jarrow. A Cybils nonfiction. This book panicked me a bit. Learning about plague in the olden days is fine, even the story of the plague threatening San Francisco around the time of the big earthquake was unsettling but not worrying because that's long ago as well, but then the final chapters document how well established it still is in many native American mammals and the surprisingly high incidence of plague to this day (almost a hundred a year?). My cats are definitely never leaving the house.

Benedict Hall, Cate Campbell. Reading My Library book. This was a fun historical story in post-World War I Seattle. I even recognized many landmarks. The rich family and their servants gave several windows into the times; the doctor sister was interesting and her psychotic brother gave voice to the more conservative feelings. Unfortunately, the author (who also writes SF and fantasy) had too much fun with the "mysterious" gem the brother brings back from the war. He thinks it gives him special powers, which would be more interesting if the author didn't apparently think it does as well. That detracted from the realism and lessened the tension and stakes of the book.

The Serpent King, Jeff Zentner. Cybils YA. This snuck up on me and grabbed my heart. The story never stooped to teaching the kids valuable lessons about life; instead the kids just had to deal with the world they lived in and the hands they were dealt. Their friendship stayed firm even through jealousy and family hardship. I ended up really liking it, even through the sad parts.

A Storm Too Soon, Michael Tougias. Cybils nonfiction. Apparently Tougias wrote a book for adults (same title, different subtitle) and this is the aimed-at-youth version. I bet the original is also good -- this version still shows us the people, then the danger, and then the rescue, both by the shipwrecked sailors and the Coast Guard Search-And-Rescue team. Gripping stuff. Also happens off the coast of North Carolina, so Yay!

Sachiko, Caren Stelson. Cybils nonfiction. Both major Axis powers get books in this years nonfiction batch; this one looks how the bombing of Nagasaki affected a six year old girl both immediately and into her adulthood. Calm text and pictures put things in perspective -- Japan's war aims, American attitudes towards its enemies, etc. It's a grim and gripping history.

Mighty Jack and the Goblin King, Ben Hatke. I read this in one big gulp. As a sequel, it didn't spend any time on character setup -- it was just action and adventure page after page. The three characters are separated and tension builds as the action shifts between them, and then they meet up again and things keep happening. I enjoyed it and also felt comfortable because I could tell everyone apart.

The Borden Murders, Sarah Miller. Cybils Nonfiction. I liked the author's balanced approach, showing the evidence gathered, the parts presented at trial, and the parts excluded. I agree with her that the Not Guilty verdict was appropriate based on the evidence the jury saw, and I have no idea who did it. Miller does not support Priest's Cthulhu ideas, I noticed.

Bookmarks moved in:




Alliance of Equals, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller. Episode 33. Things are moving along. Is it just me, or is Liadan culture not as confusing as they think it is?

Trashed, Derf Backderf. The history of trash and the hard life of a college drop out.

Frankenstein, Mary Shelley. My Tuesday Night Book club and Sword & Laser are both reading this. Once I separate myself from Frankenstein I appreciate it even more -- he's an awfully unreliable narrator. Not that the monster is any better, but then we only hear him inside Frankenstein's story.

Rebel, Rachel Brown & Sherwood Smith. Kids feel things so strongly. I'm exhausted but still interested.

Great Pumpkin Suite, Melanie Hill. This is a medical scene. I'm not handling it well.

These I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.



Kenilworth, Sir Walter Scott. Amy has crazy ideas. Tell the truth? No wonder everyone thinks she's mad.

A Traitor to Memory, Elizabeth George.

The Quantum Universe, Brian Cox.

Sammy Keyes and the Art of Deception, Wendelin Van Draanen.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Putting vocabulary in context.

2018 Challenge Progress:

1. Cybils 2017! 2/104-ish. I have started the first.
2. Cybils 2016!  81/107-ish. Knocked off five more. Made progress on four unfinished ones.
3. Reading My Library: Finished The Homesman, which ended with a prolonged whimper.  Started The Rosie Project, which at least has a fun Australian narrator. Finished Benedict Hall.
4. Where Am I Reading 2018?: 9/51. Added Michigan, Connecticut, Tennessee and Nebraska. Sadly many of the books I'm currently reading are very non-specific about their settings.