I'm behind again! The main excitement this week was driving out to Pullman to pick up my WSU kid for Christmas break. He had stayed over during Thanksgiving because there's a pandemic.
He actually isn't quite done with his (remove) semester, but his brother wants to get his driving permit. With all the COVID backlog, making an appointment to get the paperwork has become very difficult, so when he scored one in the Pullman office on Friday, our schedule was set. I didn't make him drive all the way home because we are all terrified of snow and it SNOWED all over the place right before I drove into town.
Luckily they are used to this there so the roads were plowed, except when I stupidly decided to drive around the block rather than make a three point turn on the narrow road where my son lives. Turns out that was the only plowed road! I almost lost control trying to get off those icy backroads. Yikes. So the new driver was leery and we drove towards the warmer coast before he started his practice.
And now we are all home for the holidays, which will be a small and quiet affair. It's the first time my kids (who are grown and voters) haven't gotten together with their cousins and grandma for Christmas.
I managed to do one run but was too wimpy to go out in the cold more than that. My trainer is also a delicate flower who doesn't go out in the cold.
I am surrounded by Cybils books and need to read about three books a day for the rest of the year. Also, I am falling behind on my tiny reviews.
My currently reading is again a frightening 27.
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" so I'll sign up there. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. I will be eligible there for the next month for sure!
Started
Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets, Alex T. Smith. Sequel to my book club book.
Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure, Alex T. Smith. The actual elementary (2/3rd grade) book club book.
Voices of Young Heroes, Kelly Milner Hall. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Aretha Franklin, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Call Me American, Abdi Nor Iftin. 2020 Cybils high school nonfiction nominee.
Body Talk, Kelly Jensen (ed). 2020 Cybils high school nonfiction nominee.
Frederica, Georgette Heyer. For a book club for people who miss my friend Mary Margaret.
You Too?, Janet Gurtler (ed). 2020 Cybils high school nonfiction nominee.
The Constitution, Katie Kennedy. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
The Professor's Daughter, Joann Sfarr. Cybils finalist.
The New Queer Conscience, Adam Eli. 2020 Cybils high school nonfiction nominee.
STEM in the Daytona 500, Marne Ventura. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Throw Like a Girl, Cheer Like a Boy, Robyn Ryle. 2020 Cybils high school nonfiction nominee.
A Hopeful Heart, Deborah Noyes. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Completed
Mr Penguin and the Fortress of Secrets, Alex T. Smith. Sequel to my book club book, and also the only one available from the library. This is definitely a case of Mr Penguin's best skill is picking his companions, as he does even less in this book than in his debut. But it's a fun story and has a pleasing villain, who is unfortunately subdued in the end. I mean, OK, she was ruthless and probably would have slaughtered most of the world, but she had style. I mostly read this to see if I should recommend the rest of the series to book club, but then the question of sequels didn't come up.
Outlaw: The Legend of Robin Hood, Tony Lee. 2009 Cybils YA Graphic novel finalist. This was a manly comic book, with standard action moves and images. That's not my favorite kind of thing. I mostly could tell what what going on, although my usual problem of not remembering faces meant I would lag in grasping who was talking until later in the conversation. Maid Marion was the only woman, and she just stood around for Robin to flirt with; I have no idea how they caught emotions at each other but apparently they were deeply felt. An old fashioned story; okay but not my favorite.
The Cat I Never Named, Amra Sabic-El-Rayess & Laura L. Sullivan. 2020 Cybils High School nonfiction nominee.
Mr Penguin and the Lost Treasure, Alex T. Smith. The actual elementary (2/3rd grade) book club book. I reread this (I read it for the Cybils last year). It was a small but enthusiastic turnout. The kids liked the silliness of a penguin detective, and thought it was funny that the kung-fu spider guy was the sidekick instead of the other way around. They had a lot of fun with Mr Penguin's poor swimming skills. We discussed what was the scariest part -- I voted for the bugs on the walls.
Voices of Young Heroes, Kelly Milner Hall. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Aretha Franklin, Duchess Harris. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Becoming Muhammad Ali, James Paterson. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee. Audio.
Call Me American, Abdi Nor Iftin. 2020 Cybils High School nonfiction nominee.
The Dark Lord Clementine, Sarah Jean Horwitz. 2019 Cybils middle grade fantasy finalist and book club pick. See how I cunningly combined those two reading streams? We usually read a kidlit book for December, so I slid this one in. It's a nice gentle story about an Evil Overlord who is more overlord than Evil, and his daughter who might not even be an overlord type. There are talking sheep and unicorn horns and evil witches and Grickens who lay useful spells. Just what we wanted.
Body Talk, Kelly Jensen (ed). 2020 Cybils High School nonfiction nominee.
The Constitution, Katie Kennedy. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
The New Queer Conscience, Adam Eli. 2020 Cybils High School nonfiction nominee.
STEM in the Daytona 500, Marne Ventura. 2020 Cybils middle grade nonfiction nominee.
Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:
Uncompromising Honor 42/??, David Weber. Baen Free Radio Hour's serial. A lot of things have been blown up.
Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. Sword and Laser pick.
A Long Time Until Now, Michael Z Williamson.
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky. I made a tiny bit of progress.
The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein, Farah Mendelson. Hugo finalist.
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton.
Someplace To Be Flying, Charles de Lint.
The Bone Witch, Rin Chupeco. Almost done!
The Bourne Supremacy, Robert Ludlum.
Return of the Thief, Megan Whalen Turner.
A Lady's Code of Misconduct, Meredith Duran.
The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brien. My Tuesday book club book.
An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole. Planning to finish it.
Sucker Punch, Laurell K. Hamilton. A book that is as far from a 2020 nonfiction nominee as it is possible to get.
Picture Books / Short Stories:
Pssst!, Adam Rex. 2007 Cybils picture book finalist. I didn't really warm to this one. The narrator child was a bit too weird and unsympathetic, although I did like how all the zoo animals were in on the plan to make a cool vehicle.
The Fighting Infantryman, Rob Sanders. 2020 elementary nonfiction nominee.
Learning to Fly, Sebastian Meschenmoser. 2006 Cybils picture book finalist. I found this charming and fun. And the fact that I forced my college sophomore to order it from his library so I could read it when I came to pick him up made it even better. He had only used online services before, so he had to figure out where the lockers were because at WSU they put the books in a locker and email you the combination. So his doing this for me was really nice and made me enjoy the book even more. I liked the spots of color in the black and white sketches, and the relationship between the man and the bird.
Four Feet, Two Sandals, Karen Lynn Williams. 2007 Cybils picture book finalist. Charming and warm, even with the sad ending. Well, bittersweet as I suspect those friends will never see each other again, but hopefully they will be safe? At least the one leaving the camp might be safe?
Weird and Wonderful Animals, 2020 elementary nonfiction nominee.
Go to Bed, Monster, Natasha Wing. 2007 Cybils picture book finalist. Very cute, but I suspect the humor appeals even more the the adult reading it than the child audience. My kids would have humored me though.
Palate Cleansers
These books I'm barely reading; I use them as palate cleansers between books I'm actually reading.
The Educated Child, William Bennett.
Wool, Hugh Howey.
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. Parties aren't boring.
Under the Eye of the Storm, John Hersey. Shopping before the storm.
Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. Evaluations.
Reading Challenges
- Cybils 2017. None. I just need 3 YA books to be done. But YA is hard.
- Cybils 2018. None. Checked one of of library.
- Cybils 2019. Finished The Dark Lord Clementine. Next is traveling to me.
- Early Cybils: Finished Robin Hood, a graphic novel. Started The Professor's Daughter. Read some picture books.
- Reading My Library. Nothing.
- Ten to Try. At 9/10. I'm STILL working on the last one.
- Where Am I Reading: 31/51 states. 28 Countries. Added Somalia.
- Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. I'm done.
I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.
I am reading:
- Book I own: Return of the Thief. Next: No idea. Especially since I keep avoiding this one.
- Library Book: Bone Witch. Next: The Bride book.
- Ebook I own: An Extraordinary Union. Up Next: Probably a T. Kingfisher.
- Library Ebook: Games of Deception. Next: Dunno.
- Book Club Book: Five Children and It. Next: ??
- Tuesday Book Club Book: Wine Dark Sea. Next/also: Somewhere To Be Flying until we pick something.
- Review Book: None. Up Next: Not sure.
- Hugo Book: The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein. Next: Joanna Russ.
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