First Spring!

Several fun book clubs this week -- my elementary 4/5 grade book club is meeting in person again. We're split into two groups, I think because they are trying for fewer kids in the cafeteria at a time so there are two bunches of kids at lunch. So far this year they are enthusiastic about book club as an idea (it helps that I provide cookies) but rather lackadaisical about reading the books. Luckily I push for books where you can still talk about stuff even if you skipped the reading, because that's how my favorite book clubs with adults roll.  

I also had my Romance Reading Series through the KCLS library, where we talk about a different kind of romance book each month. This is on Zoom, and we now all pick one that matches the theme, either on our own or from the list the librarian makes. At the meeting we talk about what we liked or disliked about the one we picked, and then go for wider discussion of the trope and why it's popular or problematic or whatever. It's fun and there were a lot of new faces this month, maybe because Fake Relationships is just such a fun theme that is rare in real life but very popular in fiction. 

Paulos made a pasta primavera; I had provided huge portions in hopes of having lots of leftovers, which was very successful. Since my sister's family absconded for a vacation we had to fill some holes in our menu, since they normally cook on the weekend. We went out one of the nights with my brother to our old favorite Durango, where we had dessert in honor of the missing sister's birthday.

Reacher was indeed as much fun as my aunt and my brother promised. Alexander and I watched 2 episodes a night and finished on the third night because we just didn't want to stop. I also went back to doing some laundries, so Deep Space 9 gave me 3.13 Life Support -- Bashir goes where no doctor wants to go.

Alexander has jumped to his new job, working at the senior living building where his grandmother lives. He likes it much more than the Pizza Hut gig, and apparently is becoming quite popular with the residents. I'm especially glad he's there because my mom is very worried about her cat, who is in palliative care and may not be aound much longer. So I'm glad her grandson is popping by every few days to say hello.

I retain my top score on my list of all the Cybils finalists. Ha! I am leaving the link here in hopes that other people try their luck. 

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'm going to go sign up. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers.

Started

Framed, Frank Cottrell Boyce. Cybils finalist. 

Guest: A Changeling Tale, Mary Downing Hahn. For Talbot Hill Elementary book club.

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt. For Talbot Hill Elementary book club.

Chirp, Kate Messner. Just because.

Sentinel, Lee Child & Andrew Child. For Tuesday book club -- read a Reacher!

Jukebox, Nidhi Chanani. Cybils finalist. 

Completed

Chunky, Yehudi Mercado. 2021 Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel Cybils finalist. This was a fun look at the life of a budding comic, and I enjoyed the imaginary friend and his unconditional support. The family dynamics were kid-level complex and interesting -- the parents supported but disagreed with the kid on what was best, and the kid and siblings missed a lot of what the parents really worried about. The ending wasn't my favorite -- it opened up some cans of worms and then just tossed them aside easily. Hmm, that metaphor is a good example of why I would not be a good author of graphic novels...

Guest: A Changeling Tale, Mary Downing Hahn. This was our pick for the 4/5 grade book club, and I had some problems with it that I hope I didn't bring to the discussion. I remember when I was reading about autism after my son's diagnosis that there is speculation that some changeling myths come from kids developing oddly, so when everyone was super mean to the changeling baby I took it personally. I did like how Mollie would be mean or selfish and then something bad would happen -- it's a very moralistic book in that sense -- but there wasn't any lecturing from the author or from Mollie. She learned to be nicer (well, at least sometimes) but she stayed stubborn. At the book club we mostly talked about who would notice if siblings were replaced, and who would try to rescue them. Or if they'd be rescued by their siblings. And whether they would choose to stay as Royalty (and get killed -- oops) or pick their forgotten poor families.

Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt. For the Gifted/Talented kids, who ended up with a different lunch time this year. This was a great choice for them, because they didn't read the book! But Babbitt presents an very interesting dilemma, and I posed it to the kids. The first half they spent choosing the best time to drink so they could live forever, and then I read a few paragraphs from the Tucks who didn't completely enjoy their immortality, and they started probing deeper. I think this might be one of the years where the kids at book club read the books after the meeting when they realize what they missed. Which is still fun for me!

Mexican Whiteboy, Matt de los Pena. I really liked the writing and the situation, but I got a bit annoyed with the main characters attitude towards women. But the baseball stuff was cool, and the train metaphor the friend used to help him learn control was neat. The dad stuff was well built up and the cutting tendencies really affected me. Apparently this was part of the idiot wing of the Republican party's ban when they went after books in Arizona. The word "Mexican" in the title apparently made them think it was bad, when really it's a sensitive story that has a theme of learning to fit in with all parts of one's heritage.

Jukebox, Nidhi Chanani. 2021 Elementary/Middle Grade Graphic Novel Cybils finalist. A quick read that was fun but left me wishing for more. I felt like I would have liked the extra narrative space of a novel rather than a comic, because there was so much interesting stuff going on with the visits to historical events, and then also with the interpersonal notes. The older girl relies on the missing dad for help in coming out as bisexual, but this whole thing gets about four panels. This might be a me problem -- I'm not that visually oriented so maybe I missed some of the nuances that better graphic readers would pick up. I mean, I still get very proud when I make it all the way through a book and remember which character is which, since I tend to forget details like who was the bald one and who wore glasses.

Chirp, Kate Messner. A while back I wandered in a library and picked up a handful of kidlit. After all, I reassured myself, they only take a few hours to read. But you have to start them to finish them! I'm really glad I finally started this one; it was really rewarding. There's a fun plot around saving the grandmother's cricket factory, where we see the middle school Mia working on a business plan and commissioning a robot to help with the processing, as well as doing some sleuthing into who is trying to sabotage them. This balances the emotional plot of why Mia has changed so much and lost so much confidence in herself, and how she confronts these issues. A really good balance of realistic action and realistic emotional growth, with the fun of eating crickets and dealing with sexual harassment. Well, that last bit is more empowering than fun.

Sentinel, Lee Child & Andrew Child. In honor of the TV show, and because we are old enough to find teen angst tiring and need a break, we have picked Jack Reacher for our next read. And this time we aren't specifying which one -- just read a Reacher! I picked the one in Tennessee, because I read around the states. Reacher punches the bad people, sees all the clues, and helps the helpless. And the FBI, because once a defender of the Republic, always a defender. Also, he hates Nazis, and it's personal because his mom was a French kid during World War II. Which makes Reacher about my age, so he's doing good. At first I thought this book was taking a radical turn, because he doesn't connect with any of the local women, but whew, the Childs pulled that one out by the skin of their teeth.

-------  And now a book from my blogging hiatus! Someday I will mention them all -----

Jumper, Steven Gould. While wandering around the dealers at WorldCon I saw a hardback of this, and I wanted to upgrade my copy. And then I spent most of a day in my room because of Reasons, and I thought I'd just look at a few of my favorite scenes, and then I read the whole thing. I really like Davy and how he solves problems and works towards a better version of himself, and Millie is there for that to. Now I want to reread the whole series, except the second is kind of a lot so maybe I'll skip to the completely fun fourth one. Gould does this thing where he throws a new idea at his smart characters and they figure out really neat things to do with it while also living their lives with complicated families and situations.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. Or at least actually pick it up and think about reading it. This week I made some progress in:

Forging a Nightmare, Patricia A. Jackson. I received this as a gift from the author at DisconIII, so I'm ready to like it.

Forfeit, Dick Francis. Hmm, maybe I should read another Francis while I get up the nerve to read the hard part.

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emyrs. Again, I pick up my ipad to read and I play Spaceward Ho!

Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik. It's also a fake romance! I should have mentioned it at the Fake Romance club.

Sweep of the Heart, Ilona Andrews. Another Innkeeper story! I'm on chapter 7. 

Live Free or Die, John Ringo. This is The Baen Free Radio Podcast serial, so every week they read a few pages to me. OK, I'm working my way through the November bits.

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy. For my Friday night book club. I got past the awkward mundane scene and am happily into the urban fantasy stuff.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," Sarah Pinsker. Another creepy story, with the fun format of a wiki about a traditional song, with posters disappearing suspiciously. I liked it even though I tend to prefer the idea of folk songs more than their actuality.

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. I've been ignoring my mail.

The Educated Child, William Bennett.

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Heading into the end of December. Maybe I should just skip February altogether.. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021: Finished two graphic novels and started a third!
2. Early Cybils: Worked on Framed.
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Vermont, Tennessee and New Hampshire!
5. Libraries: Forgot to check.

Future Plans

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: Forging a Nightmare Next: Running the Books
• Library Book: Strange Love. Next: The Burning
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Chaos Reigning.  Next: Coyote Dreaming
• Book Club Book: Strange Love Next: I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Jack Reacher books!
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: I should pick one.
• Audio:  Probably just podcasts

Wimps Get It Done

Well, the facial lesion stayed all lesiony, so I went back to the dermatologist and she sliced it off and sent it away to be analyzed. I managed to fake calmness even though this process involved needles and who knows what else. There was blood. I'll probably have to get a more thorough removal done in a few weeks.

And then just to show how tough I am, I gave blood on the weekend. Then I came home and whined a lot, and my son was nice to me. I mean, he's always nice to me, but he was loud about it so I would appreciate it.

I made it to two movies -- we went to see 355 and my mom tagged along to be companionable. Sadly it was violent and not all that much fun -- I was hoping for a lighthearted girl-spies thing, but it took itself a bit too seriously and went too hard on the bloodshed. Ew. So the next day Xan and I went back and saw Moonfall, which was utterly silly and didn't care. I mean, that's not how gravity works, or distance, or, well anything, but pretty people! Lovely skies! Off screen deaths! I hope to take Linda to see it. 

We also had two birthdays -- my nephew and my grandmother share a birthday. We let the young man have the day, and he invited some of his friends from his work training program out for dinner and bowling. I got to go along and also provide some driving. It was a lot of fun! Then on the weekend during the Superb Owl (thanks for the mistake, Siri!) we took my mom out for a birthday dinner at her favorite local restaurant. My brother attended even though he's less comfortable going out to eat, but it was a special occasion. 

Oh, I also had my Friday pizza book club, which was fun even though I hadn't read the book. And my Sunday theme book club -- we talked about SF books that were romance free. The lame version of that is books were the author doesn't notice that women are actually people (mostly older books), in which case it's better to skip the romance altogether rather than award the girl to the guy as a prize. But sometimes there's just too much action for the character to have time for romance, and that is a better way to do it. For example, the Hunger Games books.  

Dinner was falafel (I made my pitas) and then pizza for book club. I've been cooking the pitas in a cast iron skillet instead of in the oven, and it's working well. Well, it works best when I make my sons take over, because I set the timer to know when to flip them and they do this mysterious thing where they look at the bottom and flip it before it burns. Which somehow works out better.  

I retain my top score on my list of all the Cybils finalists. Ha! The winners come out today  just came out, so maybe I should make a list of just the winners. Hmm.

Deep Space 9 has fixed the past, so I'm on to the next. But I keep forgetting to fold laundry, so my TV viewing is limited.

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'm going to go sign up. Ditto for the children's lit version at either Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers.

Started

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky. My Tuesday book club wanted to see if Mazerunner was typical of YA. So we're reading this YA that I heard a lot about back in the day.

Chunky, Yehudi Mercado. Cybils finalist. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. From a review by James Nicoll. Except I think he was reviewing the light novel, and this is the manga. 

Coyote Dreams, C.E. Murphy. For my Friday night book club. Unfortunately it starts with an awkward scene so I didn't actually officially start until after the book club ended. (I don't count a book as started until page 25.)

Completed

Never Fall For Your Fiance, Virginia Heath. I waded through the Dumb Misunderstanding, but I found their angst over lying to people they like very relatable and stressful. The resolution reminding me again that this is not set in historical Earth but an alternate reality with some similarities in dress fashions and such. But it's a solid entry for Fake Relationships! I'm ready for Wednesday!

Child of Fire, Harry Connolly. I'm a huge Connolly fan, so I was eager to suggest this as the tentpole of the Foolscap February theme of NO ROMANCE. Building a romantic relationship is not at the top of the list for anyone involved in this book, although Ray Lily does acknowledge that prison has put a severe crimp in his sex life which makes him a bit more vulnerable to certain temptations. But the huge danger to many children in his vicinity means that his priorities are definitely in a different direction. I really like how we start in the middle of a life; Connolly did eventually go back and write the prequel but I didn't need it the first time I read this and I don't need it now. We see him making decisions based on past experience, which includes a tough childhood as well as a later encounter with a spellbook, and how the theme of accidentally hurting his friends and what that means for loyalty operates in the present. 

Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo. Sword and Laser February pick. I reread on audio. I enjoyed it a bit more this time; the beginning was slow, but I usually listen to audio at 1.5 or so speed, so it moved along. I was having some problems hearing the audio, because the narrator's voice was right at a pitch to disappear into engine noise, so I kept decreasing the speed, but the story picks up as it goes along, so I was always happy. It was fun seeing the clues placed along the way after knowing the end; there's a refrain of "Do you understand?" and I was nodding along well ahead of the viewpoint character. The frame is a neat way to tell the story.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky.  Not for me. I've had this on my TBR list for about ten years, and I think the older I get the less this is to my taste. My Tuesday book club read this after Maze Runner to see if we were out of touch from YA books, and it looks like my answer is "Yes." The protagonist is described many times as uniquely brilliant, a beautiful writer, etc. Yet the book is supposed to be letters he writes, so hmm. Also, he really liked the book Catcher In the Rye! The odds I am going to root for him are very low. And there is a final bit revelation that struck me as very poorly handled. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. I was completely hooked by the premise and willing to forgive all. The main character is someone killed underneath her pile of books wakes up in a different world (apparently this is a staple of the genre) but in the body of a small child, a small illiterate child in a world where books are rare and reserved for the elite. So her most important consideration is of course getting her hands on something to read, and she figures the easiest route involves re-invented papyrus based on vague memories and her toddler skills. Delightful!

-------  And now a book from my blogging hiatus! Someday I will mention them all -----

Duke Actually, Jenny Holiday. I read this on my vacation to attend DisConIII, and it was just what I wanted. A frothy romance involving a fake European country and a fake New York University, and how the Duke and the professor fall in love. Very well done fake aristocracy, with just enough emotional connection to reality to keep me turning pages. 

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. Or at least actually pick it up and think about reading it. This week I made some progress in:

Mexican Whiteboy, Matt de los Pena. All my teenaged-boy angst appetite was taken up with by Perks of Being a Wallflower.

Forging a Nightmare, Patricia A. Jackson. I received this as a gift from the author at DisconIII, so I'm ready to like it.

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emyrs. Again, I pick up my ipad to read and I play Spaceward Ho!

Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik. I wanted to get back to the space romance.

Sweep of the Heart, Ilona Andrews. Another Innkeeper story! They are serializing it.

Forfeit, Dick Francis. Hmm, maybe I should read another Francis while I get up the nerve to read the hard part.

Live Free or Die, John Ringo. This is The Baen Free Radio Podcast serial, so every week they read a few pages to me. I'm so far behind that my phone keeps trying to remove the downloads and then I can't listen while driving. Humph.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

None.

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. I've been ignoring my mail.

The Educated Child, William Bennett.

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Heading into the end of December. Maybe I should just skip February altogether.. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021: Started a graphic novel!
2. Early Cybils: Nope.
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Nothing new. Another annoyance of Perks is that it ostentatiously refuses to specify the setting.
5. Libraries: Forgot to check.

Future Plans

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: Forging a Nightmare Next: Running the Books
• Library Book: Mexican Whiteboy. Next: Ghost
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Chaos Reigning.  Next: Coyote Dreaming
• Book Club Book: Ghost Next: Mexican Whiteboy
• Tuesday Book Club Book: 
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: I should pick one.
• Audio:  Probably just podcasts