My Birthday

Happy Birthday to me! My son Alexander took the extended family out to dinner to Whistle Stop, one of my favorite local restaurants. And then we went home for cake, made by my kids. The other son has been experimenting with different spices in his whipped cream frosting; this one came out really well. And then I got a new book bag and a game of Never Have I Ever cards, which everyone cheerfully played with me. Really a lively day.

Also I had my usually enthusiastic elementary book club who broke into singing Happy Birthday when I let slip that it was my day. Now we pause birthdays until April. And finally I picked up a new library (Newport Way, very nice) and went back to Newcastle to get a picture and a stamp.

I think I am now reading 64 books, according to goodreads. Maybe I should have made a resolution to start a whole bunch of books from my shelves, not to finish them…

Books Completed March 7-13

Claudia and Mean Janine, Babysitters Club, Ann Martin. Text version. This one is really about Claudia’s grandmother’s stroke. It’s interesting that no one suggests anyone else learn any Japanese as Mimi works at regaining her voice and especially with remembering English words. I liked how Claudia was worried that she had caused the stroke and so she apologizes and learns and accepts that it was not her fault. Done.

Tough Boy Sonatas, Curtis L. Crisler. With this one I could always see what the poems were trying to do, or at least have some ideas of what and how they were doing. Much more to my liking, even if none of them sank deep into my heart. They mostly weren’t aimed at me anyway.

Fudge-a-Mania, Judy Blume. For Talbot Hill book club. Huh, this was written about ten years after the previous ones, but the family picks up where we left them. Family vacations to Maine are eternal, I guess. It’s a funny book, although I wish the parents didn’t let Fudge bully his older brother so much; the boy is plenty old enough to practice compassion. The kids liked the parrot stuff the most.

Poems, R. Hawley Truax. I think these are by my cousin’s grandfather. He was a little too fond of word enjambment (splitting a word so he gets a rhyme out of an inside syllable). Good read. 

Babysitters Club: Kristy’s Big Day, Ann Martin. Original version. I liked seeing the differences in the graphic novel and the text, which mostly reflected the medium. So, complicated shenanigans were more in the text, and the drive to create a beautiful picture was more in the comic.

Never After 1: The Thirteenth Fairy, Melissa de la Cruz. Talbot Hill book club pick. We talked about the meta aspect of writing a book series about a girl who loves a book series and then gets to go into that book series and change it, and which series the kids would go into and whether they’d change things. And about fairy tales and truth.

Good-bye Stacey Good-bye (Babysitters Club), Anne Martin. Original version. I like the garage sale stuff because it’s nostalgic, and then it’s endearing how the other kids use the money to throw a big party with all the little ones.

The Great Space Iguana (Hilo), Judd Winick. Another good mix of snappy plot, compassionate choices, and Hilo humor.

All the Hidden Paths, Foz Meadows. As I feared it leaned more into the character angst stuff that I found slow and away from the super fun worldbuilding, but I got enough to keep the pages turning. I did wonder at making the mystery so prominent if our protagonists weren’t going to solve it. They could have been smart enough.

Books Started

Fudge-a-Mania, Judy Blume. For Talbot Hill book club.

The Night Librarian, Christopher Lincoln. Next shelf in Renton Highlands.

Babysitters Club: Kristy’s Big Day, Ann Martin. Original version.

South Riding, Winifred Holtby. Scintillation book club. I’ll never finish in time.

Good-bye Stacey Good-bye (Babysitters Club), Anne Martin. Original version.

The Great Space Iguana (Hilo), Judd Winick. These are great. I’ve been on hold for ages.

The City and the City, China Mieville. Sword and Laser Book Club.

The City Beyond the Sea (Greenwild 2), Pari Thomson. Kidlit fantasy.

The Fall of Roe, Elizabeth Dias & Lisa Lerner. Torches & Pitchforks book club pick.

The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley. River Runs Under It Book Club pick. I’ll probably skim this as I read it recently.

American Smooth, Rita Dove. My next poetry book.

Stacey’s Mistake (Babysitter Club), Ann M. Martin. This is number 18. 

Bookmarks Moved

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki.

Masters in this Hall, K.J. Charles.

The Caphelon, Fletcher DeLancey. 

An Immense World, Ed Yong.

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. 

Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy.

Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros.

The Rook, Daniel O’Malley. (Audio)

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

                                   Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

                                   Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

                            Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

                            Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

                    Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman. 

                 Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

                Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

           Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

    Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

    True Colors, Abby Cooper.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

Nova, Samuel R. Delaney.

Books Acquired

From the library:

Scary Stories For Young Foxes: The City, Christian McKay Heidicker.

Scary Stories For Young Foxes, Christian McKay Heidicker.

Embers of War, Gareth L. Powell.

A Fate Inked in Blood, Danielle L. Jensen.

For my shelves:

The Tomb of Dragons, Katherine Addison. 

Mrs. Pollifax, Innocent Tourist, Dorothy Gilman.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

“Bravado” by Carrie Vaughn. This is on Reactor, and as a stand alone it’s ok but apparently there are other stories about the guy and I think it would be fun to read more stuff in the setting.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. I’m never inviting this lady over to dinner.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Kip meeting his heroes is hilarious.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. Tennyson.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. 

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe. Still back in October.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so a week beyond the books in this post. It is also probably wrong.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: What Makes This Book So Great
• Library Book: The City Beyond the Sea
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  Movie Month! 
• Sword and Laser Club Book:  The City and the City
• Scintillation Book Club: Tam Lin
• Cloudy Book Club:  Lore of the Wilds
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  The Fall of Roe
• River Runs Under It Book Club: The Diamond Eye
• Talbot Hill Book: Scary Stories For Young Foxes and Bad Guys 
• Friday Book Club: Lavender Blue
• Romance Book Club: Mythology based romance

Birthdays Slow Down

  Argh, I’m falling behind again. This post is a week late. No siblings had birthdays, I had several in person book clubs, and I added four library stamps to my collection, two new libraries and two return visits to get the stamp. 

I think I am now reading 66 books, according to goodreads. Oops.

Books Completed March 1 - 6

Oceans Godori, Elaine U. Cho. Cloudy bookclub pick. This had fun worldbuilding and a good crew-as-family (but the captain is not really in the group) vibe, but also it’s the first half of the story! It’s not quite that bad, the emotional arcs end in decent places, but the plot arc is still in media res. This was not reflected in the cover and so the pacing felt very odd. I’ll want to read the back half when in comes out in a few months.

The Will of Many, James Islington. Sword and Laser book club pick. This Romans-with-magic would have been much better with about 30% fewer pages. It had a neat concept and some good characters but tended to repeat things both ona small scale (narrator ruminates over something until the author is sure the reader got it) and a bigger scale, where he learns the same lesson several times. This matters a lot at the end when Islington does something fairly cool with the last two short chapters, after training the reader not to pay close attention. I knew the Sword and Laser hosts were confused and so were several people in our local meetup. I mean, maybe I missed some stuff as well.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi, Shannon Chakraborty. The 2024 Hugo finalist I didn’t quite finish is now finished! I can now nominate for 2025 with a clear conscience! This was a fun pirate vs evil wizards book set in the Indian Ocean, although I got a little tired of the protagonist proclaiming she wanted to go home and be boring. Nobody wanted that, including her. Oh, it’s in the romantic past, so scimitars and sails, not machine guns and cargo ships.

Fresh Brewed Murder, Emmeline Duncan. For my main book club. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately and I liked this low stakes cosy murder mystery with lots of nice food and competent adults.

Claudia and the New Girl, Babysitters Club Graphic Novel, Gabriela Epstein. I was a little confused by the timeline; did the club really get that mad when Claudia was befriending a new girl for a week? Was it more? Didn’t anybody ever get overwhelmed at school or something before? These kids are usually much calmer.

Death Unfiltered, Emmeline Duncan. I was in the mood to stay in this safe (well, except for all the dead people) version of Portland, so I gobbled down the whole series, numbers 1, 4, 2, and 3. The little company grew from one food truck to an additional traveling cart and a store front, the protagonist gets engaged and has an adoring almost-stepchild, and the shadow of her criminal mom looms and shrinks and looms.

The Year We Disappeared, Cylin Busby & John Busby. 2008 Cybils finalist. This was a gripping story from two different directions, telling how a family decided to handle the policeman dad getting shot by a guy who probably would be coming back to try again. I thought it was going to be about remaking themselves, but it mostly focused on the months after the late 1970s attack. John spends a lot of time thinking about vengeance, especially when the police department lets both his case and the case he was shot over die. Cylin goes from enjoying the treat-filled chance to live with her cousins (with their pool!) to an understanding of the damage to her daddy and the new restrictions and fear in their lives. The two perspectives reinforce the reality of each other.

Double Shot Death, Emmeline Duncan. Jumped back to number 2.

Flat White Fatality, Emmeline Duncan. Stepped ahead with the third. I think a fifth is coming out this year.

Books Started

Nova, Samuel R. Delaney. For Scintillation book club. Which I missed, so not finishing in time was not an issue.

Claudia and the New Girl, Babysitters Club Graphic Novel, Gabriela Epstein. Still liking these.

Tough Boy Sonatas, Curtis L. Crisler. Poetry from library.

Fresh Brewed Murder, Emmeline Duncan. For my main book club.

Masters in this Hall, K.J. Charles. Ebook I bought because this author is great.

Claudia and Mean Janine, Babysitters Club, Ann Martin. Text version.

Death Unfiltered, Emmeline Duncan. It is always acceptable at this book club to read on in a series. I jumped to number 4.

Double Shot Death, Emmeline Duncan. And back to #2.

Flat White Fatality, Emmeline Duncan. And now I’ve caught up with the author by reading #3.

Never After 1: The Thirteenth Fairy, Melissa de la Cruz. Talbot Hill book club pick.

The Caphelon, Fletcher DeLancey. Spaceships! I have no idea why I checked this out but it looks fun.

Bookmarks Moved

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki.

All the Hidden Paths, Foz Meadows. 

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. 

Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy.

Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

The Rook, Daniel O’Malley. (Audio)

An Immense World, Ed Yong.

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

                               Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

                               Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

                        Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

                        Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

                Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman. 

             Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

            Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

       Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

    Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Poems, R. Hawley Truax. This will get displaced by a library book again.

Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

Am I Small? Mol ke Idek?, Philipp Winterberg. This is a fun picture book about relativity (big things think you are small, little things think you are big, lots of chance for fun illustrations) but the main gimmick seems to be that its many editions are bilingual across all sorts of languages. The one I read was English/Marshallese, a language I am so unfamiliar with that at first I thought it was a made up language used by the creatures the narrator converses with. I was very impressed with it for working as a real language, which made sense because it is!

44 Uses For a Dog, Harriet Ziefert. Nice concept, worth the time, but the illustration style was not my cup of tea.

How Does Chocolate Taste on Everest?, Leisa Stewart-Sharpe. The life of an intrepid explorer involves all the senses as well as a good sense of humor, and this picture books shows them all. The frame of the reader zooming around the world is a good vehicle for the information and makes for a fun read.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. We’re on to keeping your kitchen clean. I feel very judged.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Kip is a nice guy to be marooned with.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. Poe.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. 

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe. Back in October.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so a week beyond the books in this post. It is also probably wrong.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: An Immense World
• Library Book: The City Beyond the Sea
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  Movie Month! 
• Sword and Laser Club Book:  The City and the City
• Scintillation Book Club: Tam Lin
• Cloudy Book Club:  Lore of the Wilds
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  The Fall of Roe
• River Runs Under It Book Club: The Fire-maker’s Daughter 
• Talbot Hill Book: Scary Stories For Young Foxes and Bad Guys 
• Friday Book Club: Lavender Blue
• Romance Book Club: Anywhere but Earth romance

Happy Birthday Oldest Brother

Another Friday, so time to post last Monday’s book diary! My big brother had a birthday, I had several online book clubs, and I now have a library post card to track my libraries with, so I guess I’m going back to a few to get their stamps. But it feels more official now.

I think I am still reading 62 books, according to goodreads.

Books Completed Feb 22-28

Kristy and the Snobs: Babysitters Club Graphic Novel #10, Chan Chau. Can these girls who mock an old mutt be redeemed? Turns out yes. Also, Stacey is awesome at dealing with rich bratty kids.

Waverider: Amulet 9, Kazu Kibuishi. Emily has her legs under her and is no longer frightened by the creature her great uncle released. I liked seeing how some of the environmental themes matched up with Nausicaä.

Golden Hour, Niki Smith. The pictures of the kid having flashbacks to the gun violence at his school were really disturbing and really reflected his jangle of emotions. His new friends seemed a bit too good to be true, but I liked seeing how they helped bring him back to equilibrium.

Mary Anne Saves the Day: Babysitter Club #4, Ann Martin. I like the text ones because there is more interiority. Also I like Mary Anne standing up to her dad, and the drama at the kid birthday party. 

To the Gorge, Emily Halnon. This resonated with me on several levels; I’ve been reading about the Pacific Coast Trail, which Emily is running on through Oregon to honor her mother while dealing with the grief over her death. My own mom died around this time a few years ago, so it’s a timely book about grieving.

Kristy’s Big Day: BabySitter Club Graphic Novel # 6, Gale Galligan. Giant babysitting party in the backyard! This was fun, and with a little emotion over blending the families as a spice.

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne. I started this last year when The Sword and Laser book club picked it, but fell behind. It’s got really vivid descriptions and a solid setting in a Norse-like land (with rotting gods, so reading it against Will of the Many was amusing). This is the start of a series, so the whole book is just getting the three main characters set for the rest of the saga; the book breaks the world at the end. I found that a bit frustrating although I know it’s a genre convention; the characters do get solid emotional arcs but I’m not convinced to go on. Also it’s a bit gory for me and I’m a wimp.

Jessi’s Secret Language: Babysitters Club Graphic Novel #12, Chan Chau. Jessi is smart, and I like how she organizes a whole thing for the deaf class.

Books Started

Oceans Godori, Elaine U. Cho. Cloudy bookclub pick.

Kristy and the Snobs: Babysitters Club Graphic Novel #10, Chan Chau. I’m on a Babysitter roll now. 

Waverider: Amulet 9, Kazu Kibuishi. The end of the series!

Mary Anne Saves the Day: Babysitter Club #4, Ann Martin. Rolling, rolling rolling. 

Kristy’s Big Day: BabySitter Club Graphic Novel # 6, Gale Galligan. Keep those pages rolling.

Jessi’s Secret Language: Babysitters Club Graphic Novel #12, Chan Chau. Raw hide!

Bookmarks Moved

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki.

The Will of Many, James Islington. Sword and Laser book club pick.

Poems, R. Hawley Truax. This will get displaced by a library book again.

Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy.

All the Hidden Paths, Foz Meadows. 

An Immense World, Ed Yong

Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

The Rook, Daniel O’Malley. (Audio)

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

The Year We Disappeared, Cylin Busby & John Busby. 

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. 

Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (old Sword and Laser book club pick)

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

                           Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

                           Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

                   Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

                   Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

            Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman. 

        Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

        Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

   Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

Our Blue Planet, Leisa Stewart-Sharpe. This author was recommended at one of my book clubs, but although every page was interesting with a good balance of information, whimsy and illustrations, I wanted more of a through line to pull me across the pages.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Onto the kitchen, where I feel bad about my knives and smug about my pans.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi, Shannon Chakraborty. Tying the end back to the beginning.

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Challenge accepted says the tough bureaucrat.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. Rilke. Poe.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. 

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so a week beyond the books in this post.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: An Immense World
• Library Book: All the Hidden Paths
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  Movie Month! 
• Sword and Laser Club Book:  The City and the City
• Scintillation Book Club: South Riding
• Cloudy Book Club:  Lore of the Wilds
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  The Fall of Roe
• River Runs Under It Book Club: The Fire-maker’s Daughter 
• Talbot Hill Book: Fudge-a-mania and Thirteenth Fairy
• Friday Book Club: Freshly Brewed Murder (done! Actually I read the whole series)
• Romance Book Club: Anywhere but Earth romance

Happy Birthday Youngest Sister

Well, it’s Friday and this was supposed to go out last Sunday, so I’m doing better every week! While reading these books I also celebrated my sister’s birthday, visited a few more libraries (Skyway, Greenbridge), and had some book groups.

I think I am currently reading 62 books, according to goodreads.

Books Completed Feb 14-21

Spirit Level, Richy Craven. Friday friends book club. This was an enjoyable read about some Irish men, one of whom dies early on. The other one can see him, but only after reaching a certain level of drunkenness. This was a bit of a problem for me as I’m very squeamish about drunk driving, and at one point the live guy has to overcome his anxiety about driving to get him and ghost guy somewhere. And I was not okay with that, but they get away with it. There are interesting side characters, some of which stay and some who stay small. There’s a good therapist who helps live guy deal with seeing visions of his dead friend, which would have worked if they were visions and not actually real ghost sightings.

The Golden Lord, Mary Jo Putney. This did exactly what I wanted and expected. Two adults doing a job, having emotions, and handling those emotions calmly and with respect for each other. To my delight they also had psychic powers.

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor. Sword and Laser club pick. (Audio) I read this when it came out but the audio adds a lot. I liked the magical world and the way the kids get responsibilities right away. The money falling from the sky when you learn stuff was cool. I hope I remember to read the others.

Nightwoods, Charles Frazier. The writing was really good but the characters stayed distant to me. It didn’t seem to add up to a coherent story. The twins were fascinating but too perfect for the needs of the plot.

Rescue, Jennifer Nielsen. I associate Nielsen with hyper-competent kids always several steps ahead, and this protagonist switched between that and a more realistic fallible kid with improbable connections. But all WWII kidlit is my jam so I was happy reading it.

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler. Ok, the previous one was eerie to read during the pandemic and this one is eerie to read during the executive power grab and incipient trade war and scapegoating of trans people and immigrants. It was also a sad story of irreplaceable loss, as Lauren loses her child and her brother is petty enough not to share when he finds her. So story of both the expansive possibilities of the human spirit and also the depths and paucity it is capable of. No easy realization only harsh perception of reality.

Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson. This is very World War Z but with a different foe. I don’t know which came first. This one isn’t as good at characterization so it’s mostly an adventure story of the war to reclaim humanity’s top spot. A fast read.

Wild Seed, Octavia Butler. Butler liked to pose tough, sometimes impossible questions, and then pursue the answers even into uncomfortable places, and that is true on both the character and the thematic level. What are the ethics in a relationship with a bad person? Is death better than submitting and slightly ameliorating the harm? Is eugenics inherently evil or only in its practice? Book club struggled with these questions.

Notes From the Air, John Ashbery. Poetry. I never got it. None of these poems seemed to say much. I poked around on the web a bit to see if I could get help but nothing worked. I’m assuming there is more there than the trite understanding I had of what they were saying, and the games of spot-the-reference.

Books Started

Nightwoods, Charles Frazier. A book from the next shelf for my Renton Library Quest.

The Will of Many, James Islington. Sword and Laser book club pick.

Golden Hour, Niki Smith. A Book from the next shelf for my Renton Highlands Library Quest.

Wild Seed, Octavia Butler. For Scintillation book club.

All the Hidden Paths, Foz Meadows. I mostly liked the first one. 

The Rook, Daniel O’Malley. Very old Sword & Laser pick. (Audio)

To the Gorge, Emily Halnon. Picked up when I visited the Kent Library.

Bookmarks Moved

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne.

Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

The Year We Disappeared, Cylin Busby & John Busby. 

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. 

Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy.

Poems, R. Hawley Truax. 

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

                       Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

                       Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

                   Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

               Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

        Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman. 

    Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

    Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

    True Colors, Abby Cooper.

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon, James Buckley Jr. I hit the nonfiction section of the Renton Highlands J Graphic books area. This was very readable, with two guides joking around as the books passed through Armstrong’s life, emphasizing his hard work and dedication. 

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Onto the kitchen.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi, Shannon Chakraborty. Showdown!

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. The friend of a friend might make things awkward.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. Rilke. Poe.

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. I’m getting too curmudgeonly for YA.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so a week beyond the books in this post.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: An Immense World
• Library Book: All the Hidden Paths
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  Movie Month! 
• Sword and Laser Club Book: The Will of the Many, The City and the City
• Scintillation Book Club: Nova, South Riding
• Cloudy Book Club: Ocean’s Godori, Lore of the Wilds
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  The Fall of Roe
• River Runs Under It Book Club: The Fire-maker’s Daughter 
• Talbot Hill Book: Fudge-a-mania and Thirteenth Fairy
• Friday Book Club: Freshly Brewed Murder
• Romance Book Club: Anywhere but Earth romance

Happy Birthday Youngest Nephew!

Well, it’s Saturday and this was supposed to go out last Sunday, so I’m doing better! While reading these books I also celebrated my nephew’s birthday, saw the movies Dogman and Love Hurts, and gave blood.

I think I am currently reading 65 books, according to goodreads.

Books Completed Feb 7-13

The Stonekeeper: Amulet 1, Kazu Kibuishi. Talbot book club. Attendance was low for this club (it was the first nice day after a week of lost recesses) but we appreciated the rich illustrations and talked about whether graphic novels were more like books or movies in terms of scariness for young kids. I also noticed that my reading skills for graphic novels has increased since I first read this as I’m better at differentiating characters and following action scenes; I’m probably at almost a third grade level!

The Truth About Stacey (Babysitters Club 3), Ann M. Martin. Talbot book club. A good introduction to this series for me! I was surprised it was a chapter book as I thought these were all graphic novels but now I understand the history. It felt very 80s in the treatment of divorce and the acceptance of young babysitters and more independent kids in general. I liked the diabetes stuff and how the club handled it given Stacey’s anxiety. My book club was huge and we talked about how realistic these were and what were the worst things that could happen on babysitting jobs and how mature babysitters should be (one kid suggested a minimum age of 30).

Down Deep, Catherine Asaro. I enjoy these stories with future societies and mental powers and a language represented by monosyllabic words, and having gotten to talk with the author at the last world con I appreciated seeing some of the aspects she talked about. I like how the characters move realistically between competent and emotionally clueless. The pandemic scenes were harrowing.

Babysitters Club Graphic Novel: Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery, Cynthia Yuan Cheng. Ok, I liked the art and the writing, but the premise was hard to swallow. These kids are really changing their behavior in any way based in a chain letter curse? I don’t buy it. Humph.

A Scatter of Light, Malinda Lo. The thoughtful discussions with the Scintillation crowd are good for bringing out themes and structure bits that I might miss, as well as an appreciation of language. And it was interesting to see the different reactions to the protagonist’s decision to go after a woman in a committed relationship, which ranged from “well, she’s young” to “I couldn’t get over how much I disliked her.” 

Babysitters Club Little Sister Graphic Novel: Karen’s Sleepover, Katy Farina. Wow, this blended family worked out better than the Brady Bunch! Karen now accepts shared custody as an unmitigated positive. The sleepover drama seemed forced, and I was glad nobody took the kids’ emotional storms seriously. It’s interesting that this series looks at babysitting from both sides.

Babysitters Club Graphic Novel: Claudia and the Bad Joke, Arley Nopra. My first takeaway is shock that Claudia owed dues from her time in the hospital with an injury incurred on a club sponsored babysitting job. Workers rights education needed! Also I completely sympathized with Claudia’s reluctance to go back to babysitting and I found the tone more focused on the irrational nature of that fear rather than its absolute fitness as a trauma response. That said, Claudia was so awesome in her handling of the accident that I will admire her forever. And possible read the text version of this story.

Babysitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea, Ann M. Martin. Hey look, I read the first in the series! It’s fun to see Kristy’s reluctance to get to know her mom’s boyfriend’s family, and how little said boyfriend’s vast wealth impresses her. And the stuff with Stacey was hilarious. This is a case where I think slipping around makes things even more fun than reading sequentially.

Amulet 4:The Last Council, Kazu Kibuishi. So, many of the people we want to trust aren’t actually trustworthy, moms don’t always know best, and prejudice is wrong. Also, I’m definitely better are reading graphic novels, or at least at rereading them.

Amulet 8: Supernova, Kazu Kibuishi. So, the problem is bigger than the planet, Emily may have been subsumed by the evil entity, but if everyone does their best and has faith in each other things might work out! Also, motorcycles are cool. I’m ready to go get the last one!

The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Retelling of The Secret Garden, Ivy Noelle Weir. I loved the original so I’m checking out the graphic novel retelling. It’s also part of my Quest to read a book from every shelf at the Renton Highlands Library. Sadly I did not like this retelling. Mary was far too nice. She had a couple moments of being grouchy while jet-lagged and that was it. Colin also went from being a pill to having anxiety. Even the surly gardener is now an helpful bodega owner with a gardening section. Also, all the woo-woo nature magic stuff is gone. So my favorite parts (people who aren’t all sweet and nice and bonkers magical religiosity) are gone. As a stand alone story it’s probably fine, but for me it’s a disappointment as a retelling, a fix-it that breaks it.

Books Started

The Year We Disappeared, Cylin Busby & John Busby. Cybils finalist.

Babysitters Club Graphic Novel: Mary Anne’s Bad Luck Mystery, Cynthia Yuan Cheng. I’m enjoying these babysitters club books for the kids book club.

Robopocalypse, Daniel H. Wilson. For Torches and Pitchforks club, Apocalypse Year.

Babysitters Club Little Sister Graphic Novel: Karen’s Sleepover, Katy Farina.

Babysitters Club Graphic Novel: Claudia and the Bad Joke, Arley Nopra. 

Babysitters Club: Kristy’s Great Idea, Ann M. Martin.

Amulet 4:The Last Council, Kazu Kibuishi. Catching up in steps so I can read the last one.

Amulet 8: Supernova, Kazu Kibuishi. 

The Golden Lord, Mary Jo Putney. I like this author. 

Bookmarks Moved

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki.

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

Rescue, Jennifer Nielsen. 

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne.

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor. Sword and Laser club pick. (Audio)

Notes From the Air, John Ashbery. Poetry. 

Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

Spirit Level, Richy Craven. Friday friends book club.

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

                   Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

                   Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

               Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

           Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

        Poems, R. Hawley Truax. I’m back to the library poems.

    Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman.

    The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. 

Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

Picture Books and Short Stories  

“Legend Has It”, Azusa Noir. I liked the picture of the community and the idea of the friend returning but didn’t get much beyond that.

“Parthenogenesis,” by Stephen Graham Jones. A spooky campfire tale. It kind of seemed to warn about making up stories which is always fun in a horror story.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. This week I learned that my mom was right about wine.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi, Shannon Chakraborty. She’s back!

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. The friend of a friend might make things awkward.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. I’m getting too curmudgeonly for YA.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so two weeks from the books in this post.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: TheFinal Reflection
• Library Book: To The Gorge
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  extended universe books, esp Star Trek
• Sword and Laser Club Book: The Will of the Many
• Scintillation Book Club: South Riding
• Cloudy Book Club: Ocean’s Godori 
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club:  (The Fall of Roe)
• River Runs Under It Book Club: The Fire-maker’s Daughter 
• Talbot Hill Book: Fudge-a-mania and 
• Friday Book Club: Freshly Brewed Murder
• Romance Book Club: Anywhere but Earth romance

Birthday Season Begins

Time for the slow match of the birthday cakes! My sister, me, and my son mean a cake a month for the next season. I have two niblings in there as well, but they don’t like cake so what’s even the point of having a birthday?

I made a web page for my library visits but now I have to start over and take pictures,

This post should have gone out last Monday, so if I work hard I could have tomorrow post out by Wednesday and then be caught up with my diary! I think I am currently reading 65 books, according to goodreads.

Books Completed Jan 31 - Feb 6th

The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley. I enjoyed this book but I’m not sure I got what the author intended. My take was definitely different than the goodreads consensus. I thought it was a meditation on colonialism and assimilation, how the attitude that the world belongs rightfully to the colonizer poisons relationships with the people being exploited (this means I did not see the sexual pairing as romantic) and also a meditation on how generational trauma and tribalism complicates the act of assimilating into an adopted culture even with the best of intentions. Also that a race to the bottom has rotten prizes even for the winners. I enjoyed the book club discussion!

The Emperor and the Endless Palace, Justinian Huang. Cloudy book club. I enjoyed the journey but found the ending unsatisfying. The different timelines did not manage to come together in a thematic or even an intellectually believable way. Apparently there are going to be sequels but that doesn’t help me now; it’s not so much I need more as I need the current pieces to fit together better. I’d read  more from this author because the pieces were all well made.

The Marine’s E-Mail Order Bride, Cora Seton. This was deeply silly, but I think that’s part of the genre? The setup for the romance was completely bonkers, which meant that any emotional beats tied to it did not land very hard. But cowboys are fun and the book was short, and I think it delivered on its promises, including characters who keep their personalities on a shelf until the plot calls for them. I do wonder if the online forum for finding other people forced to marry to receive their inheritance is on Craigslist or Reddit or what. But I would not say this is a successful implementation of the romance trope “marry to sastify a will.”

Deal With the Devil, Kit Rocha. Another book I started ages ago for a book club but never finished, this is an entertaining post-apocalyptic romance between two leaders of super competent overpowered teams struggling to make it in Georgia after a general societal collapse. They have some super powers that I stayed vague on but also have their steely determination and iron loyalty to their found families (and maybe some of their blood family). If that sounds fun, then this book does it well. I forget why I wasn’t in the mood back when I was supposed to read it.

In Limbo, Deb J.J. Lee. Cybils finalist. A good memoir of her teen age years and her difficult relationship with her mother but although I thought it captures her emotions really well I felt it was vague about details so that I never felt fully grounded. Or maybe I’m just not sensitive enough.

Trail of the Lost, Andrea Langford. For River Runs Under It Book club. Interesting account of searching for disappeared hikers on the Pacific Trail, especially since so few of them (or their bodies) are ever found. Although most hikers are fun, when people do get lost in the wilderness it can be very hard to find them, especially if no one knows where to start looking. And shaping the story of fruitless searches is an editorial challenge that I appreciated seeing the author grapple with.

Pizzasaurus Rex, Justin Wagner. Reading My Library Quest, Renton Highlands version. This didn’t work for me. I didn’t feel sympathy for the scientist dude, was repelled by the arc of his female sidekick/prize, and even the radical dinosaur being all cool and all didn’t elevate the feel. Oh well, can’t win them all.

Ishmael, Barbara Hambly. Foolscap book club. Theme is extended universe books. Spock in Seattle! Yet another method of time travel that they never use again! This was fun.

Books Started

The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley. Pretty sure I started this sword and laser pick last week.

Ascendancy of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection Volume 2, Miya Kazuki. I will read this as slowly as I can to savor every moment with these friends or enemies of Myne.

Trail of the Lost, Andrea Langford. For River Runs Under It Book club.

Ishmael, Barbara Hambly. Foolscap book club. Theme is extended universe books.

A Scatter of Light, Malinda Lo. Scintillation book club.

The Stonekeeper: Amulet 1, Kazu Kibuishi. Talbot book club.

Truth About Stacey (Babysitters Club 3), Ann M. Martin. Talbot book club.

Spirit Level, Richy Craven. Friday friends book club.

The Secret Garden on 81st Street: A Modern Retelling of The Secret Garden, Ivy Noelle Weir. I loved the original so I’m checking out the graphic novel retelling.

Bookmarks Moved

Long Live Evil, Sarah Rees Brennan.

Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor. Sword and Laser club pick. (Audio)

Rescue, Jennifer Nielsen. 

Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler.

Notes From the Air, John Ashbery. Poetry.

Down Deep, Catherine Asaro.

Tinker, Wen Spencer. Audio.

Into the Vast Nothing, J. Bruno.

Marry Me By Midnight, Felicia Grossmann. 

True Colors, Abby Cooper.

Lamplighters, D. M. Cornish.

The Shadow of the Gods, John Gwynne.

Bookmarks Languished

I have not given up on these! Ignore all evidence.

 

               Poppy and Marigold, Meg Welch Dendler. 

               Serpent Rider, Yxavel Magno Diño.          

           Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby.

       Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff

    Poems, R. Hawley Truax. I’m back to the library poems.

Samantha Smee: A Pirate’s Life, M.C. Dingman.

Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart. 

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, David Mitchell. For Scintillation book club. 

Picture Books and Short Stories  

“What I Saw Before the War,” Alaya Dawn Johnson. Eh, it was ok.

I’m the Best Artist in the Ocean, Kevin Sherry. The artist does good squid work. Fun and cheerful.

Books on Slow Mode

Home Comforts, Cheryl Mendleson. I read one section a day. Booze! Cocktails! Apparently my liquor cabinet is woefully inadequate.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Serafi, Shannon Chakraborty. All is lost!

At the Feet of the Sun, Victoria Goddard. Friendship is magic.

50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Mail bribe. 

The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). Mail bribe. Since this is a textbook there are assignments after each essay which it gives me exquisite pleasure to skip.

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. Mail bribe. 

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon. Mail bribe. 

War Cross, Marie Lu. Mail bribe. I’m getting too curmudgeonly for YA.

Teaching With Caldecott Books, Scholastic books. Mail bribe. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Mail bribe. Music is a good tool for calmness.

Future Plans

This is for the actual future, so two weeks from the books in this post.

I am reading: 

• Book I own: Long Live Evil
• Library Book: Rescue
• Ebook I own: Airs Above the Ground
• Foolscap Book Club Book:  extended universe books, esp Star Trek
• Sword and Laser Club Book: The Will of the Many
• Scintillation Book Club: Wild Seed
• Cloudy Book Club: Ocean’s Godori 
• Torches and Pitchfork Book Club: Robopocalypse
• River Runs Under It Book Club: (done)
• Talbot Hill Book: Fudge-a-mania and 
• Friday Book Club: Freshly Brewed Murder
• Romance Book Club: will trope

King County Library System Is Awesome! Let's See it All

 

Gotta Visit Them All

Algona-Pacific 

A small, cosy library with a convenient atrium, an enclosed children’s section, and compact nooks for Teens and computer users.

Auburn

The statue of a hungry crow outside the library is a great start, and the library inside is a winner. A safe children’s area, stacks and cosy nooks for YA and reading, and some lovely quilt like plaques over the wall with the holds.

Bellevue

Black Diamond

Bothell

A cosy library with a nice meeting room near the children’s section where I’ve seen performances, and a large nonfiction children’s section adjacent, although that does make it easier for kids to escape. I also liked the small enclosed patio if patrons want to read outside on nice days. There were several cool statues in various reading nooks. 

Boulevard Park

Burian

Carnation

Covington

Crossroads

Des Moines

Duvall

Enumclaw

Fairwood

Fall City

Federal Way 320th

Federal Way

Greenbridge

This was the first time I told an unknown librarian about my quest, and she was very enthusiastic. She also showed me around the small library and talked about how they had to curate the shelves and how quickly books turned over. I liked how kids came in to play and read and how welcoming it felt. My sister came along and took the picture with me and the librarian.

Issaquah

Kennmore 

Kent 

 A big box of a room with a sense of abundance and space. There are desks and computers to the right and magazines and sitting areas on the left, including the teen corner. The children’s area is squared off by low shelving, which I would have appreciated when I showed up with four young kids. There are several nooks with chairs or tables for quiet work and a couple of meeting rooms for large and small gatherings. Not too bad.

Kent Panther Lake

Kingsgate

Kirkland

Lake Forest Park

Lake Hills

Maple Valley

Mercer Island

Muckleshoot

Newcastle

 Newport WayNewport Way is a very cosy and comfortable library. It is fairly small but uses its space efficiently and there are many small details to delight in, from the enclosed children’s area to the windowed reading annex to the sculptures outside and the many small details on the brick walls inside. You can find small animals, letters, fossils, and even a would-be-visitor.

(Normandy Park Lockers?)

North Bend

Redmond

Redmond Ridge Library Express?

Renton

This is our local branch where the kids and I have been going since I moved to Washington. It is built over a river and has glass walls so you can look up or downstream to see the water flow, the birds fly and paddle about, and the salmon swim. It’s as cool as it sounds. It got a major renovation a few years ago and we almost had to move it (wet lands are hard to construct on, and rivers are by definition wet) but the community ponied up the extra money so it stayed. I liked the kids section better before the renovations but I don’t have kids any more so fine. There’s a nice big meeting room, several study rooms, lots of computers and nice librarians. I approve.

A couple of big trees blew over a few months ago and you can see them in the river behind the library. The window facing us has a lot of chairs set up so you can read and look out at the water flowing away and the birds and the fish (the salmon swim up this river in the fall). The children’s area is on the right so the kids get the view.

Renton Highlands

My other local library (we moved here before Renton libraries joined with KCLS) has a new building located what looks like an awesome park for kids. You can see the giant climbing structure in the right background. It also has quiet study rooms, good tables with chargers, a nice meeting room next to the children’s area which is open but has good sight lines. 

Richmond Beach

Sammamish

(Service Center?)

Shoreline

Skykomish

Skyway

Snoqualmie

South Center

Tukwilla

Valley View

Vashon

White Center

Woodinville

Woodmont