Exciting news -- I'm a Round One CYBILS JUDGE again! I'm one of the nonfiction judges -- this year we'll look at books from elementary (K-5), middle school (6-8 grade), and high school (9-12). I'm super excited and ready to roll.
Well, when I say ready to roll, of course I celebrated the month before judging starts by accidentally starting all the books, so I currently have almost 30 books on my currently reading shelf. See, I have all the books I liked best for the Seattle Library BINGO card but then I realized they were all really long so I swapped out short and quick ones, but I still want to read my original picks. And also I'm celebrating my fun summer book team by reading a book from each of their top-rated shelves. And one of these books was a J.D. Robb which reminded me how much fun those are, so I'm rereading a pile of them. And of course
I've now decided to try to read ALL the Cybils finalists ever, so there are a few of those as well. Oops.
I've now decided to try to read ALL the Cybils finalists ever, so there are a few of those as well. Oops.
But I'm sure by October I will have dealt with that. After all, September has barely started, it must be only a few days-- what? IT'S THE 21 of SEPTEMBER? How did that happen?
I'm also happy to say that we now have air to breathe in my near-Seattle town, and the winds and rain have blown all the smoke away. Apparently the fires are still burning in places but now I can regard that with calm dispassion since I'm no longer advised to stay inside with extra filters on all air moving devices. Now I should just stay inside and away from other people for the usual reasons -- we're still in a pandemic. What a year!
I sent out some care packages of cookies to my college kids and nibling, and at least one got there so a few cookies got devoured. Now I'd better get on the ball to send the Birthday Box. Online school is going well for my nephew and we are also enjoying the weekly personal trainer session with a yoga/personal trainer. I got take out from a local restaurant for Wednesday (Whistle Stop) and then cooked up a storm on Friday -- a tomato/rice/corn salad, ginger chicken soup with rice, banana bread, and bread rolls. I think I'm proudest of the bread rolls, because I had to adjust a bread recipe to cook smaller portions. Real cooks would laugh at how easy that is, but it was stressful for me.
Finally, the convention I'm organizing is trying to figure out how online options work, so we tested a game night internally. It was fun seeing (remotely) friends and then doing word guessing and drawing games. We'll do it again on Thursday and everyone is invited!
My currently reading has lurched back up to 27 with all the books left over from false starts on the Bingo card, plus some other poor choices. Oh well, sometimes life is like that.
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'm reading picture books almost daily.
Started
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton. I got this for the Seattle Bingo card but then realized it was really long. After swapping in something shorter I'm going back to read this anyway, since I picked it because it looked interesting and is set in New Zealand.
Reunion in Death (#14), J.D. Robb. I'm going back and skipping around in Eve's past because these are fun books.
Skylark and Wallpaper, Anne O'Brien Carelli. Cybils finalist.
Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, Nancy Atherton. My last task for my book team was to read something from a teammate's shelves. I'm going on to read something from every teammate's shelves, because I can. Or can try.
Don't Call Us Dead, Danez Smith. For Torches and Pitchforks book club.
Ghosts Unveiled, Kerrie Logan Houlihan. ARC chosen because I really liked the previous book (about Mummies).
Moles, Rachel Poliquin. Cybils finalist.
Killer Style, Allison Matthews David. Cybils finalist.
Reaching For the Moon, Katherine G. Johnson. Cybils finalist.
Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevido. Library book that I wanted to read.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson. Be the Serpent pick.
Completed
It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime, Trevor Noah. 2019 Cybils elementary nonfiction finalist. A very readable autobiography that is fascinating in its depiction of a very different society -- South Africa during and after apartheid, from the perspective of a child who broke the rules of apartheid by his very existence. Trevor nonchalantly describes beatings and escapes that dwarf the problems of most middle grade literature but the tone of reminiscing and humor keeps things light. I really want to read the adult version now -- preferably on audio.
Moles, Rachel Poliquin. 2019 Cybils elementary nonfiction finalist. Apparently this is part of a series about different animals, enhanced with fun comics and a personalized version of the animal to learn about. It was engaging and had good information put in context, so that learning about moles' ability to handle low oxygen and high carbon dioxide is discussed in terms of atmosphere, circulation, typical ranges, and adaptation. I found it a bit condescending, but then I'm not the target audience. Most kids would like the conversational tone.
Aunt Dimity and the King's Ransom, Nancy Atherton. These are sweet and silly and a pandemic blessing. Lori never solves the mystery -- in this one she does better than usual because the person she suspects turns out to be a fairly bad guy after all, instead of a pillar of the community. But she gets to wonder about a new place while strangers fall all over themselves to be nice to her and her husband coddles her and her many incompetencies with infinite patience. It's a wish fulfillment book and I always enjoy them.
Don't Call Us Dead, Danez Smith. For Torches and Pitchforks book club. I started this expecting to slog through it; modern poetry is not a genre I seek out. A first look was not reassuring; I tend to find poems that avoid all capital letters pretentious. But Smith surprised me -- his work was painful and raw and vivid; he descriptions of his HIV diagnosis and reactions were gripping, and his poems on the emotional roller coaster of gayness and homophobia moved me. I ended up really appreciating these pieces and rereading most of them. This is why I'm glad for this book club -- it often pushes me out of my comfort zone and then rewards me for that.
Killer Style, Allison Matthews David. 2019 Cybils elementary nonfiction finalist. I can count on the Cybils for at least one deliciously gruesome offering! This book cheerfully shows all the way people have died for fashion, either by wearing dangerous things (long scarfs, tight skirts, poisonous cosmetics) or making things with poison (felt hats, radium watches, sand-blasted jeans). I liked the organization (head to toe) and the wide pages with clearly separated topics. And now I feel virtuous for not liking stone washed jeans.
Ghosts Unveiled, Kerrie Logan Houlihan. ARC. I got hold of this because of my enthusiasm for the previous book in the series (Mummies Exposed) but sadly I think that enthusiasm steered me wrong. This book isn't a look at the science of ghosts, or what people who see ghosts are actually seeing, but instead an exploration of different kinds of ghost stories and the places they are set. That's a fun book, and I would hand this to any kid interested in ghost stories; Houlihan isn't making judgements on these stories but reporting what people have said about what they experience. She isn't looking at the truth of the story but at the truth of the reporting. However, I kept yearning for the science and complexities of the previous book, so I was distracted from enjoying what this one was. I'm not sure what direction the rest of this series will go in, but I'll come back to check for more.
The Illustrated Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking. For my Tuesday book club. This stuff is pretty heavy. I've already forgotten a lot of it, but I remember knowing it so I guess I could go back if I ever needed it. The illustrations were definitely worth it. I'm not really clear on the boundary-less universe (although I get the theological implications) but I think I had it for a while. It was nice of Hawking to end on some gossipy biographies of big names in the universe-building field (Galileo, Newton, Einstein) since that left me feeling like I understood things. Now it's time for some cheesy genre reading!
Reunion in Death (#14), J.D. Robb. It's nice to read about a superhero cop, who maybe breaks some rules but we know she's doing it with a good heart. And the people she's cheating to catch are always very bad! It does have echoes of our real world where things aren't this easy, but I quickly distract myself with the side characters. Peabody and her parents! Charles and Louise! Mira and her husband Dennis! Now I shall grab a in Death in the 20s to continue my merry skip through the series.
Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan. 10/10 discs. OK, I'm back. It is frustrating that the brave, active girl is the one saying that it's OK that most men are rapists, because a few aren't. I guess that's realistic?
Uncompromising Honor 30/??, David Weber. Baen Free Radio Hour's serial. The narrator does a good job having each character sound distinctive. I can tell them apart, I just can't remember which side they are on!
Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling. I'm listening to celebrities read this to me. Some chapter have multiple celebrities!
Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James. Sword and Laser pick. Pushed forward through a recapping conversation (very handy for me, actually).
A Long Time Until Now, Michael Z Williamson. Those are definitely women in that paleolithic village. Maybe not people, but definitely up for sex.
Children of Time, Adrian Tchaikovsky. Spiders rise through the scientific ranks, while humans squabble among themselves. I think I have a better sense of the interiority of Portia the spider (since we spend chapters in her head) than in Lain the engineer (since we only see her from a clueless linguist's perspective).
Cities in Layers, Philip Steele. This is fun -- I've been through Beijing and Paris. I'm a bit sad there are only two cut-outs per city because I like seeing how some buildings go back in time. And I wish the Beijing one went further back in time, but maybe no structures are older than five hundred years.
Slippery Creatures, K J Charles. This is going slowly. Which is sad, because I am saving it as a reward for completing my to-do list for the day, so the sign that I haven't made much progress does not reflect well on how my life is going right now.
Jubilee, Margaret Walker. Early pick for debut over 50 in SPL Summer bingo. The next chapter is going to be very violent, so I am avoiding this book. I'm a wimp.
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, Ellen Oh (editor). Early pick for retellings in SPL Summer bingo. Enjoyed a few more stories.
The Pleasant Profession of Robert A Heinlein, Farah Mendelson. Hugo finalist. I actually lost this for a while -- it appears in a different place on my tablet that I thought. So I've found it and am reading it for real (rather than the fast skim for voting).
Picture Books / Short Stories:
Αλφαβητάρι με γλωσσοδέτες, Eugene Trivizas. Blue jeaned wearing genies in Greek!
Moon's First Friends, Susanna Leonard Hill. 2019 Cybils picture book finalist. This is a fun picture book with cheerful illustrations and a nerdy story of the moon looking down and urging the earthlings to come visit. She cheers on flyers and then various technological advances until finally people come to exchange gifts (moon rocks for the flag). I do quibble about skipping past Yuri Gagarin -- she should have been excited about the first person in space! I like how you can read it as a cosy story or use the illustrations to go off on various nerdy digressions into science.
Waiting For Gregory, Kimberly Willis Holt. 2006 Cybils picture book finalist. A getting-a-new-baby-sibling book about a girl who has to wait and hears crazy reasons why (storks, cabbage patches, etc.) The illustrations seem to have wandered out of a oil painting museum which I found a little off-putting but might appeal to others people. They are definitely colorful!
Twist: Yoga Poems, Janet S. Wong. 2007 Cybils poetry finalist. This would work as a picture book, preferably early in the bedtime process or read during the day, because of course it would be a lot of fun to try out the poses as they are described. Kids and yoga are always a good mix, both for fun and to get them started on self reflection and calming.
Poems in Black and White, Kate Miller. 2007 Cybils poetry finalist. I liked the poems but the sharp illustrations were my favorite part. This would be fun to share with a group or as a family read.
Here's a Little Poem, Jane Yolen. 2007 Cybils poetry finalist. A fun picture book with cheerful and encouraging pictures along with short (sometimes excerpted) poems that are chosen to read aloud well. The pages are attractive and I can see reading this with my kids (or to a group).
On the Farm, David Elliott. 2008 Cybils poetry finalist. Nice picture book with lots of farm animals and fun-to-say poems on the side giving life to the already vibrant pictures. This would be fun to read, especially with very young kids. The large pages would be enticing to share with any child that can resist tearing the pages.
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. What should science look like in elementary school?
Give All to Love, Patricia Veryan.
Wool, Hugh Howey. Where will she go?
The Wind Gourd of La'amaomao, Moses Nakuima.
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho.
Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca.
Reading Challenges
- Cybils 2017. None. I just need 3 YA books to be done. But I'm reading all the short books from all the years.
- Cybils 2018. Nothing..
- Cybils 2019. Finished picture books! Working my way through elementary nonfiction.
- Early Cybils: Read some picture books and poetry.
- Reading My Library. Haven't started the next one yet.
- Ten to Try. At 9/10. Haven't read it yet, but I've got #10 on my tablet. It's also here in paper.
- Where Am I Reading: 23/51 states. 24 Countries. Picked up Georgia and South Africa.
- Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge. I'm technically done.
5 comments:
Clap When You Land was stellar. I am still thinking about those characters and I read it late spring. You know that was a good book!
Congrats on being a Cybils judge again! I appreciate your thoughts about Don't Call Us Dead and It's Trevor Noah: Born a Crime. Thanks for the wonderful post!
I've worked in the Cybils poetry area & was sad not to see that this year, but congratulations for stepping up to do this. It's a big job! I still need to read Clap When You Land. I have it, so sometimes I put off books I own so I can catch up with library ones, not always a good thing. I noted a few of your books. You do have a lot! Thanks!
Hey! I'm looking forward to judging books with you! *waves*
I know I've been out of the loop for a while, but I didn't realize just how much I'd been MIA until you mentioned judging for Cybils. The fact that I didn't even hear the call for judges this year is really telling -- I'm hoping that as we continue to get settled in, I'll feel more and more in touch with my online friends and colleagues. Let's see, the temps have been up and down, here. Very little rain, recently. But it's definitely feeling like fall with leaves falling and cooler mornings. Have a great week, Beth!
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