Still COVID-19 Free

Another week where it's hard to say what I've done because I don't think I did anything. Hmm. I did read some books, and I shuttled people around, and I even went to the gym a few times. Go me!

Oh, I forgot to tell people that I made a list of all the Cybils finalists this year. So if you read kids books, check it out! Warning, it runs from board books to YA, so unless you are a VERY broad reader you aren't going to do all that well! Let me know if you beat my score :-) 

My older son got a pizza job while waiting to go back for more education; I'm pushing him to switch to working in the meal area of my mom's senior community. For one thing, he could hang out with his gramma after work, and for another it's be much closer to the bus depot so if I didn't feel like picking him up he could get home safely. 

My local library has a Romance Readers series where we read from different types of romance and talk about what makes them work or what they mean as a sub-genre. Last week we discussed Young Adult Romance -- what I really want from those is to avoid first person, but I think that's the opposite of what actual teens want. 

I finished an episode of Deep Space Nine and then jumped to watching Nailed It because I like watching people have fun trying to cook silly cakes. I managed to plan some dinners, and then baked bread to go with the tomato cream pasta dish. Then the resident cook got a COVID booster but I didn't notice he had fallen asleep until it was too late to pinch-cook for him. Crockpot meals are very handy but they make it hard to react quickly when they fall through!  

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

Started

Of Curses and Kisses, Sandhya Menon. Need to read something for the KCLS Romance Reader Series, although I figure I'll mostly be relying on my backlist.

Straight, Dick Francis. A so-called friend is decluttering and offered me this hardback. Hmm, I've been meaning to replace paperbacks with hardbacks where feasible. I'll just glance at my favorite scenes...

Warcross, Marie Lu. For the Foolscap Book Club, our pick of a book that's a cliffhanger.

Audrey L and Audrey W: Best Friends-ish, Carter Higgins. Cybils finalist. 

Never Fall For Your Fiance, Virginia Heath. For next month's Romance Reader Series. The book lists are really great. February is Fake Relationship month. 

The Real Thing, Brenda Jackson. Another Fake Relationship. See, I put both on my hold list, and I meant to pause one but I accidentally accepted both because they came in at the same time, and...

Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon. This is the most Vaginal Fantasy of all the Cloudy book club books I've seen since we had to go on without Felicia Day's show.

Smoke Bitten, Patricia Briggs. I was going to reread this last year, but never got around to it. It's been next to my bed for months. So I picked it up to return it to my shelves, and started reading it...

The Guinevere Deception, Kiersten White. 2020 Cybils YA Speculative Fiction finalist. I like to read Cybils books while doing laundry. It helps if I actually do the laundry...

Completed

Maze Runner, James Dashner. My Tuesday book club/Minecraft group read this. The concept of the maze was cool, but I found the characters really thin or incomprehensible. My brother felt the same. But the kids liked and like it -- we read it because one member wanted to read along with his kid, and she is going through the whole series. I'm happy because it inspired the very fun maze build. Now we are back to our usual Minecraft world, where everyone does amazing things and I stack blocks on top of each other and fall off them a lot.

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki. Sword and Laser January Pick. This was sweet; I found the experiences of the trans girl the best glimpse into a world outside my own, although I still liked the starship captain and her crew. The violin teacher and her housekeeper were delightful and fun but they felt the most alien (this is before the soul-buying demon showed up); it was like the musicians in Pern where it's all cool but I'm not convinced music really works like that. I look forward to talking about this book next month, although I hope I remember the details -- usually I finish the books the day before the meeting and suddenly I'm two weeks ahead!

Straight, Dick Francis. Turns out if you string my favorite scenes together, I read the whole book! I was interested in how long it took him to figure out all the little puzzles his brother left him; in my memory he was making many more small discoveries along the way. But he only really solves the big ones -- who stole the diamonds, who betrayed his brother, how to save the firm. I'm glad I have it in hardcover now; I bet I enjoy rereading it again in another few years.

Audrey L and Audrey W: Best Friends-ish, Carter Higgins. 2021 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. I'm counting this as a book rather than a picture book because that's how it feels. It has the shape of a book rather than a collection of anecdotes. And I found it very stressful -- Audrey L. is so anxious, so convinced that she's not the best at anything and that makes her unworthy, and her parents have no idea that anything is wrong and I'm terrified of what will happen in middle school. Meanwhile, I suspect the actual audience is enjoying the age appropriate worries and successes, and I'm clearly projecting all sorts of parental worries. But maybe I should read some of the sequels to reassure myself that Audrey is all right.

Smoke Bitten, Patricia Briggs. The reread gave me a greater appreciation of this book. I was able to concentrate on Mercy and what she is doing and thinking about rather than be distracted by all the problems she is facing. I am impressed at how well Briggs is juggling all the themes and characters in this very long series; there is a lot going on but the book stays focussed and provides a lot of action and the info dumps are done smoothly enough that even though I notice them I don't mind them (and I do need a lot of reminding, so I'm glad to have them). I'm looking forward to the next book which comes out in a few months.

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

Dear Justyce, Nic Stone. 2020 Cybils Young Adult Fiction finalist. This worked so well for me that the ending didn't work. Somehow I could believe all the bad stuff, which really worked in terms of establishing his characters and how he grew up twisted but also resisting the constant negative reinforcement, telling him that he was worthless and doomed and untrustworthy and dumb. I also bought the present timeline, as he waits in juvenile jail for years to see if he will be tried. But the ending felt almost like a fairy tale. Somehow I don't believe justice works. So great book, but I don't trust my country that much right now. Argh.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. This week I made some progress in:

Decrypted, Lindsay Buroker. I'm at an embarrassing cringe moment so I only read a smidge at a time.

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emyrs. I'm reading this in Apple Books, which is where the Harbinger ARC was, so I went straight back into this.

Forfeit, Dick Francis. The one where he loves his paralyzed wife but also cheats on her. I only read a few pages because the bad stuff in Straight is more physical than emotional so I can handle it better.

One Good Deed, David Baldacci. I started this, then it got buried other books. Now I've found it and I'd better finish it before I drop it in a puddle and have to pay for it.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

Comparrotives (A Grammar Zoo Book) by Coat, Janik. 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. I had a lot of fun with this, and I think the babies I have known would too. It has simple pictures but lots of action and chances for laughter. And grammar is always fun. Probably more fun than quantum physics for babies!

Animals Go Vroom! by Cushman, Abi. 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. I'm a little bit leery about the pages -- these are sturdy paper, not the stiff cardboard stuff I think of for picture books. And the peek-through bits might not last through excited fingers. But for the sophisticated toddler, the tricks with the animal sounds will appeal, and then there are the little stories around the pages (the crow family, the enterprising artist) for added appeal. This is almost a picture book, but it squeaks into the board book category.

Big Bear, Little Bear by Schneider, Marine. 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. This is sweet and cosy, and all about the love and security in a family. Big Bear and Little Bear are together, and Big Bear is there to take Little Bear places, to hold Little Bear, to make sure there are things to eat and places to sleep. 

Caution! Road Signs Ahead by Buzzeo, Toni, illustrated by Birmingham, Chi. 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. Hmm. I'm not sure my babies could actually see road signs until they moved into older child seats. But if they can see out, this would be a fun book to read before and then let them hold during car trips. Probably also for the older baby.

Turn Seek Find:Habitats Newman, Ben (Artist). 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. On the cusp between an activity and a book, this entry is lovely and has vibrant illustrations that draw the reader in, and then there are knobs to spin and colors to match.

Circle Under Berry by Higgins, Carter. 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. Although I like the spare white pages that concentrate attention on the shapes, I didn't feel the execution quite lived up to the presentation. The shapes into illustrations were a bit too complex, and the text seemed to concentrate on lecturing/leading rather than enthusiastic sharing. 

This Is Still Not A Book Jullien, Jean (Artist). 2021 Cybils Board Book finalist. Um, this is totally a book. The images are clear and simple, but not really to my taste. I do like how the book uses different orientations and perspectives. 

Sydney and Taylor Explore the Whole Wide World, Jacqueline Davies. 2021 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. These two friends were charming and I enjoyed spending time with them. Their problems and solutions were the perfect blend of cosy but a little bit exciting, and they supported and encouraged each other just the perfect amount. The conversation about lunch was probably my favorite.

Kitty and Dragon, Meika Hashimoto. 2021 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. Another great couple! I liked the balance between Kitty as a stand-in for the child reader and Kitty as an actual cat, especially in the first chapter when she is rejecting all advice and sniffing at the noisiness of the world. Kitty as neat freak was a harder sell, but worth it for Dragon's response.

A Long Road on a Short Day, Gary D. Schmidt & Elizabeth Stickney. 2021 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. A really good kid accompanies his dad on an extended expedition to get the mom something she wants. I really liked it, but it's for a more contemplative kid. Rich language, evocative details, strong family connections. 

Give It a Try, Yasmin, Saadia Faruqi. 2021 Cybils Easy Reader & Early Chapter Book finalists. This contained 4 Yasmin stories, and two were Cybils finalists in slightly different categories. Well done! Yasmin is a fun kid with a lot of enthusiasm; she's maybe a bit too much of a teacher pleaser which made me very happy to see she had forgotten about the science project in Yasmin the Scientist. But then she delighted me by sending her dad out of the room while she worked on his suggestion of a baking soda volcano; I'm not sure I'd have left my kid unsupervised for that. And any book titled Yasmin the Librarian was going to make me happy (I'm not a librarian, but I like what they do).

 

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. Hmm. I should get back to that. 

The Educated Child, William Bennett. I will be charitable and assume that a lot of their blind spots is because we have more data from the last twenty years. Or that things have changed a lot. But their discussion of ESL seems based on headlines rather than actual data. 

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I listen while dealing with the post. I'm currently a few weeks behind.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021. Finished Easy Readers and Early Chapter books. I'm ahead of my schedule!
2. Early Cybils: Working on Guinevere Deception. 
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Five! California, Georgia, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Washington! And one non-US country: Ecuador.
5. Libraries! I'm working on a Ten to Try and have checked off 5 Extreme Categories.

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: Ice Planet Barbarians. Next: Decrypted
• Library Book: One Good Deed. Next: Mexican Whiteboy
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Of Curses and Kisses.  Next: Never Fall For Your Fiancee
• Book Club Book: Ice Planet Barbarians Next: Mexican Whiteboy
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Perks of Being a Wallflower
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe
• Audio: None  Next: I ordered the audio of Empress of Salt and Fortune from the library. I read it recently so I think I'd enjoy the audio. 

All the Libraries Are Mine! Extreme Reading Challenge!

Now that I've got most of my books lined up for my primary library system, it is time to turn my eyes south. Tacoma has its own very interesting library system, and I have a card there as well thanks to the wonders of reciprocal systems, a wonderful invention of the modern age. And they have their own yearly challenge -- the FIFTY BOOK Challenge! (They take two weeks of at the end and the beginning of the year, which is why I think it's only fifty books.) It started January 4 and end December 17th. 

I did it last year and it was fun, so clearly it is now a tradition! Welcome to THE TACOMA LIBRARY EXTREME READING CHALLENGE 2022! 

2022 Extreme Reader Categories 

1. A book about an historical figure Curse of the Mummy, Candace Fleming 4/30/22, opens a new window
2. A book about or including a wedding, opens a new window The Guinevere Deception, Kiersten White 2/22/22
3. A book about starting over, opens a new window Love Code, Ann Aguirre 3/14/22
4. A book cover that has your favorite color on it Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon 1/27/22
5. A book cover that shows a person from behind, opens a new window In the Shadow of the Fallen Towers, Don Brown 2/3/22
6. A book from a genre you don’t normally read Everybody Fights, Kim & Penn Holderness 3/13/22
7. A book from ALA’s Challenged Books lists , opens a new window  Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe 4/4/22

8. A book from one of these two celebrity book clubs: Oprah’s Book Club or the Read with Jenna Book Club, opens a new window  (The Sun does shine?Underground Railroad?)

9. A book of your own choosing Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik 2/28/22
10. A book published in 2022 Hunt the Stars, Jessie Mihalik 7/6/22
11. A book published in 2022 (Non-fiction)
12. A book published more than ten years ago Chalice, Robin McKinley 5/4/22, opens a new window
13. A book set in a restaurant, opens a new window Measuring Up, Lily Lamotte 5/22 (weak)
14. A book set in a school Of Curses and Kisses, Sandhya Menon 2/9/22, opens a new window
15. A book set in the Caribbean, opens a new window
16. A book set on the East Coast of the United States One For the Books, Jenn McKinlay 2/27/22, opens a new window
17. A book set outdoors Spear, Nicola Griffith 7/19/22, opens a new window
18. A book set somewhere you want to visit A Colorful Death, Carola Dunn 5/8/22
19. A book that begins with a disappearance, opens a new window Strange Love, Ann Aguirre 2/24/22
20. A book that centers a refugee’s experience , opens a new windowValley of the Shadow, Carola Dunn 5/20/22
21. A book that discusses body positivity, opens a new window Being Seen, Elsa Sjunneson 4/28/22
22. A book that focuses on mental health Ancestral Night, Elizabeth Bear 7/1/22, opens a new window
23. A book that fulfills a category from a previous Extreme Reader challenge year, opens a new window Grave Reservations, Cherie Priest 4/4/22 (Bechdel test, 1st in series)
24. A book that involves time travel, opens a new window Jukebox, Nidhi Chanani 2/19/22
25. A book that makes you think, “Just one more chapter!” Harbinger, Wen Spencer 1/14/22
26. A book that takes place in a country that starts with the letter A, opens a new window
27. A book that takes place in a magical world, opens a new window  Royal Airs, Sharon Shinn 4/1/22
28. A book with a beverage in the title, opens a new window
29. A book with a cardinal direction (north, south, east, west) in the title, opens a new window
30. A book with a character who works in a library, opens a new window  A Place to Hang the Moon, Kate Albus 7/14/22
31. A book with a day of the week in the title, opens a new window
32. A book with a five-star rating in the TPL catalog, opens a new window (access link for directions!) Lore Olympus, Rachel Smythe 1/10/22 
33. A book with a heart, club, diamond, or spade shape on the cover:, opens a new window Life's Too Short, Abby Jimenez, 5/17/22
34. A book with a number from one through twelve in the title One Good Deed, David Baldacci 1/30/22, opens a new window
35. A book with a protagonist who has a pet cat, opens a new window Night Broken, Patricia Briggs 5/2/22 
36. A book with a protagonist who has your dream job The Steerswoman, Rosemary Kirstein 5/25/22
37. A book with a robot, cyborg, or artificial intelligence TheWild Robot, Peter Brown 4/14/22, opens a new window
38. A book with a snake on the cover , opens a new window Phoenix Extravagant, Yoon Ha Lee 7/11/22 (supposed to be a dragon, but that looks like a snake to me)
39. A book with a star on the cover, opens a new window Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki 1/19/22
40. A book with a title structure of “The _____’s _____” , opens a new window The Outskirter's Secret, Rosemary Kirstein, 5/27/22
41. A book with best friends  Front Desk, Kelly Yang 3/7/22, opens a new window
42. A book with the name of a color in the title  Mexican Whiteboy, Matt de la Pena 2/17/22, opens a new window
43. A book written by an Asian American author, opens a new window The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo 2/11/22
44. A book written by an author whose first or last names begins with T, P, or L, opens a new window Salt Magic, Hope Larson 2/26/22
45. A book written by an author whose last name is six letters or more, opens a new window The Language of Power, Rosemary Kirstein  5/30/2022
46. A book written by one of your favorite authors Smoke Bitten, Patricia Briggs 1/24/22
47. A book written by multiple authors, opens a new window The Sentinel, Lee Child & Andrew Child, 2/21/22
48. A book written by someone who is no longer living Straight, Dick Francis 1/21/22, opens a new window
49. A fantasy book inspired by the Middle East, Southeast, or South Asia, opens a new window Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Boudard 5/10/22
50. A horror or paranormal story, opens a new window Child of Fire, Harry Connolly 2/10/22
51. A Jane Austen novel, or a retelling or adaptation of one, opens a new window
52. A locked-room mystery, opens a new window
53. A philosophical literature or philosophy book The Past Is Red, Catherynne Valentine 6/28/22, opens a new windowhe Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky 2/13/22

54. A southern gothic novel

, opens a new window55. A space opera Foundation, Isaac Asimov 4/18/22

46/55

Resolution: Develop Executive Function

Somehow I am finding it hard to get things done. My new year is a mess of half-started projects but nothing I see through to completion. I keep breaking things into smaller pieces but it's backfiring because I keep not finishing these smaller pieces. Sort of a Zeno's paradox of executive function.

So I've started more books than I finished, and I'm celebrating anything I can declare a completed project. For example, I finished off my pint of ice cream! Go me!

The book club of local friends always does a movie for January, and we usually try for something vaguely literary. For example, Dune was a bit made-from-a-book movie this year, so we chose Tremors as our home movie version. Very good choice for watching with friends after eating a delicious lunch prepared by the gourmet husband of our hostess. 

I also finished season 2 of The Witcher, because Alexander watched it with me and he doesn't mess around. I did do some laundry, which means I also saw an episode of Untamed and suddenly noticed that I had skipped a season 2 episode of Deep Space 9, so I went back to start that. Netflix keeps messing up where I am in a series; I suspect that I am so much slower than any other TV watcher that I've baffled their tracking computer. 

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

Started

Harbinger, Wen Spencer (ARC). The long-awaited Elfhome book! Baen lets you pay for access to their arc's, and I have money in my credit card.

The Guinevere Deception, Kiersten White. 2020 Cybils YA Speculative Fiction finalist. I like to read Cybils books while doing laundry. It helps if I actually do the laundry...

Light From Uncommon Stars, Ryka Aoki. Sword and Laser January Pick. 

Completed

Harbinger, Wen Spencer (ARC). Wow, Spencer is juggling a lot of balls, and she doesn't drop any of them. I'm not sure that's the best call -- with so many balls it's hard to pay attention to any of them -- there are so many viewpoint characters. But I like them all, and never had a feeling of "oh no, not these guys again." Warning -- this had better not be the end of the series, since it ends on a bit of a cliffhanger. 

Wish, Barbara O'Connor. I read this for the Talbot Hill Book Club, and I and the kids liked it. There's a genre of kidlit that is kids from broken families, and they usually end up in a better place, and this one does that. The kids liked the different kinds of wishes, and liked guessing what her wish was, and whether her wish was granted -- does it count if she got what she needed but not in the way she thought she wanted? We also liked the dog, and her stubbornness in getting Wishbone and teaching him to love her.

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

Amazons, Abolitionists, and Activists, Mikki Kendall. I appreciated the history bits of this more than the framing device. There's a lot of history that I don't know, and the experiences and achievements of female political leaders are often told less loudly than their peers, so I know even less. So the overview of politically powerful women was appreciated, as well as the nods to what was happening to the less famous masses. But the framing story of kids from the future on a learning field trip was more distracting than useful or interesting to me. They didn't really have personalities, and were just there to ask the occasional leading question.

Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:

Ok, I'm only going to put a book in here when I actually try to read it. This week I made some progress in:

Maze Runner, James Dashner. My Tuesday book club/Minecraft group is reading this. I'm way behind, but it's a reread so I'm lax about it. And one guy made us a Maze! Big central area, and a giant maze around it that moves at night. Very cool.

Decrypted, Lindsay Buroker. I'm at an embarrassing cringe moment so I only read a smidge at a time.

Winter Tide, Ruthanna Emyrs. I'm reading this in Apple Books, which is where the Harbinger ARC was, so I went straight back into this.

Forfeit, Dick Francis. The one where he loves his paralyzed wife but also cheats on her.

Red Hood, Elana K. Arnold. I was doing quite well until a cat puked all over it. Looks like I'm buying this library book! And that's why I'm skipping over it to read the library-due-date one.

Picture Books / Short Stories:

Geraldine Pu and her Lunch Box, Too!, Maggie P. Chang. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. I like the enthusiastic embrace of the comic format, complete with instructions in the front for how to read it. The story itself was also engaging -- Geraldine's lunch elicits teasing from her classmates, and she takes out her frustration on her beloved lunch box. Friendship is magic so things work out, and the graphics do a great job of realistically anthropomorphizing the lunch box.

Fox at Night, Corey R. Tabor. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. Another fun and simple book. I like how Fox and her (his? I have no idea) fears are affirmed both by the reassurances from the other characters and the ending. I also like the reviews on goodreads that spoke approvingly of how kids will learn about nocturnal animals, which, OK, yes, but I see a few problems with kids learning about zoology from this. 

Chicken Little and the Big Bad Wolf, Sam Wedelich. 2021 Cybils Easy Readers finalist. Nice, but somehow fell on the wrong side of fantasy/animals are actually things that exist line for me, probably also because it felt a bit preachy. This is probably a me problem, not a kid problem. But I left the book thinking about whether the vegetarian wolf was really getting all the vitamins necessary, not feeling cozy about the lovely found family the characters built. 

 

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. Hmm. I should get back to that. 

The Educated Child, William Bennett. I'm almost at the end here! These guys have some huge blind spots.

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I listen while dealing with the post.

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021. Reading Easy Readers and Early Chapter books.
2. Early Cybils: Working on Guinevere Deception
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Started!

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: So many partially read books! I have no idea. 
• Library Book: Sal and Gabi Fix the Universe.
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Maze Runner.  Next: ??
• Book Club Book: Light From Uncommon Stars
• Tuesday Book Club Book: Maze Runner
• Review Book: The Queer Principles of Kit Webb  Next: Back Home
• Rereading: Forfeit
• Meal Companion: 
• Audio: None  Next: I have a book on CD I'll start listening to if I ever catch up on my podcasts.