New Year! A New Post

I am currently reading 30 books, which amazingly enough is less than last week. But most I haven't opened since last year. 

We had snow for the New Year, but by now the rain has melted it all away, thank goodness. And I have a New Years Resolution to start this blog again, so I'm just going to send this out.

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

Wish, Barbara O'Conner. For Talbot Reading Club.

Chaos Reigning, Jessie Mihalik. Finishing a series.

The Maze Runner, James Dashner. Tuesday Minecraft club.

Lore Olympus, Rachael Smythe. My gift in a gift exchange. 

Completed

Burn, Patrick Ness. 2020 Cybils YA Speculative Fiction finalist. OK, I remember the Ness is willing to have consequences, so I was not surprised by the high bodycount. Emotionally gutted, yes, but not surprised. I really like how he integrates the fantasy elements and the themes, so that dragons aren't just cool dragons, they also strengthen the emotional weight of the story.

The Edge of Anything, Nora Shalaway Carpenter. 2020 Cybils YA Fiction finalist. I poked at this a bit before committing, because it really looked like an "issue book" and I'm a bit allergic to those. It is true that it involves a girl dealing with OCD and a second girl dealing with the loss of her high-stakes athletic career after learning about her heart condition, but what it is about is these two becoming friends right when they need each other; the heart of the book isn't in teaching us about their conditions but in how they help each other sort through their emotions and make choices (good and bad) moving forward into their lives. Good stuff.

Fearing the Black Body, Sabrina Strings. I read this for a Torches and Pitchforks meeting that I had already missed, but since I helped pick the book I wanted to read it. It was a bit dry and repetitive, as I am more a lay person than the book is aimed at, but it did reinforce where our society's dislike of fatness comes from as well as how deeply racism is embedded. When people want to put something down, associating it with people of color is an easy and frequently used technique. 

The Inheritance of Orquidea Divina, Zoraida Cordova. This Sword and Laser pick had lovely language -- a rich, magical realism feel that would lull me into a rhythm and then slyly wake me up with starkly modern language, because it was a fantasy, not really magical realism, and the characters in the modern day wanted to remind me of that. I liked the family relationships, the willingness of the plot to take chances, and how Cordova does not respect men who cheat. A boy like, he's trouble. 

Lore Olympus, Rachael Smythe. This retelling of some Greek myths featured an anatomically dubious Persephone (I kept worrying that she had suffered some crippling injury, but it was just her boobs, back,  and butt not being connected on the mundane realm) but also some cool twists on the story. I also like the bright colors and shades of the Gods -- it made the characters much easier for me to differentiate. I also felt cool because I picked it from our White Elephant exchange to celebrate my son (he just graduated with a degree in Classics) and when I showed him he recognized it and had already read it. 

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:

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!

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

Picture Books / Short Stories:

See the Dog, David LaRochelle. 2021 Cybils Early Reader Finalist. This was a lot of fun, and I would have been delighted to share it with a budding reader, if I could find one. I did share it with my son, the one that recently graduated college, and he was amused. I liked that the left hand side was the words in the book, and the right hand side was the characters, especially the cat. The book was an easier read, but both were fun. And the pictures brought extra information that worked well with the humor. The final chapter with the cat trying to protect a sheep had me laughing out loud. I took the book along to book club because I know one member has a son just starting to read, so I hope she gets it for him.

Yasmin the Zookeeper, Saadia Faruqi. A different Yasmin book is a finalist, but this one was on the library shelves so I grabbed it. Not her finest; it's about a trip to the zoo but is wildly unrealistic in what seems like an accidental way. Since it has a bit of a didactic bent -- Yasmin is helping kids learn Important Lessons and even concludes with vocabulary and maps and stuff, so having zoos with elephants close enough to steal hats from visitors seemed silly.

Palate Cleansers

These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them 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!

Wool, Hugh Howey.  

Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. 

 

Dates From Hell, Kim Harrison & others.

Reading and Learning to Read, Jo Anne Vaca. 

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2021. Waiting on library orders.
2. Early Cybils: Working on Red Hood
3. Reading My Library. The library had a pipe break and is closed for repairs!
4. Where Am I Reading 2022: Haven't set it up yet. 

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: Chaos Reigning.
• Ebook I own:   Winter's Tale. Next: ???
• Library Ebook: Maze Runner.  Next: ??
• Book Club Book: Wish
• 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.