April will not see a return to diary blogging, but I'm hopeful about May. We had my mom's funeral. I had no idea that it could take two weeks to be cremated; and then apparently churches are busy during Easter or something. But all the grandkids were there, and most of her kids, and a few friends. I think she would have liked it. The rest of the family could watch on facebook, although the acoustics weren't great. Now I'll just miss her for a while. And slowly deal with the post-death paperwork.
I've kept a grip on my running. I'm currently slowly working through the Runkeeper's 10K training. I run so much slower than they can imagine that I expect at the end of it I will be around a 5K, but even that is a lot of me so I'm happy. Probably some other stuff happened too but I don't really remember. The weather is getting nice and my daffodils bloomed and then got stomped on by some rain. I think I have some other bulbs that my SIL gave me that might turn into flowers. A few of my bushes almost died but now seem to be coming back.
This post is very long and probably not that interesting, although I do give short reactions to the books I finished. I'm still claiming a ridiculous number of books on my Goodreads Currently Reading list, but clearly my Completed list is longer than my Started list so things are getting better.
Started
Girls Who Green the World, Diana Kapp. 2022 Cybils nominee.
Threshold of Annihilation, T.E. White. Book three, reading for book club discussion of book one. Because I liked that one, and book club was postponed a few months.
Ocean's Echo, Everina Maxwell. Because I liked the author's first book (both as a book and as original fanfiction).
Busman's Honeymoon, Dorothy L Sayers. I'm currently rearranging my books. So that means rereading some.
Ascendance of a Bookworm, Part 5 Vol 3, Miya Kazuki. I love this series. I will stretch out this read as much as possible. And here's the newest one!
Rocking the Babies, Linda Raymond. This was from my shelves. I can't remember when I got it.
The Snowy Owl Scientist, Mark Wilson. 2022 Cybils nominee.
Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga) Part 2 Vol 1, Miya Kazuki. Clearly I must read the series all over in the manga version.
A Lady For a Duke, Alexis Hall. Still on my Hall kick. Not sure I'll finish in time for the book club though.
Children of the Stone City, Beverley Naidoo. My next car audio, chosen from the next shelf of the Renton Highland library. Reading My Library Quest continues.
How Long 'Til Black Future Month?, N.K. Jemisin. For Foolscap Bookclub -- we're using this to look at short stories vs novels.
Tuttle in the Balance, Jax Wexler. I'm getting an early start on a future Torches and Pitchforks bookclub pick.
Invisible, Christina Diaz Gonzalez. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist.
Humankind: A Hopeful History, Rutger Bregman. I think someone recommended this to me.
The Woman In the Woods, Kate Ashwin. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist.
Strike the Zither, Joan He. I think this is the next Cloudy bookclub pick.
Leave It to Plum, Matt Phelan. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. I am wildly inconsistent on where I draw the line between chapter books and pictures books. Chapter books might show up in either place, depending on my mood when I read them.
The Corner Shop, Elizabeth Cadell. Recommended by Jo Walton as "the best Cadell I have read."
The Flamingo, Guojing. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. This could easily be a picture book, but (almost) wordless graphics make the reading hard enough for me that I'm counting it as a book. This is probably the opposite of how kids count things.
Owen and Eleanor Make Things Up, H.M. Bouwman. Reading all these early chapter books reminded me of a Cybils finalist from a few years ago, so I checked to see if there were sequels. And there were!
Owen and Eleanor Meet the New Kid, H.M. Bouwman. There were two.
Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls, Atinuke. There were also more Tola books!
Crimson Twill: Witch in the City, Kallie George. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter book finalist.
Downright Dangerous, Ellen Potter. Huh. No idea why I grabbed this one. It's by Potter, but it's the 2nd book in a series. Hmm.
Milk in My Coffee, Eric Jerome Dickey. Someone in last weeks bookclub read this and it sounded interesting.
Completed
Archangel's Resurrection, Nalini Singh. I like the Archangel series, but it's continued on for a long time and the overarching plot (evil super-duper-archangel makes zombie diseases and oops isn't as dead as we thought) is getting tired. This one is a good chance to see various characters from a different point of view, which would have been even more fun if my faltering memory had served up how they were seen in the main characters' books. The love relationship was interesting for a romance because it was admittedly toxic, although the resolution seemed to be mostly "this time we'll try extra hard and make it permanent so we never stop trying" which seemed rather implausible? I mean, they've been doing the "try hard" thing for zillions of years. I won't seek out more but I wouldn't mind if I saw one and picked it up.
Island of the Mad, Laurie R. King. I lost this! But now I found it again. And it wasn't even overdue. The start felt slow to me -- I still have no idea why Mary thought it necessary to get admitted to Bedlam, but I guess she wanted a vacation. It didn't seem to help the mystery much. Anyway, it was more fun when they went to Venice and she and Holmes ran about trying to out-detective each other in their low-key way. I stopped paying attention to the mysteries and just enjoyed them interacting with the cameos, from the grim Italian fascists to the Jazz Age celebrities. It was fun watching King have Holmes keep inspiring Cole Porter titles: "Shall we stop work and go eat too much lunch, mysterious friend who definitely isn't Sherlock Holmes?" "Let's misbehave." Pity they didn't rescue the prisoner in the madhouse though.
Supreme Inequality, Adam Cohen. For Torches and Pitchforks book club. Sadly, it was a tiny meeting because almost everyone got sick! So I did not get to rant as much as I wanted. The two of us took turns. It's rather depressing. Cohen did a better job than the last author on showing the legal reasoning, which occasionally seems hard. It is definitely true that justices seem to start with what they want to happen, and then start picking through laws to find some way, however tenuous, to pretend that it's inevitable. This happens on both sides, although the books I'm reading concentrate on the cases that help the rich and powerful and limit people's rights. I'm losing all respect for our judicial system.
Clock Dance, Anne Tyler. This was January's River Runs Under It book club. I always like Anne Tyler; somehow she very quickly makes her characters very real to me. I liked how the main character suddenly took action to give herself a happy back half of life, and how her kids underestimated her and she laughed at them for it.
How to Bang a Billionaire, Alexis Hall. I have no idea why I bought this; the title sounds awful. But it was actually very engaging! It's not about how to find a billionaire to bang, it's about what to do if a billionaire find you and you start banging. The findee is an appealing basket case; squeaking by with an elite degree but with only vague ideas of where to go next, and the offer to hole it in a swanky pied-à-terre sounds great. But the billionaire comes with ISSUES. I think this is a satire of Fifty Shades of Grey, so there are probably forced beats I'm missing, but I enjoyed everything but especially the end. I don't think I'll seek out the next books, as I can see billionaire Caspian's angst getting tiring. It was fun for a book though.
Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall. This suffered a bit because I read it alongside the other Alexis Hall book, and both feature first person disasters. But their disasterhood is coming from very different directions, so it worked out all right. The boyfriend here is dealing with the fallout from his loser dad, which has impacted his friendships, work, and relationships. The very cute fake romance with the uptight lawyer has real emotion as well as a lot of strong emotional beats. I'm almost tempted to read the sequel just to see what is up with all the co-workers at the beetle place.
A Handful of Stars, Cynthia Lord. Renton Highlands Library Quest book. Children's audio. I'm hoping to visit Maine this summer so it was fun to read a book set there. I liked the friendship between the two and also learning all those blueberry facts.
Girls Who Green the World, Diana Kapp. 2022 Cybils nominee. I enjoyed the quick biographies of women making a difference in the realm of confronting climate change. Most of them are in business, doing things to make the world cleaner or more efficient or less polluting.
There, There, Tommy Orange. This month's River Runs Under It pick. This is an interesting book club pick. Some people felt there were so many characters that they just got lost, while others found the way these different viewpoints came together very powerful. I was in the latter group, and found myself suddenly turning pages very quickly. The writing moved me. Then at the end the stories end before we find out the final fate of several of the characters, which I think was part of the theme that all these lives are incomplete and part of a story that never ends, but was also frustrating. And I have to learn patience because some of the book club members talk very slowly but make interesting points.
How to Say Goodbye in Robot, Natalie Standiford. 2009 Cybils YA finalist. An interesting character study of a girl who makes friends with a troubled boy, and she doesn't really know how to define their relationship. It's not romantic, which baffles both her and her peers. But it's centered around quirky tastes and his messed-up family, which helps her navigate her own family's bumps. Interesting and unique.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Talia Tibbert. I read the second book in this series, now I'm getting around to the one that was the actual book club pick. I don't remember for which book club though. Anyway, this was a lot of fun! He was super perfect and the best fantasy boyfriend, even when his required angst over his mean previous girlfriend was factored in. She was hilarious and fun to hang out with and clearly the main character, so we rooted for her even though she was not as quite perfect as a girlfriend. Fun read.
Ocean's Echo, Everina Maxwell. My expectations were lowered because I heard some feedback that the worldbuilding didn't work. And I agree, the idea that it only took one generation (actually a bit less) to fully integrate the whole reader/architect thing into society and the military and everything doesn't really hold up. But it didn't bother me that much, because I kept forgetting and fixing it in my head while paying attention to the characters and the revolution and the counter-insurgency. It took some time for me to get into the book; the main character is at first rather unlikable, but then as he grappled with the whole force of the navy that his aunt brought down on him I started to root for him. So I am giving this a thumbs up.
The Snowy Owl Scientist, Mark Wilson. 2022 Cybils nominee. Lots of great pictures, as well as a good report on what the owl scientist is doing, both why and how. The photographer/author lets you see enough of him to know who is reporting but stays out of the way of the narrative most of the time. I liked how we see the scientist wasn't super great at school but still became a professor, and I liked the inclusion of information on the people living near the owls as well.
Legends and Lattes, Travis Baldree. The next Sword and Laser pick. This was charming, but not quite as great as all the accolades claimed. This is probably because I don't like coffee and don't hang out in coffee shops, so I was a bit removed from the cozy factor. Also, I don't think the economics was solid, and the pacing of the mob-boss plot was odd. But mostly I just enjoyed hanging out with Viv the orc and her barista, building contractor, cook, and musician as they made a small business into a family, showing us what the rest of the world is up to in a fantasy campaign.
Threshold of Annihilation, T.E. White. These are tremendous fun, with people with awesome skills and powers contesting with the forces of badness and also with ENORMOUS emotions which they feel with all the strength of their superhuman natures. I actually dislike the romance arc, which so far seems to be fairly paint-by-numbers for plot beats but also a bit creepy in execution. During all their storming around they ignore the actual consent issues that should make him hesitate, no matter how sexy he finds her. He's pretty much her commanding officer and one of his big motives is to get her more firmly placed under his orders, which makes him also wanting her to sleep with him rather concerning. I wish they would let this UST smolder until they clarified that stuff a bit, even though they are clearly soulmates are also super hot.
You Sexy Thing, Cat Rambo. For Cloudy bookclub. I missed the meeting but I'm glad I read the book. It was a fun adventure, mixing up some tropes of the spaceship found family idea, with enough surprises to keep me interested. I got a bit worried about how much time we spent in the lair of the torturing super-baddie, but I trusted Rambo to stay true to the book tone and get us back out, which she mostly did. Sometimes the foreshadowing came a bit late, but I rolled with it. I did enjoy the lack of a romance plot, especially given the title. Hope the book club wasn't too disappointed with that!
Ascendance of a Bookworm (Manga) Part 2 Vol 1, Miya Kazuki. I have no regrets. In fact I have ordered up the rest of Part 2 in manga form. I really like seeing the way they are drawn and only wish the entire volume was in full color so I could appreciate the many hair and eye colors to their fullest extent. I really enjoyed watching Myne meet her temple attendants and how the rumors going around centered on how wild and violent she was.
How Long 'Til Black Future Month?, N.K. Jemisin. For Foolscap Bookclub. Usually at bookclub we talk about not only that month's book but also about how it illustrates a trope or genre in SF. But this book was so awesome we just wanted to talk about it. The stories were so different and each so well written. The themes of hubris and misused power recurred, as well as stories of strength in oppression or where other people only see weakness. It's very much an example of having more of the world included than the very white template seen in older science fiction, but also an example of how to subtle include so much worldbuilding in such short space. The ideas were fascinating and the presentations were gripping. Wow.
Invisible, Christina Diaz Gonzalez. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. It's a breakfast club situation, with the kids trying to elude a mean cafeteria lady to help a homeless family. And they are all stuck together because the school thinks Hispanic kids are all in a big interchangeable pile, although the kids themselves speak various levels of both English and Spanish. A lot of the dialog is in Spanish, with English translations given. It's fun and appealing, although I found the final reveal a bit unlikely. The defeat of the mean cafeteria lady is my favorite part.
Leave It to Plum, Matt Phelan. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. I was a bit worried that Plum would step over the line to annoying for my staid old-fogey sensibilities, but he managed to pull back with innate kindness and compassion, especially the friendship with the stray cat and the struggle to understand that some of the animals at the zoo are willing to be unkind. If the lions can tease a cat, who else has hidden dark depths? Obviously the squirrels. Hmm, there's another reason I liked this book; in confirmed my deep belief that squirrels are villains.
The Woman In the Woods, Kate Ashwin. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. These were great! I think I preferred the ones without a modern frame device -- frequently the stories are told to contemporary kids and that just pulled me back a bit. Except for the one where the kid ends the framing device telling the story to her own descendants. And I like blue, which was a color theme throughout. I did of course have my usual trouble telling people apart, but that's a me thing with all comics.
The Corner Shop, Elizabeth Cadell. Recommended by Jo Walton as "the best Cadell I have read." And she was completely right. The plot is delightful nonsense, the women are almost all awesome, and it was a lovely afternoon's read. It's a pity this was the best because I want to try more but apparently I must set my expectations.
A Lady For a Duke, Alexis Hall. I definitely didn't finish in time, but one of the other members had read this one and recommended it, so I kept going. I thought the trans stuff was really good, although to achieve his goal of not having the conflict be about being trans, Hall let all the other characters have the reaction "oh, you say you are actually a woman? Okay then" which went with their very modern outlooks in many ways. This is a very common thing in historical romances, which are often filled with time travelers. In this case this was also lucky for the guy with PTSD, as he was surrounded by loving and understanding support. The perils of respectability also had a tidal aspect, flowing in when needed for the plot and flowing out when they would be awkward. My only complaint was that I didn't think it really stuck the ending; the solution to their romantic conflict turned out to be him saying "wait, I just realized that as a Duke I can do anything I want!" and she going "gosh, that's right!"
Quiet In Her Bones, Nalini Singh. The library took it back! Luckily I found another library. It is amazing how long it took me to realize this was not a romance, and how relieved I was at that point, because it would have been a terrible romance. But it was a good mystery suspense, although I almost didn't go back after it disappeared because I worried that she would go with the obvious twist and that would have been depressing. But Singh was too clever for that, and as all the secrets came out at the end it reinforced the character work she had been doing. This was fun and different from my usual fare.
Indigenous America, Liam McDonald. 2022 Cybils nominee. I like the True History series, but I don't think this is the strongest entry. It feels repetitive -- by the middle of the book it's quite clear that Native Americans don't see the European colonizers as the good guys, but it gets explicitly stated a few more times. And sometimes the variety of different tribes gets erased. Also, I tend to expect people in the past to move into each other's territories and don't regard that as a sign of inherent unworthiness. For example, The Woman In the Woods has some stories where tribes get pushed off land by other tribes. But I really liked the final chapters with examples of cultural strengths, such the influence on jazz and other music styles.
Owen and Eleanore Make Things Up, H.M. Bouwman. Owen is insecure in his friendship, Eleanor is oblivious and ambitious, and together they almost bankrupt Owen's family! But crisis is averted, friendship is saved, and I spent another comfortable time with these two kind families. I especially liked the inspiration Owen got at Eleanor's church. It's fairly rare to see religion as a positive part of characters' lives.
Owen and Eleanor Meet the New Kid, H.M. Bouwman. Not quite as good as the predecessors. I think there was a desire to pound in the moral lesson that we should be nice to people who are different from us, so Eleanor had to learn this lesson. But trying to convince me that Eleanor would have any hesitation about people in hijabs or speaking an unknown language is an uphill task, and wasn't successful. I would have preferred if Bouwman had Eleanor lean in to being a detective and not notice that she wasn't being welcoming to the kid being spied on; that seems more in character.
The Flamingo, Guojing. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. This was quiet, gorgeous, and sweet.
Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls, Atinuke. I may be getting a bit cynical, but I found Tola to be a bit too much. She tricks her older siblings in one story, outshines her brother in the next (and I'm a bit unhappy at the kid quitting school at his apparent age to get a full time job) and is happier than the fine girls in the last. And I'm also worried at the loss of their small savings. But I suspect kids will have none of these worries and will instead have lots of fun with Tola and her successes.
Crimson Twill: Witch in the City, Kallie George. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter book finalist. A nice witch girl manages to find fellow witchlings (is the boy a witchling? not sure) during her trip to the big city department store. This is fun and sweet, but not really my taste. I want more warts on my witches.
Strike the Zither, Joan He. I snuck this in at the last minute late April 30th. It seems good but wasn't to my taste; I thought the twist with the main character was great but emotionally I couldn't get on board. Maybe I'm too old.
Picture Books
Reina Ramos Works It Out, Emma Otheguy. Not my sort of problems but I can see kids emphasizing.
Ballet Bruce, Ryan T. Higgins. Bruce needs boundaries. Or the goose needs more patience.
Cornbread & Poppy, Matthew Cordell. 2022 Cybils Easy Reader book finalist. This was lovely -- delicate and engrossing illustrations, mouse friendship, no super obvious moral but still a worthy read. My only concern is for the owl's nutrition.
A Feast For Friends, Steph Waldo. 2022 Cybils Easy Reader book finalist. A bit too moral for my taste, but still a good read.
Shell Quest, Steph Waldo. I liked this one even more, especially the unthinking snobbishness of the snails.
Cornbread and Poppy at the Carnival, Matthew Cordell. I found the last chapter broke character continuity, but the fun of the illustration with the elephant redeemed it.
Marco Polo Brave Explorer, Cynthia Lord. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. Small toys can have big adventures! I think I like this series.
Be My Neighbor, Suzy Ultman. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. I had to force myself to open all the flaps because I felt I was messing up the book for whomever I was going to gift it on to.
Ten Little Tractors, Annie Bailie. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. Nice farmyard vehicle counting book.
The Hair Book, Amanda Jane Jones. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. I found it hard to parse all the illustrations as people's heads, and I wasn't sure if the colors were meant to be realistic. More for babies than for me.
Thanks for Nothing, Ryan T. Higgins. Ouch. But the sincerity with which the young-coded animals chorus this made me laugh, even while I sympathized with Bruce's hard day.
Jo Jo Makoons: The Used-to-be-Best Friend, Dawn Quigley. Jo Jo has too many misunderstandings. The first few were funny and the rest seemed rather deliberate. She needs a sibling because that cat suffers a lot.
Look Twice, Giuliano Ferri. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. I would have been happier if there were hints to help guess what we see if we look twice. But very pretty.
Odd Birds: Meet Nature's Weirdest Flock, Laura Gehl. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. Birds! I love birds.
Animals Move, Jane Whittingham. 2022 Cybils Board Book finalist. Kids and cute animals in great photos. I was happy.
Jo Jo Makoons: Fancy Pants, Dawn Quigley. 2022 Cybils Early Chapter Book finalist. Fun and accessible; relies a lot on Amelia-Bedelia type humor which I need a giggling kid nearby in order to appreciate.
Athena, Goddess of Wisdom (Little Olympians 2), A. I. Newton. The set-up is baffling, but I enjoyed watching Athena use her brains in all the godly challenges at god-camp.
Whale Fall, Melissa Steward. This was lovely and informative, and it certainly didn't hurt that I heard it all in Ursula Vernon's excited voice (see her Hugo acceptance speech from Helsinki).
Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:
Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. I'm endlessly rereading this while waiting for the next version. The bookworm's universe is my happy place. Currently I'm on Part III. But it's on pause as I slowly savor the new release over in part V.
H Is For Hawk, Helen MacDonald. I'm no longer ahead. I'm not enjoying listening to this as much as I did when I read it before; I think I grieve very differently from MacDonald so I'm not as interested in her process.
Cobra, Timothy Zahn. Still catching up. With great power comes great responsibility. But no necessarily great smarts.
Threadbare, Elle E. Ire. Book club pick from a few months back. I'm still working on it; it's my car book. The main characters keep being ineffectual, which is frustrating to me. I like my action heros to be more competence porn.
Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon. I think we can expect to see this here for a while.
Flood Circle, Harry Connolly. YAY! Another Twenty Palaces book. The bad guys are a step ahead and Ray is tired of it.
Your Perfect Year, Charlotte Lucas. I'm expecting happy endings all around but this is not the feel-good story I was hoping for. Shades of A Man Called Ove, where I was blindsided and not really amused by all the suicide attempts.
Death of Mrs Westaway, Ruth Ware. I was thoroughly spoiled by the book club but intend to finish someday anyway. Anyway suspense makes me read slower so I have a hope.
The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brian. A Tuesday book club pick from months ago that I'm gonna finish someday.
Ship Without Sails, Sherwood Smith. Someone I am keeping all the characters in my head. Well done, Smith.
Palate Cleansers
These books I'm barely reading; lately I use them as bribes to get me to deal with the mail. I've been ignoring my mail.
50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture). Hey, I'm up to Shakespeare! Hit me with those sonnets.
Stinger, Nancy Kress. I like this.
Dragon's Breath, E.D. Baker. I like the recurring sneeze into frogs bit.
The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture) I'm enjoying the essays. I also enjoy ignoring the assignments (this is really a textbook).
You Can Write Children's Books, Tracey E. Dils. How not to embarrass yourself when submitting to a publisher, so what a query, sample, etc are. I find the advice to put your social security number on every page of your manuscript a bit sus.
Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Into April. I skipped a few days but not many.
Reading Challenges
- Cybils 2022: Started.
- Early Cybils: Not done.
- Reading My Library. Working on audio from backup library.
- Where Am I Reading 2022. Never finished updating this. Not sure I'll do it in 2023.
- Libraries: Started the 10 to Try for 2023.
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: Beawulf
- Library Book: Death of Mrs Westaway
- Ebook I own: Flood Circle
- Library Ebook: Humankind
- Book Club Book: The Accused, John Grisham
- Tuesday Book Club Book: H Is For Hawk
- Review Book: Back Home
- Rereading: Busman's Honeymoon
- Audio: H Is For Hawk
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