Don't Miss That Heat Wave!

I am continuing to read and to inflict the list of my reading on the poor internet. I do actually go back sometimes to see what I was reading and for how long, so I like having the record.

It was a good week -- the weather got cooler so it was pleasant, I got some stuff done around the house, especially with all the paperwork I misplaced around dealing with my mom's estate, and I was gentle with myself when I tended to mope after dealing with said paperwork. Memorial Weekend meant grilling in my sister's backyard and celebrating my niece's birthday which was fun and delicious and then I sobered up in time to get my son from work (lucky for me they ran over by almost an hour). 

We are getting this ready for the two big family events this summer -- my niece's graduation from Dartmouth and then a memorial for my mom in California (where her siblings live). Somehow I have been delegated as the one to make a lot of arrangements, which is a poor decision on the family's part since I have staked out a position as the sibling most likely to forget to do paperwork, but we'll see how it goes. We always enjoy getting together so hopefully a few minor details like me booking the rental house in the wrong town will be overlooked.

My son went off to visit his sisters in the city so I went to the movies by myself and saw Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret, which was as nostalgic and lovely as I hoped. I also remember feeling so glad I wasn't as into my period as the people in the book, and now that I'm done with all that I second my emotion. 

OK, here's a secret. I'm tracking my books from Friday to Friday, which gives me a chance to put this page in order by Monday. So numbers of currently reading books will not always match if you do the math. But I definitely finished more than I started and am making progress on the books I claim to be reading. I've got 37 books out of the library and I know where 36 of them are. I'm listed as reading 44 books on goodreads and I'm serious about at least 35 of them. 

I'm off to check out the other books at The Bookdate's It's Monday, What Are You Reading headquarters. And since I read a lot of kidlit, I'll also sign up at the Children's Book central version, held at both Teach Mentor Texts or Unleashing Readers. And then I will dive around to see what everyone else has been reading.

Started

Tastes Like War, Grace M. Cho. Just as I was congratulation myself on getting my library check-outs under control, the Libby app lured me with a no-wait check out. I'm the victim here!

A Longer Fall, Charlaine Harris. I like the Audio Dramatizations. A movie for my ears!

Bea Wolf, Zach Weinersmith. A gift from my lovely brother and his lovely wife.

The Red Scholar's Wake, Aliette de Bodard. For Cloudy book club.

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, John Grisham. My Tuesday book club explores another children's mystery. 

Messy Roots, Laura Gao. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. 

Completed

Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal. This is a very contemporary book for all that it's set in the "near" future where we have awesome cruise spaceships prowling the route between Earth and Mars. By that I mean that it reflects a lot of current trends, some pushed forward a bit but others just what we see now. People can don "courtesy masks" which are available all over, either for concealment or because of concerns about germs (their own or others). Introductions include preferred pronounces, often partially declined (why the standard for announcing one's pronouns includes declension I have no idea and I actually am really hoping the future fixes that), gendered insults are frowned upon but still the staple of reactionary antagonists, and lawyers are a rich person's best friend. It's also a delightful pastiche of The Thin Man, complete with cute dog, and has Kowal's delicate touch with complete characters with complex lives and successes and failures. I enjoyed it.

Rocking the Babies, Linda Raymond. I loved the way this book stuck the landing. It was definitely a constant build -- from setting the scene to delving into the reasons the characters are where they are, to stories from their past both internally and then as part of a storytelling that builds a community, to the final passage where the next generation picks up the storytelling to show that the community will continue. There's tragedy and love and struggle and it's a beautiful portrayal of how women just keep going on. And I do mean women -- I noticed at the end of rarely men affect the plot.

Little Monarchs, Jonathan Case. 2022 Cybils Graphic Novel finalist. At first I had to adjust from bad expectations -- for some reason I had misread the cover and assumed this was about surfing in Hawaii. (Why Hawaii? Because that's where I almost took surfing lessons, I guess.) But then I started really appreciated the post-apocalyptic tale. I liked the relationship of respect and authority between the adult and the kid, the way that science was approached, the homeschooling aspect (I mean, there's no home but also no more schools). I also like that tough things happened but sometimes hard work succeeded, and that most people are good but some bad apples will sure make thing hard. I tried to hand this to other people but no one around here listens to me; I need to get back to volunteering in the school.

Ascendance of A Bookworm Manga, Vol 2 Part 3. I can never overexpose myself to this series. As soon as I finish volume two of the manga I'm off to re-subscribe to crunchyroll to see if they have the anime. Here we see Myne assuming her role as Orphanage Director and accepting child labor as an acceptable factory input (this makes since she herself is seven years old and holding down several jobs). The manga is easy to read (for me, this is saying a lot) and I really like seeing how the artists drew different characters and their reactions. 

Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer, John Grisham. OK, I have nothing to say about Theo's detecting skills because there is no mystery for him to detect with. Instead there is a lawyerly ethical problem and a lot of infodumping about how our legal system works. Also, this kid plays golf for fun and likes grapefruit juice. So he's obviously an alien. I'll see if anyone in the Tuesday club knows about double jeopardy so they can explain if we saw a crime being committed. 

Ascendance of a Bookworm, Part 5 Vol 3, Miya Kazuki. Even limiting myself to a few pages a day could not make this book last forever. The next one won't be out until the end of the month! Her fiance is getting suspicious, her best friend's fiance is humiliatingly awful, and the royal family needs to be propped up but don't know how shaky a limb Myne really is. It's all part of her goal to get all the books onto all the shelves! Go for it, Myne! 

The Calculating Stars, Mary Robinette Kowal. SPOILERS! Foolscap is reading this for our Alternate Timelines month. It's a reread for me, and I actually liked it better because Kowal drops me so deep into her stories that I tend to panic when things get tense. And they get tense a lot in this book. First of all, there's the whole "the world is going to end" stuff. And then there's the protagonist's actual panic attacks. And a smarmy head astronaut/pilot who bears a grudge against said protagonist because she threw a wrench in his habit of raping women pilots delivering his fighter planes during WWII. Kowal did a lot of research for this book, and sometimes it shows, but mostly it's just what our matheticial pilot career woman is doing. I also like how Kowal handles the protagonist being a jerk sometimes. Often she's aware of it and trying to talk herself into being better, sometimes she's oblivious, and sometimes she's beating herself up for the wrong things. Relatable. The book club was also positive, with most people planning to continue on. 

Flash of Fire, M.L. Buchman. This was a fun book about hot helicopter pilots who put out literal fires. Get it? The romance was fairly low key -- they were both instantly attracted to each other and happily started a work fling, but then fell into feelings while working and holidaying together. The only conflict was that she had never seen herself as the kind of person to settle down, so once he got over his shock at hearing this he just had to wait for her to reevaluate things in light of their obvious soulmate status. This left lots of room for cool fire fighting stuff, first on the West Coast, then up to a SUPER FIRE in Canada, then on a SECRET MISSION to North Korea. 

The Bronze Skies, Catherine Asaro. More fun for me! I still like Bhaaj's limited social skills, awe at the highfalutin people she works for now, especially as this gets worse. And I like her stubborn loyalty to the culture she grew up in even as the people aren't entirely sure she's still one of them. The virtual stuff worked pretty well for me, especially as I am very willing to just go with it on these books. The reverse sexist attitudes are also amusing, especially as they aren't highlighted as much in this one, just quietly in the background setting. I'll take a break before going on but I'm definitely still enjoying these even on a reread.

Picture Books

Three books from my Reading My Library Quest, Renton Highlands division, Easy Nonfiction shelves. 

Pipsqueaks, Slowpokes, and Stinkers, Melissa Stewart. A fun animal book celebrating some oddballs. I have to quibble about the tone -- in what universe does being odd or stinky make an animal feel underappreciated by the picture book crowd? They are the stars!

I See Sea Food, Jenna Grodzicki. This was a fun concept -- sea animals that resemble people food (besides sushi). I have a nephew who spent several years fascinated with underwater creatures, especially invertebrates, and he would have loved this.

A Place For Turtles, Melissa Stewart. Huh, I guess Stewart does a lot of animal books! This one earnestly shows a lot of turtles and describes what people could do to make their lives safer (or more often, could stop doing to save them from extinction). A bit grim. 

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. 

Cobra, Timothy Zahn. I am so far behind.

Children of the Stone City, Beverley Naidoo. The twelve year old has been arrested, but we know he is innocent. And also that twelve year olds should not have black bags pulled over their heads. 

Warcross, Marie Lu. My knowledge of computers is just enough to make me a little leery of the online stuff.

The Engagement, Sasha Issenberg. For Torches and Pitchforks. Book club is this Friday. I think I'll make it. 

Royal Escape, Georgette Heyer. Young King Charles 2 is brave in the face of danger, especially when there are pretty girls to distract him.

Flood Circle, Harry Connolly. Too many library books this week. 

Your Perfect Year, Charlotte Lucas. See library book issue. 

Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon. I think we can expect to see this here for a while.

The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brian. Not gonna finish this week.

How Rory Thorn Destroyed the Multiverse, K. Eason. Library Quest book. This is fun!

Ship Without Sails, Sherwood Smith. Smith's magic system is complex and yet comprehensible. I love how her characters accept and approach it.

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). 

Stinger, Nancy Kress. 

Dragon's Breath, E.D. Baker. The responsibility of royalty to their countries is an interesting question.

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

The Road to Mars, Eric Idle. .

The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. Lots of sweeping statements in the first chapter that are interesting but I want to see how they are supported. 

Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I am very excited that I've gone for a whole month without missing a day. Which means my mail bin is almost up to date!

Reading Challenges

1. Cybils 2022: Moving onto YA Graphic Novels.
2. Early Cybils:  Not done.
3. Reading My Library. Working on audio and Easy Nonfiction from backup library. Started Rory Thorne from main.
4. Where Am I Reading 2022. Never finished updating this. Not sure I'll do it in 2023.
5. 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: Royal Escape
• Library Book: How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse
• Ebook I own: Year of Wonder
• Library Ebook: Tastes Like War
• Book Club Book: Red Scholar's Wake
• Tuesday Book Club Book: (I'm ahead!)
• Review Book: Back Home 
• Rereading: 
• Audio: A Longer Fall