I missed meeting up with my friend for our weekly run, so we ran separately and I got confused and accidentally ended up going almost twice as far as I meant to -- almost 5 miles! Which for people in decent shape is nothing much but that is not me. So I'm very proud but need to keep going.
My son was happy to get his shifts changed so he could start making our weekly family dinner, so when it was CANCELED the first night he was off we made the effort to go meet my brother and his wife for dinner anyway. I like my family.
Oh, and I made a trip to Vashon Island to see the King Troll! Um, there should be a picture but I can't find it. You can see it here.
CERT training continues to be interesting; we practiced rescuing people trapped under debris and how to organize groups of variable sizes and experience. I think it's more medical stuff next week.
I spent the week with very disorderly reading, because I'm trying to finish off any book club ones I have a chance at and then bow out for a few months. But I mostly just spun my wheels.
Official Plug For Cybils: --- End Official Plug ---
I'm still at 3 pages of currently-reading on goodreads. I've entered Cybils season. I'm steady at 48 physical books checked out which includes some picture books and then there are a pile of ebooks.
This post is not that late so I'm posting at The Bookdate's It's Monday, What Are You Reading headquarters as well as the kidlit version at Unleashing Readers.
Started
Sammy Keyes and the Power of Justice Jack, Wendelin Van Draanen. Reading My Library Quest book, Renton Highlands J Audio. A reread, but that's how I prefer my audios.
Nightmare Island, Shakirah Bourne. Cybils nominee.
Outside Nowhere, Adam Borba. Cybils nominee.
Freddie Vs the Family Curse, Tracy Badua. Cybils finalist (from last year).
The Nightmare House, Sarah Allen. Cybils nominee.
The Pride of Chanur, C. J. Cherryh. Scintillation book club.
Completed
The Demon Sword Asperides, Sarah Jean Horowitz. Cybils nominee. I had a blast with this. I felt it was nicely balanced between the three main characters, with the two guys getting the most character growth but they started with the most to learn. Although the necromance had a good run as well. I liked how it played with tropes of Knighthood, both in terms of might vs right and with the ones who adhere to the more selfish parts of the "bro code" coming off the worst. I especially liked how much Horowitz worked with the idea of redemption, which was one of the themes of the book.
I also enjoyed the humor and how it came from several different directions -- sometimes we were laughing at a situation, sometimes smiling at a misunderstanding, sometimes watching the fall of a baddie. And I liked saying the word Asperides.
Nightmare Island, Shakirah Bourne. Cybils nominee. Cybils nominee. Another strong book. I really liked the bond between the sister and brother, despite their different personalities and parental interactions. The situation where the family is loving but one child is baffling while the other "fits" was emotionally very true, and it set the foundation for all the creepy stuff on the island. I thought the plot was a bit overwrought, with several layers of baddies and then about three different fighting climaxes; this is probably a me problem but I got a bit lost.
I also really liked that it wasn't set in America, but the characters just lived their life in their island nation and never thought about it.
Picture Books
Isabel and Her Colores Go to School Alexander Alessandri. I like bilingual books, and in this case the words and illustrations show the difference between the comfortable language Isabel understands and the harsh sounds of the one she doesn't. But a friendship can reach across words and school is not ultimately and unmitigated horror for Isabel.
Can We Please Give the Police Department to the Grandmothers?, Junauda Petrus. This story is a poem for community, with children who make mischief being brought back into the community by people who love them and expect better from them, and who see lashing out as a problem to be solved (by love, by food, by healthy work) rather than as a sign of inherent evil. Discouraging in the distance between the picture book and the reality, but inspirational as an idea.
Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:
While still ridiculous, this is slightly less so than last week. Progress!
Ascendance of a Bookworm, Miya Kazuki. Abandoning my reread of Part 3 now since the new one just dropped. I'll get back to it, don't worry!
Ascendance of a Bookworm, Part 5, Vol 6, Miya Kazuki. Ahh, research on better paper. This is content I am here for.
Cobra, Timothy Zahn. Part 51. Huh, somehow I haven't been getting to the Baen podcast. OK, I have one in my queue now.
Warcross, Marie Lu. Made progress.
Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon. Bookmark moved.
The Wine-Dark Sea, Patrick O'Brian.
Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros. Good intentions, no follow through.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo. Cybils finalist.
Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff. I need more time in my day.
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, Lori Gottlieb.
Resurgence, C.J. Cherryh.
A Shadow in Summer, Daniel Abraham.
40-Love, Olivia Dade.
Borderland, Anna Reid. Got through another chapter.
The Clackity, Lora Senf. Cybils finalist. I sorta ignored laundry for a week, and laundry is when I read old Cybils finalists.
Going Postal, Terry Pratchett. For my Tuesday book club. I found it! Didn't finish it though.
Allegiance, Kermit Roosevelt. For Torchers and Pitchforks. I did not finish in time for the meeting, and now it has fallen down the priorities list.
Marie Curie, Kathleen Krull. Cybils finalist. Library due dates have forced a drastic rethink of my reading order here.
Who Was First, Russell Freedman. Cybils finalist. Also bumped by a library due date on a different book.
Encore in Death, J.D. Robb. It's a paperback, and I'm reading it only because I like it. And it's easy because it's devoted to its pattern.
Smart-opedia, Eve Drobot. Cybils finalist. Even inter-library loan books go under overdue books in precedence.
Palate Cleansers
I'm slowly marching through these books.
50 Great Poets, ed. Milton Crane (no picture).
Dragon's Breath, E.D. Baker.
The Writer's Stance: Reading and Writing in the Disciplines, Dorothy U. Seyler. (no picture). The student example was pretty lame.
The Road to Mars, Eric Idle.
The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. I hope my fanfiction knowledge of Merlin carries me through.
Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. Still caught up, thanks to a beautiful 20 minute Bach piece.
Reading Challenges
- Cybils 2022: Working on middle grade SF.
- Early Cybils: Working on some nonfiction.
- Reading My Library. Finished an audio and started the next.
- Libraries: Working on the 10 to Try for 2023. Need an artist and a summer book.
Future Plans
I'm putting this at the end because I suspect it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure. Also, really I'm just reading Cybils so I'll be lucky to get 20 pages a day of these other books.I am reading:
- Book I own: Into the Broken Lands
- Library Book: Going Postal
- Ebook I own: The Wine Dark Sea
- Library Ebook: Borderland
- Book Club Book: The Flight Attendant
- Tuesday Book Club Book: Falling Out of Time
- Review Book: Back Home
- Rereading: Chalet School books
- Audio: Angel of the Crows
4 comments:
Whew! That's a lot of reading. I can only read one book at a time; it makes it seem somehow more doable. Cybils reading can be a lot, so you're brave even to attempt anything else. And hooray for running more! Always a good feeling.
I'm glad someone nominated Freddie vs the Family Curse. Nice to see Filipino representation
I'm always impressed by your reading capacity. This year, for the first time in six years, I am taking a break from participating in the Cybils. I suspect that come January, I will feel bereft.
Happy reading this week.
So much reading! Thank you for sharing everything and good luck with Cybils reading :)
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