Okay, this happens every year when I try to be a Cybils judge -- I fall behind on my blog. Which is a bit ironic, because the main criteria to be a Cybils judge is that you talk about books on the internet, which I do mostly on this blog. Oops.
I have several drafts where I try to catch up, and then I get overwhelmed. My goal here is to be short but exist. It will be dull.
January is going well.
I'm still at 3 pages of currently-reading on goodreads. I'm down to 48 physical books checked out which includes some picture books and then there are a pile of ebooks.
This post is very dull so I'm not posting at The Bookdate's It's Monday, What Are You Reading headquarters as well as the kidlit version at Unleashing Readers.
Completed
Hands, Torrey Maldonado. 2023 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction finalist. I liked how this is a book about a boy making a decision. Not much happens (although when it happens it is tightly and vividly described), but we get a good sense of everything he is using to help: his friends, his self image, his family, many members of his community, his memories, his ideals and dreams, his teachers, and his fears.
Finch House, Ciera Birch. Cybils nominee. I liked the main character and the creepy house, but I wanted more of the grandfather's point of view. Maybe I'm old! But mostly I wanted more detail on the greataunt.
Eugene Returns, AIO Team. Reading My Library Quest: Renton Highlands Library, J Audio. Wow did I interrupt a long-running conversation! I think this is a church-approved serial, with alternations of the crazy life of well meaning people to whom Eugene has returned and standalone inspirational stories of kids learning to do the right thing or bible stories retold (Samson in verse -- full marks!). Not for me but not a bad listen, so thank you to the one year old in the library whom I invited to pick this shelf's selection.
Demon Daughter, Lois McMaster Bujold. New Penric! Hooray! This one interrogates what it means to be a parent, and what it means to be innocent, and who is worthy of protection. Also who benefits from having a younger spouse.
The Fire, the Water, and Maudie McGinn, Sally J. Pla. 2023 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction finalist. The bad mom was pretty awful but I really liked the surfing bits and how Maudie found a place where autism was just part of who she was and not an excuse to belittle her. The perfect school at the end was a bow on the top, but the whole scene at the surfing contest was powerful.
Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells. A few weeks ago I took a road trip to Oregon with friends, and I grabbed some Murderbot audios from the library since I wasn't sure how far down the series they were. Not that far, but since I had it on my phone I've been enjoying listening while doing my dishes. I like watching SecUnit figure out what it wants. Or at least where it wants to go while it figures that out.
Refugee, Alan Gratz. Really powerful triad of stories about kids trying to escape bad situations, chosen by my elementary book club. They all liked it, but no one had spotted the links between the stories, so I impressed them. That doesn't always happen. Hey, this was a Cybils finalist!
Bad Kitty Meets the Baby, Nick Bruel. I couldn't remember which specific Bad Kitty the 4th graders had picked (I thought we were meeting in December so I wanted a very short book) so I read a bunch of the picture books and this one. They enjoyed listening to the audio of the original picture book and then we talked about cats and about books with a reliable pattern and why that might be a good idea.
Started
System Collapse, Martha Wells. Well, I got the audio in case they had read all the older ones.
All the Dead Shall Weep, Charlaine Harris. I'm a Gunnie Rose fan.
Dead Man's Hand, James J Butcher. For my Tuesday book club.
Farther Than the Moon, Lindsay Lackey. 2023 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction finalist.
Picture Books & Short Stories
Sometimes, Rebecca Elliott. Another book about the two siblings and how much fun they have together (I read the first one a few days later). This one shows more of the hospital where the big sister spends a lot of her time, but it's a story of the siblings together, not an afterschool special. Still really cute kids in the illustrations.
The Mysteries, Bill Watterson & John Kascht. Lovely, dark and deeply depressing.
Just Because, Rebecca Elliott. The introduction to two siblings who love each other a lot, because that's what siblings do. Which is a good refresher to most humorous picture books that have siblings at each other's throats nonstop, I think. Anyway, these specific siblings include one in a wheelchair who does a lot of things differently, which we see in the illustrations and descriptions but the young narrator doesn't see anything unusual, that's just how this awesome big sister is.
Bad Kitty, Bad Kitty Does Not Like Video Games, Poor Puppy, Nick Bruel. More book club fodder.
Bookmarks Moved (Or Languished) In:
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 7, Miya Kazuki. I'm in the epilogues at the end, which is fun because we get different PoV. And volume 8 is waiting for me!
Cobra, Timothy Zahn. I'm up to part 58!
40-Love, Olivia Dade. Ha! I let this slide last year and I just got it back from the library.
Borderland, Anna Reid. Another book I am pulling back to finish now!
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). Walter Mitty!
The Road to Mars, Eric Idle.
Windswept, Adam Rakunas.
The Dark Fantastic, Ebony Elizabeth Thomas. How the world handled a black, Bonnie in Vampire Diaries.
Year of Wonder, Clemency Burton-Hill. I'm a little bit behind but hanging in there.
Reading Challenges
- Cybils 2023: Started middle grade fiction.
- Early Cybils: I might have finished 2007?.
- Reading My Library. Need a new audio. Reading some longer books of fables and legends.
- Libraries: Finished the 10 to Try for 2023. Need an artist and a summer book. Looking at Tacoma's Monster challenge for this year.
Future Plans
I'm putting this at the end because it's complete fiction, but I feel I should attempt some structure.I am reading:
- Book I own: Currently undecided. Hmm.
- Library Book: Run
- Ebook I own: The Wine Dark Sea
- Library Ebook: Rest in Pink
- Book Club Book: Cultish
- Tuesday Book Club Book: Dead Man’s Hand
- Review Book: Back Home
- Rereading: Outskirter's Secret
- Audio: Spear
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