Thursday, December 13, 2018

What I Read in October and November

In the name of catching up and completeness, here is what I read in October and November. And, of course, two of the best of the bunch.

36959639

Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
The day after she saves a book from being thrown in a creek, Ollie goes on a field trip to a farm that is eerily similar to the one in the book, which she has begun reading. When the bus breaks down on the way back to school, she knows that something is up and escapes into the nearby woods with two classmates. Now they must save their class from an old evil in a new face.

Nice, solid middle grade horror book with real heart and a strong message about friendship, family and grief. I really hope it gets some award recognition.

37880094

The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee

This one is a sequel to last year's The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue and I think I actually like it even more, if that is even possible. We follow Felicity, the sister in the story, as she heads into an adventure in her attempt to get medical training to become a doctor. Along the way, she befriends a pirate, reconnects with an old friend, and discovers an amazing secret in the Mediterranean. And, yes, petticoats are, in fact, involved; but romance is not. Which is perfect for this character and this story.

October

 1. Ghoulia by Barbara Cantini
 2. The Nest by Kenneth Oppel; illustrated by Jon Klassen; read by Gibson Frazier
 3. Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner
 4. Sheets by Brenna Thummler
 5. Saga vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughn; illustrated by Fiona Staples
 6. Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
 7. Sir Simon: Super Scarer by Cale Atkinson
 8. Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: The Sapling vol. 3: Branches by Rob Williams and Alex Paknadel; illustrated by I. N. J. Culbard
 9. Misfit City vol. 2 by Kirsten Smith and Kurt Lustgarten; illustrated by Naomi Franquiz
10. Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: The Sapling vol. 2: Roots by Simon Spurrier, Alex Paknadel and George Mann; illustrated by I. N. J. Culbard, Ivan Rodriguez, Wellington Diaz, and Trionna Farrell
11. Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor vol. 6: The Malignant Truth by Simon Spurrier and Rob Williams; illustrated by Simon Fraser, Warren Pleece and Leandro Casco
12. The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas
13. American Vampire vol. 1 by Scott Snyder and Stephen King; illustrated by Rafael Albuquerque
14. Cute as an Axotlotl: Discovering the World's Cutest Animals by Jess Keating; illustrated by David DeGrand
15. Archival Quality by Noelle Weir; illustrated by Steenz
16. Dreamers by Yuyi Morales
17. A Parade of Elephants by Kevin Henkes
18. I Hate My Cats by Davide Cali; illustrated by Anna Pirolli
19. Sleep, Sheep! by Kerry Lyn Sparrow; illustrated by Guillaume Perreault
20. The House in Poplar Wood by K. E. Ormsbee
21. Hey, Kiddo by Jarrett J. Krosoczka
22. The Altered History of Willow Sparks by Tara O'Connor
23. Nos4a2 by Joe Hill; read by Kate Mulgrew
24. On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
25. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #16 by Ryan North and Will Murray; illustrated by Erica Henderson
26. The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay
27. Aquicorn Cove by Kate O'Neill

November

 1. The Dam Keeper vol. 2: World Without Darkness by Robert Kondo; illustrated by Dice Tsutsumi
 2. Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
 3. Check, Please! vol. 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
 4. The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Makenzi Lee; read by Moira Quirk
 5. As You Wish by Chelsea Sedoti
 6. Not If I Save You First by Ally Carter
 7. The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
 8. Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow
 9. The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X. R. Pan
10. Unnatural vol. 1 by Mirka Andolfo
11. Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
12. Tales from the Inner City by Shaun Tan
13. Exit Strategy (Murderbot #4) by Martha Wells
14. Fatal Throne by Candace Fleming, M. T. Anderson, Jennifer Donnelly, Stephanie Hemphill, Deborah Hopkinson, Linda Sue Park, and Lisa Ann Sandel

Monday, December 3, 2018

Newbery Rewind: 1925


Well, it has been a while since I posted. I almost decided to quit blogging, but writing things out is good practice for my brain, so I'm going to keep doing it.

In the meantime, I read the honor and award books for 1925 and 1926. And boy were they dry! But I plugged my way through so I'll write up my thoughts here.

1924

  • Hoover became head of the FBI
  • The first Winter Olympics were held in Chamonix, France.
  • Ellis Island closed
  • Native Americans were given United States citizenship, while the Asian Exclusion Act becomes part of the Immigration Act of 1924.
  • Jimmy Carter, Lee Iococca, Doris Day and Marlon Brando were born.
  • IBM and MGM were founded.
  • The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held.
  • First radio broadcast from the White House.
  • George Mallory dies on Everest.
  • Nellie Tayloe Ross of Wyoming is elected as the first woman governor in the United States.
  • Astronomer Edwin Hubble announces that Andromeda, previously believed to be a nebula, is actually another galaxy, and that the Milky Way is only one of many such galaxies in the universe.
  • The world's first radio play, Danger by Richard Hughes, is broadcast by the British Broadcasting Company from its studios in London.
  • The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Warner is published.
  • Lloyd Alexander is born.
  • E. Nesbit dies.
And the Honor Books were...
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish
The Dream Coach by Anne Parrish; illustrated by Dillwyn Parrish

This one is really insipid and condescending. It is a collection of short stories supposedly relating dreams that are answered by a fairy in a coach and it is just as saccharine as it sounds. Also, some of the stories are unbelievably racist. Now I know it was a different time, but I had a terrible time finishing this one.
2814860




Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story by Anne Carroll Moore 

Confession time: I could not get my hands on this book no matter how hard I tried. Not that I am too disappointed since the Goodreads reviews lead me to believe it is pretty terrible...


And the winner was...

Tales from Silver Lands by Charles J. Finger


1782811
My first response kind of says it all: "Ugh, this is the first Newbery book I really had to force myself to read. My eyes kept skimming over the text out of sheer boredom. I hope this is just one white man's interpretation of the tales (or maybe he made them up) because I just can't see people sharing these tales like most authentic oral tradition was shared."

Supposedly the author backpacked through Central and South America to collect these oral tales. Not so sure if I believe it. In any case, they are definitely told through the lens of a white, privileged man, with plenty of "noble savages" and sexist and racist stereotypes. But the worst offense, as stated above, is that they are terribly, terribly boring.

It's book award season!!!

The winners of the ALA Youth Media Awards will be announced on Monday morning at 8 am PT (11 am here in NC). Here's the link if you woul...