The lovely thing about a picture book creator, is the simplicity. An artist can put one key image in a lot of white space, or can create detailed and The lovely thing about a picture book creator, is the simplicity. An artist can put one key image in a lot of white space, or can create detailed and complex images, whichever they prefer. The text is often more like poetry than story. And it can be free verse or phrases or no words at all. There is an inclination by newbies and celebrities to produce too much text, possibly just a reluctance to make the leap of faith that the reader doesn't need much. This is an author being selective, beautifully.
It's interesting that Averill published this book so late. I suspect she wrote this prequel almost 30 years after Jenny based on nothing but the feel of it. The story starts with two young tramps arriving at a restaurant widely known for handouts to cats. That meal, so tactfully and kindly given, and the warm welcome given by Patchy Pete to Sinbad and the Duke combine to suggest to me that this was written by the sadder-but-wiser girl. Someone far enough removed from the Depression distill a sweetness from that misery.
It's a lovely book about longing for a home of one's own and about getting enough distance from grief to try belonging again. It's a brave story as well as a kind one. And although Averill is quite good at presenting her cast as cats-not-humans (even Sinbad and the Duke who are so close they speak with one voice), they are also people who become better under a regime of care. I am so pleased that Sinbad and the Duke have had one another to rely on, and that when given a chance, they become reliable to others.
Truly, a lovely book, especially for one that has so much fighting.
It seems ridiculous to me to tag this book with "realistic" when the concept is "the moon turns into a big cheese." I stand by it though: there is a lIt seems ridiculous to me to tag this book with "realistic" when the concept is "the moon turns into a big cheese." I stand by it though: there is a lot of realism in the stories. I quite like the mix of characters, locations, and events. Everyone feels like someone I know, or at least like someone I know of, if that makes sense. The funny bits are very funny to me, but there are also more than a few places where I was moved. I laughed, I cried, I am grateful to be lactose tolerant.
Just delightful. This is a book I look forward to reading again, many times. And if there is a movie (or series) made from it, that too, will become a favorite, I expect.
One of the things I love in 21st century authors setting stories in earlier periods is the focus on the changes happening: in art, politics, tLovely.
One of the things I love in 21st century authors setting stories in earlier periods is the focus on the changes happening: in art, politics, technology, social issues, mores, and so on. Victorian writers brought in new ideas, but tended not to notice developments that become a big deal as they catch on. It's always funny to look up when something was invented (usually way earlier than I would guess) and see how long it took to become familiar and common.
I am currently on page 125 out of 269 and no doubt there will be different thoughts and feelings by the end, but this is what I don't 14 December 2024
I am currently on page 125 out of 269 and no doubt there will be different thoughts and feelings by the end, but this is what I don't want to forget: Amanda Jones is relatable. So when she tells us what it felt like to be attacked online by total strangers, I feel her pain. When she describes the (perfectly reasonable under the circumstances) anxiety, fear, depression, hopelessness, anguish, and anger that she endured because two men deliberately chose her to be the focus of a smear campaign, I am feeling it with her. This is what it is like to have someone whip up hate against you for political gain. This is what they can do to you, not because you have done anything to them except to speak out in defense of public libraries.
***
2 January, 2025
That's where I stopped to write a paragraph and didn't pick up the book again u til I had to return it to the library because someone else wanted it. I hope they find it as engrossing as I did before I stopped. It's a wonderful book, so when I say "it's me, it's not the book" please know that I mean it. I expect there will be more books I will post, despite not finishing, since it doesn't look like I will be finishing much. My library is starting an after dark silent reading group. I do not do well with assigned reading, so a conventional book club is right out. But maybe I'll manage to read 60 pages of something. It's not that I object to reading things with fewer pages, at all. It's that I am looking at a stack of new books I received for Christmas, and a couple thousand books on the shelves of our house, and the more than 1000 ebooks I have (bless the Gutenberg Project!) That's a lot of books I am not reading. I will at least put them on my Currently Reading shelf if I get started.
Hendrix is very good at baring the real life anxieties and horrors behind the tropes of horror fiction. He 's also very good at writing stories that bHendrix is very good at baring the real life anxieties and horrors behind the tropes of horror fiction. He 's also very good at writing stories that build into the platonic ideal of horror stories: the heart-pounding suspense of knowing this is bad that makes us indulge in horror for fun. Some of his skill comes in creating people and situations we can relate to.
Whenever a Hendrix book pops up in my feed, the comments seem to run to how someone loves his books, except for thatone that the commenter abandoned. Amusingly, that one is differs. If you're so inclined, feel free to leave a comment saying which one you abandoned: mine is (view spoiler)[ We Sold Our Souls(hide spoiler)]. An informal poll with no rigor or validity of any kind. I have no theory why anyone is put off by whichever, so feel free to speculate.
My thanks to the local Library After Dark program for getting me close enough to the end that I couldn't put it down. My apologies to everyone waiting for their turn while I struggled to meet the deadline. Usually I choose my next read based on whether someone else is waiting, and I try to get those returned as early as possible. Got it back for the next person 22 hours before my 21 days ran out.
This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, This is not just about death, loss, and grief, although you know there'sgoing to be that, and it is heartbreaking. There is also violence, suffering, pain, because the cat who found Carr had also endured a horrible beginning. But there is unconditional love, and companionship, and someone who understands, which is to say: grace.
Carr's memoir is remarkable because he paid such close attention from the beginning to Masha. His thoughts, like his feelings, had time to develop an exquisite complexity and richness. He wrote as if he had all the time in the world. He didn't, of course, none of us do, but he did have just enough. A beautiful memorial to a remarkable cat, who brought out all his finer qualities in a way people mostly didn't. I cannot believe in an afterlife that doesn't reunite them.
This is definitely going on my list of books to get me into a cheerful mood. It's exactly the sort of thing that seems like real life the way one mighThis is definitely going on my list of books to get me into a cheerful mood. It's exactly the sort of thing that seems like real life the way one might wish it to be: four kids, two parents, two grandparents, school friends, and aunts and uncles and cousins, plenty of dogs, a school concert, handmade presents, sudden changes in plans, meal fiasco, etc. Of course, there is the fight between Clarice Bean and her younger brother Minal Cricket on the kitchen floor, but that ends with only one bruise and having missed the last four minutes of the Ruby Redfort Special on t.v.
***
Feel free to skip on to the next paragraph, because in this one I digress to raise a cultural issue that utterly baffles me: putting the stocking on the foot of the bed. It's a reasonable and natural place to locate actual socks in the middle of a night, without fumbling about on the floor. But how is it possible for Santa (is "Father Christmas" not used, or is this a change for the American audience?) to creep into everyone's room quietly, not disturbing the occupants, carrying gifts and candy for a specific recipient which has to be transferred into the stocking? This seems like it guarantees that Santa is going to be tripping over and bumping into stuff, and walking into bedrooms where people are still quite awake, as well as having to drag his bag all over the house, which in this case seems to have six bedrooms. It's a much less efficient system than popping into one room only. How does he do it? This troubles me more than jetting about the entire world in a day, because whereas the living room and the designated real or symbolic mantel are usually rather tidy for the holiday, bedrooms are absolutely not. That's where all the miscellany that was cluttering up the living room has been temporarily stashed, on top of the normal daily dirty clothes and such. Unless, maybe, every bedroom isn't quite as untidy as ours with boxes unpacked for 11 years, and pet stairs and whatnot. (view spoiler)[ My ADHD is really showing here, isn't it? (hide spoiler)]
***
Anyway, this would make a charming hour and a half of family entertainment for purposes of avoiding actual fights on the kitchen floor. Truly, this would become required viewing, along with The Grinch, and Miracle on 34th Street, and Die Hard, and A Wish for Wings That Work, and Muppets Christmas Carol, and Scrooged, and such.
***
Addenda 6pm 30 June 2024
I have just learned that besides being of an age, Child has singled out two of my favorite books from childhood as two that were particularly influential on her:The Shrinking of Treehorn and The 18th Emergency. Mind, it isn't unusual to share a favorite book in English with many thousands of others in one's cohort, it's just a happy coincidence. But if she mentions THE TEDDY BEAR HABIT I will be truly amazed.
I had to put it down, because work and eating and such, but this just brought me so much joy. Kingfisher is so good at creating an outrageous fictive I had to put it down, because work and eating and such, but this just brought me so much joy. Kingfisher is so good at creating an outrageous fictive world in which people behave much more like real humans do. Very much more than I do, to take one example. The mix of horror, humor, and caper is beguiling.
Plus geese, and beautiful endpapers, and a really lovely cover that I can't stop admiring. Highly recommended for a Halloween read, or a gift to others if you can't hold off reading it yourself right away.
While the book hits more than a few of my favorite topics it is also about things I know nothing about: the Indian community in the UK, people who donWhile the book hits more than a few of my favorite topics it is also about things I know nothing about: the Indian community in the UK, people who don't already love books and reading, grandfathers. I looked up a lot of unfamiliar words, almost all about food. But I really appreciated the reading-for-comfort aspect most. As a reader it always kind of bugs me when a character is presented as a reader but doesn’t ever read onstage, doesn’t have conversations about books, doesn’t wonder what to read. ...Now I have "only connect" on my mind. I may have to read Howard's End again.
And also, props for the books on the reading list. Great stories. Sometimes imagine not having so many books in the hous: have only a small set of of my most beloved books, but, seriously? I'd ne er make it past Boynton without using up my permitted number of titles, no matter how many I could pick.
If I could only choose one by Austen it'd have to be Northanger Abbey: all the book chat!
A marvelous, creepy, story set on an isolated island owned by a man with too much money to be bound by society. Mrs. Charles Fort is underestimated byA marvelous, creepy, story set on an isolated island owned by a man with too much money to be bound by society. Mrs. Charles Fort is underestimated by everyone, including Theodore Drieser, a fan of her husband. Set during the global flu pandemic of 1918, everything here feels familiar, plausible, and too disturbing to be fiction. The author does a lovely job of recreating a weird time of great change and horrible possibilities and a woman's precarious security in the world. Also: a ripping yarn with echoes of Verne and Wells.
Couldn't put it down. Happily, I was sick, and alone, so I didn't really have to. When I picked it up from the library yesterday I said I knew there wCouldn't put it down. Happily, I was sick, and alone, so I didn't really have to. When I picked it up from the library yesterday I said I knew there was a list waiting for it, and I would read it quickly and return it.
Assuming I feel okay to drive tomorrow I'll be keeping that promise....more
karen's review has red panda gifs, so go over there and check it.
My favorite true fact about red pandas, which has nothing to do with this story, is karen's review has red panda gifs, so go over there and check it.
My favorite true fact about red pandas, which has nothing to do with this story, is that they are adept at breaking out of zoos. My favorite thing about Venable is that she writes funny stories about critters.
There might very well be an "armadillo" shelf coming: I like them, little armored opossums as they seem. Or possibly it will be a Xenarthr28 June 2023
There might very well be an "armadillo" shelf coming: I like them, little armored opossums as they seem. Or possibly it will be a Xenarthra shelf, because I am also fond of the ground sloths and glyptodons. The word sounds quite alien, means "alien joint" which would also be a good bar name.
**
This was so clearly something I was going to love that I had to wait for a good day to read it. And, now that I have finished I get to tell myself "I told you so" which was very cheering, because I did listen and follow my own advice.
Kingsolver is right, this is a book for children. Helpfully, it teaches kids how to fight metaphorical monsters in a way that is understanding, and empathetic, and helpful. Presumably those calling it a book for adults have never read the the Narnia series, the Tiffany Aching books, or an obscure favorite of mine, The Hunger Games. No one wants to consider that there are a lot of people under 18 who have found themselves in horrible situations trying to save themselves and/or others, and this book would take a weight off their minds.
A perfect hero's journey, and a hell of a lot zipper than Huck Finn. This is funny and sad and wise and I love it.
I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an eve03 April, 2023
I was trying to find out if an author tour is planned, so I could pick up a hardcover copy from a local bookstore nearish hosting an event where I could say "I love your work" and get a copy signed. Did not find. Checked the publisher website and saw "Category: Romance."
WTH? To be clear, I read a lot of romance, so I am not ragging on the idea. I just can't reconcile having only one Category tag for an author with crossover appeal. But also: did anyone in marketing look at that cover? That cover says "for fans of
[image]
and
[image]
, and
[image]
" That cover says humorous scifi, not Romance.
Am I wrong?
***
4th July, 2023
And today I finished reading it, coincidentally over the July fourth weekend during which I also saw Asteroid City. Not the only good time to read it, but pretty good.
The book is better than "pretty good" by a lot. Classic screwball comedy which does require a little love interest, but is more about putting sane people in a maelstrom of amusing absurdity for comic effect. Willis is brilliant at that maelstrom. And at the cinematic references. So many movies are named checked, that one should probably not read it without an interest in movies. A delightful read, and one lending itself to dream casting: there aren't any bad choices no matter when or where the cast is selected.
This was face out on the New shelf and I grabbed it because great cover. There was a book, so, yes, and maybe it was about somePure, dead, brilliant.
This was face out on the New shelf and I grabbed it because great cover. There was a book, so, yes, and maybe it was about some reading disability, whatever.
It has custom endpapers, which at the front are little icons of mostly common things easily understood by most North American kids. Mostly Gears, musical notes, flower, is that a house, lock, clover, branch, fire, if that one is fire, is this a crown? The title word is broken into three syllables, as on the front cover, but also spread onto three rows.
The next spread shows a simple tropical island with an adult woman and child looking to the right, over the ocean, under the sun. The sky is blue and white. There's a fish in the ocean and a teapot. At the far right is a small sail boat with a woman and a child. The scene darkens in swathes from left to right, with stars appearing. The next spread darkens further in bands, the blue oceans becoming grey, a rubber duck and periscope amid the waves, more stars, a crescent moon, and a passenger plane. The grey scene with stars clouds and hills or fog becomes a street with a house and a city skyline in the background, a silly cartoonish bus with symbols on the side at a bus stop, a lumpish greyscale mother and daughter standing to the side of a mother and son in a more realistic style, in full color.
On the next spread we see the girl and her mother from the front, still greyscale but highly stylized like early cartoons, the busdriver, too is grey, with micky mouse gloved hands and a nose more like Goofy, his speech balloon is all gibberish symbols. The boy, Dat, hugs his mother goodbye and introduces himself to the driver, who gets his name wrong.
And so his day goes, Dat in color, the rest in greyscale, the other teachers as old school cartoons who might be dog people, the other kids are strange little monsters, the reader as confused as Dat by everything, including the gibberish word symbols. After a long, puzzling day amid the outsized monsters, there is more color and clarity, and the world begins to make sense to the reader, just as it does to Dat.
The final endpaper spread replaces the black and white icons with letters.
Vo has taken his experience as an animator and created empathy for the stranger as no words have ever done. I am awed.
Jemisin is brilliant at calling out bullshit and being so damn entertaining with the social commentary, or, IWay to subvert the Lovecraftian paradigm!
Jemisin is brilliant at calling out bullshit and being so damn entertaining with the social commentary, or, I suppose, so socially conscious with the entertainment. Twenty four hours after finishing and I'm still doing a little happy dance in my seat. I walk away from this book with all the glee of leaving a blockbuster movie without any of the "oh, wait, that feels really dodgy when you stop to think about it" regrets after.
There are a lot of great reviews for this, fewer negative reviews, but I assume most reflect sincere reactions. So, having read a slew of those GR revThere are a lot of great reviews for this, fewer negative reviews, but I assume most reflect sincere reactions. So, having read a slew of those GR reviews, I have zero interest inrehashing points others have addressed more eloquently.
But there are a couple of things I want to mention about other reviews. Others have pointed out how white the book is. There isn't much about the environmental costs borne by the people of the First Nations. But honestly I prefer the book to mostly stick to what Beaton knew at time. Bt's hardly surprising that in 2005 a recent grad from 2000 miles away wouldn't be well up on those issues.
You know what I didn't see in a lot of reviews? Capitalism. Beaton worked for several different entities, each of which is blithely careless about anything other than profit. Odd. Without naming the villain, Beaton points out that capitalism killed multiple industries in the Maritimes
Finally, I want to point out one thing that I especially appreciate, which again, I didn't see mentioned elsewhere. There is a whole mythology about company/mining/boom towns that praises the strong, silent man who endures the hardship. In the Western tradition, good girls are teachers, bad girls are prostitutes with hearts of gold. This is not me bashing sex workers, just observing the kind of stories that have been told. Since the 80s there have been more stories featuring a woman in a mostly masculine settings, but those tend to be written as tough guys indistinguishable from the other, male-identified, tough guys except maybe prettiness (Renee Russo in Lethal Weapon 3, Vasquez in Aliens, Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2). It's refreshing to read a story set in company towns that acknowledges a different point of view. Beaton explicitly rejects real or "humorous" solicitation for services. All she wants is to do her job without harassment,
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