#LibraryShelfie Day

I'm a couple of days late, but here's my photo for #LibraryShelfie Day. This is my designated shelf for library books. I currently have books checked out from three different public library systems and a few from my children's literature group.

The Bounties of Browsing

Books from the Chevy Chase Neighborhood Library (DC Public Library):

• 1001 Inventions & Awesome Facts from Muslim Civilization by National Geographic
• Love Will See You Through: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Six Guiding Beliefs (as told by his niece) by Angela Farris Watkins, illustrated by Sally Wern Comport
• Monstrous Affections: An Anthology of Beastly Tales edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
• The Religions Book by DK Publishing

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

The Bear's Sea Escape by Benjamin Chaud

Dodsworth in Tokyo by Tim Egan

Duck & Goose Go to the Beach by Tad Hills

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse by Patricia MacLachlan, illustrated by Hadley Hooper 

Lion vs. Rabbit by Alex Latimer

Madame Martine by Sarah S. Brannen

Tacky in Trouble by Helen Lester, illustrated by Lynn Munsinger

Wave by Suzy Lee

A Wonderful Year by Nick Bruel

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks (aka Heather Rose and Danielle Wood)

Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermy by Dr. Pat Morris with Joanna Ebenstein

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

I'm going to give myself a little bit of a pass this week because I was busy using a bit more brain power than I'm accustomed to. (In case you're wondering, I'm the new editor of my women's club newsletter and I was working on my first issue. I get hyper-focused on details when I'm in editing mode and I lost all ability to do anything else!) But I'm fairly happy with the variety of books I read. As always, I have the library to thank for that; I read The Baby Tree, Firebird, and Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? while browsing the Mock Caldecott table at the Arlington Central Library.

My favorite book this week, by far, is Alan Bradley's newest Flavia de Luce mystery, As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust. This is the seventh book in the series (plus one short story) and I eagerly await each installment. They aren't written as YA but I think there's appeal for younger readers because the main character, Flavia, is eleven years old. Yes, she's obsessed with poisons, and murders and dead bodies don't bother her, but other than that there's not a whole lot that's objectionable in the series. For a guy in his 70s (according to Wikipedia), Bradley has a great grasp on the psyche of a young girl, albeit an odd young girl, a girl nonetheless. 

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

The Baby Tree by Sophie Blackall

I won a personalized mini-print from Sophie Blackall last year. Cute, huh?

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

"It's Flavia," I told him. "The first syllable rhymes with 'brave' and 'grave.' --> Wait! What?! I've been saying her name wrong for five years??

Firebird by Misty Copeland, illustrated by Christopher Myers

Have You Heard the Nesting Bird? by Rita Gray, illustrated by Kenard Pak

Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong written by Prudence Shen, illustrated by Faith Erin Hicks

Water Rolls, Water Rises / El agua rueda, el agua sube by Pat Mora, illustrated by Meilo So

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

Finding Serendipity by Angelica Banks (aka Heather Rose and Danielle Wood)

The Bounties of Browsing ... a new occasional series

The reason I will never give up on the physical space of libraries and bookstores is that there is magic to be had in browsing the shelves: finding books you've always wanted to read, discovering new-to-you authors, trying a genre out of your comfort zone. All of those experiences are available to you because you can pick up books, flip through the pages, ask a clerk/librarian for recommendations, and just take your time to explore.

This week I was back at the Arlington Central Library for a meeting so I spent some time browsing the shelves. Here are a few books I checked out just because they looked interesting:

• At the Same Moment, Around the World by Clotilde Perrin (Children's Picture Book)
• Make the Grade: Everything You Need to Study Better, Stress Less, and Succeed in School by Lesley Schwartz Martin (Young Adult Nonfiction: Education, Methods of Instruction and Study)
• Show and Tell: How Everybody Can Make Extraordinary Presentations by Dan Roam (Nonfiction: Executive Management, Oral Communication)
• Walter Potter's Curious World of Taxidermy by Dr. Pat Morris with Joanna Ebenstein (Nonfiction: Zoology, Preserving Zoological Specimens)

Every once in awhile I plan to showcase what I serendipitously discover while wandering library stacks and bookstore shelves.

The unavoidable question when you take your kids to the comic book store

I came to American comics reading rather late; I mostly stuck to reading Japanese manga. But I started frequenting my local comic book store back in California when I started reading more graphic novels and began looking for all-ages comics for my school library (maybe around 2008?).

Luckily, that comic book store -- and the one I go to now -- are pretty female-friendly and stock a decent number of all-ages books. But there have been stores I was hesitant or wary to enter because the vibe just wasn't welcoming.

This article addresses some issues I have with comic books, comic book stores, and comic culture in general. I imagine things are getting better all the time with increased female comics readership and authorship, but things aren't perfect by any means. Female imagery in comics -- and male, for that matter -- can be confusing and demeaning, especially to young eyes. I hope that the comics world is moving towards something different in terms of body image issues. (And, don't forget, illustrators/publishers/store owners: women often control the purse strings in their households, so it's not a bad idea to listen when we have opinions.)

As my kids start reading more comics and graphic novels, I want to make sure that they understand their place -- and power -- in the comics world. As readers, they can have a say in how the comics world changes and progresses. I don't want my daughter to feel bad about what she sees in comics, and I don't want my son to think that what he reads in comics is how women are in the real world.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

And the Cars Go ... by William Bee

Daisy and Josephine by Melissa Gilbert, illustrated by Julia Kuo

Buddy and the Bunnies In: Don't Play With Your Food! by Bob Shea

Dog Days of School by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Brian Biggs

Kid Sheriff and the Terrible Toads by Bob Shea, illustrated by Lane Smith

Runaways, Volume 1: Pride & Joy written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Adrian Alphona

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

Neighborhood Sharks: Hunting with the Great Whites of California's Farallon Islands by Katherine Roy

It's Monday! What Are You Reading? From Picture Books to YA

Happy New (Reading) Year!  

[To rehash the concept :: post what you read last week, what you're reading now, and what you plan to read this week. If you have a review of the book(s), great! If you have a picture of the book(s), wonderful! If you have a book giveaway, fantastic! If you just list the title(s) of the book(s), not a problem! Make it as simple or as complex as you need it to be. At least, that's the message I got. This version of the meme is hosted by Jen and Kellee of Teach Mentor Text, which, in turn, was inspired by Sheila over at Book Journey, who hosts the original It's Monday! What Are You Reading?]

WHAT I READ LAST WEEK:

Chernobyl's Wild Kingdom: Life in the Dead Zone by Rebecca L. Johnson

The Children of the King by Sonya Hartnett

This is the first Sonya Hartnett book I've read and I loved her beautiful writing. Not that children can't appreciate or understand gorgeously composed sentences, but there were several instances when I thought Hartnett was writing more for an adult audience. One paragraph made me laugh out loud, and I wondered if it would've gone over the heads of younger readers (the intended audience is 10 and up):

[...] this was that adults and children would dine together, rather than at separate sittings. The arrangement was easier for the depleted domestic staff, but it also suited Peregrine. He could think of nothing worse than supping with his sister-in-law, just he and she. He wouldn't have been surprised to know that Heloise felt the same way. They had things in common, as smart cynical people always do, but one of the things common to them was an awkwardness around each other. Welcome, then, was the company of the children, whose chatter filled the spaces which would otherwise yawn over the dining room.

I was particularly taken with the entire chapter "On the Subject of Bravery." I wish I could include it here in its entirety; I think it encapsulates the book quite well by touching on familial relationships, a child's feeling about their place in the world, what conversations and thoughts must've been like during WWII, and of course, what it means to be brave.

Firefly July: A Year of Very Short Poems by Paul B. Janeczko, illustrated by Melissa Sweet

What a lovely collection of poems enhanced by Sweet's distinctive art. Admittedly, I'm not much of a poetry person, mostly because I'm an incredibly literal person who had real difficulty "analyzing" poetry in school. I think those academic experiences scared me away from poetry and I have it in my mind that I just don't get it. But Janeczko's selections of short poems -- organized by season -- are accessible and would make a wonderful introduction to poetry for young readers. The poems can be read literally; the art marveled at and observations made; and then, if readers are up for it, the poem can be re-read to see if there are other meanings hidden in the words. I also enjoyed that there's a nice mix of nature-related seasonal poems as well as urban-themed poetry. Some of my favorite poems from the book are:

"Window." by Carl Sandburg
"Subway Rush Hour." by Langston Hughes
"A Happy Meeting." by Joyce Sidman
"Tall City." by Susan Nichols Pulsifer
"Dust of Snow." by Robert Frost

I guess it turns out I like poetry! A book that makes me realize that is a powerful thing, indeed.

Gaijin: American Prisoner of War by Matt Faulkner

Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Fiona Staples

Nathan Hale's Hazardous Tales: Treaties, Trenches, Mud, and Blood by Nathan Hale

WHAT I'M READING NOW:

Runaways, Volume 1: Pride & Joy written by Brian K. Vaughan, illustrated by Adrian Alphona

WHAT I PLAN TO READ THIS WEEK:

As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust: A Flavia de Luce Mystery by Alan Bradley