Archive for October, 2016
This week’s topic is “top Here are the books I remember reading because of another person.ten nine books I read because of another person.” Whenever I hear friends raving about books (that has things I love reading about), I immediately put it on my TBR list. They’re a helpful resource who recommend books I may love or find surprising. It’s always thrilling to find myself enjoying their recommendations because I don’t love books so easily.
Inspired by What She Reads, Pure Imagination Blog, and Stacked.
I admit I’m a book cover snob. Who isn’t though?
Book covers are the first thing that attracts readers to a book. A good cover can draw someone is, just as a bad cover can easily draw someone away. It can essentially make or break a book. Holy, Mother Cover! is where I showcase the book covers that stand out (or make me cringe), and discuss cover changes.
(A big special thanks to Georgie at What She Reads for bestowing me this fabulous name and to Charlotte at The Simple Tales for creating the beautiful feature banner you see before you.)
COVER CHANGE: The Last Boy and Girl in the World by Siobhan Vivian
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Gertie Reece Foy is 100% Not-From-Concentrate awesome. She has a daddy who works on an oil rig, a great-aunt who always finds the lowest prices at the Piggly Wiggly, and two loyal best friends. So when her absent mother decides to move away from their small town, Gertie sets out on her greatest mission yet: becoming the best fifth grader in the universe to show her mother exactly what she’ll be leaving behind. There’s just one problem: Seat-stealing new girl Mary Sue Spivey wants to be the best fifth grader, too. And there is simply not enough room at the top for the two of them.
From debut author Kate Beasley, and with illustrations by Caldecott Honor artist Jillian Tamaki, comes a classic tale of hope and homecoming that will empty your heart, then fill it back up again–one laugh at a time.
First sentence: “The bullfrog was only half dead, which was perfect.”
Gertie Reece Foy is on a mission. It’s a two step process: One, she’s going to become the best fifth grade in the world (by giving the best summer speech of her entire class). Two, she’s gonna show her absent mother, who is planning to move away from their small town, that she, Gertie, does not need her. For Gertie, everything will look up once her mission is complete, but an obstacle in the form of the seat-stealing new girl Mary Sue Spivey threatens her mission. This new girl cannot sabotage Gertie. Absolutely not. If Gertie has to postpone her mission and sort out her competition, she’ll do it, but at what cost?
All Jimmy Yee wants to do is die.
However, every attempt he makes to kill himself—hanging, cutting his wrist with a razor, shooting himself—doesn’t seem to work. He wakes up the next day, alive and well, and has to kill himself again. It’s Groundhog Day for him, but that certainly can’t be it especially with dead bodies piling up. Eventually, it all clicks in Jimmy’s head.
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Ever heard of Allied spy Noor Inayat Khan, a Muslim woman whom the Nazis considered “highly dangerous”? Or German painter and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, who planned and embarked on the world’s first scientific expedition? How about Huang Daopo, the inventor who fled an abusive child marriage only to revolutionize textile production in China?
Women have always been able to change the world, even when they didn’t get the credit. In Wonder Women, author Sam Maggs introduces you to pioneering female scientists, engineers, mathematicians, adventurers, and inventors—each profile a study in passion, smarts, and stickto-itiveness, complete with portraits by Google doodler Sophia Foster-Dimino, an extensive bibliography, and a guide to present-day women-centric STEM organizations.
First sentence: “Representation is important.”
Where are the women in our history? Why aren’t we taught more about them? I don’t remember being taught a lot about women in school (other than the Suffrage Movement and Rosa Parks), and that’s a damn shame. The history that was taught to everybody were about white males who supposedly conquered, discovered, taught, and invented everything that we know in the world, and that’s totally wrong. We should be focusing on women—scientists, engineers, adventurers, inventors, and mathematicians—who’ve made a huge difference in the world too, and Wonder Women introduces readers to them.
I think I’m back? In September, I’ve read more of my priority books than I have in previous months. Hallelujah! I’m so happy.
For those who do not know, Too Much TBR is a way to help me see which books I really need to read and tackle them. It helps a lot seeing a visual of the books on my TBR pile.
Let’s discuss what I read last month, and what I’m reading this month!
