Reading something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue
The place we’re staying at right now (while our house is getting renovated) has a big tub, and over the summer it quickly became a favorite reading spot when it was too darn hot to do anything else.
This is how I ended up reading Longbow Girl by Linda Davies. Set in the wild Welsh countryside, Merry Owen’s family is struggling to keep their small farm from the clutches of their aristocratic neighbors, the De Courcys.
I’d been meaning to learn to use a sewing machine for a while now, because while I can hand-sew just fine, machine sewing is dead handy for my endless crafting, costumes, and the never-ending list of hobbies I find myself involved in.
You may have seen this on the blog’s FB page (or my social media accounts if you know me personally), and here’s the story behind it: my sister, who’s teaching me to sew, showed me a pillowbed on Pinterest (evil, evil Pinterest) and I decided to make one as my first project. Now it’s basically just sewing the seams of the pillowcases together, but I count it as a major achievement for LVL: Noob.
(Resuming my Cybils reviews!)
Of all the books I’ve had to read for round 2 judging of the Cybils, “Roller Girl” by Victoria Jamieson is the closest to my heart, and I am so happy it came out on top after deliberations and ended up winning the Cybils for graphic novel, in the middle grade category.
In “Roller Girl, it’s the summer before sixth grade, and Astrid is a twelve year-old girl with too much on her plate: a falling out with her best friend, who suddenly doesn’t want to hang out with her anymore; the discovery of a new sport: roller derby, which fascinated her enough to sign up for derby camp (except it turns out she totally sucks at roller derby); and keeping it all from her mom (because how do you tell your mom these things?).
And I’m back!
Sorry for the unexpected hiatus. The last few months have been quite busy for me – we’ve temporarily moved house (renovation underway), all my books are in boxes (don’t ask how many!), and we couldn’t get our internet service transferred. Now that things have calmed down on the homefront (plus I need a distraction from current events), I’m back to blogging, and I must say I’ve really missed it.
I’ve been reading a lot, so there’s plenty of backlog to work through, but bear with me, and I’ll do my best to keep up.
I’ll start with the book I read for Flips Flipping Pages’ May book discussion on Indian literature: “The Leaving of Things” by Jay Antani.
Blood’s Haven, Maryland, post-Civil War. The oyster trade makes for booming business, and watermen all across Chesapeake Bay are keen on cashing in on this lucrative business. Regulations have been drawn with regards to oyster harvests, but oyster pirates, a small but vicious group led by the nefarious Treacher Fink, have not only been harvesting oysters without a license; they’ve also been using destructive oyster dredges that would render the bay barren within a few years.
To curtail the pirates’ activity, the governor and town mayor establish an Oyster Army (with Commander Davidson Bulloch and his motley crew aboard the Layla) to deal with the pirates once and for all.
From the time the Cybils finalists were announced, I was immediately drawn to Ben Towles’ “Oyster War” because of its cover art – it seemed to promise a great maritime adventure, and I must say it did not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed this graphic novel.
