It’s Monday, What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date, and adapted by Kellee at Unleashing Readers and Jen at Teach Mentor Texts with a children’s/YA focus. The Sunday Post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer. These weekly roundups are a great way to discover new blogs and bloggers, share titles, and add to your ever-growing to-read list.
I actually didn’t do that much reading this week – life got pretty busy, and I was just too tired to do anything but zonk out on the couch in front of the TV (what can I say, there are FIVE different Star Trek series on Netflix at the moment). I did manage to do a little bit of reading this week, though!
I shared another entry in my Beautiful British Columbia : A Reading Staycation series, taking a look at a British Columbian novel that was a staple in high school language arts classes when I was a teenager – Joy Kogawa’s Obasan.
Interestingly enough, Joy Kogawa’s childhood home has been turned into a venue for literary events, and is located just a few blocks from the library where I’m currently working. The house offers tours, programs, and writing residencies – definitely worth looking into if you’re going to be in the Vancouver area.
I also read Otter Goes to School, a sweet little picture book about an otter who starts a make-believe school for her stuffed toys, only to find that being a teacher can be a pretty tough job. With teachers everywhere either heading back into the classroom or counting down the weeks until September, this is a very timely, gently reassuring story.
As part of Australia month over on The Book Wars I dove into Hello Baby!, a delightful animal-themed picture book from Mem Fox, one of early literacy’s most passionate advocates. While researching the book I discovered that Mem Fox actually grew up in Africa, living in several different countries with her missionary parents. Fox he was born and later settled in Australia, which is the subject of many of her books, but Hello Baby! draws from her memories of a childhood in Africa.
I also took a look at At The Beach, a picture book all about the traditional Aussie beach holiday. Did you know that there are no privately owned beaches in Australia? The ocean is such an intrinsic part of Australian culture and national identity that there is a strong commitment to ensuring that beaches remain open to the public for everyone’s enjoyment. There’s a lot of detail on each spread of this book, sort of in the spirit of Where’s Waldo, and kids can really explore all the little surprises in each illustration.
![The Lady of the Rivers: A Novel (Cousins War Series) by [Gregory, Philippa]](https://i0.wp.com/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51yQ-QhJjyL.jpg?resize=210%2C322&ssl=1)
In terms of adult reads, I finished off another Philippa Gregory novel, The Lady of the Rivers. I devour these books like popcorn – in many ways they’re romance novels with airs, cloaking themselves the more dignified title of historical fiction. There’s no doubt that Gregory packs a lot of research into each novel, though I’m sometimes uncomfortable with the way she blurs the realms of narrative historical nonfiction and historical fiction. One of my major gripes with Gregory is that her novels are typically expansive in their time frames – we often follow a character from childhood all the way to middle age or beyond. This in itself isn’t a problem, except for the fact that the novels aren’t particularly long, meaning that a lot of (turbulent) time is squished into one novel. We don’t really get a chance to get to know the characters all that well, and significant historical events are often given a single page or two of attention, when any one of them could be meaty enough to carry an entire novel. Still, they’re easy, breezy and fun to read, and they get me through my mind-numbing commutes intact. This one wasn’t necessarily my favourite Gregory novel to date, but it was just the sort of low-impact read my exhausted brain needed.
So, what’s everyone been reading this week?
Netflix is apparently a Star Trek mecca right about now- how cool is that? I’ve heard that Deep Space Nine was pretty good but only saw bits and pieces- I’ve thought about binging it one of these days. I didn’t so much reading either but for me the Olympics took up most of my viewing time. Otter Goes To School looks adorable, and At The Beach- I did not know that about Australia. Very interesting!
I grew up with a Trekkie mum, so Star Trek was always on TV! We watched Next Generation, DS9 and Voyager together, but I haven’t watched them since, so it’s been really fun to explore shows that I loved growing up, and that my mum and I enjoyed together. Great memories!
The picture books sound great. All are new to me. I love Mem Fox so I’ll definitely have to check out that one.
Yes, Mem Fox is one of those authors who’s just so reliable!
Looks like some great tv watching/book reading/resting balance. Some weeks that’s what we need. I love this Mem Fox title and often gift it for new parents.
Isn’t it just so lovely! Steve Jenkins’ illustrations just make it all that more special.
The Lady of the Rivers looks good. I’ll have to check it out. Happy Reading!
I’ve also appreciated the fact that Gregory focuses on women throughout history, as their stories often aren’t as well known or often shared.
Great picture books….and I’ve always been curious about Phillipa Gregory’s books. I like the idea of devouring them “like popcorn.” Thanks for sharing…and for visiting my blog.
They’re definitely entertaining, like a movie in book form – action, romance, political intrigue, romance, a little bit of everything, and always from the perspective of a strong, intelligent female character.
Rats, no At the Beach at my library. I really want to check it out. I love that all of the beaches are open, it’s so true. The ocean is for everyone.
Ugh, I know, finding foreign titles can be such a struggle sometimes!! 🙁
I haven’t done as much reading as usual lately. I’m blaming the Olympics! Here is my weekly report. Happy reading!
I haven’t actually been watching too much of the Olympics, I’ll admit I’m more of a winter sports person. 🙂
I love love love Mem Fox! Radical Reflections: Passionate Opinions on Teaching, Learning, and Living from the early 1990’s was an important influence on me in my life as a teacher. There are so many amazing Australian authors and books I want to read, (besides Mem of course)
Yes! I’ve got a few more Aussie-themed posts coming up before the end of the month – I actually had no idea how many fantastic Aussie author/illustrators there are!
Hello Baby! looks like a cute picture book. I’ve put it on my To Read list. Have a great week!
Yes, it’s a lovely little baby book, and Steve Jenkins’ illustrations make it even more interesting.
Trent and I love Hello, Baby! I love that Jenkins made something for this young!
Happy reading this week 🙂
Hello baby looks great – isn’t Mem Fox just amazing? I love how you described Philippa Gregory novels – I used to enjoy historical fiction/romance novels too when I was in university – but haven’t read any of Gregory’s novels yet. 🙂
Mem Fox is so awesome, and hers is such an inspiring story for any hopeful writers about never giving up, even in the face of rejection. Keep on dreaming and moving forward!
The lack of reading focus must be going around. I’m blaming mine on watching the Olympics and dealing with a garden that just won’t stop producing. The Australia beach book looks like fun. I love that all the beaches are for everyone!
I think the summer malaise sets in towards the end of summer too – it’s just too hot to think too hard about anything, in case our brains melt. 🙂
I think I read something about Philippa Gregory recently about how she has a clause to not have people tinker with her historical continuity if they acquire film rights to her books. Sounds like a great idea, I think.