Wednesday Reading Meme

[osprey_archer]

What I’ve Just Finished Reading

Agnes Hewes’ The Codfish Musket, third and last in her trio of boring 1930s Newbery Honor winners. I can only imagine that the committee felt that the “Rah rah MANIFEST DESTINY” message was good for the Youth, because my God these books are dull. How can books be so dull when there are so many deadly conspiracies?

But maybe it’s because Hewes is actually not great at deadly conspiracies. The best part of this book by far is the non-deadly middle, when our hero Dan Boit goes to Washington and accidentally becomes Thomas Jefferson’s secretary after he finds Jefferson’s lost notebook full of observations about when the first peas come up and the frogs start peeping.

In modern-day Newbery Honor winners, I finished Chanel Miller’s Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All, a short and charming tale in which Magnolia and her new friend Iris try to return orphaned socks from Magnolia’s parents’ laundry to their owners. In the process, they explore New York City and learn more about the denizens of their neighborhood.

I also read Susan Fletcher’s Journey of the Pale Bear, about a Norwegian boy accompanying a captured polar bear to England as a present for the king. If this sounds familiar, it’s because Fletcher wrote a related picture book, but that focuses more on the bear’s experiences, while this is more about the boy and the boy-meets-bear of it all. Who among us has not wished for a bear friend!

What I’m Reading Now

In Our Mutual Friend, Lizzie Hexam’s father has DIED. This may be a lucky escape for him, as he was about to be arrested on suspicion of murder (at the word of his wicked lying former business partner), but I’m very concerned what will become of poor Lizzie.

My suspicion that Mr. Rokesmith is in fact the dead John Harmon has only grown stronger as he has insinuated himself in the Boffin household as an unpaid secretary. What is his ultimate goal here? A more suspicious soul than Mr. Boffin might wonder who on earth would offer himself up as a secretary without pay, and consider the possibility of embezzlement, but blessed Mr. Boffin is not concerned a bit.

What I Plan to Read Next

Onward in the Newbery books! I am ten books from the end of the historical Newberies, and I intend to finish the project while Interlibrary Loan is still alive.

Comments

[troisoiseaux]

Chanel Miller’s Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All

I'm glad to see Chanel Miller is writing children's books now! (From Wikipedia, it looks like she's also an artist— did she do the illustrations for the book?) I'd read her memoir Know My Name, which... oof. I'm glad to hear she's doing well!

[osprey_archer]

Yes, I think she did the illustrations as well. TBH it's not an art style that super appeals to me, but it did make the book a good fast read that it had so many illustrations.

[lirazel]

How can books be so dull when there are so many deadly conspiracies?

Lol!

Magnolia and her new friend Iris try to return orphaned socks from Magnolia’s parents’ laundry to their owners. In the process, they explore New York City and learn more about the denizens of their neighborhood.

What a cute premise!

[lirazel]

I intend to finish the project while Interlibrary Loan is still alive

BITE YOUR TONGUE.

[osprey_archer]

I am hoping that if I take evasive measures, Interlibrary Loan will continue to function. Like carrying an umbrella to ensure it won't rain. But who can say...

[osprey_archer]

This is one of those premises where I absolutely don't believe it would work this way in real life, as the average sock is simply not that deeply connected with the human soul, but it's so cute that I'm happy to suspend disbelief for the book.

[lirazel]

I think that's one of the true joys of children's books--there are so many premises that are just totally unrealistic, but they make for delightful children's books!

[asakiyume]

Mr. Boffin! And yet completely unrelated to the term "boffin" (which apparently is of recent origin). Weird.

Magnolia Wu Unfolds It All really does sound fun.

[osprey_archer]

Mr. Boffin is the opposite of a modern-day boffin! Very goodhearted, but not a scientific thought in his head.

The single sock scavenger hunt was a fun device to hang a story on, for sure.

[thisbluespirit]

My suspicion that Mr. Rokesmith is in fact the dead John Harmon has only grown stronger as he has insinuated himself in the Boffin household as an unpaid secretary.

It couldn't possibly be! He's dead! XD

If you haven't already seen it, and you don't come away from the book hating it or anything, there's a lovely BBC adaptation you might want to check out afterwards - the 1998 with Keeley Hawes, Paul McGann, Anna Friel, Steven Mackintosh & David Morrissey. It was written by Sandy Welch, who also did the 2000s North & South, Jane Eyre & Emma. (I think this was what made David Morrissey famous - I certainly took at least a decade before I could think of him as anything other than Bradley Headstone.)

[osprey_archer]

Sandy Welch's Jane Eyre and Emma are two of my all-time favorites! (I just rewatched Emma recently in fact, because I have a DVD player again.) I'm on a bit of a classic literature miniseries kick right now, planning to watch Vanity Fair as soon as it comes in at the library, so the Our Mutual Friend miniseries will probably end up on the list too.