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Wednesday Reading Meme
Jul. 25th, 2018 10:14 amWhat I’ve Finished Reading
Linda Sue Park’s Project Mulberry, in which two kids raise silkworms for a not-4H-but-pretty-much-4H project. It does a good job mixing fun with more serious exploration of race issues. For instance, in the beginning our heroine Julia Song doesn’t want to do the silkworm project - it will just remind everyone that she’s Korean! - but she doesn’t know how to explain that to her friend Patrick, so she pretends she likes the idea while secretly attempting to undermine it. Like a secret agent! Agent J. Song, reporting for duty.
It’s fun, but it has one odd feature: between each chapter there’s a two-page section which is a chat log between the author and the main character. They’re not bad, but I’m also not sure they add anything. Was Park low on word count?
What I’m Reading Now
Sherman Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, a memoir about his life and his childhood and his mother. I made the mistake of beginning to read it right before bed - a mistake because 1) it’s hard to put down, and 2) even once you’ve put it down, it’s hard to put it aside mentally and go to sleep. It’s emotionally intense.
I’ve also started Jacqueline Woodson’s Feathers, which is all right but not setting me on fire like Brown Girl Dreaming.
What I Plan to Read Next
My next reading challenge is “a book by a favorite author,” which got me thinking about the difference between “an author I like” and “a favorite author” - which is sort of like the difference between “a person I like” and “a friend,” in that I’ll put a lot more effort into seeking out a favorite author’s books, and will also stand by them through bad books/hard times in a way I wouldn’t for an author I merely like.
(It took me a long time to realize that many people don’t seem to make this distinction. This is where having a word in between “acquaintance” and “friend” would be useful. I also wish that the word friendish had caught on from Emily of New Moon - for someone you’re thrown together with and don’t dislike but also don’t connect with on any deeper level.)
Anyway, this is why Isobelle Carmody is still a favorite author even though I found the last three Obernewtyn books intensely aggravating. But I don’t think she’s got anything new out - at least, available in the United States - so it will have to be someone else. Maybe Zilpha Keatley Snyder? I know she’s got some books I haven’t read. But will interlibrary loan get them to me in time? THE QUESTION.
Linda Sue Park’s Project Mulberry, in which two kids raise silkworms for a not-4H-but-pretty-much-4H project. It does a good job mixing fun with more serious exploration of race issues. For instance, in the beginning our heroine Julia Song doesn’t want to do the silkworm project - it will just remind everyone that she’s Korean! - but she doesn’t know how to explain that to her friend Patrick, so she pretends she likes the idea while secretly attempting to undermine it. Like a secret agent! Agent J. Song, reporting for duty.
It’s fun, but it has one odd feature: between each chapter there’s a two-page section which is a chat log between the author and the main character. They’re not bad, but I’m also not sure they add anything. Was Park low on word count?
What I’m Reading Now
Sherman Alexie’s You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me, a memoir about his life and his childhood and his mother. I made the mistake of beginning to read it right before bed - a mistake because 1) it’s hard to put down, and 2) even once you’ve put it down, it’s hard to put it aside mentally and go to sleep. It’s emotionally intense.
I’ve also started Jacqueline Woodson’s Feathers, which is all right but not setting me on fire like Brown Girl Dreaming.
What I Plan to Read Next
My next reading challenge is “a book by a favorite author,” which got me thinking about the difference between “an author I like” and “a favorite author” - which is sort of like the difference between “a person I like” and “a friend,” in that I’ll put a lot more effort into seeking out a favorite author’s books, and will also stand by them through bad books/hard times in a way I wouldn’t for an author I merely like.
(It took me a long time to realize that many people don’t seem to make this distinction. This is where having a word in between “acquaintance” and “friend” would be useful. I also wish that the word friendish had caught on from Emily of New Moon - for someone you’re thrown together with and don’t dislike but also don’t connect with on any deeper level.)
Anyway, this is why Isobelle Carmody is still a favorite author even though I found the last three Obernewtyn books intensely aggravating. But I don’t think she’s got anything new out - at least, available in the United States - so it will have to be someone else. Maybe Zilpha Keatley Snyder? I know she’s got some books I haven’t read. But will interlibrary loan get them to me in time? THE QUESTION.
