Sunday Salon, August 14, 2016

The doorway to marriage, at a lovely outdoor wedding on Falls Creek of the daughter of our long time friends.

Weather: Lovely. Blue skies and mild temperatures in the 70s.

Subaru is loaded. Destination: New York

New York or Bust: Carly and Don left for their cross country trip today, Washington State to New York State. Carly is moving to New York for graduate school. They pieced together a jigsaw puzzle of boxes and bags to pack all her things in the car yesterday. Only one left behind are one big suitcase which I will take with me when I fly to meet them later this week and two big boxes to I need to pop in the mail. Rita and Dan joined us for the farewell breakfast this morning before they took off somewhere around 9:30. First day's goal: Missoula, Montana, a stop over to visit family friends.

65th Wedding Anniversary: This past weekend we celebrated my parents 65th wedding anniversary with a full day of events. We started the celebration during the church service where several grandchildren sang the anthem, a grandson played the guitar during communion, which mom and dad served together. During the coffee fellowship hour we hosted a reception and held a small program. Finally, after we left the church, we congregated at my sister's house for a family BBQ and party. It was such a wonderful day to honor our parents.

Grandkids sing during service

Mom and Dad prepare to serve communion

Cutting the cake, 65 years after cutting the wedding cake together

A photo of what love looks like.

Family Reunion: After the anniversary celebration the family reunion started with a raft trip down the McKenzie River.  Don't we all look great? The water is very cold and the day was cool. It was lovely, but we were all cold by the end of it. After we dried off we all raced to the Oregon Coast for a few days of fun and relaxation.

Ready for the raft trip down the McKenzie River. This photo was taken before we were cold and wet.

The dock in Florence, Oregon. Decorated seals were everyhwere.

Sunset over the Pacific, view from our room

My nephew and his girlfriend at Heceta Head Beach

Heceta Head Lighthouse

Dan, Rita, and Carly ready for some fun on the dunes.

Books read in August:

• Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton...magical creatures with extraordinary powers make this book a wonderful and exciting YA addition. Print.
• The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald...a cute, light story about the power of books and friends. A book club selection. Audio.
• My Name is Not Friday by Jon Walter...a look at slavery, up close and personal. Audio.

Currently reading:

• Draw the Line by Laurent Linn...LGBTQ-themed, part graphic novel. Print. 57%
• Out of Africa by Isak Dinesen...no progress on this book for weeks. Print. 26%
• Essential Maps for the Lost by Deb Caletti...with three starred reviews I decided I should listen to this book. Just started it. Audio. 

What I plan to take with me to New York (for reading on the plane mostly):

• Arcadia by Lauren Groff...a book club selection. Hopefully the e-book version from the library will be available by then.
• The Memory Book by Lara Avery...this is the Mock Printz selection on Goodreads for August. Print.
• American Girls by Alison Umminger...(Possibly. Is it crazy to take three books when I likely will have very little time to read once I get to New York?)

Prayer concern: Praying for my brother. He is seeking additional, and hopefully curative treatments, for melanoma.

A little rant about the Olympics: I am sort of obsessed with the Olympics. It happens to me every two years (winter and summer) but it always bothers me that two things happen with the media coverage of the games here in the US. 1. The networks are only likely to show up what is happening IF some American is doing well, otherwise we have no idea what is happening.  2. For some reason the prime time coverage does not start until 8 PM and continues until 12 PM. Who wants to stay up that late? Gr.r.r.

Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph

As many of you know I am keeping my eye on books published in 2016 with multiple starred reviews as potential award books for the Youth Media Awards, especially the Printz Award. At this moment in time there are only three books which have earned the maximum of six starred reviews, one each from Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, Publisher's Weekly, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Horn Book, and School Library Journal. The three books with these six starred reviews are The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge; Thunder Boy, Jr. by Sherman Alexie; and this book, Jazz Day: The Making of a Famous Photograph by Roxane Orgill. The Lie Tree is clearly aimed at the young adult audience and the other two books look like picture books so their target audience of readers would be a younger age. Until today I didn't really consider this book while on the hunt for the Printz Award then I reread the target audience, Grade 5-8, age 10-12 up. Hmm. Maybe, I decided, I should include it on my list since I adore it anyway. Here is the info on the book, published by Candlewick Press:

When Esquire magazine planned an issue to salute the American jazz scene in 1958, graphic designer Art Kane pitched a crazy idea: how about gathering a group of beloved jazz musicians and photographing them? He didn’t own a good camera, didn’t know if any musicians would show up, and insisted on setting up the shoot in front of a Harlem brownstone. Could he pull it off? In a captivating collection of poems, Roxane Orgill steps into the frame of Harlem 1958, bringing to life the musicians’ mischief and quirks, their memorable style, and the vivacious atmosphere of a Harlem block full of kids on a hot summer’s day. Francis Vallejo’s vibrant, detailed, and wonderfully expressive paintings do loving justice to the larger-than-life quality of jazz musicians of the era. Includes bios of several of the fifty-seven musicians, an author’s note, sources, a bibliography, and a foldout of Art Kane’s famous photograph.

Harlem1958, photo by Art Kane

It is so much fun to read the poems by Orgill and look at the darling illustrations by Francis Vallejo all based on the photograph and notes about the events of that day. I enjoyed every minute I spent with the book and know you will, too. This is my favorite type of book to read. One which sparks my imagination AND offers me new information which sparks my curiosity.

Sample page from the book Jazz Day, this illustration is based on one of the many photographs taken that day.

Do I think this book will really win the Printz Award? It could, but it is more likely it will receive the Caldecott or the Newbery Award. I am guessing it will win something, though! Wait and see.

Rating: 5 stars.
Source: Print copy borrowed from the public library.

2017 Printz Award Contenders

25 / 35 books. 72% done!

Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley

In the opening scenes of Steeplejack by A.J. Hartley readers discover the book involves both a mystery and a murder. The mystery? Who stole the huge and valuable luxorite stone from the Beacon which lights up the city of Bar-Selehm? The murder? Who killed the young steeplejack, Berrit, a Lani boy, found dead at the bottom of a spire with injuries suggesting he was dead before he fell? Everyone seems to care about the missing Beacon luxorite, yet only Anglet Sutonga seems to care about what happened to young Berrit and why. As Anglet pokes around she soon finds her own life in peril as she discovers Berrit's death is related to a conspiracy for power and wealth. If the players win, the whole country will be thrown into war. Anglet will do her best to discover who these players are before it is too late for everyone.

Even as I write this summary I am reminded of the complicated plot of Steeplejack. Like all good mysteries and detective stories there are many plot twists, turns, dead-ends, and surprises. The setting is imaginary but appears to be based on South Africa, where the black majority are/were ruled by the white minority and the brown folks were brought in from afar to be the merchant-class. The blurb on the book says it is set in the 19th century, and it does have a little of the steam punk vibe to it. Black tribesmen and wild animals also factored into the plot. This combination of fantasy and realism made the setting seem very exotic. There are lots of characters in Steeplejack and it is hard to keep track of everyone in the beginning because of unusual names.

That said, I really liked the book. In fact, as I became immersed in the plot with its exotic setting and plethora of characters I actually sighed to myself. Finally, I thought, a Young Adult mystery that is worthy to be called a Mystery, not some watered down, simplistic drivel that passes for mysteries in the YA world.

The author, AJ Hartley, is (or was) a professor of Shakespeare at the University of North Carolina and Steeplejack has been nominated for the Dragon Award by Dragon Con for the best Young Adult Fantasy novels of the past year. On the same list is Terry Pratchett's last novel, The Shepherd's Crown, which I love, love, love. So now you know what kind of company Steeplejack keeps. (Though I have never actually heard of the Dragon Award, so as far as I know it may be a made-up thing by a fantasy fan. Who knows? It still sounds good.)

Steeplejack is the first book in a series called Alternative Detective series. Though, in case you are worried, the mystery in this book wraps up nicely so the the book could be a stand alone. Should the Printz committee take a look at Steeplejack? You bet. I am sure that this book will be given serious consideration for the coveted prize.

My rating: 4.5 stars.

Source: Print book checked out from the Pierce County Library.

2017 Printz Award Contenders

24 / 35 books. 69% done!

Friday Quotes: THE READERS OF BROKEN WHEEL RECOMMEND

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56.

Check out the links for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Participants don't select their favorite, coolest, or most intellectual books, they just use the one they are currently reading. This is the book I'm reading right now---

Title: The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald, translated from Swedish by Alice Menzies

Book Beginnings:

Dear Sara, I hope you enjoy Louisa May Alcott's An Old Fashioned Girl. It's a charming story, though perhaps a touch more overtly moralizing than Little Women.

Friday 56:

She stood still a moment longer. Swaying. Laughing to herself as she swayed, she opened the bedroom door. She sank down on the bed and glanced around in amazement.

Comments: I just finished this fun and sweet story about friendship and books and community, and yes, love. The first quote is a letter written to Sara, a Swedish girl, by Amy, a bibliophile in Iowa. In the second quote, Sara finds Amy's books.

TTT: (REWIND) Books that have reshaped the way I think about a topic

Top Ten Tuesday: Books that have reshaped the way I think about a topic, both good and bad.

1. The 5th Wave by Yancey..... ALIENS. Prior to reading this book I never really thought about ALIEN invasions. Now I do.

2. Poisonwood Bible by Kingsolver and Things Fall Apart by Achebe...COLONIALISM. I knew it was bad before reading these books but afterwards I understood why.

3. Nickel and Dimed by Ehrenreich...MINIMUM WAGE. People should be able to make a living wage if they are willing to work hard and full-time. This book woke me up to this.

4. Dead Man Walking by Prejean....DEATH PENALTY. It doesn't work as a crime deterrent and should the state really be in the business of killing people?

5. The Memory of Light by Stork and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Quick...SUICIDE. Both books gave me new thoughts and new language which were helpful when thinking about this awful topic.

6. Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town by Krakauer...RAPE. We have got to turn the rape culture around on our college campuses.

7. Just Mercy by Stevenson...JUSTICE. I am still processing this book but I will paraphrase MLKing, Jr. here: There will be no peace until there is justice.

8. A Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle...THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX. This is the first book which really blew my mind. I had to think both bigger and smaller to understand all its implications.

9. Being Mortal by Gawande....OUR MORTALITY. It has given me a whole new language to speak to my family about the topic of death and dying.

10. A Woman in White by Collins...READING THE CLASSICS. After this long classic mystery I decided I was no longer afraid to read any of the classics.

Friday Quotes: Rebel of the Sands

Book Beginnings on Friday is hosted by Rose City Reader. Share the opening quote from the book.
The Friday 56 is hosted at Freda's Voice.  Find a quote from page 56.

Check out the links for the rules and for the posts of the participants each week. Participants don't select their favorite, coolest, or most intellectual books, they just use the one they are currently reading. This is the book I'm reading right now---


Title: Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Book Beginnings:

They said the only folks who belonged in Deadshot after dark were the ones who were up to no good. I wasn't up to no good. Then again, I wasn't exactly up to no bad neither.

Friday 56:

And everything is as green and alive as this country is dry and dead. The bamboo grows so fast, it might uproot houses someday.

Comment: I have never lived in the desert and can't imagine how dusty and dry days must get at the end of summer. This book does a good job taking me to that locale and letting me feel the lack of moisture and the bleak landscape. The quote from page 56 was the best I could find on that page, but it really isn't a good representative of the rest of the book. What do you do when you happen upon an uninspiring page 56?

The Raven King and thoughts on books in a series

I love, love, love Maggie Stiefvater's The Raven Cycle series and its concluding book, The Raven King is wonderful capstone for the the whole series. In fact, I think so highly of the book, I will consider it to be included on our Mock Printz list this Fall.

But I get ahead of myself.

The Raven Cycle series is considered Urban Fantasy, which means it is set in contemporary times but has supernatural elements. In the first book, The Raven Boys (published in 2012), readers first meet Blue Sargent who is the only person in her family who is not clairvoyant. Her whole life she has been told her kiss will kill her true love. That is a mighty strong incentive to not do any kissing at all. Blue meets the Raven Boys: Richard Gansey, Ronan Lynch, Adam Parrish when she is waitressing at a restaurant they frequent. The four, plus another friend named Noah, start to hang around together, all seeking the same mission: to find the sleeping Welsh King, Glendower. Legend has it that if Glendower is awoken from his long sleep he will grant a wish to the person who woke him.

In the subsequent books, The Dream Thieves (2013), Blue Lily, Lily Blue (2014) and The Raven King (2016) readers get to know and love the above named people, and host of other characters, as they look for Glendower, explore Cabeswater, a magical forest, and discover their own magical powers. In The Raven King, the many disparate pieces are drawn together in a book which feels like one big, gigantic climax to a satisfying conclusion. Honestly, I loved everything about the books and the whole series.

Maggie Stiefvater is one of my favorite YA authors. Her writing is so descriptive and lyrical. Everyone one of her books has drawn me in and kept me enthralled throughout the whole series. When one book ends I anxiously await the next. When the series ends, I mourn for a few days. I don't want to say goodbye to the friends I have met within her stories. This is the way I felt as I closed the book The Raven King for the last time. It was as if my best friend for the past five years were moving away. Sigh.

That said, I do want to quibble a bit with publishers of books in a series like The Raven Cycle whose target audience is older teens. Teenagers grow up. They leave school. Their taste in literature evolves. For this reason a YA series should never be longer than four books (and that is pushing it) and should always be published, all four books, within the four year time frame they are in high school. The Raven Cycle barely made those parameters, since The Raven King was published a year and a half after the third book Blue Lily, Lily Blue. Out of a high school of 1900 students I only had three students who were excited about the fourth book coming out because all the others had lost interest in the intervening months and years waiting for it. That makes me really sad since it is such a wonderful series.

Now to be fair, I can think of a whole lot of exceptions to the rules I just outlined. The Harry Potter series, of course, comes to mind with its seven book series and ten year publishing cycle. Most readers started that series as preteens and had to finish up with it when they were adults. It is a rare book series that will hold readers attention for such a long time span. Another series which broke my suggested rule, The Inheritance Cycle (Eragon), has four books which were published between 2003 to 2011. Everyone grumbled about how long it took for the conclusion of that series. Like Harry Potter, however, The Inheritance Cycle has developed a small, almost cult-like following of students who read the books over and over. They are timeless.

My hope, and it is a BIG hope, is that I can entice my teen readers to pick up the whole Raven Cycle series and read it from the first to the last book in rapid succession this coming school year. It is such a marvelous series, so intricate and complicated, thoughtful and imaginative, playful and serious, realistic and supernatural. I love everything about it...now to find the route for my readers to find their way in to this magical world, too.

Rating of The Raven King: 5 out of 5.

Source: Audiobook checked out from the public library. Will Patton is the narrator and I ADORE listening to him. He could read a recipe book out loud and I would listen.

Is The Raven King Printz worthy? YES. Will it be selected? I doubt it only because books-in-a-series are rarely selected and I don't think the fourth book in a series has ever been selected for a Printz Award. It's a shame. Read the book and the whole series anyway. It is worth every moment it take to finish it.

2017 Printz Award Contenders

23 / 35 books. 66% done!

TTT: If money were no problem, what books would I buy?

Top Ten Tuesday: Just a little dreaming today. 

What would I buys if I had unlimited funds to buy books?

1. The hardcover set of Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery.

Available for a mere $1000. No problem.

2. The latest hardcover edition of the Harry Potter Series, 2014 ed.

Available for $123.

3. Three book hardcover collectible set of Lord of the Rings.

Available in the secondary market, $99.

4. A 30 book collection of many of the most famous classics of all time, published by Penguin Pub. $552.95

5.  A Wrinkle in Time in Quartet, Hardcover Set

Just a few dollars (ha), $499.99

6. His Dark Materials Set by Philip Pullman

This set seems like a bargain at $44.37

7. Signed copy of the 1977 edition of To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

$695. The sky is the limit, right?

8. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 5 books boxed set

Paperback (I couldn't find the complete set in hardcover) $33.96

9. Saint John's Illuminated Bible: The Psalms

I want this and I can afford it at $48.81

Grand Total (you did say it was fully loaded, right?)= $3087.08

I already have a hardcover set of Jane Austen books and of The Chronicles of Narnia. so I don't need them, in case you were wondering about their absence. 

Well, this was fun, but I usually spend very little money on books because I like to borrow books from the library! So I went for it.

Music Monday- Alex Boye

Hosted by Lauren at Always Me. Sign up to participate at her site.

Lauren at Always Me is my August comment partner. This is the first time I've participated in this meme but it is right up my alley as I love looking at music videos. Today I am highlighting a few of my favorite Alex Boye videos. I enjoy how he Africanizes music. My favorite song he does is Peponi with the Piano Guys. But for some reason I can't get it to stick on my blog.

Happiness Tag

I've been tagged by Lauren@Always Me to complete The Happiness Tag.  Thank you very much Lauren!

Rules:
1. List 5 things that make you happy.
2. List 5 songs that make you happy.
3. List 5 bloggers that make you happy and let them know that they have been nominated.

A. Five things that make me happy:

1. My family; both my immediate and extended family
2. Our pets: Cats-Demi and Ichi; Dog-Muffy
3. Libraries...both public and school libraries are the best deals ever for book lovers like me where everything is free!
4. Fresh summer fruits and vegetables...right now I am super happy about berries and peaches.
5. Friends

B. Five songs that make me happy:

1. Pharrell Williams HAPPY

(I can't help it, this song makes me happy!)

,

2. Weird Al Yankovic, WORD CRIMES

I could add all of Weird Al's songs to this list. All of them make me happy.

3. OH HAPPY DAY
Who can remain sad in the face of this song?

4. Pearl Django, BESAME MUCHO

Basically anything music with an accordion makes me smile, it is such a goofy instrument

5. Jimmy Buffett, MARGARITAVILLE
There are so many fun, happy songs. I wish the list was longer.
This song is associated with a lot of happy memories.

C. Bloggers that make me happy

1. Helen at Helen's Book Blog She writes really good reviews. I want to partner with her. I read, she writes! Ha!
2. Deb Nance at Readerbuzz. Everything about her blog makes me happy.
3. Sue Jackson at Book by Book. She and I have been blog friends long enough it seems like we are real friends. Some day I am going to talk her into visiting me here in Washington State. 
4. Rummanah Aasi at Books in the Spotlight. She is a fellow librarian and we are simpatico in so many of our reading preferences.
5. Jen. J. at Jen J.'s Book Sheets. Jen's blog appeals to the very geeky side of me and my obsession with starred reviewed books. She does a fantastic job of keeping track of and charting all the books with miltiple starred reviews which helps me decide what to read next.

Feel free to join in the fun even if I didn't tag you specifically. It will make you happy!