February 2024 Wrap Up
Welp. It looks like I didn't post a mid-month wrap up in February. That means this post is going to be... long. I read 9 books in February. Without further ado...
We Still Belong by Christine Day - This is about a Native middle school girl with a crush on a popular white boy. There is a cat on the cover, but the cat doesn't impact the story in any way. The thing I don't like about middle grade books is that the character growth is so wishy washy. It probably works great for a 12 year old, but for me, it's too little. Anyway, Wesley writes a poem she is really proud of for Indigenous People's Day and it gets in the school paper. She expects her journalism teacher to be proud, but he tells her she missed the chance to make some big contribution to something somewhere, so she's disappointed. Stuff happens, she ends up ok. There's a pow wow. It's fine. This was on a Youth Media Awards list. Whatever.
The Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict - I really enjoyed this one. I read that biography of the Mitford girls lasat year, so I pretty much knew what was going to happen. I enjoyed the getting there with this book. Benedict did an interesting trick here. All Nancy Mitford's chapters were written in first person. The other sisters' chapters were in third person omniscient. And really, it was only from the viewpoints of Nancy, Diana, and Unity.
Mexikid: A Graphic Memoir by Pedro Martin - This is another one from the Youth Media Awards. It was leaps and bounds better than the other one. This is about Pedro who is the 6th of nine siblings born to Mexican parents who moved to California between the 5th and 6th babies. In this story, they are all going to Mexico to get their grandpa and move him back to California with them. They take a pickup truck and an RV and head out. The story includes stops at friends' houses where they have a traditional Mexican party. They get stopped at the border by Mexican police. Then in Mexico they have to relocate his grandmother's body because her gravesite has flooded. It's entertainng and informative and I enjoyed it a lot.
Houses with a Story by Seiji Yoshida - Some of this book was extremely cool. Some parts of it completely lost me. Again, it's a kids book, so not really the demographic. What I liked: The art. Every page has art like this one on the cover. The floor plans. I am a sucker for a floor plan. As kid I used to get magazines of house plans and imagine what I would put in each room. Love floor plans. What I didn't like: The stories that were made up for some of the houses. Particularly the ones that had spaces to keep their dragons. Lolwut? Ok. Mostly, it was a win for me.
One Year at Ellsmere by Faith Erin Hicks - I heard about this on a podcast and requested it at the library immediately. Juniper has won a scholarship to a prestigious boarding school. She is roommates with a girl whose family has lots of money, but her parents never show up for anything. The mean girl calls Cassie "Orphan" and Juniper "Project" and is intimidated by Juniper challenging her top spot in grades. It's a typical mean girl situation, but Juniper is no shrinking violet. The end got weird. Like random unicorn in the forest with a rage issue weird.
When Less Becomes More by Emily Ley - I am familiar with Emily Ley due to her work in the planner community. Mostly, this book told me stuff I already knew. Get out of the rat race. You don't have to be great. A good life is great in itself. Spend time with your family. Be intentional about what you spend your time and attention on. All that stuff. I nodded along to it. One of my reading challenges this year is to listen to an audiobook. I listened to this in the car between podcasts. It was less than 3 hours long, so I managed to get through it in a couple of weeks.
Midnight In Siberia: A Train Journey Into the Heart of Russia by David Greene - Greene was the Moscow Director for NPR back in 2011 or so. In 2014 he went back to take the Trans Siberian Railroad from Moscow to Vladivostok. It's a long way. It took a long time. And they made a few stops to talk to Russians. It's been 10 years since this took place, but I feel like not a lot has changed since then. I liked this a lot. I googled a lot.
The Girl From the Other Side by Nagabe - This six year old girl called Shiva (isn't that the word for death in Hebrew or Yiddish or something?) (I looked it up. It's an official mourning period.) is being raised by a demon who she can never touch because she would become a demon, too. They are outside the local city that is walled to protect the citizens from the demons. Soldiers come into the forest to dump the bodies of citizens who were killed for being possibly contaminated by demons. Shiva is waiting for her aunt to come get her, but her demon has a secret. Her aunt is never coming. I had some trouble with the art work in this one. It was all in black and white, and sometimes I couldn't make out what I was supposed to be looking at. I have that trouble a lot with manga art. Anyway, I enjoyed this. It ended on a cliffhanger, so I'll have to get the next volume to see what happens.
Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan - See, this story is told from the perspective of Hazel. On the cover, she appears to be about 6 years old? 7? In the story in the volume she still a newborn. That can be confusing. Volume 1 starts with her birth to parents from two warring factions who are on the run from their governments for treason or whatever. This is the story of the various planets they run to and the people who are following them from both governments. It's bloody and adventurous and very, very, science fiction.
Okay that is it! All nine books I read in February. Not too bad since it is a short month. Not that 2 more days would have made much difference, but I'm leaning into it.