It’s Monday, August 10, what are you reading?

It’s another summer Monday morning, which usually gives me some extra time to read about new books that others have been reading at unleashingreaders.com and teachmentortexts.com. Thanks to Kellee, Ricki, and Jen for hosting this link-up of kidlit readers. Not sure about others, but I have actually taken to reading other posts on Tuesdays, so I don’t miss any. I find once I read through them, I don’t back to check for people that post later that week.

Anyways, there have been so many great books out this year. I don’t think I have ever read so many outstanding new releases in one year. Partly, I have had more access to current releases and ARC this year, but also, they have just been really good. Curious which 2020 releases you have loved. I quickly made a mental list of over 20, and thought about writing a post (top 20 in 2020) but didn’t want to leave a few off. It’s totally subjective, of course, and I still might do it.

This week, I did not read much kidlit, finishing an “adult” book I have been wanting to read for a while. I had been focusing on BC writers this week (until Sunday afternoon), but next week more kidlit and finishing some ARCs before their release date.

Books I Enjoyed This Week

I was pulled in at the beginning of Ish’s story. She is a young girl who doesn’t really fit in. Karen Rivers does a great job of communicating her thoughts and feelings, and even when we can see that she is not really being reasonable, we can sort of see her reasons. Even if she is not great with people, Ish has a focus in life, she wants to be one of the first people on Mars. However, when she faints during the first day of grade 7, she gets a health diagnosis that puts her on a different path. This book is certainly for fans of The Girl in the Well is Me. If you read that book a few years ago, and didn’t really like it, this one probably is not for you either. I really enjoy Karen Rivers’s writing style, it is different.

This one is hard to explain. I will give it a go. It is the sequel to The Peripheral, a book that involves a group of Londoners who have survived a slow boil apocalypse called The Jackpot, which involves pandemics, the loss of democracy and many other events. In this one, Verity Jane is an “app-whisperer” kind of like a beta tester of tech. She is contracted by a low profile San Fran startup to work with an Artificial Intelligence- Digital, Personal Assistant, Eunice. Eunice’s growth becomes an issue for the startup and attracts the attention of another character, Lowbeer, from the earlier book, The Peripheral. Lowbeer’s hobby is influencing things that happen in other stubs (branches that have some commonality with other stubs’ pasts, but alternate futures). Among things she has influenced by reaching back from 2136 to a stub with an alternate future, are the results of the 2016 election (she wins in spite of those emails), and Brexit. In Verity and Eunice’s stub, she is interested in both Eunice and the instability of the world due to events in the Middle East which threaten to reignite the Cold War (or worse). I enjoyed this book, but not as much as the first in the series.

This picture book draws attention to the fact that many Indigenous communities in Canada do not have access to clean drinking water, or water to clean up with. Nibi heads to the community with the “shiny” houses and sings with her friends to draw attention to this, and increasing awareness pays off. There are notes in the back of the book that provide detail about how people can help facilitate change in this way. I really enjoyed the art in this book as well.

I have enjoyed a few titles from Inhabit Media over the last couple of years. They publish a lot of Own Voices books by Inuit people of Canada’s north. In this book, two kids encourage their Grandma to take them on an adventures jigging for fish. She teaches them lessons on how to properly prepare for the trip, how to safely create the holes in the ice, and what to do when you land one. In the end, the kids catch more fish than they need and their Grandma teaches them to provide for elders in their community that are not able to do so. There is a glossary of the fishing terms in the back which is good as well. Kids in my area will be able to compare this outing to fishing trips they have been on. I like the animation style art in Inhabit Media books, but sometimes find the titles have more words than really young readers can handle.

Currently Reading

I am currently reading the second half of The Blackthorn Key with my family. I really enjoyed this historical mystery and am happy to re-read it, particularly for the sake of my ten year old who has never read it. I am about to start an ARC of Ikenga that I was fortunate enough to get from Penguin. The book is out on the 18th.

On Deck Reads

These are three ARCs I have in digital form that come out in late August or early September. I hope to read all three in the next couple of weeks.

Hopefully, you have some books set aside for a great reading week. Let me know what you have been up to and if you have some favourite books released in 2020 that I should try to read. Thanks for stopping by!