Mari and the Great Market Swap came up on my online reader site. It had a nice cover. It was bright, interesting, but was not saying READ ME NOW. I thought about it. I went to do other things. I read other things. The next day I said, “Well, it’s still there. Might as well give Janelle Springer-Willms’s book a go.” And I did. Now, while it might not be a WOW read, it is a strong cozy read. It did not shock or blow […]
That feeling
Saudade: Our Longing for Brazil, by Ana Crespo and André Ceolin
Older books are just as good as a current book or a future publication book. Because, Hello … BOOK! Books are things we long for! Hope for! Need! Now, I am not sure if it fits the definition of saudade (a word that has no real direct to English translation, but basically means “an intense longing for something or someone.”) What is saudade, is the mothers feeling in the story Saudade: Our Longing for Brazil, for the things she left behind in Brazil. Ana Crespo, […]
The year 2025 is going to be busy with fun new books
The Three-Year Tumble: Based on a Korean Folktale by Dayeon Auh
The Three-Year Tumble: Based on a Korean Folktale by Dayeon Auh and translated by Tim Mohr was read via an online reader copy as it is not due until mid-late March 2025. And I was unaware of this until after I read it and really liked it. But it is worth the wait. Auh’s story is a clever story about how we see things and how our attitude can shape that. The story follows a grandfather who must go over a mountain to get to […]
Remember and Be Nice
Remember by Dac Trung Tran
Troll by Frances Stickley
Remember by Dac Trung Tran is due February 2025. I was able to locate an online reader copy. Now, I am not completely sure if I will find a finished copy early next year, but I do know I will be recommending it. And that is despite, or because of, I am not completely sure what was read! I could tell you that it is about a book who wakes up to find his mother has left for work, and she has left him a […]
Warfare of soccer at Bull Run Regional Park (and other stuff)
Team Photograph by Lauren Haldeman
What the flaming monkey toots did I just read? Or more accurately, took me a few days to read. Team Photograph is an artist’s interpretation of Lauren Haldeman’s experiences and feelings. When I first finished the online (though currently available) reader copy, I was thinking, “Is Team Photograph a memoir? An attempt at purging the feelings she has about death? Is it a commentary on war and the resulting death that will haunt people if they are aware of it? Or is it just a […]
You’ll probably never look at a bananas the same way
Banana Dream by Hasan Namir
What would you do if you name was Mooz? Well, you might do the same thing as the young boy in Banana Dream. You see, his name is a bit unusual and is associated with bananas. And of course, he is teased by his classmates, and envious of his cousins with more traditional names. But when he learns about the meaning of why his parents named him that, which was when his parents were trying to conceive, and having a difficult time, his mother dreamt […]