Kraken's Reading -- 2023

January and February

1. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
3. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade
4. Baby Roar! Roar! by Dawn Sirett
5. Sagebrush Collaboration by Peter Walker
6. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw
7. Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin (audiobook)
8. A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson: Ballad of an American by Sharon Rudahl
9. Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us by Mark Yanconcelli
10. Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon
11. The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (audiobook)
12. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan

March

13. The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
14. The Wizard's Dog by Eric Kahn Gale (audiobook)
15. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
16. Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George (audiobook)
17. The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin
18. Journey Under the Sea by R.A. Montgomery
19. Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
20. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
21. Summer Birds: The Butterflies of Maria Merian by Margarita Engle; Illustrated by Julie Paschkis

April

22. Saturdays at Sea by Jessica Day George (audiobook)
23. The Firefly Code by Megan Frazer Blakemore (audiobook)
24. Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao
25. Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George (audiobook)
26. Fridays with the Wizards by Jessica Day George

May
27. The Daybreak Bond by Megan Frazer Blakemore
28. That Can Be Arranged: A Muslim Love Story by Huda Fahmy
29. Flying Lessons & other stories edited by Ellen Oh

June
I'm sure I read some stuff in June, but I apparently didn't record any of it...

July
31. Love and Saffron by Kim Fay
32. Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac
33. Between Us: How Cultures Create Emotions by Batja Mesquita
34. The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté

Welcome back!

>2 drneutron: Thanks. It's good to be back and I'm excited about the challenge this year. Last year I kept an analog list, which lost its appeal somewhere along the line.

1. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Technically I did most of the reading in 2022, but I really enjoyed it and am recommending it to everyone I talk to, so I'm including it as my first book of the year to get off to a good start.

2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

Happy reading year!

A. We Are Water Protectors by Carole Lindstrom illustrated by Michaela Goade
I am not going to list every picture book I read, but will be including particularly memorable ones. This book is beautiful in writing, message, and illustrations.

B. Baby Roar! Roar! by Dawn Sirett
It is entirely possible that I will read this book 75 times in the month of January alone. It is very popular with the little people in my life right now.

Edited to keep track of picture books with letters so as to keep the numeric count reflecting lengthier reads.

3. Sagebrush Collaboration by Peter Walker

Happy reading in 2023!

C. Sheep in a Jeep by Nancy Shaw

4. Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

5. A Graphic Biography of Paul Robeson: Ballad of an American by Sharon Rudahl

6. Between the Listening and the Telling: How Stories Can Save Us by Mark Yanconcelli

I was excited to read this book because I deeply believe in the power of story and also because I am in the process of figuring out how to authentically experience and tell my own story.

My initial response to the book was highly negative for various reasons. I think that was because his style is designed to be emulating that of telling a story. I did not feel part of the community he was talking to and the overall effect was unfortunately highly alienating to me. After I muscled through that, I found the book to be quite good and revised my entry to actually list the title.

7. Beyond the Gender Binary by Alok Vaid-Menon

8. The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (audiobook)

9. Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Calahan

Reorganized my thread to put everything I have read in the first post. I have a huge stack of books in my "want to read pile" and hopefully I will get lots of reading done during the month of March.

Still figuring out how to be using this thread. I like the big list at the top so that I can go back and see what I've read for the whole year.

And then I can add comments about individual books at in further posts in the thread.

I keep wanting to like Xiran Jay Zhao's books, but never quite do. In the case of Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, I found that there were too many complicated worlds, and I had a difficult time tracking them all.

First of all, there was the overly wise 12-year-old with the didactic thread of letting us know that Chinese people are not a monolith. This is an important concept, and I actually did appreciate the expanded worldview of having a Hin Chinese main character.

Secondly, there was the overlay of Chinese mythology.

The third part, which is the bit that I had the most trouble following, was the slightly near-future technology AI computer game world which was allowing for the overlay of the mythology. This world might be comfortable for younger readers, but it did not work for me to access the mythological adventure.

Also, I am uncomfortable with the dystopian trend for stories with young protagonists who are caught up int hses deceptive worlds where they can't trust anybody. (The cat jumped on the computer and changed my typing. Not sure what I had been intending to say.)

Anyway, I wanted to connect with the book and enjoy it, but I didn't. Feels more like a "me" problem than a problem with the book.

The Firefly Code and The Daybreak Bond are utopia/dystopia books written in 2016 and 2017. One of the hallmarks of the utopia/dystopia community is a great fear of disease outbreak. I did find myself continually checking the publication dates, especially in the part when the kids were in the outside world and noted that many people were wearing masks over their noses and mouths...