February Month in Review

Posted 4 March 2017 in month in review /19 Comments

February Month in Review

This post is linked up at the Monthly Round-Up Wrap-Up @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction.

February posed a challenge when it came to staying on top of reading and blogging. I was travelling and offline for seven days of that short month. Plus, I found myself a full time job! 🙂 I am now working as an educational assistant in my local school division. Even with all the distractions, my posting goal didn’t suffer too much (only one post short). My reading goal took more of a hit. I’m currently 3 books behind. I plan on making up for February’s lost time with some middle grade and some (hopefully) unputdownable reads!

Books Finished

  • When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
  • Neverhome by Laird Hunt
  • The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
  • Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older
  • The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Books Reviewed

  • Middle Grade feat. Animals (from the Cybils middle-grade fiction nominees):
    • Pandas on the Eastside by Gabrielle Prendergast
    • When Friendship Followed Me Home by Paul Griffin
    • Wish by Barbara O’Connor
    • The Nine Lives of Jacob Tibbs by Cylin Busby
  • You Will Not Have My Hate by Antoine Leiris
  • When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
  • Middle Grade feat. Multiple Narrators (from tje Cybils middle-grade fiction nominees):
    • Two Naomis by Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich and Audrey Vernick
    • Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson
    • Slacker by Gordon Korman
  • Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson

Words and Pictures

  • A Silent Voice Vol. 1A Silent Voice Vol. 1 by Yoshitoki Ooima – It’s been a long time since I read manga. I checked out this series on Neko Neha‘s recommendation. The first volume depicts what unfolds when Shoko, a girl who is deaf, enters a six grade classroom and becomes the bullying target of Shoya, the narrator. I taught sixth grade occasionally when I was in Japan. The students were generally on their best behaviour for me (I think because my time in their classroom was rare) so I didn’t see any bullying. Of course, I know bullying like what’s depicted in this volume occurs, as I heard tragic stories about 12 year olds committing suicide and schools refusing to discuss it, let alone acknowledge that bullying was probably a significant factor. Bullying is one issue. The treatment of students with disabilities is a whole nother one. Suffice it to say they are often more stigmatized than in western society. So, A Silent Voice begins as a sad story, but one that is important to share, especially in Japanese society. Vol. 1 reads a bit like a prologue. The rest of the series fast-forwards six years to Shoya trying to make amends with Shoko. I’m curious to see how that will pan out, so I will keep reading this series!

Features

Shared on Twitter

Upcoming in March

Star-Crossed The Beast is an AnimalAmina's Voice

  • 7 Mar – Publication of The Beast is an Animal by Peternelle van Arnsdale (YA dark fairy tale)
  • 14 Mar – Publication of Star-Crossed by Barbara Dee (MG featuring a protagonist who learns about her bisexuality after developing a crush on girl at school during a production of Romeo and Juliet) and Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan (MG contemporary about a Pakistani-American girl navigating her identity)
  • 14 Mar – Local launch of Will I See? by David Alexander Robertson, GMB Chomichuk, and Iskwe (graphic novel about missing and murdered Indigenous women).
  • 20 Mar – Start of Pages Unbound‘s 2017 Tolkien Reading Event
  • 25 Mar – “All Who Wander”, an evening of dramatic readings and a capella renditions of music from The Lord of the Rings.
  • 28 Mar – Publication of Radio Silence by Alice Osman (YA contemporary LGBTQA+ diverse characters and a male-female friendship(!)) and Triangle by Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen (picture book by an excellent duo)

February whirled by for me! How was your month? Did you read any great books?

Jenna's signature

«
»

19 responses to “February Month in Review”

  2. Vicki

    I used to read a lot of children’s books but haven’t in a really long time. I’ve been thinking about starting again.

    Reply
    • Jenna

      There are so many spectacular books to choose from nowadays! I definitely recommend it 🙂

      Reply
    • Jenna @ Falling Letters

      Thanks for stopping by, Stephanie! I used to be the opposite – I read a lot of manga some years ago but now I read more Japanese literature. I’ve been enjoying returning to the form.

      Reply
  6. AJ Sterkel

    Congrats on the fulltime job! I’m still looking for one of those. I’ve never read any manga, but I’ve heard that some of it is really good.

    Reply
    • Jenna @ Falling Letters

      Thanks AJ!! I hope you have some luck with your job search soon. I had applied to a dozen similar positions since last June, so you never know when something will finally work out.

      I enjoyed manga in high school because I loved the art style ( there can be great variation) and I also liked the creative storylines. One of my favourites is Fullmetal Alchemist.

      Reply
  7. Danielle Hammelef

    I loved Wish! Barbara O’Conner is one of my favorite authors. Her characters jump off the pages and are so real.

    Reply
  9. Kate S

    February wasn’t a good reading month for me, I only read 2 books :/ I hope I can make up for this in the next couple of months 🙂

    Reply

Leave a Reply