July and August saw me visit two very different but enjoyable WWOOF farms. I was up at 5:30AM to pick berries on the first in order to beat the heat. I spent most of my free time in a comfortable chair reading under a large willow tree (pictured above). As for the second farm, I had such a wonderful time that I hope I’ll be able to go back sometime. Good company, beautiful homestead, relaxed pace, lots of veggies and animals to help with, and delicious food to enjoy.
The last week of August saw my parents picking me up from the second farm and enjoying some time around Vancouver. Now I am back in Winnipeg for a bit as I look for a new job (last time I wrote a month in review, on June 2, I thought I might be back at work in September 🙄). Time to jump back into blogging.
Books Finished
- Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi
- The Barren Grounds by David. A. Robertson
- That’s What Friends Do by Kathleen Barnhart
- So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
- Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
- The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings by Phillip Zaleski and Carol Zaleski
- Rise of the Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
- Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley
- King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender
- The Spirit of Zen by Alan A. Watts
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
- Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
- Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related.: A Memoir by Jenny Heijun Wills
- A Guide to Zen: Lessons from a Modern Master by Katsuki Sekida
- Over the Woodward Wall by Deborah A. Baker
Books Reviewed
- Pet by Akwaeke Emezi (YA speculative fiction)
- Dress Coded by Carrie Firestone (MG contemporary)
- Fighting Words by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (MG contemporary)
- The Deep & Dark Blue (MG fantasy graphic novel)
- Elatsoe (YA speculative fiction)
- Not a review but just sneaking it in here because it’s the only other post I wrote: Recapped my reading and blogging goals progress for my annual “Mid-Year Check-in” at the start of July
Goals Check-In
- 7/20 posts written
- Revised my monthly goal to 10 posts/month in June but obviously threw that out the window with a hiatus
- 27/35 middle grade novels read (+5 since last update)
- 6/10 rereads (no change since last update)
- 11/10+ books with queer MCs (+3 since last update)
- 4/10 graphic novels (+1 since last update)
- 5/10 works by Indigenous writers (+2 since last update)
- 2/7 books about/by Tolkien (+1 since last update)
- 2/5 books with 500+ pages (+1 since last update)
- 26/60 books on my TBR that I don’t own (+8 since last update)
Shared on Twitter
On My Radar in September
So many new releases, ahhhh… #ownvoices rep indicated where I know of it.
- 1 Sept. – Release date of Whispering Pines by Heidi Lang & Kati Bartowski (MG horror), The Circus of Stolen Dreams by Lorelei Savaryn (MG spec fic), and Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas (YA spec fic, trans guy and Latinx #ownvoices)
- 8 Sept. – Release date of The Barren Grounds by David A. Robertson (MG fantasy, Cree #ownvoices), The Language of Ghosts by Heather Fawcett (MG fantasy), Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston (adult fantasy, African-American author, queer rep), The Bone Shard Daughter by Andrea Stewart (adult fantasy, Asian-American author, queer rep)
- 15 Sept. – Release date of Hide & Seeker by Daka Harmon (MG horror) and Three Keys by Kelly Yang (MG historical, Chinese-American #ownvoices)
- 22 Sept. – Release date of Maya and the Rising Dark by Rena Barron (MG fantasy, Black #ownvoices), Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore (YA contemporary, Latinx #ownvoices), and Black Water by David A. Robertson (adult memoir, Cree #ownvoices)
- 24 Sept. – Virtual launch of Black Water
How was your summer? What new books, or bookish events, are you looking forward to this month?
Thank you for the recommendation of The Barren Grounds, I’m looking forward to reading The Lost Wonderland Diaries by J Scott Savage. I do love Alice so can’t wait to start that really soon.
You’re welcome! Sounds like you have some great reads ahead of you.
Oh wow! What a fun way to spend a few months! I’m glad you had a good time. Best of luck settling back in after your trip 🙂
Thank-you! It was a nice change from the isolation in April/May ^^
Welcome back to blogland! I’m envious of your summer. I literally had the most boring summer EVER thanks to COVID.:-) Happy September!
Thank-you so much! It definitely wasn’t an ordinary summer for many people… Hope your fall is off to a good start 🙂
I have never heard of WWOOF, but that sounds like an amazing experience!
Yes, it’s a really great opportunity! And a nice way to travel. I’ve done it in a few different countries now.
Glad to hear how well your summer went and best of luck with the job search! I’m in the same place now and just hoping the new season will bring new opportunities
Thank-you! Fingers crossed for both of us 🤞
Welcome back! I am really excited for Hide and Seeker as well. That cover is just amazing. Cemetery Boys and Miss Meteor were both awesome reads. I hope you get a chance to pick up both.
Thank-you! Glad to hear you enjoyed both of those titles. I’m hoping to get to at least one of them before the end of the year…
Yeay Welcome Back~ What did you think of Deeplight?
I’m curious about Maya and the Rising Dark~
Thank-you 🙂 I loved Deeplight! It was just my kind of story, with everything seeming one way on the surface but the reality being quite different. I will try to review it in the next month or two… no promises though haha.