December 2018 Month in Review

December was a whirlwind of a month! I spent the first week writing my final papers. I flew home on December 8 (Saturday) and started a practicum at the public library on December 10. That ran until December 21. My best friend came home that day, then came Christmas, and now I’ve got two weeks of holidays but those two weeks have flown by fast and I’ll be heading back to Vancouver on Saturday! December was a wonderful month, though. The practicum was an excellent learning experience, I’ve been spending lots of time with friends and family, and enjoying a snowy winter.

Book Finished

• Tolkien & The Silmarillion by Clyde S. Kilby
• Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice
• In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire
• The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
• Half Spent was the Night by Ami McKay
• Monsters by David A. Robertson
• White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Books Reviewed

• Tolkien & The Silmarillion by Clyde S. Kilby
• Board books (Baby’s First Words, Off to the Park! and Little You)
• In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4) by Seanan McGuire

Features

• “I Can’t Believe I Haven’t Read That Yet #5“
• I wrote about what books my mom, dad, sister, and I received for Christmas.
• My dad and I discussed Perseverance by Tim Hague, first winner (along with his son) of the Amazing Race Canada.
• I completed the 2018 End of Year Book Survey.

Shared on Twitter

Susan the Sketcher Sketches Ami McKay https://t.co/LB5roJMn6i via @hfxpublib pic.twitter.com/NAGKr0K31o

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 1, 2018

“We’ve noticed increased, sustained interest from [library] customers for Indigenous materials. It’s all kinds of material: fiction, non-fiction, even poetry. The material is circulating broadly in all areas of the city.”

Read more: https://t.co/QkDZNtvLEi

— Reconciliation Canada (@Rec_Can) December 1, 2018

Okay, I finished my paper! "Blurring the Line Between Speculative and Historical Fiction: Representations of Christianity in Post-Medieval Historical Novels for Children" – a bit ambitious for 10-12 pages but it was fun to work on, anyway 😂

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 8, 2018

What a perfect wintry day for reading and hot chocolate at @TheForks 👌🏻 ☕️📖 ❄️ pic.twitter.com/MSxuzpaaRp

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 12, 2018

Can’t wait to visit in February! ❤️ https://t.co/tW5MKZpYm6

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 17, 2018

I got: Mountain Jewel. https://t.co/lsfZ261PeQ via @playbuzz

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 20, 2018

Watched the first two episodes of #DoctorWho and they were great!! Back to a focus on human stories and not ridiculous time travel trickery 👍🏻 (I hope I haven’t spoken too soon, lol…)

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 22, 2018

Finally got out to the new Windsor Park Library (a @wpglibrary branch). I dig the mosaic and wall of windows. pic.twitter.com/H1fRse2jXK

— Jenna (@fallingletters) December 28, 2018

https://twitter.com/kmcmac74/status/1079138127795703808

Upcoming in January

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• Jan. 1 – Cybils finalists announced (I wrote a post about this today as well)
• Jan. 8 – Release date of In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children #4) by Seanan McGuire (read my review)
• Jan. 10 – Release date of The Binding by Bridget Collins (I only recently learnt of this book. It’s got a striking cover and premise…)
• Jan. 25 – Multicultural Children’s Book Day  (“Our mission is to not only raise awareness for the kid’s books that celebrate diversity, but to get more of these of books into classrooms and libraries. “)

Did you enjoy December? What books, or bookish events, are you looking forward to this month?