The Guncle Abroad

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by Steven Rowley
First sentence: “Patrick O’Hara removed the cloche from his room service breakfast with a flourish it not deserve; he grimaced at what lay beneath.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Guncle
Release date: May 21, 20124
Review copy pilfered off the galley shelves at work.
Content: There is some swearing (maybe f-bombs? They didn’t stand out) and some off-screen sex. It will be in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

Five years after he had his neice and nephew out to Palm Springs to mourn the death of his best friend and their mother, Patrick is doing well. His career, which had stalled, has picked up again, and he’s been in a few movies. And his brother met someone – an Italian marchesa – and is getting remarried. Which means Guncle Patrick is needed again. In the wake of breaking up with his boyfriend, Emory, Patrick takes Maisie and Grant around Europe as he tries to teach them (somewhat hypocritcally) about love.

There’s more to the book than that, or it wouldn’t be as delightful as it is, but it’s also that simple: Patrick, Maisie, and Grant need to learn that moving on, while hard, is also a part of life. And loving more people doesn’t erase the ones they loved that have passed on.

Much like Guncle, it’s not a hilarous book, though it certainly exudes charm. I adored that they stopped in Paris, Salzburg, and Vienna on their way to Lake Como, and the way they interacted then. While I do have an issue with Patrick thinking he’s “old” at age 50 (really? Not. Old.), I didn’t mind his melancholy griping (I might feel old, too, if my partner was 20 years younger than me). This is an incredibly character-driven book, and the characters are absolutely people you want to spend time with.

Highly recommended.

Audio Book: All Boys Aren’t Blue

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by George M. Johnson
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including a few f-bombs. There is also a graphic depiction of sexual assault and some on-page sex. It’s in the Teen Issues section of the bookstore.

In the wake of Nex Benedict’s death, and at the end of Black History month, I decided it was time to listen to this one, which I’ve had on my TBR pile since it came out in 2020. Nominally, Johnson’s memoir of a childhood growing up in a loving Black family while questioning his sexuality and gender, All Boys Aren’t Blue tackles both the feeling of being on the outside because one can’t conform to traditional ideas of what gender is, and feeling loved and included by one’s family. Johnson frames much of his childhood through the lens of trauma – from being beat up when he was 5 by neighborhood bullies to his sexual assault by a cousin – but also reinforces the idea that his family loved and accepted him (mostly) unconditionally.

I think this is an important book, and one that is most definitnely needed. I believe that Johnson’s voice is one that should be heard and respected. Was it a good book, though? Maybe? He was, however, not a good narrator. He was earnest, but often stiff and inelegant in his delivery. I think I would have liked this one a lot better had I read it rather than listening to it. That said, I’m glad it’s out there, for kids to find and hopefully help them navigate the waters of growing up.

Monthly Round-Up: February, 2024

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February went so fast, that the end of it completely snuck up on me. And there’s even one more day this year!

My favorite was the last one I read:

Get the Picture

It’s just so engaging, and a lot of fun to listen to!

Graphic Novel:

Lunar New Year, Love Story
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Amulet: The Stonekeeper (reread)

YA:

Chaos Theory (audio book)

Middle Grade:

Tagging Freedom

Adult Fiction:

The Rule Book
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
The Husbands

What was your favorite book this month?

Audiobook: Get the Picture

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by Bianca Bosker
Read by the author
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and talk of controversial art. It’s in the Art section of the bookstore.

Journalist Bianca Bosker wanted to understand art, how to look at it, and the creation of it. And so, because she’s that sort of journalist, she decides to immerse herself in the art world. Through the book, she works for two different art galleries, is an artist assistant, and a docent at the Guggenheim. She sees the ins and outs and ups and downs of the art world, trying to figure out. 

I don’t know a whole lot about the art world. I occasionally go to art museums, and I have some art on my walls (mostly photographs, though), but I have never thought I had an eye or even “understood” art. I found this to be fascinating. The art world is wack – elite, snobbish, monied, and not at all an accommodating place for people who don’t know art – and Bosker didn’t pull any punches with her depiction of the world. She was highly entertaining in the process, both as a writer and a narrator. I was with her every step of the way as she figured out the galleries, and talked to artists, and helped create art. But the section that affected me the most was the one with the Guggenheim. It made me think about the way I interact with museums and the way I look at art. The next time I head to a museum, I will look at and experience the art differently. 

So, yes, a fun and fascinating book that I learned from. 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

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by Robert Louis Stevenson
adapted and illustrated by Andrzej Klimsowski and Danusia Schejbal
I’d tell you to go support your local independent bookstore and buy it there, but I couldn’t find it there.
Content: It’s a classic story with classic pacing. It’d be in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore if we had it.

Like most people (I think), I have always known what Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was about. It’s a scientist who messes around with Science and ends up splitting into two personalities. But I’ve never actually read the novella. Since my daughter is in a production of Jekyll and Hyde that opens this week, and the #ReadICT group at the library is hosting a discussion after one of the performances, i figured what better time to read the story. (By the way, this is one of the best songs in the musical.)

I decided to read the graphic novel adaptation, because why not. liked the art style and felt it fit with the story – it was done in charcoal (I assume) and is all harsh blacks and whites. My only real problem was keeping all the characters straight; it was often confusing. 

That said, I thought the story was compelling. The way it interspersed the backstory inside the actual narrative. And I don’t think Stevenson could be more blatant about his dislike of “carnal pursuits”. It was super moralistic, and much less dramatic than I was expecting. I think it’s an interesting exploration of madness, good and evil, and the limits of science. Did I love it? No. But I am glad I read it.

BookNut’s 20th Anniversary: The Cybils

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I started blogging in 2004, and the Cybils started in 2006. I think by then, I was aware enough of the Kidlitosphere (as we called ourselves back then) that I caught the first batch of winners. I know I applied to be a judge the next year, 2007 and was turned down. (In fact, the first time I mention Cybils on my blog is this one, in October of 2007.) I remember being very determined to make the Cybils happen, so I did everything I could – I read more kidlit books and I actively commented on the blogs of the people who were involved – I desperately wanted to be a part of this community. And, in 2008, I was on my first round 1 panel for Middle Grade Fiction. 

Over the years, I’ve been on both Round one and Round two panels, I’ve read for Middle Grade Fiction, Elementary/Middle Grade Speculative Fiction, YA Speculative Fiction (I think? One year?), and Graphic Novels. My name was floated to be the blog editor at some point (maybe 2012/2013?), and I happily did that for 10 years. When a spot opened up on the board, again my name was floated, and I joined that in 2015. I’ve currently come full circle, taking the position of Middle Grade Fiction chair for this past cycle, and really enjoying it. I had an amazing group of panelists and judges, and I’m proud of the books they (we; I read for Round 1) chose. 

All this to say, that even after all this time, I am passionate about the Cybils, I love participating, and I’ll keep coming back as long as they’ll have me. In fact, about 8.5 years ago, I wrote something pretty similar about why I keep coming back. 

In short, I’m incredibly grateful my blog led me to this community of people and this award. It’s one of the best parts of my year.

Audiobook: Chaos Theory

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by Nic Stone
Read by the author and Dion Graham
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some mild swearing (I don’t remember any f-bombs); teenage drinking; talk of mental health, self-harm, and a parental affair. It’s in the Teen (grades 9+) section of the bookstore.

Ever since Shelbi moved to Georgia, she has one rule: don’t get close to anyone. A former “friend” hurt her badly at her last school, and her mental health can’t handle it. What she doesn’t count on is Andy, who she passes one night, sitting in the back of a cop car, having totaled his car because he was wasted. In fact, he seems to often have too much to drink. As they fall into friendship, and become closer, they both realize that there’s a lot ot unpack. Shelbi with her bipolar diagnosis, Andy with his self-medicating with alcohol (not to mention a distant mother, and the death of a younger sister that he blames himself for).

This has to be one of the cutest books about really tough subjects that I’ve eve read. I loved the dynamic between Andy and Shelbi – Dion Graham was a specatular narrator, and Stone was quite good as well – and the way they both supported and pushed each other. It was a very cute romance, but underneath was all the hard-hitting issues that Stone is known for. She looks very unflinchingly at mental health, grief, substance abuse, and what it takes to make a relationship really work.

In short, it was an excellent book, especially on audio.

Tagging Freedom

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by Rhonda Roumani
First sentence: “Kareem picked up the black spray paint and studied the sandy-colored wall.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some talk of war and protests where gunfire opens up. There are also instances of microaggressions and blatant racism. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Kareem is a 13-year-old in Syria in 2011, right as the protests and the civil war began. He is fired up about the abuses by his government and wants to help do something so he and his friends take to spray painting slogans and art on the buildings around Damascus. This lands him in trouble – with his parents, not the government, fortunately – and they ship him off to live with his aunt and uncle and cousin in America.

Said American cousin, Samira, is having her own problems. She wants to join the Spirit Squad, but the girl who runs it is the same girl that bullied Sam all through 4th and 5th grade. But people change, right? And it’s 7th grade now. But joing the Spirit Squad makes her end up fighting with her best friend, and when her cousin arrives, it makes everything a lot more complicated.

The most striking thing in this book is the huge juxtaposition between Kareem’s Syrian life and the way he cares deeply about his family and friends who are still being affected by the uprising and government retaliation and Samira, who is concerned with, well, #firstworldproblems. If there is anything that brings to light the huge disparity (and nonchalance) that we Americans (even children!) have with the other world, this is it. I thought Roumani handled it well – making Kareem care so deeply, you can’t help as a reader but care about what he cares about. And I liked Samira’s growth arc, and the way she shook off superficial concerns compared to the problems that Kareem and his family have.

And because it has a lot of similarities with the genocide in Gaza right now, it was that much more powerful and relevant. An excellent book.

The Husbands

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by Holly Gramazio
First sentence: “The man is tall and has dark tousled hair, and when she gets back quite late from Elena’s hen do, she finds him waiting on the landing at the top of the stairs.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: April 2, 2024
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is some swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and off-page sex. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

When Lauren – who is single, just out of a long-term relationship – arrives home from her best friend’s bachelorette party, she discovers that the universe has gifted her a husband. One that she has no memory of ever marrying (or even meeting). And then, to make things even more interesting, when he goes up into her (their?) attic, a different man comes down. Soon she realizes that her magic attic has gifted her something… interesting: the opportunity to figure out who the “perfect” husband is. But, she soon realizes that it’s not as simple as all that. 

There’s not much else to the plot of this one, but I still found it immensely enjoyable. I’m fascinated by the concept of multiverses, and as Lauren changes through husbands – and consequently, lives – I’m interested in what does and does not change in each iteration. I liked that it was sort of freeing for Lauren; she didn’t have a lot of the constraints around setting up a relationship, having been dropped into the middle of one. I also think there’s the underlying theme of “choose your love and love your choice” going on here. If you’re allowed to change things – because he’s messy, because he has long nose hairs, because he makes coffee badly – would you? Would you settle when you didn’t have to? 

And I thought Gramazio did all this well while keeping Lauren a sympathetic character. it’s her story; we don’t get to know many of the husbands well, and her friends and sister, while always there, are not central to the story. It’s a gimmicky book, sure, but it’s done well, and I quite enjoyed it.

Audiobook: Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

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by Heather Fawcett
Read by Ell Potter & Michael Dodds
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments, and it’s a bit slow at times. It’s in the Science Fiction/ Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Emily Wilde has been working on her Encyclopedia of Faeries, documenting as many as she can, for years. And she’s finally gotten funding to go do a field study of the Hidden Ones in Hrafnsvik. She arrives just as winter’s beginning, and because she’s not a terribly personable person, she gets off on the wrong foot. Enter Wendell Bambleby, her colleague from Cambridge, who has followed her to Hrafnsvik. Together – unwillingly at first, on Emily’s part – they win over the villagers, gather stories of the faeries, and quite possibly fall in love.

This one was utterly delightful, particularly on audio. I think I would have liked it in print, but on audio, the story just popped. Both of the narrators were excellent, capturing Emily’s and Wendell’s personalities, as well as those of the villagers around them. (Side note: the jacket blurb for this book calls Emily “curmudgeonly”, but she’s not. It’s never explicitly stated, but the character is most likely on the autism spectrum.) Although the plot is super loose – at one point, Emily wakes up a faerie king and gets trapped in the frozen faerie lands – it’s still a delightful read.