IMWAYR! Pity Parties and Untrue Stories

I really appreciate the overwhelming support on my last blog for IMWAYR and all of the comments that were left with guidance.  You all were super welcoming.  

I've decided to add one additional layer to my blog posts about reading: a rating system.  I already leave ratings on places like Litsy and Storygraph, so I don't see why it would hurt to continue that here.  I don't want it to be super complicated and of the rating systems I have used I think I prefer Litsy.  It keeps it to four choices: Pick, So-So, Pan, and Bail.  It's simple and I don't have to overthink it like star-ratings or whatever.  I couldn't find the exact symbols in emoji form that they use for their rating...so I improvised:

Pick 👍    So-So ✔️    Pan ⏭️    Bail 💀

Also, continuing from last week, you may also see these emojis pop up from time to time:

🎧 This means I read the audiobook. 💬 This means the book is a graphic novel.

What can I say?  I've really enjoyed using emojis lately...

FINISHED READING

💬Dancing At The Pity Party by Tyler Feder (Pick 👍) I finished this book on Thursday.  I haven't lost either of my parents yet, but I liked the honesty and relatability of the story being told here.  I mean, it makes sense, it's a memoir.  I just never knew they made graphic novel memoirs!  I'd like to read more memoirs like this if I'm being honest.

This was an excellent story about how the author, Tyler, dealt with losing her mom to cancer just as she was going off to college.  I know so of my students have lost parents and I could see the story being very comforting -- to know that others have experienced it and how they dealt with their grief.  At one point she elaborates on how the media portrays grief as one thing, but it's actually really messy and weird.  

A part that stuck out to me early on was when she said: "The certainty of loss was cold and steady under my feet."  And I think that by making it a graphic novel the story is easier to take in and relate to, to process and feel that certainty without feeling overwhelmed by sadness.  It was a good balance of funny and heart warming.  

CURRENTLY READING

Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri, I first posted about this book last week.  I am currently 100 pages in and I find the style of the novel very unique.  The narrator has mentioned the 1001 Nights story several times and I have to admit it does feel like he's sitting next to me relating all of these tales.  It jumps around from present, to past, to history, to mythology and I have to say I kind of love that aspect of it!  As the reader it's like you are slowly fitting these pieces together -- all of which have made the narrator who he is and it makes you think about your own story make-up.  We aren't just our personal histories, but the familial and ancient ones that led to us being here as well.  As a lover of stories -- both imagined and real -- I like how both are treated as equals as Daniel weaves the two together to where it is difficult to say which is "made up."  This may be a YA novel -- but it definitely is one I would recommend for adults to enjoy as well (and I haven't even finished it yet!)

I have a few other books "on deck." but I either haven't technically started them yet (Edenville Owls & 500 Words or Less) or haven't really gotten far enough into them that I want to mention them because I'm not even sure what to say yet (After Moses).

However, with it being Spring Break this week, I am sure that will change.  I look forward to getting in some dedicated reading time before next Monday.

2021 Reading Goal: 26/75

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It's Monday! What Are You Reading? is a weekly blog link co-hosted by Unleashing Readers and Teach Mentor Texts which focuses on sharing books marketed for kids and young adults.  The original IMWAYR focusing on adult lit was started by Sheila at Book Journeys and is currently hosted by Kathryn at The Book Date.