Monthly Archives: February 2021

What Cat Is That?

Posted on by
Reply

img_7622Book: What Cat Is That? By Tish Rabe

Illustrated by Aristides Ruiz and Joe Mathieu

This fun book is from the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library—a series of nonfiction children’s books inspired by the work of Dr. Seuss. These books are meant as an introduction to the world of nonfiction for young readers, keeping the easy reading rhymes of Seuss, but pairing it with real world information. It’s a great way to introduce the concept of “reading to learn,” while still maintaining the fun aspects of many of the books children are used to when they are learning to read. I was not familiar with the series until I was gifted this book, but cannot help thinking there is a stroke of genius here.

In this book, the Cat in the Hat returns to visit the children from his original story, taking them on an adventure in his Kitty-Cat-Copter to see as many cats as possible. Then they are off to explore a wide array of cats, from the famous big cats to the different types of house cats. It also manages to include a variety of cat facts, while maintaining the ABCB rhyming pattern throughout and even includes a visit from Thing 1 and Thing 2! The illustrations are a really interesting mix—there is enough detail to show the differences in many cat types and breeds, while still maintaining elements readers will recognize from classic Seuss works. The colors are more realistic, of course, but the overall look is very similar.

Although this is the only book I have read from the Learning Library, I think these would be a great fit for kids around Second to Third Grade. This would be around the age when school begins to focus less on the foundations of reading, to working on comprehension and using books to find information. This is a entertaining transitional book that kids can still get excited about, rather than viewing it as purely informational.

Minka’s Thoughts: “That cat is this cat! This cat is me cat! All the cats; all the paws!”

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Posted on by
Reply

img_7578Book: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Date Read: December 20 to 26, 2020

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

I had been eyeing this book for quite awhile before finally picking it up at one of my local stores. Despite hearing the title and seeing a few different renditions of the cover, I did not know much about the premise when I started. Based on the cover art for one edition, a house made of burnt matches, I suspected that fire would play a role in the story. Other than that, I was mostly drawn in by the title, and the belief that I would discover that Eleanor Oliphant was not actually completely fine.

To start, I have to say that I found this story to be both hysterical and quite moving, with the perfect balance between humor and sadness. I found my feelings about Eleanor changing pretty quickly as I read, although not always in a positive way. Upon a first impression, she is not particularly likable. She is rigid, rude, and very quick to judge others. She is very certain of the “rightness” in how she lives, although her view of the world does not fit into the norm defined by everyone else. I suppose you could argue, in a way, that she is “completely fine”—the version of completely fine that is constantly teetering on the edge of disaster.

As the layers of Eleanor’s life begin to slowly peel back, her awkwardness shifts from off-putting to endearing. Although we do not see the full picture of Eleanor’s background, there is enough revealed to allow the reader to begin to sympathize with her. She is certainly misguided and unaware of social expectations—although she does her best with her ill-conceived interpretations of social skills. She knows that she does not quite fit in, and many of her efforts to do so lead down the path of hilarity. At the same time, it becomes clear that the surface of Eleanor’s perfectly organized life is hiding some deep issues.

My favorite thing about this book was that it was absolutely not a romance. Although she would not admit it, Eleanor is profoundly lonely. She creates a romance in her head with who she imagines could be the perfect partner, without realizing that she is also quietly cultivating some much more real connections. When she reaches a breaking point and heads into a downward spiral, it is these friendships that help to set her on a course toward recovery. I loved that the author did not seek to “cure” or “fix” Eleanor’s problems by throwing her into a romantic relationship. Her experience is much more true to real life, and the bumpy ride that many find themselves on.

Boris’s Thoughts: “See? Who needs romance? All of Eleanor’s problems start to get better when she gets a cat. This is clear proof that cats fix everything. 4 paws.”

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek

Posted on by
Reply

img_7212Book: The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

Date Read: December 17 to 20, 2020

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

I picked up this book as a new addition to my states collection a few years ago, when a friend and I took a trip down to Louisville for a few days. While we spent most of the trip enjoying beverages and tacos on patios, we did a fair share of neighborhood exploring as well. Carmichael’s Bookstore was only a couple miles from where we were staying, so we set out to patio hop our way to and from the store one afternoon. I was unsure of what book I might choose to represent Kentucky in my collection, but Carmichael’s made it easy: this book set in Kentucky and by a Kentucky-based author was a new publication, as well as being on the staff recommendations list.

This unique historical fiction is a book for people who love books. It combines two aspects of history that I previously knew little about: the Depression era Kentucky Pack Horse Library Service and the historic blue-skinned people of Kentucky. The latter, actually, I had not heard of before seeing this book. The book follows Cussy Mary, a packhorse librarian and the last in the line of a blue-skinned family. She loves reading, and is passionate about her job of sharing books with the hill people of Kentucky. She travels a weekly route exchanging books for her patrons. She connects to each of them through a mutual appreciation of the books, always keeping an eye out for new materials to suit each of them from the library’s extremely limited catalogue.

Initially, I thought that blue-skinned was an exaggeration—perhaps referring to people who were abnormally pale or sickly appearing. However, as I was reading it became clear very quickly that it truly meant blue. I did some mini-research, which led me to the real family that Cussy Mary’s was based on. The “Blue Fugates” lived in Kentucky from the early 1800s until as recently as the 1970s. I do not want to give too much away, but will say that it is a fascinating example of recessive genetic traits. The book does delve into the details of this eventually, as Cussy Mary works with a local doctor who is intrigued by her condition.

This turned out to be much more than I was expecting, with an ending that I did not see coming. Cussy Mary spends most of her life surrounded by tragedy: poverty, hunger, discrimination. Despite being pushed to the fringe of society by her classification as “colored,” she persists in a dedication to her patrons through both her books and her attempts to bring a little ease to their lives. There are a few dramatic turns toward the end of the novel, which are taken in stride, and appear to be heading toward a fairly clean and mostly happy ending for Cussy Mary—but it did not turn out exactly as I had anticipated or hoped. I do not want to say that I was dissatisfied with the ending, as it was quite fitting given the context of the story.

Boris’s Thoughts: “I suppose that book for book people means a book for book cats. 4 paws.”

Where the Crawdads Sing

Posted on by
Reply

img_7456Book: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Date Read: January 1 to 9, 2021

Rating: 5 (of 5) stars

This was my pick for the first Unread Shelf Project prompt of the year: a book with high expectations. I thought through quite a few different ways to interpret this, and decided that I would use some data from Goodreads to narrow things down. This was the highest rated book on my to read list that has been rated by over 1 million people. I felt that this gave an endorsement both for the popularity of the book, and a general consensus on quality. In addition to that, this is a book that was given to me as a gift and came highly recommended.

Despite the hype, I actually knew very little about this one going into it. In fact, I was a couple chapters in before I even decided to read the description on the inside jacket. Overall, I really enjoyed the layers to this story; although it took me a little bit to really get into it. Once I was hooked though, I could not get enough of the story. I admit I was a little put off by the time jumps in the first part of the book, created by the dual storyline. Kya’s childhood was so much more interesting to me than the murder-mystery set up happening so many years later. Of course I realized that all would eventually become relevant, but it was occasionally frustrating to be pulled away from the more engrossing part of the narrative.

I mentioned enjoying the layers of the story, which I think was the most appealing aspect of this novel for me. There is so much here to consider: love, tragedy, discrimination, trauma, coming of age, loss, judgment, and a great appreciation for the natural world. To pinpoint any one cause of Kya’s eccentricities or her ostracization would be difficult, but examining her past, it is easy to see why she developed a fear of the outside world and the behavior patterns that went along with this. It was curious to me that the main source of Kya’s peculiarities was a fear of those in town, whose own prejudices led them to fear her as well.

While I have seen this elsewhere as a criticism of the book, I appreciated the details included in the naturalistic elements of Kya’s relationship to her home. It was obvious that the author has impressive knowledge on the subject, and helped in building the fascinating juxtaposition within Kya’s own character—the bits of truth in the town’s view of her life, contrasted with the accomplishments far beyond what anyone would suspect from her. Even later when the detectives from town see her collections, they do not understand them, assuming there is some element of madness in her work. I suppose this plays even further into the “fear of the unknown” element between Kya and the town.

Minka’s Thoughts: “I think I understand this girl. I, too, am fascinated by birds. 3 paws.”

Unread Shelf Progress for January

  • Books Read: 2
  • Books Acquired: 0
  • Total Unread Books: 269