Sunday, June 28, 2015

Sunday Salon: My Week in Books





What I Finished Last Week


I picked up You Can Never Find a Rickshaw When It Monsoons: The World on One Cartoon a Day by Mo Willems at a library sale last week. You know Mo Willems, right? The amazing children's picture book author, he of Pigeon fame and Knuffle Bunny fame, universally adored by children of all sizes and ages (even those of us who are 58). If you know who he is, then you know why I couldn't possibly pass up this book for a buck. I read the blurb on the back, telling You Can Never Find a Rickshaw is a compilation of cartoons Willems drew during a round-the-world trip he took in 1990. He made one cartoon a day, each a drawing to help him recall the quirkiest thing that happened that day.

Here are a couple of cartoons from the book I thought you'd like:

But here was the most amazing thing about this little $1 buy:
Autographed!

God Went to Beauty School is a mesmerizing book of little...well, let's call them poems for lack of a better word...little poems about God visiting in our world. It's by Cynthia Rylant, who, if you are a children's literature fan, you know is one of our living great writers of children's stories. I loved these little poems.

Carrie's War by Nina Bawden is the story of Carrie and her little brother Nick during World War II. The children were sent to live in the country, away from the bombings in London, for their own safety. I'd bet you $55 million dollars you could not show me a children's story with characters more real and more human. The children are placed with an absurdly cheap shopkeeper and his mousy sister for the war's duration, and they are very unhappy there, suffering from the shopkeeper's frugality and the sister's inability to stand up to her brother. Nevertheless, Carrie and Nick gradually form a relationship with the two, and come to see the underlying reasons for the miserly ways of the shopkeeper and the fearfulness of the sister, as they grow to know the household of an estranged sibling of the two. Very complex characters, and that's the great strength of this story.




           






What Arrived Last Week

 

Two audiobooks! I've already up to CD 5 In the Kingdom of Ice, and I'm fascinated with the detail in this epic polar adventure. 
           






What are you reading today?!


What is the Sunday SalonImagine some university library's vast reading room. It's filled with people--students and faculty and strangers who've wandered in. They're seated at great oaken desks, books piled all around them,and they're all feverishly reading and jotting notes in their leather-bound journals as they go. Later they'll mill around the open dictionaries and compare their thoughts on the afternoon's literary intake....That's what happens at the Sunday Salon, except it's all virtual. Every Sunday the bloggers participating in that week's Salon get together--at their separate desks, in their own particular time zones--and read. And blog about their reading. And comment on one another's blogs. Think of it as an informal, weekly, mini read-a-thon, an excuse to put aside one's earthly responsibilities and fall into a good book. Click here to join the Salon.

The Sunday Post is a meme hosted by Kimba at Caffeinated Book Reviewer. It's a chance to share news and recap the past week.

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia at The Printed Page. We share books that we found in our mailboxes last week. 
 It is now being hosted here.

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga's Reviews in which you can share the books you've acquired.

17 comments:

  1. Enjoy your new books! Love the cartoon illustrations, and those, as well as other illustrations, do make children's books. Have a great week...and here are MY WEEKLY UPDATES

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  2. I borrowed Kingdom of Ice from the library this week, but am thinking audio may be the way to go.

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  3. I have read all the Pigeon books about 100 times each but had no idea he had a book for adults! What a find! Have a great week!

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  4. That is a great find. I've seen Mo Willems' books at the library where I work, of course, but to be honest, I've never read any. This one, though, maybe I'd try. :)

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  5. Oh nice! Those are new to me reads! Hope you enjoy them!!

    Here's my STS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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  6. Wow You got a signed edition! I have that happen once in awhile when I purchase form the library or local used book store. It's such a surprise. I love those illustrations. LOL

    My Sunday Post - http://fuonlyknew.com/2015/06/28/whats-new-on-my-bookshelf-115-and-the-sunday-post/

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  7. An interesting mix of books there Deb. I'm not overly fond of poetry. (Well, I actually dislike it!) I'm not sure why but I can't appreciate the writing as much as I should.

    Have a lovely week!

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    1. I think it's overexposure to annoying children's poetry that ruins it sometimes. Don't give up on poetry. When you come across real poetry, it lights up everything.

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  8. Hey! An autographed Mo Willems books! I'll be excited too.

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  9. Such an interesting variety of books. That one by Mo Willems is a real find. Come see my week here. Happy reading!

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  10. So, which was you favorite poem by Rylant? which one made you smile the biggest? Glad you got to it so quickly. I have placed the the new McCullough book on my TBR list by placing a hold on the audiobook at the library. I had a big week that involved a lot of reading, too...fished four books and started three. Sigh. There is never an end in sight.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, thank you, Anne. You inspired me to reread this book!

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  11. Some good looking books! I do like the look of Mo's book!

    Have a great week!

    Heather @ Random Redheaded Ramblings

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  12. You received two great audiobooks! Enjoy! I have the Wright Brothers book and will get to it soon!

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