This is it! My last weekly roundup of the year because tomorrow will be all about wrapping up the WHOLE YEAR. Whew. 2018, man. I had a lot of personal ups and downs this year, and they were all very keenly felt. Many were good and a lot more than I would have liked were emotionally intense and draining. It will be interesting (in a good way, I hope) to see what 2019 brings.
I have been in super vacation mode for the past week. In fact, I’ve been so in the vacation zone that I only made it to the gym once (on Christmas Eve) for low impact exercise, which was me and a bunch of elderly people. It was a pretty good workout–especially considering I didn’t do any other exercise last week–and I should probably repeat that tomorrow since this upcoming week looks to be more of the same. Except I’ll be taking a short trip to San Diego, so that may include more walking.
Other highlights:
- Christmas, of course! Mine was very low-key and therefore A+++.
- I went to see Ralph Breaks the Internet, which was fine. I could’ve waited to see it on video though I did like the overall message.
- I slept a lot and read a lot. It was nice.
Vacation mode! It’s nice!
It’s also a little weird because I have just been doing things as they come, which means my calendar has no information that could help me piece together this blog post. Pah.
Oh, I also watched both Great British Baking Show Christmas eps that are on Netflix and several episodes of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power. She-Ra! I dig it! SO GOOD.
Also, I posted some things:
- Come on Down!
- #AMonthofFaves This Is How I Ornament
- #AMonthofFaves on the Screen
- #AMonthofFaves Goals, Goals, All Types of Goals
- #AMonthofFaves Cover Love
- #MustReadin2018 Year End Check In
- #AMonthofFaves This Is How I Read & Blog
And, as previously mentioned, I read some things:
Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide by Isabel Quintero
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a fascinating look at a living artist, and I appreciated the use of Iturbide’s actual photography alongside the illustrator’s recreations of them. It was an interesting approach, I think, because of course there were differences but that also underscores the idea of different ways of seeing present in the book.
The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures of Bronte Mettlestone by Jaclyn Moriarty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was super cute, and fantastically feminist. (One of the aunts is a queen and Bronte thinks she became one by marrying a king, and her other aunts SCOFF AT HER and tell her that, no, queen aunt actually applied for the job. I MEAN.)
I love that the main character is someone who does remarkable things but doesn’t think they’re remarkable (“Isn’t that what anyone would do?” is basically her mantra). There’s a lot of poking fun at books and there’s a whole section about how awesome librarians are at research and how excited they get about it.
As a kid, I would have loved reading about this seemingly ordinary girl go on extraordinary adventures. As a parent, I would have immediately handed this to my tween daughter if it had been published back when she was at that age.
My only complaint is that there are so many aunts and cousins that at the end, I couldn’t remember who some of them were. If I had been reading a paper book, it would have been super easy to flip back and see (and if I really cared, I could’ve used the search function on my Kindle), so it’s a small quibble but a quibble nonetheless. I’m looking forward to the sequel.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
As I find myself rooting both for and against Nova, screaming “I SHIP IT!” in both awe and anger, and just really wanting these two kids to just be happy, I have to admit that Marissa Meyer is very good at what she does.
This book is still too long, though.
Giant Days, Vol. 4 by John Allison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I really like this series, but I would like for the writer to somehow do a better job of reminding me of who is who outside of the core five (the girls, Ed, and McGraw). Just…somehow.
Anyway, this continues to be great and right in my wheelhouse of slice of life stories about real teens doing real things. I loved the student movie bit and seeing all of the entries. And I think this is the first time we learn Daisy is mixed race???
Lots of humor and heart here. Super fun.
Have a great week, everyone! And as this is New Year’s Eve Eve, I also wish you a very happy and safe new year!
The Englishist 
Ahhh, I have Photographic: The Life of Graciela Iturbide and really need to read that this coming week. Thanks for the nudge in your post. Glad you’ve enjoyed your break and slipped in lots of rest and sleep. I’ve failed on the sleep side, unfortunately. But will make amends as the new semester kicks in. Have a great 2019, Akilah!!
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I loved Photographic, glad to see someone sharing it, too. I enjoyed hearing about “The Extremely Inconvenient Adventures. . ., will bookmark it! Happy New Year to you, too!
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I really liked Photographic. The other books are unfamiliar to me, and I do love Jaclyn Moriarty so I am going to have to find that one for sure.
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Archenemies is on my MustRead list for the second year in a row. I think it’s the length that turns me off. The older I get, the more onerous those long tomes feel.
Photographic was one to the best books I read last year!
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