"too many horse thoughts" ??☺️

Ending the night with fluffier feline-focused fun. Yes, I will be reading all the Catstronauts books my library has to offer.

On a lighter note...😁😆😸

Apparently the way to get me intrigued about weighty classic volumes is to make them into nursery rhymes and poems with modified endings, then include summaries of the picture book author's reflections on the actual works in the back of the book. It worked!

Fighting fatphobia = good, wish there was more plus size fashion industry discussion. Very subjective idea of womanhood discussed. As memoir fine, as guidebook, iffy. As agender I can't say how a woman would receive it, or a fat person, because I'm categorized as straight-sized, but I feel like the same ideas here are better portrayed by the books: 'What We Don't Talk About When We Talk About Fat' and 'The Body is Not an Apology'.

A moment of appreciation for this book's chapter art.
👨🏼‍🍳💋

"But when you're a young girl, difference, even the powerful kind, is spat back at you like shame."

I appreciate the eloquence and am simultaneously very angry at just how true this is.

Strange feeling to be comforted by words from a stranger about relatives with dementia who have since passed away.

"And if one day I look at you and don't remember who you are or how much you mean to me, know that your importance is still as real then as it is now."

Ah yes, this book is bringing back not so fond memories of younger years in retail...😖

"Come with me into the field of sunflowers is a better line than anything you will find here, and the sunflowers themselves far more wonderful than any words about them."

It's not a humble brag from a Pulitzer prize winning writer. From the two collections of poems I've previously read, it's clear Mary Oliver sees the natural world around her as one of, if not THE, most valuable parts of life, not simply as subject matter for poetry. Agreed.

The Saga continues, with more gorgeously illustrated plot unspooling in a fast-paced engrossing manner amid much violence, cursing, nudity and important insights into humanity. 🚀

Continues to be a well-paced and well-plotted AI/robots with feelings series, though there are a number of other alien races involved. I don't feel like I'm losing track of characters though they are pretty regularly introducing new people and new worlds. Space adventure with intrigue and violence that still manages for the most part to be lighter both in mood and colouring then I initially feared. 🤖♥️

I'm pretty invested in liking the characters I read about, so with the premise of a reluctantly reform(ing) con man as the protagonist, it surprised me with how quickly I empathized and enjoyed the ride directed by this clever rascal. Jeff Bezos analog villain put things in perspective! The value of different forms of communication, the danger of bottom line/corporate greed over sustainable business model, the build of suspense and hijinks. ♥️

Miss Dearheart, with the honest decorator tips: "You could perhaps do something with floral wallpaper and a fire-bomb."

One of Von Lipwig's many incisive remarks:
"A smooth tongue was not much use in rough trousers."

Political and social satire amid eloquence with staying power.
Terry, you did it again. 🥰

Pretty picture book intermission! I've now exhausted my library's collection of works by K. O'Neill and I'm sad about it. 😢 Dewdrop is sweetly encouraging; Princess Princess Ever After is sweet enough to make my teeth ache, with good messages not seen enough in classic fairy tales for younger audiences. Moonday is further proof that when Adam Rex both writes AND illustrates a book, I will happily follow his whimsy anywhere.

The sass! The witty repartee! I was cheering for Veronica Speedwell by the end of chapter one and the rest of the novel just kept getting better. A heroine who takes no shit without feeling anachronistic, a historical novel that is not a tapestry of manners and misunderstandings, as too many in the genre are. Ranked by quantity 1) adventure 2) mystery 3) romance - my kind of mix. Will be continuing the series!

It's probably some kind of reader crime that I'm not showcasing the more snappy dialogue featured so well in this novel, but it was the little neatly packaged observations that stuck with me.

Lord of the Rings on a sugar high, in space! So much fun. Bonus musical accompaniment if you go to the url shown in the book. Happy to see there's a planned sequel.

Poignant in its brevity to the point where I'd be more likely to recommend it to adults than kids. I think it resonates more with an older audience.

And now for something completely different...😐 A bit of narrative, a bit of stream of consciousness, some poetry. The recounting of real life deaths in the middle of a work of fiction weirded me out, but if you look at this work as one interested in voicing what the author thinks is important to focus on in life, then it provides context.
Touches on bigender, female power, racism, mental illness, trauma. A little too scattered for my taste.

Thoroughly entertaining. Edge of my seat several times, engrossed in the unfolding mystery and climaxing action.
Not jazzed about the (singular) casual homophobic comment; of two Native American Vietnam vets depicted, one 'troubled', other ready to fight 'us vs them'- stereotypes?
Oh, yeah, and various forms of violence are detailed.
Basically, if you can survive the insensitivity and gore of an 80s action movie, you will enjoy this book.

DEL CAPSLOCK- as in Delete and Capital Letter Lock?
Did this dude just realize he couldn't come up with a name, then looked to his computer keyboard for inspiration?!

Evocative engagement of the senses.
"...the SMELL of death, the stinking high note of lilies and stale egg sandwiches. The CLATTER of tea-making and words made out of sympathy with effort and difficulty."

An incredible journey through a post-apocalyptic war-torn landscape where the robots are both the protagonists and the antagonists in a scifi western action movie interwoven with philosophical/social/economical treatise. Loved all but the violence. Also includes: minor reflections on gender in robots, heavy themes of inhumanities originating in mankind, also inflicted on robotkind, then perpetrated by and on robots themselves.

The Ship of Theseus, for robots!

Vivid, but definitive! 🫣

When the book contains sentiment you've held close to your heart for years:

"AIN'T NO BETTER PLACE THAN THIS. Ain't no place in the world that can be better than being with that woman. HOW THE HELL IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE A BETTER GODDAMMED PLACE IF SHE AIN'T THERE?"

Come to think of it, vegans and artificial intelligence would have shared philosophy on this point. ?

"No thinking thing should be another thing's property..."

Not this AI outlining the greatest cockup of western civilization in two paragraphs. 🤦🏼‍♂️

Today on descriptions that scratched my brain just right:

"In its day, it must have gleamed like a diamond on the finger of an effervescent newlywed."

A Spindle Splintered meets Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm very glad I didn't know anything about this book before I started it. Start, middle and end are different than I thought, and I think it will stay with me longer because of that. I have a feeling it might have had a greater impact if I had read it at the intended audience age: teenager. Definitely look up content warnings.

Just so much fun. Love the supportive girl gang/found family vibes, respect for how hard this story went on 'free the nipple', the celebration of different body types/shapes, the uncompromising freedom to be themselves that these characters all were. Pretty sure I saw some non-binary as well as queer rep?

The love for funky colourful scifi adventures in graphic novels continues! Admittedly, this one has less queer rep, and no non-binary to speak of, more contemporary relevance to those currently in their 20s, seeking a chance to laugh at the quandries of the day: gig economy, dating, what passes for cool, how lame/evil the establishment and/or older generation can be. A bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer vibes in here, which, as an OLD, I appreciate.

Okay, I'll stop now. Hope you've enjoyed your daily dose of CUUUUUTE. 😍

🐔+🐲 = 🥰

Okay, it was specifically the dragon + chicken moments that got me in this volume. 🥰

Very much here for gender fluid dragons (and non-binary characters created by non-binary authors).

Perfect bedtime stories. I loved The Tea Dragon Society, and these companion stories did not disappoint. Wholesome, beautiful, compassionate, inclusive, with gently crafted lessons for readers of all ages. And the tea dragons? SO CUTE! 😍 #nonbinaryauthors #nonbinarycharacters

I think I'll be taking a break from Silverstein. Maybe it's just not being the target demographic, but as much as my favourite poem was found in one of his books, the majority features an overabundance of nonsense and toilet humour, and it mostly made me tired trying to finish it.

Oh, yes. Continuing to vibe with Mary Oliver's subject matter and form of expression. Will definitely be reading more from her.

Mmm, nope. I feel that having the name T.S. Eliot on the cover and the Faber and Faber (publishing house) promotional poem at the end prompted the reissue (🫰🏻💵) of this collection of poems originally published in the 1930s, but they DO NOT age well. Sinophobia in two of the poems, a racial slur in one of those two, and no effort made to tell kids (this edition classified as juvenile lit) that the word/impression given is harmful.

Last batch of Adam Rex on hand. Turns out there's a lot more written by than illustrated by available, at least at my local library. Varying levels of whimsical and ridiculous, with gentle lessons.