Part literary experiment (phonetical reproduction of English, how would you write it if you mostly only heard it? How does an author write it to convey this while also ensuring the reading comprehension isn't hampered?), part environmental and animal welfare statement, part exploration of trauma and its aftermath.
Fox 8 finds many things enchanting about the human world, 1/?

An excellent re-read. Forgot how absolutely jam-packed the first book in this series is. I think it's that only book series where I would recommend the audiobook over the physical and insist on 1x playback because Kobna Holdbrook-Smith is THAT GOOD of a narrator/performer. The jazzy chapter intros don't hurt either. Might take a bit with the library hold list, but I think I'm set to reread the whole series at this point. 1/?

Ambiguity in books is usually not my favourite but this one really worked for me.
I read it twice in a row, made me think differently about certain parts but the answers are not forthcoming, and the book still works. Will definitely be looking into other works by this author/artist. 1/?

Beautiful art and message. Feels like a kin to Sharks Don't Sink, in promoting women of color in the vocation of shark scientists. The art is for all ages; I do think the writing is a little bit more advanced than your average picture book, would be a good 'read with parent ' pick.

Okay, I get the hype now. Enchanting and fascinating, to have a window into an exceptional circumstance, a mostly wild hare allowed to come and go, trusting enough of a particular human to witness behaviours and appearance up close, without hampering its ability to survive in nature. While we get a handful of reflections from the author, mentions of her life elsewhere, this is a book primarily about observing a hare 1/?

Some of it is prosaic, truly a snippet of a day in the life as much as more profound life lessons, but I kept getting slapped by the sudden elegance in a turn of phrase.
I think I just wanted more, ditch the regular quotes and poems featured from other authors, and give me more first hand experience, more of those striking sentences. Also, more of the gorgeous woodcut style illustrations by Joanna Lisowiec. 1/?

“...streaks of vital light laughing the season in.“
That one's going to stay with me. ☀️

Just a field of grass...on an organic farm.
Modern agrochemicals and industrial farming = threat to biodiversity.

Gambolling by moonlight 🥰🐑

Ever-luminous sheep. 🐑🌟

Nine million well-fed squirrels - approximately. ☺️🌰🐿️

The flexible magic of statistics...😏🐸📊

The cuteness continues! Feel like Nadatani is hitting his stride, there was a heavier proportion of linear narrative in the first few books as things were established, but now the reader can enjoy vignettes of Kozakura and her cats, still strong on the gamer girl and cat care themes. They're adorable and silly and I love them all.

Ranks among my favourite book dedications. ☺️

Priorities...😏

Sucks to 'learn the hard way' on an industrial scale, and it does feel like a lot of agricultural practice I've read about lately is attempting to mitigate or undo what seemed like a good idea before. 😖

Evocative, idyllic, but also, thank goodness for laws that keep children off heavy machinery, and advances that add cabs and roll bars to heavy machinery.

What can you say about a beloved classic that's been such for more than a century?
They're right and they should say it!
I'm sure these are all redundancies from worthier critics, but I'm going to mention them anyway.
Turns out there are legitimately spooky/terrifying passages, as much tension and description related to the ghostly visitations as contemplation of the inability to change one's grim fate and that good old spine-chilling 1/?

His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him. 🥹🕯️

Just a possible future, told briefly in text, but still utterly heartbreaking. 💔😭
Mr. Dickens, the writer that you were. 😔

A comprehensive breakup speech. 🫤

Big fan of the Fezziwigs. 😁

A truly marvelous description. 😊

Too much. This book tried to do way too much. As a premise, I love the idea of an art educator, someone who has spent serious time in creative fields, investigating through reading previous research and interviewing various scientists (ethologists [animal behaviour], evolutionary biologists, psychologists and neuroscientists, etc), and collating the results to convey how animal behaviours lend credence not just to the emerging preponderance 1/?

Ah, the Belt of Eldritch Horrors. A key accessory to any phantom. 😱

I needed that. Truly a splendid collaboration. I usually have difficulty with graphic memoirs - the balance is off between depicting the wealth of information in text versus conveying the narrative through images, this one got it just right. It also had a wealth of story to tell: you get the beats of Takei's life, with a strong thread of recognizing and hiding the gay part of his identity, not a source of self-loathing, 1/?

EEEEEEeeee! 🥰😍

Pure fun, with a cliffhanger? The low stakes nature of this series makes me think it's just a silly bit of drama tacked on the end, but it's certainly not an element I remember from previous volumes.
The motif of the game girl engaging with her cats in ways that echo game play continues, but this volume was better at letting it stem more from natural actions of the cats and the gamer girl creatively engaging with their behaviour and 1/?

Officially adopting level achievements for birthdays! 😁

Hey, this party spot has a water park! 🐦‍⬛😁

McCarthyism: “no one will ever know how much inventive and progressive talent during that period was stifled and stultified.“ 😔

“I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day.“
Nope. No thank you. 🫣

“There's more of gravy than of grave about you...“ 😅
Plausible denial: Ghosts = indigestion. 🤢👻

“clementines, bright orange as lit coals...sweetness haunts her still“
Conveys such a sharp sense of the bleakness that rare pleasures like dessert and true warmth are fighting against.

Oh yes, Shea is definitely best experienced in the full rainbow. I love that Unicorn thinks Goat is pretty great, and Goat thinks Unicorn is pretty great, but there is something a little concerning about Unicorn putting himself down in the same breath that he's admiring Goat's qualities. Goat thinks Unicorn is great, but does Unicorn know that? Unicorn seems like a happy beast, so I assume I'm reading too much into it. 1/2

These endpapers make me wish I could find the pattern in fabric. Happy little cupcakes! 🧁☺️

Currently devouring Bob Shea's picture books, amd went for the seasonally appropriate next. Dinosaur is definitely meant for very young readers given the simplicity of the narrative, and Shea's colourful palette is somewhat restricted by sticking primarily to a red and green motif, but I love the switch between snarly face and truly adorable expressions, and there's something inspiring in the 'roar about it but get shit done' tackling of to-dos.

Such nostalgia for the time when my height dictated the ornament distribution on the tree. ☺️

Thank you, Project Gutenberg, for providing an alternate method of reading this book during a season when all library copies are understandably already loaned out. 👻

Play vs playfulness and memorable examples of not playing around...😏

Ah, classic cis male sci-fi writer demonstrating the legacy of medical incuriousity. I just have a hard time believing that external climate control adequately accounts for hormonal fluctuations. Pretty sure menopausal people would still end up sweating. Speaking as someone about to enter their forties, if sci-fi wants to come up with better ways to mitigate menopausal symptoms, I welcome it!

Doesn't that seem like an accurate description of twerking?
Twerking as communication! 🫨

🤨

We love a resilient, sneaky bastard. 😏

In case you were wondering why my reading pace has slowed down in the last couple months...a lot of leisure (reading) time spent crocheting! Probably would have been a good time to find more audiobooks, but a lot of the time video tutorial watch-a-longs were required. 🤷🏼‍♂️🎄☃️🌟🎅🧶

To absolutely no one's surprise, another smash hit from K O'Neill that I absolutely love. Their ability to let a story breath, the frequency of panels that don't include dialogue, exposition, just images that set the scene or move the narrative forward, the art style that has a whimsy and a beauty, a believable world with fantasy elements, that leaves room for simple joys and pathos, 1/2

Limón continues to provide a memorable medley of nature imagery, sharing family remembrance and personal reflection, amidst occasional wider social commentary, vulnerable in regards to a complex relationship with motherhood and infertility. Her poems are beautifully written and alternate between fodder for rumination and straight up gut punch. Now committed to reading everything she's published that I can get my hands on. 1/2

One test fits all = bad science

“following the cat of imagination“
I love that.
Better than 'muse' to my mind, no misogynistic undertones of various Western male interpretations of ancient Greek feminine figures being stingy with inspiration, no wooing or subjugation required, just gently trailing a capricious creature in search of creativity.