I haven't done a recap of review since early December, so I'm going to mostly stick to just reviews in this post.
We had an amazing trip to the USA over the holidays, and we've had a busy month back in China. One week to go until we get another break over the Chinese New Year holiday. That one will be a staycation for us (as will out Spring break, but we are working on some big travel plans for the summer). We're looking forward to exploring more of Shanghai over the New Year break.
I'm going to do a year of reading only books by women in 2019. I've got some amazing-looking books lined up, and I'm looking forward to this as an opportunity to hear some different voices and to read some things I might not have otherwise chosen.
Here is the list of works by female authors that I've got on my shelf right now:
Finished Reading:
Awkward by Svetlana Chmakova
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Currently Reading:
So You Want To Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin
Hack College Like An Entrepreneur by Antonia Liu
To Be Read:
Shut Up Shakespeare and Other Poems by Ellen Beener
A Book Without Dragons by Olivia Berrier
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart by Stephanie Burgis
The Distant Land of my Father by Bo Caldwell
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
Over Sea, Under Stone by Susan Cooper
The Vengeful Half by Jackie Dolamore
Moonlight Sonata by Elizabeth Donald
Deep Wizardry by Diane Duane
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
China Homecoming by Jean Fritz
Seaworthy by Linda Greenlaw
The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
A Thousand Miles to Freedom by Eunsun Kim
Mambo in Chinatown by Jean Kwok
Dragon Magic by Andre Norton
Seven Spells To Sunday by Andre Norton
Lady Knight by Tamora Pierce
Lumberjanes Vol. 4 by Noelle Stevenson, Shannon Watters, and Brooke Allen
The Crystal Cave by Mary Stewart
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Saving Fish From Drowning by Amy Tan
Spectra by Rebecca Thompson and Kerry G. Johnson
Space Opera by Catherynne Valente
The Flutter Collection by Jennie Wood
Wizard's Hall by Jane Yolen
That accounts for just under half of the goal of 75, although I will pick up some of the remaining ones from the Kiddo's to-be-read pile. Open to suggestions of any genre. I am somewhat limited in terms of what is available at easily accessible bookstores in Shanghai (I prefer not to read ebooks, which limits things a bit further, but I expect to have some opportunities over the course of the year to do a bit of book shopping).
Exceptions:
With any absolute statement, there are usually some exceptions attached.
I have three books by male authors that I am in the process of reading, and one I'm reading with the Kiddo and the other two are books that I've been reading in really slow bits at a time.
I do a comic review blog, and individual issue comics in my Random Stack of Unread Comics are, well, random, so I'm not including them in this exercise.
I sometimes have required professional development books for my job that I don't get to choose.
For the books that I read for bedtime reading with the Kiddo, I do have a really nice selection of books by women authors lined up, and I plan to try to stick with those and let him read other books on his own, but some of this is his choice.
I got a huge list of ideas to add to my wishlist from Facebook friends, but I am always happy to take other suggestions! Looking forward to some great reading in 2019!
Two big bits of news!
First of all, the Kiddo won first place for his grade in the science fair!
The other news is that I signed my contract renewal at the day job. That means that we will be here in Shanghai through the 2020-2021 school year! I really appreciate the vote of confidence from my school, and while it was not an easy decision from our point of view, we are excited for the chance to continue our experience living in China.
The rest of that week was devoted to Thanksgiving. School festivities included a potluck feast on Wednesday for the lower school, and then turkey and pumpkin pie in the Cafeteria on Thursday for everyone. That night was our family Thanksgiving celebration with roast chicken and veggies, followed by Christmas music and decorating the Christmas tree.
On Friday (the school's official Thanksgiving holiday) I took the Kiddo to Shanghai Disneyland to meet up with some classmates. We had a great time, and relatively short lines for rides.
We have also done some various Christmas shopping expeditions in town, and the Kiddo and I played in two Magic: The Gathering drafts over the past few days. I went 6-0 in games in an Unstable draft!
We started yesterday with Breakfast With Santa at the Geneva restaurant, which was lovely, even if it did cause me to lose "Whamageddon" on the first day of December (in China! It wasn't even December in much of the USA at that time!).
Speaking of losing, I fell well short on Nanowrimo, as I figured I probably would with everything else going on.
And I have been doing some reading and reviewing.
Comic Reviews on Comic A Day
Satisfactory Comics #8 by Isaac Cates and Mike Wenthe.
Amulet Book Six: Escape From Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi.
Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey.
Ultimate Spider-Man #52 from Marvel Comics.
Book Reviews on Goodreads
The Adventures of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra.
The Story of Mount Desert Island by Samuel Eliot Morison.
Supporting
Supporting Massachusetts Audubon Society for Giving Tuesday. I gave to the sanctuary (Ashumet Holly) where Gynn used to do fieldwork on spadefoot toads.
Upcoming
It looks like we're doing our day trip to Suzhou next Sunday. On Saturday we have a makeup school day followed by the upper school's holiday concert and then the staff Christmas party. So this will be a busy week. Kiddo's lower school concert is on Wednesday.
The following week is exams, and then we're on break. We'll watch WWE TLC here in Shanghai, and I may do one more shopping day in Qibao or elsewhere in the city before we depart for the USA on Wednesday December 19.
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Supporting
I'm supporting comic book writer Mark Waid's legal defense against Comicsgate trolls.When I think of Stan Lee, I hear his voice from the pages of Marvel's original "best of" compilations, produced in the 1970s, long before I'd ever heard the words "Graphic Novel" or "Trade Paperback". My brother and I had the whole set: Origins of Marvel Comics, Son of Origins, The Superhero Women, Bring on the Bad Guys, and our favorite: Marvel's Greatest Superhero Battles.
We got a great introduction to the classic superhero stories of the 1960s in the pages of those books, but for me, there was more than just the comics. I would read all of Stan Lee's introductory essays, discussing the behind-the-scenes origins of the characters. How it seemed obvious that the team-name for a team of mutants should be "The Mutants", until his editors worried that kids wouldn't know what that word meant, leading to a session of brainstorming that resulted in the X-Men. How when thinking about how every superhero had a list of special abilities and one weakness, he thought of the idea of putting the focus on the weakness, and came up with the concept of a blind superhero. How superhero characters were becoming so powerful that you may as well make God a superhero. But if you couldn't get away with that, then how about a superhero who is a god?
There was a lot of history there, admittedly clouded by Stan's ego, as I would see later in life that he enjoyed being the voice of Marvel, and that he wasn't always about sharing the credit.
But what his words between the comic pages in those books meant most to me was that here was a man who was creating stories, writing fantastic adventures, and he was making a living doing it, and having fun making a living.
Thank you for all of the stories. The stories within the comics, and the stories between.
Rest in peace.
After all of the vaguebooking about upcoming travel plans, I can now announce: We're traveling to the US for our winter break! This will be our first time coming home for the holiday season in over five years! Looking forward to a nice New England Christmas with friends and family!
This week was Halloween, which is a big event at my school. The Kiddo became a two-time champion, winning the "Most Original" prize for his reptilian politician costume! (He won "Best Makeup" last year as WWE's Finn Balor/The Demon).
In other news, I do a set of daily goals for writing, language practice, diet and exercise, and blogging. I set a reward goal for 50 points for a week, which is pretty hard to achieve. I started the points system at the beginning of the school year, and the week before last was my first 50-point week. So last night I headed into town to a geeky mall near People's Square that I'd heard about and rewarded myself with some Magic: The Gathering purchases.
I really enjoyed WWE Evolution. Great show! I will not be watching Crown Jewel.
It is now into November, and I have not started Nanowrimo, although I am planning to participate. This year my plan is to write the second draft of The Lady of Three Faces, which was my Nano project last year until I tripped and broke two fingers a few days into last November. I'm not going to sweat wordcount this year, but hopefully Nano season will give me some motivation to make some writing happen.
In the meantime, I've written a couple of reviews.
Comic Reviews on Comic A Day
Star Wars: Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown.
Amulet Book 3: The Cloud Searchers by Kazu Kibuishi
Upcoming
Science fair is happening in a couple of weeks. Kiddo has been working on evaporating his water samples to measure salinity.
I may be going to Disney Shanghai with the Kiddo for a classmate's birthday party around Thanksgiving. We're also looking at a possible day trip to a nearby city on that weekend on one of the non-Disney days. Actual Thanksgiving festivities will probably be low-key. Maybe a baked chicken with potatoes and veggies and a bottle of wine on Thursday night. We get Friday off for Thanksgiving, but not Thursday. The school usually serves turkey and pumpkin pie for school lunch that day.
Busy season in WWE is beginning to wind down. Survivor Series and NXT Wargames in a few weeks, and then TLC, which will also include the finals of Mixed Match Challenge. I haven't heard any plans for Tribute to the Troops, but that usually occurs around this time of year too. They're also doing a Starcade show, but last year's was not televised. Not sure if there are any plans to put this one on WWE Network.
I bought some Magic cards, but the timing of events over the next few weeks doesn't work well for me. Hopefully I can get into at least one or two more drafts here in Shanghai before we leave for our trip to the US. I'll try to get to a couple of events in the US when we're there.
As mentioned above, we're going to the US for Christmas. We'll be in New Hampshire for most of our visit, with some time spent on Cape Cod and in Boston. Very excited about that trip.
As a result of the splurge on the Christmas trip home, we'll probably be spending Chinese New Year here in Shanghai. We have some general ideas for travel plans looking further ahead, and some major decisions to make about long term plans. I'll tell more when we know more.
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