Adventure
Sea state : a memoir
Tabitha Lasley
BIOGRAPHY Lasley, Tabitha
Literary Nonfiction, Nonfiction, Memoir, Adventure
"A stunning and brutally honest memoir that shines a light on what happens when female desire conflicts with a culture of masculinity in crisis In her midthirties and newly free from a terrible relationship, Tabitha Lasley quit her job at a London magazine, packed her bags, and poured her savings into a six-month lease on an apartment in Aberdeen, Scotland. She decided to make good on a long-deferred idea for a book about oil rigs and the men who work on them. Why oil rigs? She wanted to see what men were like with no women around. In Aberdeen, Tabitha became deeply entrenched in the world of roughnecks, a teeming subculture rich with brawls, hard labor, competition, and the deepest friendships imaginable. The longer she stayed, the more she found her presence had a destabilizing effect on the men--and her. Sea State is on the one hand a portrait of an overlooked industry: "offshore" is a way of life for generations of primarily working-class men and also a potent metaphor for those parts of life we keep at bay--class, masculinity, the transactions of desire, and the awful slipperiness of a ladder that could, if we tried hard enough, lead us to security. Sea State is on the other hand the story of a journalist whose professional distance from her subject becomes perilously thin. In Aberdeen, Tabitha gets high and dances with abandon, reliving her youth, when the music was good and the boys were bad. Twenty years on, there is Caden: a married rig worker who spends three weeks on and three weeks off. Alone and in an increasingly precarious state, Tabitha dives into their growing attraction. The relationship, reckless and explosive, will lay them both bare"--
Solo leveling
author Chugong
MANGA Chugong Solo
Fantasy, Dystopian, Adventure
"The weakest of the weak, E-class hunter Jinwoo Sung has no money, no talent, and no prospects to speak of. And when he enters a hidden dungeon that fateful day, he ends up being left to die in the aftermath of a horrendous tragedy. At death's door, Jinwoo is suddenly invited to be a "player" by a mysterious voice. Desperate to live, Jinwoo jumps at the chance...but what is this strange new leveling system that only he can see?"--
The art is amazing and the story is good. -Mykle
The Beatryce Prophecy
Kate DiCamillo
jFICTION DiCamillo, Kate
Adventure, Early Chapter Books
"We shall all, in the end, be led to where we belong. We shall all, in the end, find our way home. In a time of war, a mysterious child appears at the monastery of the Order of the Chronicles of Sorrowing. Gentle Brother Edik finds the girl, Beatryce, curled in a stall, wracked with fever, coated in dirt and blood, and holding fast to the ear of Answelica the goat. As the monk nurses Beatryce to health, he uncovers her dangerous secret, one that imperils them all--for the king of the land seeks just such a girl, and Brother Edik, who penned the prophecy himself, knows why. And so it is that a girl with a head full of stories--powerful tales-within-the-tale of queens and kings, mermaids and wolves--ventures into a dark wood in search of the castle of one who wishes her dead. But Beatryce knows that, should she lose her way, those who love her--a wild-eyed monk, a man who had once been king, a boy with a terrible sword, and a goat with a head as hard as stone--will never give up searching for her, and to know this is to know everything. With its timeless themes, unforgettable cast, and magical medieval setting, Kate DiCamillo's lyrical tale, paired with resonant black-and-white illustrations by Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall, is a true collaboration between masters"--
Kate DiCamillo's work is always magical and this book is no exception. Set in a somewhat Medieval time period, Beatryce, our protagonist wakes up with no memory sleeping on a bed of straw holding the ear of a goat. Slowly, things get revealed to her: she can read, she can write, her name is Beatryce. She finds a band of friends (always slightly a misfit band of friends, the goat for one), and as her memory returns, she goes to try and find her mother. If you have a child who loves adventure, here's their book. Sophie Blackwell's illustrations are beautiful. This is a chapter book, but it is also a good one to read aloud. -Anne M
The dragon with a chocolate heart
Stephanie Burgis
jFICTION Burgis Stephani
Fantasy, Adventure
After drinking enchanted hot chocolate, a brave young dragon is transformed into a twelve-year-old human girl with a passion for chocolate.
This series opener is delectable any time of year, but hot chocolate season makes this an especially good winter re-read. We're currently waiting for the second of this series on ebook, The Girl with The Dragon Heart, for bedtime sharing. While we wait, we may circle back around to hear from Aventurine again . -Casey
The Basque dragon
Adam Gidwitz
jREAD-ALONG Gidwitz
Adventure, Fantasy, Kids
"Elliot and Uchenna join Professor Fauna on another adventure--a trip to the Basque country where they have to save a herensuge from the billionaire Schmoke Brothers"--
Added by Anne W
Sasquatch and the Muckleshoot
Adam Gidwitz
jREAD-ALONG Gidwitz
Adventure, Fantasy, Kids
Elliot and his friend Uchenna join Professor Fauna as they travel to the Pacific Northwest and help keep a sasquatch family safe from a pack of journalists and a logging company.
Added by Anne W
The creature of the pines
Adam Gidwitz
jREAD-ALONG Gidwitz
Adventure, Fantasy, Kids
After encountering a Jersey Devil while on a field trip to the Pine Barrens, Elliot and his new friend Uchenna help their weird teacher Professor Fauna rescue the mythological creature from a pair of greedy billionaire brothers.
Added by Anne W
The dragon thief
Zetta Elliott
Told in two voices, Jax and Kavita, Kavita's brother Vik, and new friend Kenny try to return the baby dragon to the realm of magic before anything else goes wrong.
I'm currently reading this one aloud at bedtime for the second time! No surprises that the sequel to Dragons in a Bag is just as fun. -Casey
Dactyl Hill Squad
Daniel José Older
jFICTION Older Daniel
Fiction, Adventure, Historical Fiction
It is the summer of 1863, and as the Civil War rages between dinosaur-mounted armies down south, and a tense New York City seems on the brink of exploding into riots, Magdalys Roca and the other children at the Colored Orphan Asylum are trying to survive; but when she receives a letter telling her that her brother Montez was wounded, Magdalys knows that somehow she must reach him--and just possibly her ability to communicate telepathically with dinosaurs may come in handy.
Added by Anne W
The canyon's edge
Dusti Bowling
jFICTION/Bowling Dusti
Adventure
A year after the death of her mother in a restaurant shooting, Nora is left struggling to stay alive when a climbing trip with her father goes terribly wrong.
newest novel (in verse!) from the author of the excellent Insignificant Events in the Life of a Cactus series! -Anne W
This book is in my selection area, and I found my interest piqued each time I came across a review for it. It's one of those "under the radar" reads--worthy of "best of" rankings but not explosively viral like Educated or Atomic Habits. The author's narrative writing style allows a reader to (sea) breeze through the book. Read it if you're in the mood for a true story about living a life in search of something more. -Melody