Monthly Wrap-Ups – Page 2 – The Bookish Mutant

The Great Big Wrap-Up of Everything | August-December 2024

Posted on December 31, 2024December 31, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles, and happy New Year’s Eve! 2024 was…well. It sure was a year, wasn’t it? Things happened! Too many things. Man.

I’ll keep it short, because I’ve said something along the lines of the same thing for several months now. I like doing these wrap-ups, but they’re certainly time-intensive, so I doubt I’ll be able to keep up with the monthly schedule going into 2025. However, my brain does like sorting things into silly little lists with bullet points and whatnot, so I thought I would throw this together for the end of the year. Even though I was working so much, I did get to a lot of fun reads, and I didn’t want to leave them out! As I said in my 5-star Reads post, it’s been a rocky and anxious year, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t populated with good reads—and moments in general—throughout. So, for the last time in 2024, here’s a wrap-up of everything from August to December.

Enjoy this massive wrap-up!

WRAP-UP: EVERYTHING I’VE READ SINCE AUGUST

AUGUST

I read 17 books in August! I don’t think anything for the rest of the year will measure up to having two 5-star reads back to back, but either way, this ended up being a lovely month for reading. Also, before everybody comes after me for DNFing Remarkably Bright Creatures…you can’t blame me after this line was said by a supposedly 30-year-old character: “bicep day was lit at the gym today.” How do you do, fellow kids?

Book Reviews:

1 – 1.75 stars:

Remarkably Bright Creatures – Shelby Van Pelt (DNF – ⭐️)
Shark Heart – Emily Habeck (DNF – ⭐️.75)

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Prince and the Coyote – David Bowles (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

The Worst Ronin – Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Faith Schaffer (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Icon and Inferno (Stars and Smoke, #2) – Marie Lu (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
So Let Them Burn (Divine Traitors, #1) – Kamilah Cole (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Catherine House – Elisabeth Thomas (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Agnes at the End of the World – Kelly McWilliams (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

A Short Walk Through a Wide World – Douglas Westerbeke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Patricia Wants to Cuddle – Samantha Allen (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Navigating With You – Jeremy Whitley and Casio Ribeiro (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Book of Delights – Ross Gay (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Book of (More) Delights – Ross Gay (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Oye – Melissa Mogollon (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Contact – Carl Sagan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

The Stardust Grail – Yume Kitasei (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Beautyland – Marie-Helene Bertino (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

SEPTEMBER

I read 15 books in September! I was so caught up in my reading schedule being disturbed (somewhat) by school starting that I didn’t even realize that I didn’t have any 1 or 2-star reads! Miraculous. Either way, between my work, I was able to squeeze in some great reads for both Bisexual Visibility Week and Latinx Heritage Month.

Book Reviews:

3 – 3.75 stars:

Reclaim the Stars: 17 Tales Across Realms & Space – edited by Zoraida Córdova (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Some Girls Do – Jennifer Dugan (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Girl, the Ring, & the Baseball Bat – Camille Gomera-Tavarez (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf (read twice – for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
If You Still Recognize Me – Cynthia So (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Rakesfall – Vajra Chandrasekera (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – Holly Jackson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Sun and the Void (The Warring Gods, #1) – Gabriela Romero Lacruz (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Richard III – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Richard II – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Death’s Country – R.M. Romero (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Ander and Santi Were Here – Jonny Garza Villa (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

5 stars:

*The Crumrin Chronicles, Vol. 1 – The Charmed and the Cursed*

Radiohead – Climbing Up the Walls – Tom Sheehan (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Crumrin Chronicles, Vol. 1: The Charmed and the Cursed – Ted Naifeh (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Crumrin Chronicles, Vol. 2: The Lost and the Lonely – Ted Naifeh (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

OCTOBER

I read 15 books in October! Spooky season, busy as it was, another great month for books—new Crumrin Chronicles, new books from Amie Kaufman and Eliot Schrefer…oh, and I finally read Hamlet after all these years. I’ve seen so many adaptations that I just found myself going “HE DID IT!!! HE SAID THE LINE!!! HE SAID THE LINE!!” whenever I saw a passage I recognized.

Book Reviews:

1 – 1.75 stars:

The Book That Wouldn’t Burn – Mark Lawrence (DNF – ⭐️.5)

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Merchant of Venice – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Red in Tooth and Claw – Lish McBride (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Fiasco (Uncharted Hearts, #2) – Constance Fay (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Sun of Blood and Ruin – Mariely Lares (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Hours – Michael Cunningham (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Scout Is Not a Band Kid – Jade Armstrong (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Ministry of Time – Kailane Bradley (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Cat’s Cradle – Kurt Vonnegut (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Wishing Game – Meg Shaffer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Hamlet – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Heart of the World (The Isles of the Gods, #2) – Amie Kaufman (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

*The Crumrin Chronicles, vol. 3: The Wild & the Innocent*

The Brightness Between Us (The Darkness Outside Us, #2) – Eliot Schrefer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Crumrin Chronicles, Vol. 3: The Wild & the Innocent – Ted Naifeh (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

NOVEMBER

I read 14 books in November! I shouldn’t have to explain why I decided to read The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet on Election Day. Jesus fucking christ. Also, I hate to speak ill of the dead, but either I’ve grown out of Rachel Caine, or I just read her better books in high school…maybe I should’ve read Ink and Bone when my taste was less discerning.

Book Reviews:

1 – 1.75 stars:

Ink and Bone (The Great Library, #1) – Rachel Caine (DNF – ⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Timon of Athens – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Pericles – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love – Lex Croucher (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Time and Time Again – Chatham Greenfield (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Girl and the Galdurian (Lightfall, #1) – Tim Probert (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Shadow of the Bird (Lightfall, #2) – Tim Probert (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Loka (The Alloy Era, #2) – S.B. Divya (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Brooms – Jasmine Walls (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Countess – Suzan Palumbo (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
How to Argue With a Racist: What Our Genes Do (and Don’t) Say About Human Difference – Adam Rutherford (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Nightward (The Waters of Lethe, #1) – R.S.A Garcia (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet – Becky Chambers (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

DECEMBER

I read 13 books in December, and rounded out my Goodreads challenge with 199 books read this year! I’d say that’s pretty impressive. December proved to have a solid bunch this month (to say nothing of the pretentious, 212 pages of nothing that was Orbital).

Book Reviews:

2 – 2.75 stars:

Orbital – Samantha Harvey (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

*A People’s Future of the United States*

Can’t Take That Away – Steven Salvatore (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Library of the Unwritten (Hell’s Library, #1) – A.J. Hackwith (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Ms. Marvel: Mutant Menace – Iman Vellani, Sabir Pirzada, and Scott Godlewski (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Full Speed to a Crash Landing (Chaotic Orbits, #1) – Beth Revis (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
The Lost Story – Meg Shaffer (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
A People’s Future of the United States: Speculative Fiction from 25 Extraordinary Writers – edited by Victor LaValle (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Inciting Joy: Essays – Ross Gay (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Starling House – Alix E. Harrow (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories about Racism – Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Between Perfect and Real – Ray Stoeve (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Dark Times (Lightfall, #3) – Tim Probert (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Tempest – William Shakespeare (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

In lieu of my usual songs/albums that I’ve been listening to lately, enjoy some selections from my Apple Music Replay. It appears I’ve lost my hypothetical Welsh street cred (no longer in the top 100 listeners for Super Furry Animals…it’s been an honor), but it’s been replaced by being in the top 500 for XTC? I did listen to “This is Pop?” and “The Ballad of Peter Pumpkinhead” an unhealthy amount…

In addition, here are my Sunday Songs for each month:

AUGUST:

SEPTEMBER:

OCTOBER:

NOVEMBER:

DECEMBER:

Today’s song:

it’s finally cold enough to allow myself to listen to Victorialand! Great album to close out 2024 with.

Now, how to wrap up a wrap-up…all I can say is that I love you. My blog may not have the numbers of views and likes that it used to (even though the follower count has gone up…620 of y’all, oh my god, thank you!), but I treasure the small community that I’ve got here. I write these things mostly to write out into the world what I want to see and ramble about the things I love, but I’m grateful that, through it all, you’ve all stayed to stick it out and listen. I’ve always done it for myself and not in the service of getting more likes or views, so I’m glad that someone’s listening anyway.

I hope you all find love, solace, hope, or whatever it is you need in this coming year. In the grand scheme of things, I’m frightened (and hoping that my Canadian cousins have a room to spare up north, hahahahaha [SCREAMING]), but on the smaller scale, with the things I can control, I’m glad to be turning over a new leaf. It’ll be difficult, but I’ve built up the tools to go forward in a healthier, compassionate, and more loving way. Whoever you are, I hope 2025 brings what you need, big or small. As always: spread love, not fear or hate. Look at the stars. Keep on reading, watching, listening, and engaging with what you love. And most importantly, be kind—to others, and to yourself.

Lots of love,

Madeline

Monthly Wrap-Ups

July 2024 Wrap-Up 🌤

Posted on July 31, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Wednesday, bibliophiles!

Somehow July’s already over…it felt awfully fast, yet the heat made the evenings so slow…time, huh?

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

July for sure had its ups and downs; I was getting hit with the election anxiety big time at the beginning of the month…so naturally, I was overjoyed at the prospect that Biden had dropped out of the election. Comforting that my options aren’t just “old white man with dementia” and “old white man with dementia who also happens to be a felon.” (Still. No excuse to vote for the felon, folks. Harris 2024!). So my faith has been restored on that front, and I’ve ended the month on a much more hopeful note, thankfully. America remains a dumpster fire, but least there’s some light at the end of the tunnel.

I was able to read a good amount this month, though! As is with every year, I was scrambling to find more and more books with disability rep for Disability Pride Month (there’s a solid amount out there, but it’s still fairly scarce), but I ended up reading some excellent books as a result! Summer has confined me to the house for the most part, what with the miserable heat (listen, I like summer, but not 90 degree heat, let me be clear), but it’s given me plenty of time to read—and to write! I participated in Camp NaNoWriMo this month, and as of today, I reached my goal of 50,000 words a day early! I had no idea that I’d be able to pull it off a day early—I had my ups and downs as far as motivation goes, but now, I’m a little over halfway through my first draft of this novel! I’ve also had fun with my blogging this month, and I feel like I’ve written some productive reviews.

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing guitar, drinking a ton of tea, watching Succession (nearly finished with season 2!), watching and re-watching several Studio Ghibli movies (technically, I saw Ponyo when I was 5, but it felt like a fever dream back then…MUCH more beautiful now!), and doing everything I can to get out of this heat.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! As with every month, there were some hits (nearly 5 stars) and misses (an unfortunate DNF…), but I especially had fun reading books for this year’s Disability Pride Month!

1 – 1.75 stars:

The Secret Summer Promise – Keah Brown (DNF – ⭐️.5)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Cascade Failure (Ambit’s Run, #1) – L.M. Sagas (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Promises Stronger Than Darkness (Unstoppable, #3) – Charlie Jane Anders (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Sixteen Souls – Rosie Talbot (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Joined at the Joints – Marissa Eller (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Love Letters for Joy – Melissa See (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Finna (LitenVerse, #1) – Nino Cipri (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Last Murder at the End of the World – Stuart Turton (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
To a Darker Shore – Leanne Schwartz (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Stars in Their Eyes – Jessica Walton and Aśka (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Accessing the Future: A Disability-Themed Anthology of Speculative Fiction – edited by Kathryn Allan (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Goldilocks – L.R. Lam (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Stars Too Fondly – Emily Hamilton (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Vela: A Novel – Yoon Ha Lee, Becky Chambers, Rivers Solomon, and S.L. Huang (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Rosewater (The Wormwood Trilogy, #1) – Tade Thompson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire – edited by Alice Wong (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life – Alice Wong (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Someone You Can Build a Nest In – John Wiswell (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH – Someone You Can Build a Nest In – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing The WondLa trilogy, Stars in Their Eyes, The Vela, Finna, and To a Darker Shore!
The WondLa TV show, on the other hand…not nearly as fun. Here’s my review.
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs for 7/7, 7/14, 7/21, and 7/28.
I made a list of recommendations for Disability Pride Month!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

so glad I gave this album a try!

:,)

this song’s had a massive chokehold on me for at least three weeks now…

thank you to horsegirl for deerhoof and this song!!

this album is instant calm…

so glad I remembered this song… :,)

Today’s song:

RETURN OF THE SNAIL

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

June 2024 Wrap-Up 🐻

Posted on June 30, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

Halfway through 2024…no! No we aren’t 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

After how busy and hectic my sophomore year of college was, June has been a time to recharge in more ways than one. I went on a quiet vacation at the beginning of the month (Ouray and Black Canyon of the Gunnison—the latter is a very underrated national park, I highly recommend it!), and I’ve taken the rest of the month to…well, rest. I’ve tried to be on social media less and focus on art, writing, and generally nourishing my creativity. In preparation for Camp NaNoWriMo (I only ever do the July camp these days because November and April are both abysmally busy times for me now that I’m in college), I’ve decided to round out my sci-fi trilogy and write the first draft of book three; at this point, I’ve beefed up the outline like a grizzly bear before hibernation, so at least I’ll have some sense of direction…wish me luck!

My reading month started out slower, and it’s had some dips, as always, but I ended up reading loads of fantastic queer books for pride month! Predictably, one of my vacation souvenirs wasn’t something related to where we went…no, I bought a copy of The Familiar at a local bookstore (support ’em!) knowing that it would take eons for my hold to arrive at the library. Worth it. I also figured it was as good a time as any to re-read my favorite series from when I was a kid—the WondLa trilogy. My verdict? It healed my soul and reinvigorated my creativity. Some kid’s books don’t age well, but WondLa never gets old.

Other than that, I’ve just been making art, playing guitar, going to pride (so much fun!), watching Hacks, Succession (nearly finished with season 1, and all it’s done is made me fear business majors even more than I already do), and…morbidly, Apple TV+’s new show that they decided to call WondLa. I’m three episodes in, and it’s like watching a train wreck. Expect a retrospective on the WondLa trilogy and possibly a review of…whatever that show is that definitely isn’t WondLa.

On a lighter note, photos from my vacation and pride:

(The bear on the title of the post is in honor of a bear we saw crossing the road in Black Canyon. Could also represent bears in general? Happy pride.)

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! It’s been another relaxed reading month, and although I had a slump towards the end of the month, I read several incredible books for pride month!

1 – 1.75 stars:

Wild Massive – Scotto Moore (DNF – ⭐️.75)

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Terraformers – Annalee Newitz (⭐️⭐️)
The Buried and the Bound (The Buried and the Bound, #1) – Rochelle Hassan (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Flawless Girls – Anna-Marie McLemore (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Junker Seven (Twin Suns, #1) – Olive J. Kelley (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Under Fortunate Stars – Ren Hutchings (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
All Boys Aren’t Blue – George M. Johnson (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Feeling of Falling in Love – Mason Deaver (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Unbroken (Magic of the Lost, #1) – C.L. Clark (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Faithless (Magic of the Lost, #2) – C.L. Clark (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Floating Hotel – Grace Curtis (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Sunbringer (Fallen Gods, #2) – Hannah Kaner (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Familiar – Leigh Bardugo (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth – Andrew Joseph White (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Freshwater – Akwaeke Emezi (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

The Search for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #1) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Hero for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #2) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Battle for WondLa (The Search for WondLa, #3) – Tony DiTerlizzi (re-read) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH (NOT COUNTING RE-READS) – Freshwater – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing Junker Seven, Floating Hotel, and Flawless Girls!
Here’s my yearly Pride Month recommendations!
I also did the Read the Rainbow Book Tag for pride!
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 6/2, 6/16, 6/23, and 6/30.

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

ADORE THIS ALBUM.

this song cracks me up…happy pride

forgot about this song for ages…thank you to my dad for resurrecting this one for me!

on a cocteau twins kick again…

LIVE LAUGH LISA GERMANO

great album!! with all the buzz it got when it came out, I’m surprised that I never heard anything about this one…

HOT WILCO SUMMER!!

Today’s song:

living for the Galaga noises at 0:26

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

May 2024 Wrap-Up ⌨️

Posted on May 31, 2024May 31, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Friday, bibliophiles!

Finally summer! Finally, more time to read…and most of what I’ve read this month has been good, I’d say.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Save for the first week of the month, May has been the first month where I’ve been able to relax somewhat! Finals were over and I’d moved out of my dorm before I knew it. Straight A’s and finally being free of my STEM requirements isn’t too shabby, I’d say! I’m so proud of what I’ve accomplished this year—and I’m so glad that I can have some downtime. And I’ve made good use of it so far—May has been my best month in terms of amount of books read (although the quality of…some of said books is another story), and I’ve definitely benefitted from the time spent reading! I’ve also been trying to focus more on art this summer, and consciously taking a slice out of each day to draw has been an adventure so far. I had a solid week where I had three or four blog posts all on the back burner simultaneously, so I unintentionally made a loose schedule for blogging every day as well, so I’m getting some writing in while I recover from writing two short stories and a 20,000 word novella all in one semester. I’ve also been pruning my Goodreads TBR…I’ve managed to cut it down from around 770 to around 720, so I’d say that’s been a success?

Other than that, I’ve just been cleaning things out of the dorm and bringing them back to my house, sleeping, watching Abbott Elementary (THEY FINALLY DID IT!!! THEY FINALLY LET THEM KISS!!!), Taskmaster, and Hacks (we love Jean Smart in this house), and relishing in the warm weather and the beginning of summer. I feel like every time I’m in the car with my family, I just pass the hills and feel the need to comment on how much I love that shade of green that summertime brings. But it’s so beautiful. Every single time. It never gets old. Thank you, shades of summer green.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 19 books this month! I’ve been oscillating between both ends of the spectrum this month, for sure—I read one of the worst books I’ve read this year, but also two of the very best. Somehow, it’s pretty evenly split as far as ratings go when I’ve lined them all up that way, but it’s been up and down all month, but on a track towards betterment midway through. I focused on AAPI books for May, and I found some fantastic books as a result from both familiar and new-to-me authors!

1 – 1.75 stars:

Dear Wendy – Ann Zhao (⭐️.5)

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Space Between Here & Now – Sarah Suk (⭐️⭐️)
Damned If You Do – Alex Brown (⭐️⭐️)
The Mimicking of Known Successes (Mossa & Pleiti, #1) – Malka Ann Older (⭐️⭐️.5)
The Emperor and the Endless Palace – Justinian Huang (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Fathomfolk (Drowned World, #1) – Eliza Chan (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Ruthless Vows (Letters of Enchantment, #2) – Rebecca Ross (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
While You Were Dreaming – Alisha Rai (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Last Bloodcarver (The Last Bloodcarver duology, #1) – Vanessa Le (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Empire of Sand (The Books of Ambha, #1) – Tasha Suri (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Off With Their Heads – Zoe Hana Mikuta (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Camp Zero – Michelle Min Sterling (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Sound the Gong (Kingdom of Three, #2) – Joan He (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Road to Ruin (Magebike Courier, #1) – Hana Lee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Cursed Bunny – Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Goodbye Cat – Hiro Akigawa, translated by Philip Gabriel (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This Book Won’t Burn – Samira Ahmed (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)

5 stars:

Squire – Sara Alfageeh and Nadia Shammas (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Travelling Cat Chronicles – Hiro Arikawa, translated by Philip Gabriel (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH – Squire – 5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing Off With Their Heads, Dear Wendy, Squire, and The Traveling Cat Chronicles!
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs for 5/12, 5/19, and 5/26.
I made another list of recommendations for AAPI Heritage Month!
I reviewed St. Vincent’s (excellent) new album, All Born Screaming!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

strong contender for album of the year!!!

why did I put off listening to this album for so long??

affirmations: I have listened to this song a healthy amount of times

this show was…insane?? idk if I’m built for punk shows but IDLES knocked it out of the park

lovely new album!!

got hooked on this band after seeing them open for IDLES!! fantastic stuff

such a wonderful album!!

Today’s song:

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

April 2024 Wrap-Up 🌂

Posted on April 30, 2024April 30, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles!

Unfortunately, I probably won’t be able to write up a book review or a Sunday Songs post this week, as I’m days away from finals. I started this post in advance, as I do with all of my wrap-ups, so that’s why I managed to put it out today. But from today on, I’ll be (mostly) radio silent for the next week or so. Wish me luck…

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

April’s been its fair share of crazy, what with job interviews, preparing for finals, and wrapping up my sophomore year of college. (How’d that happen??) It’s definitely taken a toll on my reading and blogging, but I’ve still had some free time in between. Said free time has been surprisingly fruitful this month—I finished up the 20,000 word novella that I had to write for one of my classes, and I had a solid weekend where I was able to brainstorm quite a bit for my main sci-fi trilogy. I’d still be doing said brainstorming if not for…y’know, studying for an astronomy final, but once I’m free of that, I’ll be back to making my outline even more excessively long. I’m almost there…

As I said, I had less time to read than I have in the past few months, but strangely, as far as ratings go, it’s been my most positive month. I say “strangely” because I felt like I was in a stint of good, but not great books for at least the first third of April. However, it picked up significantly, partially aided from a particularly lucky haul from Barnes & Noble with a dear friend of mine.

Other than that, I’ve just been watching The Bear, Taskmaster, and Ripley (how and why is Andrew Scott so good at being SO devious), writing when I can, and preparing for the end of the semester.

Oh, and remember how (hesitantly) excited I was about the fact that The Search for WondLa was being adapted into a TV show? We’ve just gotten the first look, and…

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A post shared by Tony DiTerlizzi (@diterlizzi)

…not to be dramatic, but this is my villain origin story. This is my Joker arc. I’m beyond livid. They drained it. They drained it of the artistry and creativity. And the love. They made Muthr into one of those Playmobil people. Why is Otto furry and squishy? Why does Rovender have those front-facing predator eyes? Where are Eva Nine’s signature braids? Where’s the soul?

Yeah! I’m fine. They just turned my childhood into a sad, lifeless husk of a 3D animated TV show…

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 15 books this month! Somehow, I feel like I was in a slump of good but not remarkable books for at least a third of the month, but somehow, I got through a whole month with no 2 or 1 star reads? That’s a new one for me.

3 – 3.75 stars:

Flux – Jinwoo Chong (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Eat, and Love Yourself – Sweeney Boo (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Shit Cassandra Saw – Gwen E. Kirby (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Taproot: A Story About A Gardener and A Ghost – Keezy Young (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Happy & You Know It – Laura Hankin (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde, #1) – Heather Fawcett (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Tempest of Tea (Blood and Tea, #1) – Hafsah Faizal (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Calamity (Uncharted Hearts, #1) – Constance Fay (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Strong Female Character – Fern Brady (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. LeGuin (re-read) – for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Ten Low (Ten Low, #1) – Stark Holborn (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Letter to the Luminous Deep (The Sunken Archive, #1) – Sylvie Cathrall (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Tusks of Extinction – Ray Nayler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Activation Degradation – Marina J. Lostetter (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Activation Degradation – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing Drunk on All Your Strange New Words, A Tempest of Tea, Happy & You Know It, and Ten Low!
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, and 4/28!
I took a stab at the Ten Bookish Questions Tag!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to blog-hop much because of finals, but here are some highlights:

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

top 10 nerdiest club bangers

god, I missed this song…

the bowiemaxxing continues

no thoughts only all born screaming

imagine making Poor Things (2023) and failing to get across in two and a half hours what this song does in just under four minutes………couldn’t be me

xtc my beloved

as much as we praise Björk, I feel like she doesn’t get enough credit for how deeply romantic she can be…good god I feel so sappy and squishy listening to this song, it feels so good

david bowie make a song from the ’90s that isn’t criminally underrated challenge (impossible)

Today’s song:

hey, if we’re talking about keeping my inner middle schooler happy, at least this album was fantastic

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

March 2024 Wrap-Up 🌾

Posted on March 31, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles, Happy Trans Day of Visibility, and Happy Easter for those celebrating!

Mentally, I’m still at the beginning of the semester, but somehow midterms are over and I’ve just gotten back from break…ignoring that…

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

I’ve continued to be busy in most of my academic aspects of life, but I’ve managed to stay on top of it—midterms season wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, and it certainly helped that we got an accidental four-day weekend thanks to a snowstorm so drastic that my college called two snow days in a row. I’ve lived in Colorado my whole life, and I’ve never experienced a double snow day…good times, gotta say. I didn’t leave my dorm for all of that Thursday and spent my time playing Minecraft and drinking hot chocolate. A win is a win. But now, the weather’s warming up, and I’m looking forward to soaking it all in.

I honestly thought that this month was going to be my worst reading month, but I read a lot more than I expected; spring break definitely gave me a boost, and March has ended up being my best reading month of 2024 so far! Rating-wise, it’s a different story (certainly more stinkers in this batch), but there were plenty of excellent reads before and after my brief reading slump. Blogging has been about the same—again, school has made it so that I’m mostly sticking to my usual book reviews and Sunday Songs, but I’ve had fun writing them all the same.

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing Minecraft (WE’RE FINALLY GETTING THE DOG UPDATE), studying, watching The Bear, The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (STAND AND DELIVAH), Abbott Elementary, and Constellation (I haven’t been this stressed out and baffled by a show since Dark, and that’s really saying something), series 17 of Taskmaster, Dune: Part 2 (may thy knife chip and shatter), seeing Chelsea Wolfe live (!!!!! THE QUEEN), and reverting from human to hibernating grizzly bear the minute snow started falling.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 19 books this month! I thought it would end up being a lot less than that, but spring break gave me much more time to read. As far as ratings, this has probably been my worst reading month (first DNF and 1-star rating of the year…), but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t read a ton of fantastic books!

1 – 1.75 stars:

Out of Character – Jenna Miller (⭐️.5)
The Sevenfold Hunters – Rose Egal (DNF – ⭐️.75)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Afterlove – Tanya Byrne (⭐️⭐️)
Pangu’s Shadow – Karen Bao (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

The Boy You Always Wanted – Michelle Quach (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Prayer for Vengeance – Leanne Schwartz (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Monstrous Misses Mai – Van Hoang (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Silver Nitrate – Silvia Moreno-Garcia (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Cybernetic Tea Shop – Meredith Katz (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Other Side of Infinity – Joan F. Smith (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Womb City – Tlotlo Tsamaase (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Everfair (Everfair, #1) – Nisi Shawl (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Somewhere Apart: Selected Lyrics 1977-1997 – Robyn Hitchcock (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Kindling – Traci Chee (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment, #1) – Rebecca Ross (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Our Crooked Hearts – Melissa Albert (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Drunk on All Your Strange New Words – Eddie Robson (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Wuthering Heights – Emily Brontë (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Bad Ones – Melissa Albert (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Bad Ones – 4.25 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing Kindling, Our Crooked Hearts, The Monstrous Misses Mai, and The Cybernetic Tea Shop!
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 3/3, 3/10, 3/17, 3/24, and 3/31!
I made a list of feminist book recs for Women’s History Month!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

APRIL 26TH CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH

returning to my sad bastard roots

shoutout to this absolute weirdo and his lyrics

alright I FINALLY listened to this album, great stuff

and the best song title goes to…

such a delightfully summery album

already loved TVOTR, but chelsea Wolfe turned me on to this one. haunting…

Today’s song:

listen this is a banger but don’t think I wouldn’t deck Morrissey in the face without hesitation

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

February 2024 Wrap-Up 🫀

Posted on February 29, 2024 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles! Happy Leap Day too, I suppose.

Already the end of February, huh? Good riddance honestly. Not that I had a bad month, but I’m just ready for all this gross, slushy weather to be over with.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

February’s definitely still been busy, but now that I’m more used to my schedule and able to keep myself on track, it’s all good. Things are getting into gear with my classes, I’ve been able to make time to write and make art and hang out with friends, and the weather is starting to warm up. Key word is starting. We’ve had snow almost every Friday or weekend without fail for…probably a month or two? Colorado. The meteorological indecision never ends. But luckily, other than that first week, I’ve been able to blog somewhat steadily.

Reading has been similarly good—sadly, most of the books I’ve read for school so far haven’t been my favorites (apologies in advance to all the Jane Austen fans here), but other than that, there have been very few misses! I also shifted my focus to books by Black authors this month for Black History Month, and I’ve read both familiar and new-to-me authors and had tons of fun. I also ended up having two five-star reads in a month, so I’d call it good! I’m glad that I’ve been able to keep up my reading schedule, because there’s so many books I’m excited to read soon! A whole bunch of holds from Libby have been pouring in, all of which I’ve been eagerly anticipating…

Other than that, I’ve just been cranking out tons of writing, drawing here and there, watching Abbott Elementary, BEEF (absolutely SHAKESPEAREAN lemme tell you), The Bear (ngl I’m mostly just in it for the needle drops), and Constellation (WHAT IS GOING ON 😀), and being in a near-constant state of being on my toes since I never know when we’re gonna get dumped with snow.

Oh, and I think we have the best possible end to a month that I’ve had in several months…BABE. WAKE UP. NEW ST. VINCENT JUST DROPPED. WE’RE GETTING THE ALBUM, TODAY’S THE DAAAAAAAAAAAY

APRIL 29TH CANNOT COME SOON ENOUGH.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 17 books this month! Definitely more than I expected to read, but I’m about at the point in the year where I’m familiar enough with my schedule that I can squeeze in more time for reading. There were definitely a few stinkers in the mix, but I had not one but two five star reads this month, which was pretty incredible! My eternal thanks to Audre Lorde and R.F. Kuang.

2 – 2.75 stars:

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. – Samantha Irby (⭐️⭐️)
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen (for school) (⭐️⭐️)
Caleb Williams – William Godwin (for school) (⭐️⭐️.5)
Harlem Shuffle (Ray Carney, #1) – Colson Whitehead (⭐️⭐️.75)

3 – 3.75 stars:

That Self-Same Metal (Forge & Fracture Saga, #1) – Brittany N. Williams (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Empress of Salt and Fortune – Nghi Vo (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
When the Vibe Is Right – Sarah Dass (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Fortuna (Nova Vita Protocol, #1) – Kristyn Merbeth (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Melancholy of Summer – Louisa Onomé (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Your Plantation Prom Is Not Okay – Kelly McWilliams (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Monsters We Defy – Lesleye Penelope (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
How Long ’til Black Future Month? – N.K. Jemisin (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Sing Me to Sleep – Gabi Burton (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
No Gods, No Monsters (Convergence Saga, #1) – Caldwell Turnbull (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
We Are the Crisis (Convergence Saga, #2) – Caldwell Turnbull (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

5 stars:

Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches – Audre Lorde (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators’ Revolution – R.F. Kuang (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Sister Outsider – 5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I made another list of book recommendations for Black History Month!
I had fun reviewing Sing Me to Sleep, No Gods, No Monsters, and The Melancholy of Summer!
Here are my Sunday Songs for 2/11, 2/18, and 2/25!
I reviewed The Smile’s excellent new album, Wall of Eyes!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

I’ve listened to this an unhealthy amount of times

NEW CHELSEA WOLFE WOOOOOOO

it always comes back to Bowie

AND NEW IDLES we are truly blessed

obsessed now

fantastic album

Today’s song:

“All born screaming” YEAH I CERTAINLY AM. MY GOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDDDD THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

December 2023 Wrap-Up 🎅🏼

Posted on December 31, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles, and happy New Year’s Eve!

2023 has been a year of growth for me; I’ve taken a lot of leaps that I never thought I would take, and all of them paid off. December has been busy, but now that I’m home for break, I’m glad that I’ll get some rest before the end of the year.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

First off, I hit 600 followers a few days ago! Thank you all for sticking with me for all these years. Lots of love to you all.

Most of December was fairly stressful and chaotic, what with finals and all. The good thing about being an English major is that I typically don’t have any final finals that I have to take in class, but instead, I typically have to write rather long papers and slap some portfolios together. But now it’s all done! Now, I’m nearly done with my science credits, and I recently declared a minor in Women and Gender Studies, so I’m starting those classes next semester!

Blogging and reading are always slower around this time of year—the finals slump comes for us all. College (and getting older, I suppose) has slowed down my reading speed somewhat, but it makes me glad to spend more time with books on some days. (Doesn’t mean I still blow through books in a day sometimes. Happens to the best of us. The Siren, the Song, and the Spy was incredible.) It’s also been fun to introduce some book pairings to my Sunday Songs—I’m glad I can introduce a bookish aspect to them!

Other than that, I’ve just been getting work done pre- and post-finals, putting puzzles together, drawing when I can, celebrating the holidays with my wonderful family, and starting every week eagerly looking forward to Wednesday because of the new season of Fargo. (Dear LORD, what was that ending for episode 7?????? I’m SCARED)

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 16 books this month! Inevitably slower going because of finals, but I’ve had a ton of great books towards the end of the month! I also passed my reading goal of 200 books—I read 207 books in 2023!

2 – 2.75 stars:

The Witch King (Witch King, #1) – H.E. Edgmon (⭐️⭐️)
You Have a Match – Emma Lord (⭐️⭐️)
The Splinter in the Sky – Kemi Ashing-Giwa (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World, #1) – Rebecca Roanhorse (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Ancillary Justice (Imperial Radch, #1) – Ann Leckie (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Shadow Speaker (The Desert Magician’s Duology, #1) – Nnedi Okorafor (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The First Bright Thing – J.R. Dawson (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl – Brianna R. Shrum and Sara Waxelbaum (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Mountain in the Sea – Ray Nayler (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Only Good Indians – Stephen Graham Jones (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Black Women’s History of the United States – Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole Gross (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Alphabet Squadron (Star Wars: Alphabet Squadron, #1) – Alexander Freed (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
X-Men (Penguin Classics Marvel Collection) – Stan Lee et. al. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Stardust Thief (The Sandsea Trilogy, #1) – Chelsea Abdullah (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Siren, the Song, and the Spy (The Mermaid, The Witch, and the Sea, #2) – Maggie Tokuda-Hall (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Into the Heartless Wood – Joanna Ruth Meyer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: The Siren, the Song, and the Spy – 4.5 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing (read: half ranting, half reviewing) The Witch King, Shadow Speaker, You Have a Match, and The Siren, the Song, and the Spy!
Music rambling, now with book pairings! Here are my Sunday Songs for 12/10, 12/17, 12/24, and 12/31.
I had fun with the Holiday Drinks Book Tag!
Here are my 5-star reads for the year!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

Welcome back, Prose & Pancakes!
The Corner of Laura had a great take on the Twelve Days of Bookmas tag!
Hollis and Micky @ A Take from Two Cities talked about their top 10 most anticipated releases of 2024!
Cherelle @ A Bolt out of the Book talked about her top 10 books of 2023!

SONGS AND ALBUMS THAT I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

excuse me while I change into an excessively flowy dress and drape myself out the window

apologies for the whiplash but I can’t wait for this album (and this show!!!)

TASTES JUST LIKE CHICKEN!

can’t wait for this album and this show either!!! love is the fing.

joy straight to the veins

I’ve been meaning to listen to this album forever, and it was 100% worth it

Today’s song:

That’s it for this year (!) in blogging! I hope you have a wonderful day, and take care of yourselves! See you in 2024!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

November 2023 Wrap-Up 🍲

Posted on November 30, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!

Here we are, and once again, the year is nearly over…at least we have season 5 of Fargo to distract us from the inevitable passage of time.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Break aside, November has been on the busier side, but it’s been a productive one for me. It’s been chaos as far as my workload has gone, but part of that chaos was the editing that led me to send off two of my short stories for consideration to be published in some school literary journals! I won’t hear back for several months, but I’m so excited!! The initial impostor syndrome has faded (it’ll probably come back in a few months, mark my words…I’ve got my NyQuil ready), but either way, I’m really proud for taking this first step. Now, the workload chaos is in the form of looming final projects, which is not nearly as fun, but at least I don’t have to take a stats final at the crack of dawn like last year.

My reading has been a bit slower this month (see above), but as far as enjoyment goes, I’ve had a much more successful month! I had another 5-star read in the form of Ceremony (me when mixed-race experience and themes of storytelling), and I only had one book in the 2-star range for this whole month! I ended up reading a ton of literary and literary-leaning fiction for no particular reason, but the ones I read this month were almost all hits. I’ve had some more time to blog, what with break and whatnot, so it’s been fun to write more frequently before finals hits me like a train.

Other than that, I’ve just been trying to draw and play guitar (when I can), watching Taskmaster and The Great British Bakeoff (hEY NOW NO SPOILERS US AMERICANS HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL FRIDAY FOR THE FINAL), trying to ignore how cold the weather is, and rejoicing the return of Fargo! FARGO! I FEEL ALIVE AGAIN!

…say, are we gonna talk about how utterly insane episode 3 was? Just me?

Also, for your casual amusement, here’s the mess that is my Apple Music Replay for this year:

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 15 books this month! Again, slower than normal, but it’s impressive to me, given how much editing and pre-finals chaos has consumed me this month.

2 – 2.75 stars:

*Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone*

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone – Benjamin Stevenson (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Player Piano – Kurt Vonnegut (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Appleseed – Matt Bell (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Give Me a Sign – Anna Sortino (⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Eternally Yours – edited by Patrice Caldwell (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Where Peace Is Lost – Valerie Valdes (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Crooked Mark – Linda Kao (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Hunger Makes the Wolf (Ghost Wolves, #1) – Alex Wells (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

4 – 4.75 stars:

The Deep Sky – Yume Kitasei (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Crane Husband – Kelly Barnhill (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Family Lore – Elizabeth Acevedo (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
This Place: 150 Years Retold – Kateri Akiwenzie-Damm et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Desolation Called Peace (Teixcalaan, #2) – Arkady Martine (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25)
Our Wives Under the Sea – Julia Armfield (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

5 stars:

Ceremony – Leslie Marmon Silko (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing The Deep Sky, The Crane Husband, A Crooked Mark, and Hunger Makes the Wolf!
Music rambling! Here are my Sunday Songs from 11/5, 11/12, 11/19, and 11/26.
I made a list of books for Native American Heritage Month!
I had fun with the Wasted Potential Book Tag!

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I’VE ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I’VE BEEN ENJOYING:

NEW IDLES IN FEBRUARY LET’S GO

finally got through the rest of Peter Gabriel’s non-soundtrack albums WOO

my first Arlo Parks album!! wonderful, summery stuff

DOI-OI-OI-OI-OING

so whimsically creepy

NEW SMILE IN JANUARY I’M GONNA PASS OUT

Today’s song:

hnnnnnngh 70’s guitars

That’s it for this month in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Monthly Wrap-Ups

October 2023 Wrap-Up 🧛🏼‍♀️

Posted on October 31, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Tuesday, bibliophiles, and more importantly, happy Halloween!

I really should be used to this by now, but getting this much snow two days before Halloween always feels so wrong. I like snow this time of year generally, but not when I have a costume to wear.

Let’s begin, shall we?

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

Usually a month this busy would dampen my overall feeling of it, but for once, it really hasn’t! That’s the magic of the Halloween season, I suppose. I’ve had a ton more stuff to do on the heels of midterm season, and even though I’m still somewhat busy (hence the scant amount of posts I’ve been able to make this month), I’m still enjoying myself.

However, even though most of the month has been favorable for me, my reading…hasn’t been as much so. Since the beginning of the month, I’ve been in a slump that I’ve only just been able to get out of in the last week or so. After the first few days, I just fell into a bad spell of especially mediocre books—for a solid two weeks, I didn’t run into much that I ended up rating higher than 3.5 stars. But I’ve slowly gotten out of the dry spell, and the end of the month has been filled with some fantastic reads!

I’ve also tried to get back into the rhythm of fiction writing, since I’ve fallen off the wagon for that since school started. Although I haven’t been able to adhere to the schedule to a T, I’ve allotted a good time of night towards writing at least 1,000 words a day, and that got me to the end of my first draft of the second book in my main sci-fi project! This one ended up being almost 82,000 words! Pretty proud of myself. Sadly, as I’m getting older, November has become a worse and worse year to try and crank out 50,000 words, so I’m not doing NaNoWriMo this year. The July Camp is a much more reliable time for me. In the meantime, I’m hoping to polish up some of my short stories to send off for publication…

Aside from that, though, there have been SO many fantastic things going on. First off, Sir Patrick Stewart (!!!!!) stopped by my school for his book tour, and it was incredible! I wish I had more pictures to show for it (we weren’t allowed to take any), but he just had the kindest, warmest presence, and it was such an honor to hear him speak about his life. What an incredible man.

After that, I had the amazing luck of being able to see Peter Gabriel and Wilco in the same week! Both were such phenomenal shows in their own ways—seeing Peter Gabriel when I thought I’d never even see him tour was the most transformative, beautiful experience, and seeing one of my favorite bands perform their best setlist yet (and seeing them from the front row!!) was just as wonderful.

Other than that, I’ve just been getting back in the rhythm of drawing, playing some guitar now and then, taking far too many pictures of the pretty leaves on campus, drinking my fill of apple cider, watching Taskmaster (FINALLY GOT THROUGH SEASON 15! THE BINGING HAS CEASED!) and catching up on Only Murders in the Building (please stop pairing Mabel up w randos, she deserves so much better), and soaking up the fall weather. At least I was until we got snow 2 days before Halloween. Oops.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 16 books this month! This month was slow going, and I ended up in a somewhat extended reading slump, but there were bright spots here and there.

2 – 2.75 stars: