Tag: A House Between Earth and the Moon

Posted in Book Tags

Waffle Book Tag 🧇

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

This was supposed to be published earlier today, but WordPress was being weird, so I ended up having to reconstruct the whole thing from scratch. Oops. At least it’s here now.

I feel like I’ve prefaced almost every book tag I’ve done in the last year or so with this, but I feel like I always take too long between book tags, and…it’s been a while. They’re so much fun!! But, of course, a combination of work, NaNoWriMo, and prioritizing my book reviews and Sunday Songs has taken the forefront, so I haven’t been able to do quite as many. But I figured that I had some time today, and this one sounded like a super cute tag. I found the tag over at The Corner of Laura (she always finds the best tags! Go check out her blog!), and the tag was originally created by Kat @ Novels and Waffles. I love a good waffle, so of course I had to do this tag!! Very glad that there’s a waffle emoji for th

The Rules

➽ Link back to the original creator, Kat @ Novels & Waffles

➽ Feel free to use any of the waffle graphics in this post, just make sure to credit Kat!

➽ Tag as many people as you want (or don’t want) to. No pressure here, folks! ♡

Let’s begin, shall we?

🧇THE WAFFLE BOOK TAG🧇

BELGIAN WAFFLES: A book that’s a total classic

I’ve read Slaughterhouse-Five for two separate classes for school in the past few years, and it never loses its punch. Such a unique book.

WHOLE WHEAT WAFFLES: A book that’s completely wholesome

I always take care to put trigger warnings in my book reviews, but A Psalm for the Wild-Built was such a gentle, pure book that I couldn’t even think of any. Becky Chambers is so kind to us.

EGGO WAFFLES: A book that fills you with nostalgia

I’ll always look back fondly at when I first read Madman back in middle school; beyond the beautiful art and the David Bowie references that 13-year-old me immediately latched onto, there’s something so comforting and pure about these comics.

CHOCOLATE WAFFLES: A fictional character that’s sugary sweet

Even without her selkie puppy eyes, Keltie from The Girl from the Sea would still be so adorable.

BLUEBERRY WAFFLES: A book that made you feel blue

A House Between Earth and the Moon was just such a dismal book all the way through. The premise had potential, but it ended up being a chore to read, in my experience.

WAFFLE CONE: A book that’s a bit different

Considering that Magonia was published in 2015, it was so refreshingly whimsical and weird for a YA book of that era.

MAPLE SYRUP: A series that you stuck with until the end

One of my best friends recommended The Aurelian Cycle to me, and it was fantastic all the way through!

WAFFLE IRON: Your favorite bookish accessory

My parents got me this super comfy Frankenstein shirt for my birthday last year! Out Of Print has the best bookish merchandise—got my Six of Crows and Little Prince socks from there too!

I TAG ANYBODY WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Today’s song:

listened to this album the other day, fantastic all the way through!

That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Posted in Monthly Wrap-Ups

December 2022 Wrap-Up 🧣

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

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

Whew. This strange, chaotic year is coming to a close, but what matters most is that despite everything, we’re still here. Whoever you are, I’m proud of you for making it through another year. You did it!

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

December was certainly a little stressful at the beginning, what with my first finals season in college. Most of my classes were fine, seeing as all of my English *finals* were mostly essays and portfolios, but stats and bio anth were a little tougher. But in the end, I got out with good grades, and I won’t have to take a math class again in my college career. You have no idea how happy I am about that.

The great thing about being in college (in my case, at least) is that we have a really long winter break! After the chaos of finals, I’ve had a lot of time to settle down, relax, and spend the holidays with family. I’ve been in a major reading slump since finals, but the combination of some finds from my dad’s comic shelf, some Christmas gifts, and the haul from my Barnes & Noble gift card, I’m back into my regular reading rhythm! I’m so excited to read the rest of my haul!!

Other than that, I’ve been drawing more, putting together a puzzle (of David Bowie, who else would it be), watching Andor (SO GOOD), Glass Onion (I cannot stress enough how wonderful this movie is), and Decision to Leave (I still don’t completely know how I feel about this one), seeing The Smile live (CRYING CRYING CRYING), and enjoying spending time at home with my family over the break.

And yes, I know it’s New Year’s Eve, but there is a MUCH more important holiday going on today, and that’s Ringo’s first birthday!! My boy turns 1 today!! Everybody say happy birthday to Ringo

Also, I figured it might be fun to share some highlights from my apple music wrapped, sorry, replay—I’ve always wished that apple music had a wrapped equivalent, so, uh, Christmas miracle, I guess?

unsurprising, given that I spent a 2-hour plane flight listening to “Metal Guru” on repeat and nothing else 🥴
I am nothing if not predictable (David Bowie was #6 and Radiohead was #7 lol)
PFFFFFFFF ROCKY HORROR MADE THE CUT
Do I get Welsh street cred for this one?

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 15 books this month! It was my worst reading month as far as reading goes, but it was also finals week, so it’s all fine. I completed my reading challenge of 200 books and read 224 books in all this year!

2 – 2.75 stars:

Aces Wild: A Heist

3 – 3.75 stars:

Hellboy: On Earth as it is in Hell

4 – 4.75 stars:

House of Hollow

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe – 4 stars

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

POSTS FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE THAT I ENJOYED:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

fantastic on its own, but it was incredible to hear live with The Smile!!
unpopular opinion—this is my least favorite Blur album that I’ve listened to so far, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it. this is certainly the best track
I never thought I’d say this in my lifetime, but new Sparklehorse just dropped?? and it’s not sad??????
again, this was so much fun live, but it’s great to finally hear the album version!!
I stumbled upon this one while trying to cite On a Sunbeam for my final comics paper—according to Tillie Walden, this is the song that inspired the title! fits the vibe of the comic for sure
SUCH a creative cover, wildly different from the original but in the best way possible
a great album to end the year on!

It’s been a scary and jarring year, but it’s been wonderful too. I graduated high school and started college, and I pushed myself out of my comfort zone more than I have in ages. I made new friends, I went to so many amazing concerts and read so many fantastic books. It’s been weird and uncertain (and I cried a lot), but in the end, what matters is that we got through it. No matter how good or bad of a year you had, I hope 2023 brings hope, love, and good things to each and every one of you. We got this.

Have a wonderful new year. Spread love, be kind to each other.

— madeline

Today’s song:

came for the Gorillaz, stayed for the Suzuki flashbacks

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

Posted in Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: December 12 – 18, 2022

Posted on by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, everyone! Hope this week has treated you well.

I’m back now!! Again, sorry that I disappeared without warning there, finals just snuck up on me. But they’re over now, and so is my first semester of college!! It doesn’t feel like I’ve already finished a whole semester, but I’m so proud of myself for how far I’ve come—it was scary, but I managed to make good grades and make some friends too! I’m hoping next semester will be fun too—I have a whole class on science fiction (!!!!!!) on my roster, and now that I have stats out of the way, I don’t need any more math classes!

Most of this week has been studying and subsequently packing up my dorm and going back home, so I haven’t been able to do much reading. I’ve been in a slump for a week or two—it’s been punctuated by some great books, but I’ve had a string of mediocre to bad books as of late. It’s starting to look up a little, though, and winter break will definitely give me loads more time to read. (You’ll probably see them pop up in the wrap-up in a few weeks…)

Also, this was last week, but I wanted to share some pictures—I had the AMAZING opportunity of seeing The Smile live!! Easily one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to—the collective talents of Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, and Tom Skinner just poured off the stage, and I just felt like I was levitating the whole time, absolutely ecstatic. Since that was all during the muck of finals, I really needed that pick-me-up. So grateful to have seen them! Now I can’t wait for all of those new songs they played to come out…

THOM YORKE!!!!!
yes that is Jonny Greenwood playing the bass with a cello bow, and yes it was incredible

Other than that, I’ve just been packing up for home, sleeping in, watching Andor (liking it so far!! doesn’t feel like Disney which is VERY good lol) and VERY much enjoying having home-cooked food and going out to dinner with my family. Love you guys 💗

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

A House Between Earth and the Moon – Rebecca Scherm (⭐️⭐️)

A Venom Dark and Sweet (The Book of Tea, #2) – Judy I. Lin (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

THE ONE, LONELY POST I MADE THIS WEEK:

THE ONE, LONELY SONG THAT WENT WITH IT:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

The Genesis of Misery – Neon Yang

Today’s song:

That’s it for this (very short) week in blogging! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!