Brave New World – The Bookish Mutant

October Wrap-Up 🦇

Posted on October 31, 2021November 1, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

October is usually one of my favorite times of year, but this year was one of a lot of self-reflection. Last October was—and still is—a painful stretch of terrain to look back on, but I’m glad to say that I’m in a much better place now. Plus, fall!

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

King of grunge GIFs - Get the best gif on GIFER

Since last year, I’ve had lots of time to heal, and even though the particular anniversary of the most unpleasant part was rocky, I’ve had a nice month overall. October is one of my favorite times of year, what with the confluence of Halloween and all the good feelings I associate with fall, and I got to enjoy that part to the fullest. There’s been hardly any snow at all (and what little snow we had didn’t accumulate), and the leaves have been extra bright and crunchy.

I had a lot of fun this month too! I dyed my hair, I got pumpkins, I got to watch two amazing movies (Dune and The French Dispatch) in theaters, and I just got back from LA! We went to see Danny Elfman perform the soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas on Friday night, which was MAGICAL. We stopped by the La Brea Tar Pits museum and Amoeba Records too, which were both amazing. Plus, even though I only got to wear it for a few minutes after getting back to the airport, my Kaz Brekker costume was a lot of fun.

As far as writing goes, I’ve been writing my other WIP on and off. I hit 100 pages recently, but I feel like it’ll be too short…plus, and I’m fighting the urge to edit my main WIP. Maybe NaNoWriMo will sort things out.

We’ll see.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! As far as the quantity goes, it’s been my worst reading month of the year, but it doesn’t really matter. I can mostly chalk it up to a) school, b) more long books than usual, and c) at least two reading slumps, but I still read a whole lot of stuff that I’d been looking forward to. Plus, there were some single-issue comics in there too. And I’m still on track to complete my Goodreads goal, anyway.

1 – 1.75 stars:

Amazon.com: Horrid eBook : Leno, Katrina: Kindle Store — *Horrid*

The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After, #1) – Drew Williams (DNF) (⭐️)
Horrid – Katrina Leno (⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Caster : Chapman, Elsie: Amazon.co.uk: Books — *Caster*

Caster – Elsie Chapman (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Project Hail Mary: A Novel: Weir, Andy: 9780593135204: Amazon.com: Books — *Project Hail Mary*

Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things – Margie Fuston (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
His Hideous Heart – Dahlia Adler et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force, #1) – Craig Alanson (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Each of Us a Desert – Mark Oshiro (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions, #2) – Lauren Shippen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Amazon.com: Steelstriker (Skyhunter Duology): 9781250221728: Lu, Marie: Books — *Steelstriker*

Iron Widow – Xiran Jay Zhao (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Animals Real and Imagined: The Fantasy of What Is and What Might Be – Terryl Whitlatch (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Steelstriker (Skyhunter, #2) – Marie Lu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: A Conjuring of Light – 4.5 stars

Buy A Conjuring of Light: A Novel: 3 (Shades of Magic, 3) Book Online at Low Prices in India | A Conjuring of Light: A Novel: 3 (Shades of Magic, 3) Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I loved reviewing A Darker Shade of Magic, Iron Widow, and Steelstriker!
I made a list of Found Family sci-fi books!
I had a lot of fun with the Cozy Fall book tag!

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

pretty solid album

this song played while I was getting my hair dyed, and needless to say, I’m obsessed

our ears are blessed by another snail mail single

this one constantly gets stuck in my head and I love it

NEW SUKI WATERHOUSE BOTTOM TEXT

Okay The French Dispatch was an INSTANT 5 stars for me and I love this cover too

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH WITH MY OCTOBER GOALS?

Selbetti 2021 GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Read at least 20 books: 18.
Post more than just Goodreads Mondays/Book Review Tuesdays (schoolwork permitting, of course, schoolwork first): did that! See the posts I’m proud of section for them.
Celebrate SPOOKY SEASON accordingly: yep. Only got to wear my Kaz costume for 10 minutes, but it was great.

GOALS FOR NOVEMBER:

𝓉𝒾𝓂𝓂𝓎 — Timothée Chalamet in The French Dispatch (2020),...

Read at least 20 books
Enjoy Thanksgiving Break!
Keep the progress on my current WIP

Today’s song (Halloween edition):

okay seeing this live sung by Ken Page himself was AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

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

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: October 11-17, 2021

Posted on October 17, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.

Even though I’ve been dwelling on some unpleasant things this week, it’s been a surprisingly good couple of days. A year ago now, I was in a really rough patch in my life, and all I can do now is be grateful that I’m in a happier place and that I’ve grown and healed in the time since then.

Reading was a little slow this week, but I had some good reads, both for fun and for school. (A lot of sequels this week, for no reason in particular…) I also held my meeting for my school’s book club, and it was so much fun to talk about The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea with everyone!

Though it’s been a little on-and-off, I’ve also gotten lots of writing done for my current WIP this week! I’ve discovered that dreamlike sequences are a lot of fun to write; this WIP has a whole lot of them, and adding in all the detail has been one of my favorite parts of writing this story in particular. Also, after I’d written a certain scene, I realized that I unintentionally made an overt Yellow Submarine reference…absolutely embracing that though

yellow submarine the glove gif | WiffleGif — my current WIP without context

Other than that, I’ve been drawing a handful of aliens, enjoying my newly dyed hair, listening to the new Snail Mail and Suki Waterhouse, and losing all self-control around the bowl of candy corns sitting on my dining room table. I love October.

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Buy A Gathering of Shadows: A Novel: 2 (Shades of Magic, 2) Book Online at Low Prices in India | A Gathering of Shadows: A Novel: 2 (Shades of Magic, 2) Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in

A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions, #2) – Lauren Shippen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75, rounded up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ )

A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions, #2) by Lauren Shippen

Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Brave New World: Aldous Huxley: 9780060809836: Amazon.com: Books

Each of Us a Desert – Mark Oshiro (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Kindle edition by Schwab, V. E.. Literature & Fiction Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3) – V.E. Schwab

Amazon.com: A Conjuring of Light: A Novel (Shades of Magic Book 3) eBook : Schwab, V. E.: Kindle Store

The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After, #1) – Drew Williams

Amazon.com: The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After Book 1) eBook : Williams, Drew: Kindle Store

Caster – Elsie Chapman

Today’s song:

SHE’S BACK SHE’S BACK we need an album

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

Book Tags, Books, Movies

I Should Have Read That Book Tag

Posted on November 29, 2019November 30, 2019 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Friday, everyone! If you celebrated, I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving as well!

I saw this on A Little Haze Book Blog not long ago, and I figured that I’d give it a go. I feel like I’m putting the same books in my book tags (I’ll try to fix that), and since this one’s about TBR books, I’m excited to participate!

Rules:

Thank the person who tagged you and link back to their post (see above!)
Link to the creator’s blog (booksnest.co.uk) in your post
Answer the questions below
Tag 10 others to take part
ENJOY THE TAG!

The Questions

A book that a certain friend is always telling you to read
A book that’s been on your TBR forever and yet you still haven’t picked it up
A book in a series you’ve started, but haven’t gotten round to finishing yet
A classic you’ve always liked the sound of, but never actually read
A popular book that it seems everyone but you has read
A book that inspired a film/TV adaptation that you really love, but you just haven’t read it yet
A book you see all over Instagram but haven’t picked up yet

1. A book that a certain friend is always telling you to read

Lately, a good friend of mine has started to get into some older sci-fi, and this was her first, vehement recommendation to me: The War of the Worlds.

It’s not available at the library (woe is me…), but I’m definitely excited to get my hands on this one someday.

2. A book that’s been on your TBR forever and yet you still haven’t picked it up

This one’s been on my TBR since day one…

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Though I’m not a fan of Holly Black, I absolutely adore Ted Naifeh’s work, and the story of The Good Neighbors seems like a perfect melding of their respective styles.

3. A book in a series you’ve started, but haven’t gotten round to finishing yet

51XscXWsl+L._SX334_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I read the first book, Mask of Shadows, about a year ago, and I remember the story being pretty intriguing and fast-paced, not to mention the excellent LGBTQ+ rep. (the main character, Sal, is genderfluid). But…I’ve just neglected to read Ruin of Stars for no good reason other than my being lazy. Sigh…

4. A classic you’ve always liked the sound of, but never actually read

41le8ej-fiL._SX327_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

I’m putting this one off for a few years, because I’ll have to read it for an AP English class, but Brave New World seems like it would be an interesting read, in the same vein as 1984.

5. A popular book that it seems everyone but you has read

Somehow, I STILL haven’t gotten around to reading The Hate U Give, despite several recommendations from friends and librarians alike. It’ll probably be in that constant “all copies in use” limbo at my local library for a few years, due to its immense popularity, but I’d definitely like to give it a try at some point.

6. A book that inspired a film/TV adaptation that you really love, but you just haven’t read it yet

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I didn’t realize until the end credits that Jojo Rabbit was based on a book. I’m not sure if I’ll have the stomach to read this one (I’m guessing that Taika Waititi had some comedic liberties while directing Jojo), but I’m sure Caging Skies would be worth a read.

7. A book you see all over Instagram but haven’t picked up yet

I tend to see Furyborn pop up often, and I’ve been meaning to read it for a while. I’ve read a few other books by Claire Legrand (The Year of Shadows, Some Kind of Happiness, etc.), and most of them have been decent. Claire Legrand’s obviously prolific, with a wide range of talents, so I’m excited to see how this plays out.

I tag…

Weeeelll…I’m not sure if I know ten people who’d all be interested in doing this tag, so I’ll open it up to anyone who hasn’t done it, and wants to. 🙂

Have a lovely rest of your day! I might not be able to get to any more tags this week, but stay tuned for more content!

thank you for reading.jpg