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!
Apologies for the lack of Sunday Songs last week; the only reason I was able to get the other two posts I made last week was because they were both at least 95% pre-written—otherwise, they would have been gone, reduced to atoms, by the absolute chaos hell week of pre-finals. (Why is the period right before finals always the worst? No, it’s…no, that’s just coming back from break and having to Do Things. Yeah.) Either way, that time has given me some space to think about a change that I’ve been kicking around for a bit—adding some more to my Sunday Songs. Although these posts were originally inspired by my brother, it’s really been a fruitful experience to write about music more—The Bookish Mutant is still a book blog, but I’d be remiss if I denied that part of me. And yet…the books always come back. It’s in my nature. So now, you get your songs with a book paired to each—similarities in plot, similarities in vibes, or just similarities that bounced around my head for no reason other than free association. Bon appetit!
I so wanted to talk about last week’s songs, but as I said, last week was chaos, so I never got the time to write anything about them. But because they’re still fantastic songs, have them + last week’s graphic:
I’ve only listened to two full Lisa Germano albums (Excerpts from a Love Circus, where this song is from, and its follow-up, Slide), and I’ve discovered a method to listening to them; if you don’t want to feel the milieu of misery seep into you like mold, give it only one or two listens all the way through. Let it sit, then the individual songs (and their genius) return to you in smaller bites. That’s what’s tugged me back to the parts of Excerpts for the past month and a half since I listened to the full album for the first time—said misery notwithstanding, there’s something undeniably intoxicating about almost every track.
While it’s just as rust-smelling and heavy as most other Lisa Germano song you can pull out of a hat, what makes “Bruises” stand out is the folksy, almost Celtic sway that surrounds it. After the interlude of plaintive mewling, courtesy of her cat Dorothy (originally meant to bookend “A Beautiful Schizophrenic (‘Where’s Miamo-Tutti?’ by Dorothy)”, arguably the album’s most “mom, come pick me up, I’m scared” track), the first thing that jumps out at you is the dipping lilt of the violins; they passionately bay and lurch like dancers against the steadiness of the acoustic guitars and humming, cavernous synths, the same that frame another favorite of mine from the album, “Baby On The Plane.” And Germano’s voice, mainly defined by its wispiness in many of her songs, rises to meet the violins, her high notes ringing out in strained, rasping harmony as she cries out the chorus of “bruises, bruises, bruises, bruises,” dragging out the last repetition as easily as guiding the strings of a marionette. Her harmonies twist together like ghosts rising out from the cracks of the underworld, weaving through the violin strings. “Bruises” has the creaking sway of a rocking chair, but not in the way of being curled into grandmother’s lap while she reads a story; like “Crash,” the looping, ouroboros rhythm seeps into Germano’s words of repetition and depression, mindlessly going through the motions; the exhausted delivery of “make it better, alright” hammers in her struggle to wake from the stupor, sleepwalking through life as she struggles to even get out of bed in the first place. It has the rhythm of a slow dance, but all of the dancers are stumbling over their own feet, heads hanging, hands slipping apart and missing cues and steps.
…AND A BOOK TO GO WITH IT:Summer Bird Blue – Akemi Dawn Bowman – even though this novel deals specifically with grief, the combination of Bowman’s very real, very heavy depiction of the lows of Rumi’s mental health and the way the melody seems to bob up and down like the waves of the ocean make this a solid fit in my eyes.
I’ve only come up with more recent songs as examples for this, but there’s something about adding animal sounds near the end of songs to add to the eeriness—sounds that wouldn’t normally be dread-inducing, but amp up the dread of the song. The most prominent example I can think of is the dogs barking at the end of Mitski’s “I’m Your Man”—the dog/hounds theme of the song notwithstanding, as soon as you start to hear them desperately baying in the background, interwoven with crickets and other nighttime sounds, you instantly get the feeling that something is very, very wrong. Fun way to end an album, huh?
The animals used in “Ptolemaea” are much more plainly sinister from the start—with the moaning, creeping dread that immediately swallows you only seconds into the song, the swarm of buzzing flies that trickle into your ears like a slow drip of poison shortly after is an immediate alarm bell. When I heard the flies, I heard them circling around something rotten. Something putrid is not too far away, and the flies have come to land on your skin feed on you next. Uncomfortably landing on your skin is something that “Ptolemaea” instantly does—it’s a truly astounding piece of art, but it’s astoundingly icky for all of its six plus minutes. And yet there’s something instantly, drowningly consuming about it—the instrumentation in the last half has a hard rock, almost goth tidal wave that wants to bring you down with it into the cold, unforgiving depths. And like a dog-eared, pocket Bible with a battered cover and flaking pages, the sonic layers seem infinite, from the chilling, low incantations of perverse, religious verses, to the blood-curdling cry of “STOP!” that marks the song’s halfway point. I can’t help but be in absolute shock at this song—I seem to remember being openmouthed with giddy surprise when That Part kicked in while driving with my brother. I can’t listen to this song too often, lest I get consumed by the creeping dread, and I also feel guilty having those giddy feelings about the second half of this song, when it’s so clearly alluding to some form of abuse and/or sexual assault. But from what I know about the whole Ethel Cain project, it was born out of a desire to explore a history of religious trauma, abuse, and queerness, and that is, at its best, is one of the best qualities of art—to weave all these things into something new to reach out to others; in Cain’s case, the results are unfathomably harrowing, but undoubtedly masterful.
…AND A BOOK TO GO WITH IT:Extasia – Claire Legrand – would you like your creeping dread and explorations of queer girlhood and religious trauma with a side of towering entities in the woods?
Don’t you love doing mundane, peaceful things and listening to albums that are the exact opposite of mundane and peaceful? Nothing like cleaning up the bathroom and quietly rearranging my bulletin board while Joe Talbot is screaming in my ears.
I finally, finally got around to listening to Ultra Mono over break, and for the most part, it was sheer fun all the way through. Apparently, it’s regarded a little lower in the ranks for some IDLES fans; in contrast to some of their other albums, this seems to be where they went full in on the aggressively positive theme, and for a lot of people, it seemed to come off as corny. And…yeah, I don’t buy it. I understand the gripes about “War,” the album’s first track—the onomatopoeia is fun, but it doesn’t make sense at all. And as much as I enjoy it, I see where a lot of the criticism comes for “Ne Touche Pas Moi“—Riot Grrl did aggressive songs about consent first, and IDLES seems to have respected that history, but there’s something to be said for a bunch of aggressive, sweaty British men who look like they could beat you to a pulp singing about “Your body is your body/And it belongs to nobody but you.” (Plus, at least they had a woman—Jehnny Beth—shout the rallying cry of “ne touche pas moi.”) I’d feel safe walking home at night with these dudes. But either way, this is how I see it: we have a sea of songs this aggressive, but that are all about how edgy you are and how much everything sucks, so as far as I’m concerned, IDLES are a breath of fresh air. The screamy edgelords and their corresponding emotions have their place (sometimes), but they’ve had their moment in the sun. KINDNESS!
As the title suggests, this song pretty much sums up the entire IDLES ethos—aggressive positivity. If you isolated the lyrics from the song, you’d probably get some accusations along the lines of “you dirty hippie(s),” but that’s what makes it so memorable—it’s earnest, it’s loud, and it’s relentlessly optimistic. But this killing with kindness isn’t the kind you associate with smiling, doing nothing, and letting yourself be stagnant or stepped on—as Talbot declares, “Ain’t no doormats here/It doesn’t mean you have to bow, or say “Your Highness”/Just kill ’em with kindness/If you wanna beat the machine, keep your teeth clean.” And what better to cement that than circles of dancing, anthropomorphic flowers and a grinning, rubberhose-style Joe Talbot spoon-feeding some kind of kindness serum to a scowling beefcake who was beating up a bunch of other guys just a few minutes earlier? It’s nothing short of delightful. IDLES are a blessing.
…and I’m seeing them in May!! WOO!!
…AND A BOOK TO GO WITH IT: Chameleon Moon – RoAnna Sylver – it’s not in the title, but it’s in the subgenre. What better word to describe both this and IDLES but hopepunk?
I’m 100% admitting to my status as a poser with regards to this song, because I haven’t even seen When Harry Met Sally, the movie where this version of “It Had to Be You” originally comes from. That being said, “baby fish mouth” has been permanently ingrained into my psyche thanks to my parents.
A fact that I always forget whenever I listen to this song: not only has Harry Connick, Jr. had a flourishing jazz career that starts as far back as recording in the studio for the first time at age 10, he’s also…
…yeah, oh my god. Dean has insane pipes.
…AND A BOOK TO GO WITH IT:The Spare Man – Mary Robinette Kowal – I was 100% grasping at straws for this one, but The Iron Giantwould have objectively been cheating (and for once, the movie is objectively better than the book in every conceivable way). To be fair, I don’t read a whole lot of historical fiction, particularly the kind that would lend itself to this kind of big band drama, but with the lighthearted, noir feel (in space!) of this book makes me convinced that this song could’ve been in playing in the background of the bar on the opulent space liner where The Spare Man is set.
In terms of Jay Som’s catalogue, it seems that this song is one teeter away from disappearing into the ether—it was part of the Polyvinyl 4-Track Singles series (which has included artists such as Kishi Bashi, The Dodos, and of Montreal over the years) back in 2017, but as of now, the official audio on YouTube has only 10 likes (including mine, teehee) and nothing comes up when you google the lyrics. Well, nothing relevant. The top result is for the lyrics of “The Bus Song” (always fantastic), but by the time you start scrolling through several other Jay Som songs that aren’t “Lose”, it turns into…Jay Z and Coldplay, for some reason? Oof. Kinda rough. And although I’m all for being a petty hater and being bitter about songs I like getting popular and/or songs I like starting to be liked by popular people, there is no need for this song to keep going under the radar. It’s too delicately wonderful for such under-appreciation, dammit!
In my mind, the ascending notes that make up “Lose” fall somewhere between Wilco and the Beatles. It’s got that meticulous, stair-step climb in both the rhythm and the main riff that could have made up the framework for something off of Star Wars or Revolver just as easily. It’s a progression that immediately crawls into your brain, and I’d be lying if I didn’t enjoy every minute that it took up the space inside of mine. Jay Som’s signature dreamy haze of grainy lo-fi makes it sound like you can hear the gentle pitter-patter of rain trickling against the windows of wherever the song was recorded—regardless of whether or not it actually was raining, the flickering warmth that permeates through all of her songs shows its face here. Somehow, it’s the perfect soundtrack for being under a blanket forth while it rains outside. You’ve got a flashlight propped up in the corner, and it makes everything look gently orange and yellow as you uncomfortably squeeze yourself against the side of the couch you propped your blankets up against. There’s a bag of snacks somewhere, and now, your pillow feels just right.
…AND A BOOK TO GO WITH IT:A City Inside – Tillie Walden – more in vibes than anything, but Walden’s art style, with its muted, flat hues and beautiful simplicity, lends itself to this drifting air of most of Jay Som’s music, even if this single didn’t have the album art that it has.
Since this post consists entirely of songs, consider all of them to be today’s song.
That’s it for this week’s Sunday Songs! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
In a continuation of my assertion that 2022 is the year that the music gods have blessed us, here’s a review of one of my most anticipated albums of the year!
I’ve been a fan of Soccer Mommy since hearing her on the radio years ago, listening to all of her albums and even seeing her live a few times (once opening for Vampire Weekend, the next time headlining—the crowd SUCKED for that one but she was great). So when I heard that she had a new album coming out this June, I was ECSTATIC. Unfortunately, the album ended up coming out on the same day that they announced that Roe v. Wade was overturned, so…yeah, that soured my mood for the whole weekend. But when I was able to get back out of the muck, I listened to this album, and it solidified itself as my favorite album of hers—each one just keeps getting better and better, and Sometimes, Forever was particularly adventurous!
(for my review of the album before last, color theory, click here!)
Enjoy this album review!
SOMETIMES, FOREVER – SOCCER MOMMY ALBUM REVIEW
TRACK 1: “Bones” – 8.5/10
You make me feel like I am whole again,
But I think your heart could use a tourniquet…
Soccer Mommy, “Bones”
Especially with the rest of the album to contextualize it, “Bones” is the perfect opening track for Sometimes, Forever. It feels just enough like classic Soccer Mommy that it feels timeless, but it’s a catchy, familiar-feeling song that eases you into the different direction that the rest of the album goes. On its own, it’s the perfect little indie-pop song: hooky, lyrically witty, and filled with bright guitars.
TRACK 2: “With U” – 9/10
This is where the album starts getting adventurous, and I’m 100% here for it! Lyrically, Allison is sharper than ever, but the addition of the more electronic instrumentals combined with her classic guitar work makes an immersive soundscape that swept me off my feet on the first listen. LOVE IT.
TRACK 3: “Unholy Affliction” – 10/10
This. THIS.
“Unholy Affliction” was the second single to be released from this album, and after “Shotgun,” this is what made me certain that I was going to love the album. My family and I agreed that it sounded like a Chelsea Wolfe song, something completely unexpected—and highly successful—for Soccer Mommy! Dark, immersive, and pulsating, “Unholy Affliction” was an instant favorite on the album, and one of her most daring songs to date.
TRACK 4: “Shotgun” – 8/10
Look at your blue eyes like the stars,
Stuck in the headlights of a car…
Soccer Mommy, “Shotgun”
This was the first single to be released for the album, and while it’s not the best on the album, like “Bones,” it’s an instantly catchy indie-pop song. In comparison to the rest of the album, it almost seems like Allison is playing it safe, but it’s also proof that even when she’s holding back, she can produce something as fun and memorable as this.
TRACK 5: “newdemo” – 7.5/10
Hear the city roar,
A creature that feeds behind closed doors…
Soccer Mommy, “newdemo”
Dizzy and strangely sweeping, “newdemo” strays into new territory like “Unholy Affliction” did. It’s clear that Soccer Mommy and company had fun messing around with different synths and distortions while producing this song; it feels like it’s actively being warped around as you listen to it, veering slightly off-key but bringing itself back together just as swiftly. Not quite as successful as some of its counterparts, but still a success in and of itself.
TRACK 6: “Darkness Forever” – 9/10
Again with the Chelsea Wolfe sounds!! “Darkness Forever” edges close to metal on several occasions, with a creeping bassline and heavy, distorted guitars. Just like “Unholy Affliction,” Soccer Mommy’s experimentations with darker sounds lead to nothing but success—definitely one of her best songs in recent years!
TRACK 7: “Don’t Ask Me” – 8.5/10
With its fast, punchy guitars and Soccer Mommy’s airy, alluring voice, “Don’t Ask Me” has an easy time of cementing itself as one of the highlights on Sometimes, Forever. While it doesn’t delve completely into darkness like “Darkness Forever” or “Unholy Affliction,” it’s unafraid to get heavier, which works completely in its favor. An instant earworm and one of my favorites off this album!
TRACK 8: “Fire In The Driveway” – 9.5/10
Saw it in your blue eyes
When you were just a small child,
Now you’re only ashes of a man…
Soccer Mommy, “Fire In The Driveway”
“Fire In The Driveway” grounds Sometimes, Forever after the fast-paced “Don’t Ask Me,” delving into the nostalgic melancholy that makes Soccer Mommy so memorable. With its instantly memorable lyrics and bright, echoing guitars, this one is an easy standout on an already fantastic album.
TRACK 9: “Following Eyes” – 7.5/10
The lyrics are as potent as the rest of the album, but there’s something about this that puts it lower on the list for me. It’s still a fantastic song, no question, but it’s almost as though it tries to mesh older Soccer Mommy with her newer, darker sound. It’s very close to making it, but there’s some tiny bit missing, something that doesn’t quite piece the whole thing together. Nonetheless, still a great song.
TRACK 10: “Feel It All The Time” – 8/10
Like “Bones” and “Shotgun,” this feels like a timeless Soccer Mommy song—if you had told me that it had been from color theory or even Clean, I would’ve believed you. Yet still, it easily finds its place on this album, deftly adding to the mix of borderline-playing it safe to exploring new territory.
TRACK 11: “Still” – 9/10
I don’t how how to feel things small,
It’s a tidal wave or nothing at all…
Soccer Mommy, “Still”
For the closing track, Soccer Mommy brings it home with a somber acoustic piece laced with ghosts of the strange synths that adorned a good portion of the album. Unlike “Following Eyes,” the blend feels natural, and Allison’s knack for bringing genuine emotion to the forefront creates a beautiful end to the album, and a beautiful song that can stand by itself.
I averaged out my ratings for this album, and it came out to about an 8.6! I’d say that’s right on the mark; with every album, Soccer Mommy gets better and better, and Sometimes, Forever is her best work yet—dark and bold, but unafraid to return to her candid, emotional roots. Love it!
Since this is an album review, consider the whole album today’s song.
That’s it for this album review! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
September started out a little stressful, but now I feel like I’m in a better place than I’ve been for most of this year. I can neither confirm nor deny that this is because it’s finally fall and it’s cold enough for me to wear my favorite jackets.
Let’s begin, shall we?
GENERAL THOUGHTS:
September has been my first full month back in school; it started out more than a little stressful, thanks to getting my college applications all sorted out, but now that I’m (somewhat) over that hump, I’m feeling a lot better. I’ve managed to keep my grades in a good place, so I’m happy about that!
I also managed to finish draft 2 of my sci-fi WIP!! I’m super proud of myself for that one–I cut down a whole lot of filler, and I feel a lot better about it as a whole. I’m going to let it sit for a few months before I go back and edit it, but I feel great about it. In the meantime, I’ve been poring through a draft I abandoned in 2019 that was…surprisingly good, given that it was written almost two and a half years ago. I’ve been outlining on and off, but I’m going to try and actually get this writing business back in motion soon.
As for the rest of the month, it’s been peaceful. We got the book club back up and running at my high school, I spent the weekend in Vail, and I went to two fantastic concerts–Spoon and St. Vincent! They were both great, but the latter will always have a special place in my heart. St. Vincent was a major hero of mine in middle school, and she’s still a hero now, and seeing her live made all my dreams come true.
And now it’s almost October! I’m so excited–Halloween season, loads of good movies coming out (The French Dispatch, Dune, etc.), fall in general…good times.
READING AND BLOGGING:
I read 21 books this month! More than I expected, given that I haven’t had as much time to read this month, but I did read a lot of shortish books, so…
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
I’ve had another quiet week this week, for the most part. Just some summer homework, reading, all that. It’s been getting super hot over here, but I’ve been reading inside and outside.
Reading-wise, I’d say I had a pretty good week. I’ve only had one read that I didn’t like, and I finished the book that my English class assigned for summer homework (Native Son). I also got to go to the comic shop, so I got through a few single issues too! I have a really big one waiting as well…
As far as writing goes, I finally figured out the deal with the word count for my NaNoWriMo goal, so I fixed that up to a manageable level. I’ve been making a whole lot of progress with my sci-fi WIP though! It’s getting close to 200 pages now…
Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, screaming with my friend about Fargo, finishing Loki (AAAH THAT FINALE), and volunteering at the library. I’m going to see Black Widow this afternoon too! I’m proud of myself for avoiding spoilers up until now…guess I’ve learned my lesson from Infinity War…
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
It’s been kind of a semi-quiet summer week for me, which I’m not complaining about in the slightest. I had a lot of time to read, I did some drawing and writing, and I hung out and got ice cream with one of my closest friends! Since I was fully remote for all of last year for school, I hadn’t really hung out with anyone since…oh, probably 2019, so it was so lovely to see her again.
Reading-wise, I had a bit of a hit-or-miss week; I read a lot, but almost every other book I read was just kind of meh. I did find an AMAZING read though, and I can’t wait to review it next week! The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Seamade my heart so happy, but more on that later…
As for writing, it’s also been a toss-up; I had a few days this week where I cranked out a whole bunch of words for scenes I really liked, but then the motivation would fade away a little bit. Last night I could barely write, even though I’m switching to the POV of my favorite character, so hopefully I can get my motivation back into gear…
my will to write disappearing as soon as I open the Pages document
Other than that, I finished Invincible (That finale was BRUTAL), caught up on Loki (BI RIGHTS), listened to a lot of Gorillaz and the new Car Seat Headrest covers EP, and drove on the highway for the first time! I still need quite a few more hours before I can do my driver’s test, but I’m getting there!
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope you’ve all had a good week.
This week was absolutely a relief after…well, this entire school year, really. I had my last three days of school, and except for a handful of finals (which I managed to do pretty well on! yay!), it was mostly just wrapping things up and saying our goodbyes.
And now it’s summer! I’m so happy!!
I had a pretty great reading week too! I got some free hardcovers in exchange for reviews from a program at my library, and I’ve liked all but one of them, so that’s a good sign. I still have one more left that I’m currently reading, and it’s great so far.
Other than that, I’ve been reveling in the fact that I get to sleep in again, enjoying both the warm weather and the rain we’re getting this weekend, and watching some good old David Attenborough nature documentaries. (What is it about clips of coral reefs that instantly calms me?)
I put this novel on a Goodreads Monday a while back, and my expectations were…well, I kind of forget, to be honest. On a whim, I put it on hold on the Kindle library, and now, I am SO GLAD that I read it. A beautifully written, supernatural feminist tale!
Enjoy this week’s review!
Sawkill Girls
For generations, Sawkill Island has had a reputation for girls that go missing in the night, never to be seen again. Rumors and legends of a hungry beast run rampant in the tiny community, but only now are they being investigated. And three girls may be the key to uncovering Sawkill’s supernatural secret.
Marion is new to the island. Plagued by discordant sounds, haunting visions, and a swarm of pale moths, she knows that something may be amiss on the island. Zoey still grieves the loss of her best friend, but with Marion’s help, she may have the tools to avenge her death at last. And Val, the school’s queen bee, harbors a secret that may hold the fate of the entire town in the balance.
Claire Legrand has always been something of a hit-or-miss author for me. I liked The Year of Shadowsand Some Kind of Happiness, but Foxheartgot on my nerves. I didn’t know what to expect going into Sawkill Girls, as this was the first of her more YA novels that I’ve read. (The rest listed are middle grade.) So I was veritably stunned at how incredible this novel was.
I’m not much of a horror fan, but I do LOVE a good spooky, paranormal mystery sometimes. (I mean, hey, I’m a huge Hellboy fan, so there you have it.) This novel was wonderfully creepy and atmospheric. The prose was gorgeous, adding to the generally atmospheric feel of the novel. I was able to picture the sleepy setting wonderfully, with the lapping ocean and the thick forest…and lots of moths. MOTHS.
(Bröther…I know this meme is dead, but I’ll torment you with it anyway…)
Legrand’s writing struck the perfect chord, a mix of beautiful, at times cosmic prose and tense creepiness throughout.
And I can’t get ENOUGH of most of the characters. Their emotion was palpable, and not only that, I loved the sisterhood dynamic that existed between them. Marion and Zoey were my personal favorites: Marion, with her intuition and determination, and Zoey, with her relentless loyalty and cunning. Even though I didn’t like Val as much (I think the point was to not like her as much, anyway), her struggles were deeply human, and she really came through in the end (no spoilers). Plus, Zoey throws out both X-Men and A Wrinkle in Timereferences. Of course you’ve got my attention.
Sawkill Girls without context
And through it all, Legrand poses powerful themes of feminine friendship, strength, resistance, sisterhood, and resilience. We also have some LGBTQ+ and POC representation! Zoey is African-American and asexual, and there’s a wlw relationship in the novel. Bottom line: never underestimate three queer girls with powers.
All in all, a thrilling, feminist horror novel with transcendental writing and characters that are a force to be reckoned with. Five stars for me!
Sawkill Girls is a standalone, but as I mentioned earlier in the post, Claire Legrand has a multitude of other books out. 🙂
Today’s song:
That’s it for this week’s Book Review Tuesday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
…whooowee, looks like I’ll be staying home for the rest of the school year. I mean, it’s nice to stay around the house all the time, but I do miss going out to restaurants, the movies, bookstores…at least I have the Kindle library to help me with the latter. And they’re pushing back all the good movies…moment of silence for the fact that The New Mutants was supposed to come out today…[single tear slides down cheek]
Anyway, I found this tag on The Comfy Reader, and I thought I’d give it a try!
Here goes nothing…
How many books do you usually read at once?
Strictly one at a time, unless I have something to read for school. I used to be able to read up to four books at once, but I’ve slowly abandoned that method for focusing my attention on one book at a time.
Pfff, there’s this one scene from Hellboy (2004) that would fit this perfectly, where Professor Bruttenholm makes a comment on Abe’s reading habits…I can’t seem to find a gif of it, woe is me…
How do you decide when to switch between multiple reads?
See above. I…don’t. I’m not sure how I managed it when I used to read multiple books at once, for that matter. I feel like I probably just switched based on when I ended in a good chapter, or if my interest just waned for one book.
Do you ever switch bookmarks partway through a book?
NO! NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT…
[ahem] anyway, I do pair up my books with a special bookmark that matches the cover color scheme or genre (I have a solar system one that I pair up with sci-fi books, sometimes)
Where do you keep the book(s) you’re currently reading?
It depends. Depending on the time of day, it’s either tucked away in my backpack, or lounging on the coffee table.
What time of day do you read the most?
Early to late afternoon, mostly. Whether I’m at school or at home, that usually ends up being my reading schedule.
How long do you typically read in one session?
It ranges from about a half hour to up to two hours, depending on how enthralled/not enthralled I am with the book.
Do you read hardbacks with the dust jacket off?
Not really, no. I like to keep the covers on, but it’s always interesting to take a peek and see what books look like sans dust jacket.
What position do you mainly use to read?
Most of the time, I’m either sitting cross-legged or lying on my back, depending on the chair I’m sitting in.
Do you take your current read with you everywhere you go?
ABSOLUTELY. Even if I don’t end up reading when I’m taking the book places, it’s always by my side.
How often do you update your Goodreads reading progress?
When it comes to physical books, not too often. I’m not sure why. Kindle books, however, where I can see the percentage of the way through the book I’m at, I update more frequently. Don’t ask me why…I really don’t know why I do it either…
What book(s) are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading Mosquitoland(I’m on a bit of a David Arnold kick this week). I’m about halfway through, and I love it so far!
I tag anyone who’d like to participate! 🙂
Today’s song:
That’s it for this book tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
