dc comics – The Bookish Mutant

Weekly Update: December 26, 2022 – January 1, 2023

Posted on January 1, 2023 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles, and happy new year!! I hope this last week of the year treated you well. 🎇

It’s been a nice, relaxing end to this year, I would say. After Christmas, I went to Barnes & Noble and got some amazing-looking books with my gift card, and I’ve had lots of time to draw, read, blog, and decompress overall. With all of the snow that’s still here, Ringo’s been swimming in the snow with his little legs…corgis are so funny lol

I finally feel like I’ve broken out of my reading slump from this month! I really enjoyed Gleanings, and the one book I finished from the B & N haul (House of Hollow) was fantastic, and all of the others look similarly so! I finished 2022’s reading challenge, beating my goal of 200 books and reading 224 books in 2022! I didn’t want to make that drastic of a leap this year, so my goal for 2023 is 215 books!

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, playing guitar, watching Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio (emotionally destroyed me, but leave it to him to make the creation of Pinocchio look like something out of Frankenstein) and Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (the SWEETEST), and rewatching Isle of Dogs. Certainly a nice start to the year, I think. Here’s to a happy 2023!

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe – Neal Shusterman et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Women Don’t Owe You Pretty – Florence Given (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

DC: The New Frontier, vol. 1 – Darwyn Cooke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

House of Hollow – Krystal Sutherland (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Across a Field of Starlight – Blue Delliquanti

The Heartstopper Yearbook – Alice Oseman

To Each This World – Julie E. Czernada

Today’s song:

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

Monthly Wrap-Ups

December 2022 Wrap-Up 🧣

Posted on December 31, 2022 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)

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:

We Light Up the Sky – Lilliam Rivera (⭐️⭐️)
A House Between Earth and the Moon – Rebecca Scherm (⭐️⭐️)
Deep in Providence – Riss M. Neilson (⭐️⭐️)
Aces Wild: A Heist – Amanda DeWitt (⭐️⭐️.5)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Women Don’t Owe You Pretty – Florence Given (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2) – Martha Wells (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Venom Dark and Sweet (The Book of Tea, #2) – Judy I. Lin (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
The Genesis of Misery – Neon Yang (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Last Night at the Telegraph Club – Malinda Lo (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Hellboy: On Earth as it is in Hell – Brian Hodge (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Vengeful (Villains, #2) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
City of Spells (Into the Crooked Place, #2) – Alexandra Christo (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Gleanings: Stories from the Arc of a Scythe – Neal Shusterman et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
DC: The New Frontier, vol. 1 – Darwyn Cooke (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
House of Hollow – Krystal Sutherland (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

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

POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I had fun reviewing A Venom Dark and Sweet and Gleanings!
I had fun doing the Winter is Coming Book Tag and the Random Number Book Tag!
I compiled all of my 5-star reads of this year!

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!

Books, Top 5 Saturday

Top 5 Saturday (8/15/20)–Recommended Reads 📜

Posted on August 15, 2020August 15, 2020 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Saturday, bibliophiles!

Time for another Top 5 Saturday! This was originally started by Devouring Books, and it sounded like such a fun post to take part in. Today’s topic is recommended reads; I suppose there’s several different ways that you could interpret this prompt, so I’ll pick some books that friends and fellow bloggers have recommended to me–some on my TBR, some that I’ve already read.

UPCOMING SCHEDULE FOR AUGUST:

8/1/20—Enemies to Lovers

8/8/20—Underrated Books/Hidden Gems

8/15/20—Recommended Reads

8/22/20—YA Books

8/29/20—Detective Books

Rules!

Share your top 5 books of the current topic– these can be books that you want to read, have read and loved, have read and hated, you can do it any way you want.
Tag the original post
Tag 5 people

Let’s begin, shall we?

TOP 5 SATURDAY (8/15/20)–RECOMMENDED READS

The War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells

OHHOHO, OLD SCI-FI VIBES…

A friend of mine (and a fellow fan of Bowie and old sci-fi) loves this one, and I’m so excited to read it!

The War that Saved My Life, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

The War That Saved My Life: Bradley, Kimberly Brubaker ...

Two books with “war” in the titles in a row? Oops…

Anyway, I’ve had a few friends recommend this one to me over the years, but Sarah @ The Inside Cover ultimately convinced me to put it on my TBR. (And if you aren’t following her blog, I highly recommend doing so!)

The Bone Witch, Rin Chupeco

Amazon.com: The Bone Witch (0760789258824): Chupeco, Rin: Books

This one came highly recommended from one of my closest friends, and as always, her judgment was on point–I loved this one! I really need to get around to reading the rest of the series…

Far Sector–N.K. Jemisin and Jamal Campbell

A Black Woman Wears the Green Lantern Ring in 'Far Sector #1 ...

My whole family consists of huge comic book fans, and that usually means that single issues circulate between us before coming to rest in bags and boards. My brother lent this one to me, after showing me a few panels and saying that they “looked like your Aurora Rising books.”

Needless to say:

My brother is an absolutely fantastic person in every sense of the word
I LOVED this comic

Ashes on the Waves, Mary Lindsey

Amazon.com: Ashes on the Waves (9780399159398): Lindsey, Mary: Books

This one came recommended from the former president of my school’s book club. Definitely an interesting retelling!

I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!

Disappointed Fun GIF by YoungerTV - Find & Share on GIPHY

Today’s song:

[cries] THE NOSTALGIA

That’s it for this week’s Top 5 Saturday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (11/20/18)-Catwoman: Soulstealer

Posted on November 20, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

After how much I loved Wonder Woman: Warbringer (see 9/11/18) and Batman: Nightwalker (which I stupidly haven’t reviewed, but will at some point), I figured that Catwoman: Soulstealer would be no different. So, I checked it out at the library, along with Sarah J. Maas’ Throne of Glass.

It’s funny, I kind of hated Throne of Glass (pleeeease don’t brutally murder me for this, it just wasn’t my thing), but I really liked Catwoman! I’d have to read more of Maas’ work to make my theory have a little more weight, but I guess I just like it when she’s given a set of characters and a world to work with, as opposed to creating her own. (Okay, that’s…probably a little mean, sorry, but that’s how it’s been for me thus far.) So whether you’re a Throne of Glass fan or not, Catwoman is spectacular!

Enjoy the review!

Catwoman: Soulstealer

Desperate to escape her drug addict mother and care for her terminally ill sister, Selina Kyle turns to a life of crime to get by. For years, she fights her way to the top of the food chain, struggling to provide for her and her sister, while simultaneously dodging the likes of Carmine Falcone. Eventually, she is discovered by Talia al-Ghul, who recognizes her potential and talent, and sends her off to train with the League of Assassins.

Many years later, Selina returns to the streets of Gotham City under the alias Holly Vanderhees. In the absence of Batman, she rekindles her reputation, and allies with Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn. Together, the three of them are a force to be reckoned with. But can they evade the authorities for long enough?

I’ve always had something of a soft spot for Catwoman, partially because of the fact that I love cats, and because, well…simply put, she’s a spectacular villain, and, in some cases, antihero. I especially like her depiction in the animated show The Batman. (It ran in the early to late 2000’s…anybody remember it? Quality.) I mean, her costume is SPOT-ON. COME ON, GUYS. 10/10.

I actually imagined Selina’s costume in *Catwoman: Soulstealer* a little like this. It’s always been one of my favorite interpretations of Catwoman.

But anyway, Sarah J. Maas did an incredible job of depicting Catwoman, as well as giving her some backstory and history. I also really enjoyed the camaraderie between her, Poison Ivy, and Harley Quinn. They’re so fun together, and Harley didn’t get on my nerves.

Let me elaborate on that. Usually, Harley Quinn is either a) not only oversexualized, but also incredibly annoying, or b) just adorable. My personal favorite is *Batman: The Animated Series* Harley, though her *Catwoman* description in terms of clothing was more along the lines of *Suicide Squad.*

All in all, a well-written novel that did considerable justice to the original characters!

Well, I hope you all have a great day, and for my followers in the U.S, have a happy Thanksgiving!

Book Review Tuesday

Book Review Tuesday (9/11/18)-Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Posted on September 12, 2018 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week’s Book Review Tuesday!

Now, before I begin, let’s all take a moment of silence for all of those affected by the terrorist attacks on 9/11/2001. Even if you’re silent right now, as you’re reading this, stretch the silence on a little longer. Please.

Thank you.

As most of you guys now, I’m a pretty avid DC comics fans. So I was pretty excited to find out that not only is there a YA series about some of the DC “icons” (besides WW, there’s one for Batman, Catwoman, and a Superman one coming next year), but that our lord and savior LEIGH BARDUGO wrote the Wonder Woman installment. Shut up and take my library card! And I’m very delighted to say that I was not disappointed in the slightest. Quality with a capital Q. This makes me SOOOO HAPPY!

So, without further ado, enjoy the review!

Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Young Princess Diana of Themyscira longs to be a warrior just like her Amazon peers. But her chances at becoming the revered hero she strives to be soon seem to be shattered in an instant. A mortal girl has washed up onshore, and Diana, defying all of the laws of her people, did what she felt was right-she got her to safety, and hid her on the island.

But this mortal isn’t what she appears to be. Her name is Alia, and she is part of a long line of Warbringers-descendants of Helen of Troy who bring nothing but war, sorrow, and destruction in their wakes. And the only way to halt her powers would be to kill her. Desperate to keep her actions under wraps, Diana and Alia travel to the mortal world, but are soon caught in the middle of an international plot to kill the Warbringer. Will Diana be able to save Alia-and the world?

OH MY GOD. Pure joy is coursing through every fangirl blood vessel in my body.

SQUEE!

Aside from the fact that, well, for the love of god, WE’VE GOT SOME PERFECT, ADORABLE DIANA ACTION, it was executed spectacularly. Bardugo’s signature writing shone through, and though I was suspicious of the new additions (Is this technically canon? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ), they were lovable as well. Nothing compares to good ol’ Diana though. I’ve always had a lil soft spot in my heart for her.

Well, that just about concludes my review for this week. I hope you have a great rest of your day, and keep on being the phenomenal human beings that you are! I’ve got a couple more posts up my sleeve for soonish (I know I’ve been saying that a lot lately, but I swear I have more content coming up than just BRTs…😬) !