Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
I’d say this first week of summer has been pretty fantastic! The weather’s warming up, and I’ve had lots of time to read in the hammock. I also made a trip to my favorite bookstore and got some books, and they all look amazing! My drawing motivation also came back, so I’m glad for that. I had another good shift at the library as well, and it’s always good to be in that atmosphere.
I also restarted that first draft of my sci-fi WIP! I fixed up some parts of the plot that I wasn’t comfortable with, and now I feel like my heart’s really in it.
Also, just a heads up – I won’t be posting anything past Monday next week since I’ll be on vacation for a week. 🙂
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope that this week has treated you well, but if it hasn’t, consider all my love sent to you.
I’ve really ran the emotional gamut this week for some reason…Monday and Tuesday were rather chaotic; I had a lot of homework and resulting stress earlier in the week. I finally finished my first draft of my paranormal fantasy WIP (!!!), and come Friday, I was feeling great. I had my first meeting for my school’s book club now that I’m president, and since we didn’t get the chance to discuss it last year (due to COVID-19 complications/general scrambling), we’re reading Aurora Rising! But then my mood took a nosedive after I heard the news about RBG, so the day ended on a rather somber note. But in these scary and trying times, we must all remember that THIS TOO SHALL PASS, NO MATTER WHAT.
I had a fairly prolific blogging week, but reading-wise…
I usually read fairly fast, but I ONLY GOT TO READING THREE BOOKS THIS WEEK. Most of it’s because Dune was so long that it took up a huge chunk of my time, but I loved it nonetheless.
First off, I just wanted to take a moment to reflect on Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who passed away yesterday at the age of 87. She was such an inspiration to me and so many others, and a true champion for feminism, positive change, and women’s rights. I know many of us–myself included–are frightened of the vacuum that she leaves in the U.S. Supreme Court, we must remember that she is not the only one of her kind–there are and will always be fighters like her who will be champions for the sort of change she pushed. This too shall pass. Rest in power, RBG. 💔
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 award-winning books.
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.
My copy of this one has the award stamps peeling off at the edges; It won the California Book Award for Young Adult, and it was nominated for several others, including the Michael L. Printz award.
This one made the news for winning the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature back in 2018, and it’s also won the Michael L. Printz Award and the Pura Belpré Award, among others–all of which I think are fully deserved.
I’ll Give You the Sun won the Michael L. Printz award as well, and was nominated for the Stonewall Book Award as well. I read this one years ago and don’t remember much about it…maybe I should read it again.
I TAG ANYONE WHO WANTS TO PARTICIPATE!
Today’s song:
That’s it for this week’s Top 5 Saturday! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Hi, everyone! I hope you’re all having a good Monday! (Well, as good as a Monday can get. Hopefully that’s better than my standards for Mondays.)
Let me just start off by saying that boy, this has been a pretty fantastic year for music.
I’ve already reviewed two albums that came out this year (See Twin Fantasy Re-Release and Lush), but now, there’s even more awesomeness out there to listen to! Also, I did end up seeing BOTH of the artists whose albums I’ve reviewed this year (Snail Mail and Car Seat Headrest. Best nights of my life. I met Lindsey Jordan, who was incredibly sweet, and Will Toledo said that we were the best crowd he’d seen on this tour 😭), which has further increased my appreciation for those bands. Some of my opinions have stayed the same, but others have grown on me since I first listened to them. But I’ll get to that later; here are my five favorite songs so far!
1. “Bodys”, Car Seat Headrest
Nobody can match Will’s moves. Really.
My original rating for this song was about a 7/10. But it has grown on my a significant amount, not only from increased listening, but from this performance as well. That, and the fact that I found out that the “need-to-know-basis” thing at the end was Andrew Katz. Hysterical.
This is my go to feel good song, one that you can bop to no matter what mood you’re in. And I won’t deny that when Car Seat Headrest played this when I saw them, I danced so much that I feared that my new glasses would fall right of my nose and plummet from the balcony. I sang myself hoarse, too. But it was totally, 100% worth it. ❤
2. “Heat Wave”, Snail Mail
After watching this video, there’s basically no need for an explanation. 10/10. Five stars. ALWAYS YES. Also, this was the first song that they played when I saw them, and THEY ABSOLUTELY NAILED IT. I WAS SO HAPPY!!!
3. “Everybody Thinks They Know (But No One Really Knows)”, Naked Giants
(The video’s just as weird and fun as the song. Trust me.)
I first got introduced to Naked Giants through Car Seat Headrest. They opened about an hour before CSH, and they were INSANELY TALENTED. Spectacular job.
We bought a few of their songs a few weeks after that performance, and this is the one I fell in love with the most. The perfect balance between light, dancey pop and alt-rock, that isn’t so cringey that you immediately switch the station. (Also, I’ll admit to listening to it on repeat in the first week of high school to remind myself that the other freshmen were just as confused as I was.)
4. “No Going Back”, Yuno
(Cute little video as well. Simple, but somehow perfect for the song.)
I first heard this song through Sirius XMU, and even though the DJ made a terrible pun about the artist in question, I couldn’t get the song out of my head. Kind of like #3, where it struck the perfect balance between pop and rock. A bit like the child of Tame Impala and…something I can’t quite place. Either way, such a fantastic little song. 🙂
5. “Valley of the Dolls”, Santigold
I swear, Santigold has become the ultimate “blast-this-song-out-the-car-window-at-full-volume” artist. No matter what, her music has the uncanny ability to make you dance, no matter what mood you’re in. (Or, at the very least, nod your head or tap your foot.) “Valley of the Dolls” was no exception. Out of I Don’t Want: The Gold Fire Sessions, this was my favorite. The perfect balance, the goldilocks. Also, it just brings back this funny memory of my family talking about a completely different, really depressing album (Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, if you’re dying to know 👌), and this happened to be playing in the background.
Well, I hope I exposed you to some new music through this post! Enjoy the rest of your day, and stay tuned for the next BRT tomorrow!
The Bookish Mutant 