Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you well.
This week…could’ve been better for me, if I’m being honest, but it picked up in the end. It was mostly just Tuesday that bogged me down. Remember that writing contest I entered back in April? I ended up checking back on it (they didn’t send an email for some reason??) and the short story I wrote didn’t end up placing. I specifically remember saying that I was expecting not to win, and yeah, I tried not to get my hopes up, but…yeah, well, I’m not very good at handling these things.
Eh, well, all I can do is tweak that short story, keep on writing, and try again. I’m at least proud of myself for putting myself out there…
Reading-wise, I’ve mostly been reading some books that family friends lent to us (thank you!) and some stuff from the comic shop. I got a nice library haul yesterday, so it looks like next week will be promising!
Writing-wise, I’ve mostly stayed on track with Camp NaNoWriMo (I’m almost to my goal now!!), even though being depressed all Tuesday sapped my energy. I’m getting to a good place in my WIP though – I just passed about 220ish pages last night!
Other than that, I’ve been drawing a bit, getting the last of my summer homework done, learning some new songs on guitar, obsessing over my new bees in Minecraft, watching The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro likes his Tennyson, huh?), picking back up in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and volunteering at the library.
Two Gob gifs in a row…oops
And I just got to 450 followers! Jeez, I can’t believe it…THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH 💗
As promised, here’s the sequel to the Zodiac Book Tag, the music tag. I love music almost as much as I love books, so this is a perfect fit for me! As with the book tag, this was created by Swift Walker @ Just Dreamland.
Tag at least 5 bloggers and provide links to their blogs.
Name your Zodiac sign!
Don’t forget to add #ItsAZodiacThing tag.
You can either do the zodiac book tag /the zodiac musictag or both of them. Graphics for separate tags should be given at the end.
Enjoy!
As I mentioned in the book tag, I’m (barely) a Leo. 🙂 ♌️
So let’s begin, shall we?
(EDIT: I had to take some of the graphics out bc they were disappearing…)
🎼ZODIAC MUSIC TAG🎼
ARIES: the song that got your blood pumping and heart beating fast
I can’t think of this song without thinking of this video of a Björk concert where she said something like “and here’s a little song to help you go to sleep 🙃” and then started playing this –
TAURUS: A song to celebrate your love when you’re in a commitment with someone
There’s a more recent version of this one but I like this one better :,)
I mean, the last two minutes (or thereabouts) of the song being “don’t worry/you and me won’t be alone no more” sums it up pretty well, right? :,)
GEMINI: A song to listen to when you get tongue-tied and miscommunicate your feelings
I’M FINE, I’M FINE, I SWEAR I’M FINE –
CANCER: A song that motivated you to take a chance and open yourself up to love
Uh? This prompt was really hard for me for some reason, but…I guess it fits? Haven’t really had a song that’s had that effect on me? Not really sure, but I love it.
LEO: A song that shows affection
This is…I think this is the least depressing of Montreal song, and that’s definitely saying something…
VIRGO: A song with a sentiment that made you feel beautiful inside and out
This was my comfort song a few years ago, and it’s still my comfort song now… :,)
LIBRA: A song that shows a person is truly and madly in love
I still think that this is one of the sweetest, softest love songs…the Soccer Mommy cover is incredible too 🥺
SCORPIO: A song which is unapologetically pledging their undying affection to their crush
Whoops, doubled up on the Björk songs…
But again, a whole string of “I love him, I love him/(she loves him, she loves him)” at the very end sums it all up, doesn’t it?
SAGITTARIUS: An exciting, spontaneous song
[BLEEPITY BLOOP INTENSIFIES]
CAPRICORN: A song that promotes self-love
The chorus is certainly a weirdo anthem of sorts…gotta love Sidney Gish’s lyrics
AQUARIUS: A song that has more to do with friendship than being in a relationship
…whoops, here’s the most predictable answer…
This one’s a childhood favorite, though. Classic.
PISCES: A song that’s all about unconditional love
THIS VIDEO 🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺
Even though October isn’t Pisces season I had to stick this one in here
And YOU! If I didn’t tag you and you want to do this tag, then go ahead! And if I tagged you and you’ve already done it/don’t want to do it, my bad. (Consider yourself tagged for the book tag as well!)
Since this post is full of songs, just consider everything in here today’s song.
That’s it for this music tag! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.
I’d say March is off to a decent start. I had a slower reading week this week, but now that I’ve gotten my library haul, it’ll definitely get better/faster soon. I also went to the comic shop (safely, of course) with my family and picked up some single issues and a trade, got a preorder in the mail, and another Kindle hold, so there’ll be lots to read this month, for sure!
I also finished the first draft of my short story! I’ll probably devote next week to self-editing, so we’ll see how it goes. I also finished WandaVision, rewatched another episode or two of season 3 of Fargo, drew a bit, and had my weekly shift at the library. For the past…month or so, I think, it’s snowed either the day before or on the day of my volunteer shift, so it’s always freezing…but hey, at least the library is warm, and it’s always a peaceful image to see snow falling outside the window while I’m surrounded by books.
Also OH MY GOD ST. VINCENT CAME OUT WITH A NEW SONG AND IT’S S O G O O D I CAN’T STOP LISTENING TO IT
MIDDLE SCHOOL MADELINE IS VERY HAPPY AND PRESENT MADELINE IS VERY HAPPY
Ever since it released on Netflix, my brother was trying to convince the whole family to watch I’m Thinking of Ending Things. My parents watched it beforehand, and I myself ended up watching it over Thanksgiving break. It’s certainly a bleak and depressing film, but I somehow was able to disconnect myself from that aspect; in that way, I could see it for the grimly poetic piece of art that it is. So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that it was originally a book!
So of course, I put it on hold on my kindle. I finally got to read it last week, and I must say, what a complex gem of a novel!
Enjoy this week’s review!
Normally, I’m not one for book covers being changed to the movie posters, but I liked the simplicity of this poster, and it actually translated well to a book cover.
After a short time dating, Jake is finally taking his girlfriend to visit his parents and childhood home. Unbeknownst to him, his girlfriend continues to have misgivings about the situation. As the road unfolds before them, the situation grows continually stranger, and she wonders if Jake–and the life he’s constructed–is real at all. One thing is for certain–she has to find a way back home.
TW/CW: suicide/suicidal thoughts, violence, blood, descriptions of animal death
I’m Thinking of Ending Things was one of those films that made me want to write a 17-page essay in my head minutes after watching it, and I’m glad to say that the source material was no exception! This novel is one that continually defies categorization, a beautifully absurd bundle of philosophical musings and gripping psychological horror.
I watched the movie a few months before reading the book (oops), and so I ended up imagining the characters, for the most part, as they were in the film. For the most part, the film stayed very true to the book; I recognized quite a few familiar elements as I went along, and the mood was very similar to that of the film. (However, I was a bit disappointed to see that Jessie Buckley’s iconic car poetry wasn’t originally in the book…) This is my first experience with Reid’s writing, and what stood out most for me is that he’s mastered how to deliver a consistent creeping sense of dread. Even though I knew the truth behind everything after seeing the movie, it was still chilling to watch everything slowly unravel.
Reid absolutely has a talent for building a story for our young couple, and then slowly but surely unraveling it before your eyes; a backstory is established, but with each detail that he throws in, you begin to suspect more and more that something is gravely amiss. That, pieced together from the posthumous police reports, makes for a piece that’s wonderfully intricate. Even going off the ending of the film, I still had an absolute blast trying to piece everything together and pick it apart again. In short: most everything you see in this novel is important, and then it isn’t. You’ll see what I mean.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is by all means a character-driven novel; the first third is almost entirely composed of past memories and Jake and his girlfriend discussing life, the universe & everything on the way to Jake’s parents’ house. In another novel, I might just think that these two were just vessels for the author’s thoughts, but no–there’s actually a fount of subjects that were quite profound. Many of them have stuck with me for a while afterwards. And both the message and the resolution of the book is quite bleak (as the title and the first line suggest), but for me, it was more the experience of piecing everything together that made reading this novel so memorable.
As for the ending…this is clearly the part that Charlie Kaufman took the most creative liberties with when making the film. It’s certainly a lot more horror-like than I expected, but it packs just as powerful of a punch. There’s no sugarcoating here–it’s raw, it’s bare, and it’s dark, but it wraps the book up in a twistedly perfect way. It left me feeling stunned in the best possible way.
All in all, a grim, psychological novel that’s like nothing I’ve ever read. 4.25 stars!
I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a standalone, but Iain Reid is also the author of Foe and the nonfiction novels One Bird’s Choice and The Truth About Luck.
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!
Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well.
This week has definitely had its emotional ups and downs, what with studying for finals and actually doing finals. All that studying definitely took a toll on me, but at least in the case of one of my finals, it paid off. (I’ve only gotten one of my scores back and it was good, but we’ll see about the others…) I still have my AP Bio final tomorrow, though, and even though I’ve been studying for a solid week and a half, I’m still trembling in fear…
One more school day…one more school day…
As for reading, I’ve been doing frequent curbside from the library, and I’ve found some great reads! I picked up some more for break, and I’m so excited to get into them. And it’s always so nice to come back to blogging after a break. I have a whole load of book tags and some original post ideas piling up, so chances are, I’ll be pretty active through winter break…
Other than that, I watched both Kill Bill movies, finished rewatching season 4 of Fargo, and I’m two episodes away from finishing The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix, which I’m sadly finding to be veeeeeery mediocre. (How…how are so many people liking this show? I mean, I love Anya Taylor Joy and her 60’s outfits and all the music, but everything’s just so flat…so stilted…)
Oh, and this is old-ish news, but IS ANYONE ELSE SUPER EXCITED THAT NOAH HAWLEY IS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING AN ALIEN TV SHOW ON FX? REJOICE!
[ahem] I’ll step off my soapbox for now, let’s talk about other things…
I know I’m *primarily* a book blog, but most of what I post outside of bookish content is music related, as apart from being a bibliophile, I’m a major music nerd as well. I found this tag over at Margaret @ Weird Zeal , and the tag was created by Sophie @ Me & Ink.
Rules
Link back to original so she can see your answers and listen to the tunes
For every prompt you choose to do, name 1-5 songs (you can use my graphics)
Have fun and play your music LOUD
Let’s begin, shall we? (I skipped a prompt or two because I couldn’t find anything for some of them, but here we go…)
Ooh, lots to choose from…
“Beautiful Freak”–Eels: Aside from the Hellboy II nostalgia, I want this to play at my wedding. VERY badly.
“Kooks”–David Bowie:I think one of my first memories is of being in the car as a baby and hearing the tail end of this song play.
“Strange Love”–Karen O.:This was my favorite song for a while… 😭 It’s from one of my favorite childhood movies (Frankenweenie), and the lyric video TOOK ME BACK…
“Bad Believer”–St. Vincent:Unfortunately, I associate this song with middle school, but hey, it’s an awesome song.
“Declare Independence”–Björk:If I actually took the time to listen to music while I “worked out,” this would be the perfect song.
(Also, I saw a video of her playing this live and saying something along the lines of “here’s a quiet little song to help you go to sleep :)” and then they just started BLARING THIS)
“Sympathy for the Devil”–The Rolling Stones:On an unrelated note, my brother and I tried slowing this one down in iMovie as a joke, and Mick Jagger sounded ABSOLUTELY CURSED IN THE BEGINNING
IT WAS GREAT
Oh boy, I listen to a LOT of depressing music…I’ve been thinking about making a post about it, but we’ll see…
“No Conclusion”–of Montreal:PLEASE, I AM BEGGING YOU, ONLY LISTEN TO THIS ONE IF YOU’RE IN A GOOD MOOD. 10 SOLID MINUTES OF DEPRESSION.
“Lazarus”–David Bowie:The day that David Bowie died, I remember my dad driving my brother and I to school in silence as this song played.
“Day Go By”–Karen O.:I listened to this whole album while I was in Canada last year, and I remember listening to this one in a hotel in Drumheller.
“Exit Music (for a Film)”–Radiohead:I discovered OK Computer last year, and I remember being curled up at the entrance of the cafeteria, reading a collection of Tennyson’s poems while blasting this through my headphones. (Yes, I am That Kid™️)
“Hunky Dory”–David Bowie: My favorite album of all time, hands down. Perfection.
“Twin Fantasy”–Car Seat Headrest: WHAT AN ALBUM…OH MAN…
“OK Computer”–Radiohead: See above. Pure genius.
Hmm, let’s see…
“Once in a Lifetime”–Talking Heads: …just watch the video. You’ll see what I mean.
“Life on Mars?”–David Bowie: This was my halloween costume last year…
“It’s Oh So Quiet”–Björk: Sorry to repeat a song, but this video always cheers me up 🙂
I TAG ANY OF MY FELLOW MUSIC NERDS WHO WANT TO PARTICIPATE!
Since this tag is all about music, consider this entire tag today’s song…
That’s it for this tag! Hope you enjoyed this dip into the weirdness that is my taste in music…
Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
I’ve had a slowish reading week, and an even slower school week, but I’m recovering now, thanks to a three-day weekend, with a dash of patriarchy smashing thanks to the Womxn’s March. But even though I didn’t read *as* much, most of what I read, I really enjoyed. (Mostly due to Stranger in a Strange Land, which was a lovely and extremely well thought out novel, but incredibly dense.)
Blue Monday, vol. 1: The Kids Are Alright–Chynna Clugston Flores
The Night Country (The Hazel Wood, #2)–Melissa Albert
Today’s song:
This is the only song that I’ve really loved off of UR FUN so far (haven’t listened to the whole album yet). of Montreal’s definitely going in a very different direction…not sure if I like it, but this is a cute song. 🙂
That just about wraps up this week in blogging! Have a lovely rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
The Bookish Mutant 