thanksgiving – The Bookish Mutant

Weekly Update: November 21-27, 2022

Posted on November 27, 2022November 27, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

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

Thanksgiving break was this week, which was such a relief. It was so nice to be able to sleep in for a week, and I had a productive break—I got some homework done, and I had a good amount of time to relax. The weather warmed up a little as well, but of course, it’s supposed to snow again right when I get back to college…(maybe they’ll cancel classes again?) Thanksgiving is always fun, and I loved helping my family out with some of the cooking, and subsequently stuffing myself.

The break has also given me some time to read, which was wonderful—apart from all of the single-issue comics I got as well, I went through several books on my Kindle, although one of them ended up being a sore DNF. The others were all good, though, to varying degrees.

Also, I think this happened some time last week, but I finished my reading challenge! I set it to 200 books this year, knowing that I’d probably be reading less while transitioning to college, but I still managed to achieve it! I’m at about 208 books right now.

Other than that, I’ve just been sleeping in, eating too much, drawing, getting our Christmas tree (after Thanksgiving), and watching the Holiday Bakeoff and finally getting around to seeing Wendell & Wild (which is AMAZING if you haven’t seen it, go watch it)

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Scattered Showers – Rainbow Rowell (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau – Silvia Moreno Garcia (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

The All-Consuming World – Cassandra Khaw (DNF – ⭐️)

Soul of the Deep (Of Mermaids and Orisa, #2) – Natasha Bowen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law – Mary Roach

Today’s song:

so excited for this album!!

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

Books

Series I Need to Finish Soon (Somebody remind me…)

Posted on November 24, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Thursday, bibliophiles, and for those of you in the U.S., Happy Thanksgiving! I’m thankful for all of your support, and I’m so thankful to have such a welcoming community here. 💗

I think this was a topic for Top Ten Tuesday a few weeks back, but I don’t usually do those since I do my book reviews that day. But it reminded me of a problem I often have—really enjoying a book, then never getting around to finishing the rest of the series. Too often, the sequel(s) immediately go on my TBR, and then…just disappear into oblivion and stay there for a few years. So this post is to call attention to some fun series—trilogies and duologies alike—that I need to finish, and a reminder for myself to finish said series.

Let’s begin, shall we?

SERIES I NEED TO FINISH SOON

Light the Abyss – London Shah

I had so much fun with London Shah’s unique take on dystopia, The Light at the Bottom of the World, so I was eager to read the sequel! Book 2 came out last year, and the sad part is that I regularly saw it at my local library and never got around to picking it up. Someday…

For my review of The Light at the Bottom of the World, click here!

Into the Crooked Place – Alexandra Christo

A lot of people didn’t seem to be as much of a fan of Into the Crooked Place as I was; I understand the sentiment that it was too similar to Six of Crows (Wes certainly was…), but I think it had a really inventive and twisty take on the YA heist fantasy genre. City of Spells came out last year, and it’s been sitting on my Libby wishlist for far too long…

For my review of Into the Crooked Place, click here!

Skin of the Sea – Natasha Bowen

I sort of have an excuse for having not finished this series yet, since Soul of the Deep only came out about two months ago, but I can’t wait to finish Natasha Bowen’s incredible mermaid duology!

The Bright Sessions – Lauren Shippen

I haven’t even listened to the podcast that these books were based on (although I’ve heard it described as “X-Men if they got therapy,” so you’ve sold me there), but I’ve had so much fun exploring Lauren Shippen’s tender, superpowered world. Some Faraway Place came out last year, and I’ve been meaning to put it on hold for so long…

For my mini review of The Infinite Noise, click here!

The Aurelian Cycle – Rosaria Munda

One of my best friends got me hooked on these fantastic books, and they’re proof that fantasy writers just don’t do nearly as much as they should with dragons. DRAGONS!!! (Also a protagonist that I imagine looking like a fantasy Black Widow…love Annie) Furysong came out this August, and I’m patiently waiting for it to be available on Libby…

The Gilded Wolves – Roshani Chokshi

Another incredibly inventive and twisty heist fantasy, The Silvered Serpents left me on a devastating cliffhanger, and now that The Bronzed Beasts is out, I might be able to get some closure at last…

Tell me what you think! What are some series that you want to finish, but haven’t? Are the sequels I’ve listed worth the hype? Let me know in the comments!

Today’s song:

I need to listen to this album, don’t I

That’s it for this bookish post! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and take care of yourselves!

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: November 22-28, 2021

Posted on November 28, 2021November 28, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles! I hope this week has treated you all well. And Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the States, since I didn’t get to say it on Thursday! I’m thankful for all of you here, and I’m so thankful for the bookish community we have here.

This week was my Thanksgiving Break; I didn’t do a whole lot, but it was so nice to be able to sleep in. I spent most of the week relaxing—I had a bit of AP Gov homework to do, but I was able to get in a lot of quiet time. Thanksgiving was also really nice—I loved helping cook and eating everything, and it all turned out delicious.

As far as reading goes…I’m sort of in a slump, but the weird thing is that this is the second Thanksgiving Break in a row where I’ve had a reading slump. Huh. Anyway, I have read a few good books, but the highest rating I gave any of them after Evelyn Hardcastle was 3.5/5, so…eh, well, I got some new ones at the library yesterday, so hopefully things will turn out better.

We’re in the final days of NaNoWriMo now, and I’m getting close to my goal! I had two days where I went on a huge streak, so that’s bumped up my word count goal nicely. (Had a few “I have the power of a thousand cowboys running through my veins right now” moments and somehow chugged out 1,700 and 1,800 instead of my normal 1,500.) But I should be on track to finish in a few days, so I’m excited!

Other than that, I’ve just been relishing the last few days of sleeping in, volunteering at the library, watching the first two episodes of Hawkeye (decent?), and scavenging for Thanksgiving leftovers.