The French Dispatch – The Bookish Mutant

Weekly Update: December 27, 2021 – January 2, 2022

Posted on January 2, 2022January 2, 2022 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles, and happy new year! 🎉

Pros? We finally got some good snow.

Cons? Shoveling said snow.

The last week of 2021 was a peaceful one for me; mostly just staying inside and doing nothing, which is nice for a change. We saw Spiderman: No Way Home on Sunday night, and it was AMAZING. New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day were quiet, and I watched Wes Anderson movies (The French Dispatch, Isle of Dogs, and Fantastic Mr. Fox) with my family until midnight.

The fantastic mr fox GIFs - Get the best gif on GIFER

I’ve had a lot more time to read over break, which I’ve been so grateful for! Unfortunately, all of my usual volunteer days at the library have fallen on days when the library’s closed for the holidays, so I’ve finished the last of my library holds. For now, I’m scouring the Kindle library until I can go back to the library, but I have two books that I preordered that both come out in two days, so… 😳

I kind of hit a wall with editing my WIP—I just felt unsatisfied with a lot of it and just went and played Minecraft for several days instead of looking at it. I looked back over some of it yesterday and tried to come up with solutions, but it’s gonna be a long editing period…

Other than that, I’ve just been drawing, petting my cats, watching Get Back (how is it that the MINUTE George leaves, EVERYTHING devolves into chaos?), and doing my best to stay warm.

Just some GIF's from the "Let it Be/Get back" Sessions. : r/beatles

WHAT I READ THIS WEEK:

Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity – Ray Bradbury (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Zen in the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity: Bradbury, Ray: 9718777410946: Amazon.com: Books

Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights, #2) – Chloe Gong (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

Amazon.com: Our Violent Ends (These Violent Delights): 9781534457720: Gong, Chloe: Books

The Night When No One Had Sex – Kalena Miller (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

The Night When No One Had Sex by Kalena Miller

Thronebreakers (Crownchasers, #2) – Rebecca Coffindaffer (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Thronebreakers (Crownchasers, #2) by Rebecca Coffindaffer

Rise of the Red Hand (The Mechanists, #1) – Olivia Chadha (⭐️⭐️⭐️)

Rise of the Red Hand (The Mechanists, #1) by Olivia Chadha

POSTS AND SUCH:

SONGS:

CURRENTLY READING/TO READ NEXT WEEK:

(uncertain—since I’m reading off the Kindle library, I don’t know exactly what I’m reading next, so I’ll slip in the two books I preordered that come out on the 4th)

Sorcery of Thorns – Margaret Rogerson

The Kindred – Alechia Dow

Anthem – Noah Hawley

Noah Hawley Keeps Changing Lanes - The New York Times

Today’s song:

I feel like I’ve posted this song at least twice on here before but it came on shuffle today and DANG

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

Monthly Wrap-Ups

October Wrap-Up 🦇

Posted on October 31, 2021November 1, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Sunday, bibliophiles!

October is usually one of my favorite times of year, but this year was one of a lot of self-reflection. Last October was—and still is—a painful stretch of terrain to look back on, but I’m glad to say that I’m in a much better place now. Plus, fall!

GENERAL THOUGHTS:

King of grunge GIFs - Get the best gif on GIFER

Since last year, I’ve had lots of time to heal, and even though the particular anniversary of the most unpleasant part was rocky, I’ve had a nice month overall. October is one of my favorite times of year, what with the confluence of Halloween and all the good feelings I associate with fall, and I got to enjoy that part to the fullest. There’s been hardly any snow at all (and what little snow we had didn’t accumulate), and the leaves have been extra bright and crunchy.

I had a lot of fun this month too! I dyed my hair, I got pumpkins, I got to watch two amazing movies (Dune and The French Dispatch) in theaters, and I just got back from LA! We went to see Danny Elfman perform the soundtrack of The Nightmare Before Christmas on Friday night, which was MAGICAL. We stopped by the La Brea Tar Pits museum and Amoeba Records too, which were both amazing. Plus, even though I only got to wear it for a few minutes after getting back to the airport, my Kaz Brekker costume was a lot of fun.

As far as writing goes, I’ve been writing my other WIP on and off. I hit 100 pages recently, but I feel like it’ll be too short…plus, and I’m fighting the urge to edit my main WIP. Maybe NaNoWriMo will sort things out.

We’ll see.

READING AND BLOGGING:

I read 18 books this month! As far as the quantity goes, it’s been my worst reading month of the year, but it doesn’t really matter. I can mostly chalk it up to a) school, b) more long books than usual, and c) at least two reading slumps, but I still read a whole lot of stuff that I’d been looking forward to. Plus, there were some single-issue comics in there too. And I’m still on track to complete my Goodreads goal, anyway.

1 – 1.75 stars:

Amazon.com: Horrid eBook : Leno, Katrina: Kindle Store — *Horrid*

The Stars Now Unclaimed (The Universe After, #1) – Drew Williams (DNF) (⭐️)
Horrid – Katrina Leno (⭐️)

2 – 2.75 stars:

Caster : Chapman, Elsie: Amazon.co.uk: Books — *Caster*

Caster – Elsie Chapman (⭐️⭐️)

3 – 3.75 stars:

Project Hail Mary: A Novel: Weir, Andy: 9780593135204: Amazon.com: Books — *Project Hail Mary*

Vampires, Hearts, & Other Dead Things – Margie Fuston (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
His Hideous Heart – Dahlia Adler et. al. (anthology) (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Columbus Day (Expeditionary Force, #1) – Craig Alanson (⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magic, #2) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Each of Us a Desert – Mark Oshiro (⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Neon Darkness (The Bright Sessions, #2) – Lauren Shippen (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)
Project Hail Mary – Andy Weir (⭐️⭐️⭐️.75)

4 – 4.75 stars:

Amazon.com: Steelstriker (Skyhunter Duology): 9781250221728: Lu, Marie: Books — *Steelstriker*

Iron Widow – Xiran Jay Zhao (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Picture of Dorian Gray – Oscar Wilde (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley (for school) (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Animals Real and Imagined: The Fantasy of What Is and What Might Be – Terryl Whitlatch (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic, #1) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
Steelstriker (Skyhunter, #2) – Marie Lu (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)
A Conjuring of Light (Shades of Magic, #3) – V.E. Schwab (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5)

FAVORITE BOOK OF THE MONTH: A Conjuring of Light – 4.5 stars

Buy A Conjuring of Light: A Novel: 3 (Shades of Magic, 3) Book Online at Low Prices in India | A Conjuring of Light: A Novel: 3 (Shades of Magic, 3) Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in

SOME POSTS I’M PROUD OF:

I loved reviewing A Darker Shade of Magic, Iron Widow, and Steelstriker!
I made a list of Found Family sci-fi books!
I had a lot of fun with the Cozy Fall book tag!

POSTS I ENJOYED FROM OTHER WONDERFUL PEOPLE:

SONGS/ALBUMS THAT I ENJOYED:

pretty solid album

this song played while I was getting my hair dyed, and needless to say, I’m obsessed

our ears are blessed by another snail mail single

this one constantly gets stuck in my head and I love it

NEW SUKI WATERHOUSE BOTTOM TEXT

Okay The French Dispatch was an INSTANT 5 stars for me and I love this cover too

DID I FOLLOW THROUGH WITH MY OCTOBER GOALS?

Selbetti 2021 GIFs - Get the best GIF on GIPHY

Read at least 20 books: 18.
Post more than just Goodreads Mondays/Book Review Tuesdays (schoolwork permitting, of course, schoolwork first): did that! See the posts I’m proud of section for them.
Celebrate SPOOKY SEASON accordingly: yep. Only got to wear my Kaz costume for 10 minutes, but it was great.

GOALS FOR NOVEMBER:

𝓉𝒾𝓂𝓂𝓎 — Timothée Chalamet in The French Dispatch (2020),...

Read at least 20 books
Enjoy Thanksgiving Break!
Keep the progress on my current WIP

Today’s song (Halloween edition):

okay seeing this live sung by Ken Page himself was AN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE

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

Goodreads Monday

Goodreads Monday (10/25/21) – The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker

Posted on October 25, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

Happy Monday, bibliophiles!

Goodreads Monday is a weekly meme created by Lauren’s Page Turners. All you have to do to participate is pick a book from your Goodreads TBR, and explain why you want to read it.

Concluding my collection of spooky books for this October, here’s one from an author that I haven’t read in quite a while. The only book by Lauren James that I’ve read is The Loneliest Girl in the Universe (although I have several books of hers on my TBR), but I’m interested to see how she handles the paranormal genre!

Let’s begin, shall we?

GOODREADS MONDAY (10/25/21) – THE RECKLESS AFTERLIFE OF HARRIET STOKER by Lauren James

Amazon.com: THE RECKLESS AFTERLIFE OF HARRIET STOKER: 9781406391121: JAMES LAUREN: Books

Blurb from Goodreads:

“Congratulations, new kid. Welcome to the afterlife.”

What if death is only the beginning?

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a group of ghosts, each with a special power.

Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome Harriet into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival after decades alone. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

So why do I want to read this?

Take a look. You'll see it. on We Heart It

Oh, this is promising…I’m getting a distinct found-family vibe from it; I haven’t seen it done before with ghosts, and I can’t wait to see how it’s executed! Death and being undead seems like something that would instantly bind people together as ghosts.

Plus, ghosts with powers? Of course I’m interested. The blurb doesn’t specify what kind of powers that we’re dealing with, so I’m intrigued by the possibilities that this book’s paranormal world and laws could hold.

What I remember from The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was that it did suspense and plot twists very deftly, and I’m hoping the same applies to The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker. That kind of plot aspect is almost a given in most paranormal novels, so I’m interested to see what kind of curveballs Lauren James will throw our way.

Green Aesthetic | Wiki | Aesthetic Twilight Amino

Today’s song:

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

Weekly Updates

Weekly Update: October 18-24, 2021

Posted on October 24, 2021October 24, 2021 by madeline @ The Bookish Mutant

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

For the most part, it’s been a good week. I have three (yes, three) exams all on the same day next week, so that’s…fun…but I’ve managed to get my studying under control. My mood’s continued to be a lot better than last October, and I’m glad to say, again, that I’m in a better place. I know I must sound like a broken record by now, but last October was absolutely abysmal…

As far as reading goes…you ever just have one of those weeks where you read something FANTASTIC and then everything else you read that week just…sucks? Yeah, that’s how it’s been. Two 1-star reads, one of which was a DNF. But I got some more books from the library yesterday, so hopefully things should pick up. (I finished the Shades of Magic trilogy and I don’t know what to do with myself now…) I’ve been making steady-ish progress with my current WIP as well, and I passed 100 pages last night!

Other than that, I’ve just been eating leftover cake, studying, getting my pumpkins for Halloween, and watching The French Dispatch! I saw the latter on Friday night, and it was an instant 5-star movie for me. You can just tell that it’s exactly the kind of thing that Wes Anderson has been waiting years to make, and the creativity and love just radiates from it in waves. 100% in my top 3 Wes Anderson movies now. (I’m seeing Dune tonight too!! Finally!!)