Music Monday (68): Pentatonix, Mariah Carey, Charlotte Church, and Whitney Houston

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Christmas is tomorrow. The year is almost over. And with this last Music Monday, I'm done with weekly memes until 2019. So, my first pick is Pentatonix’s cover of Sweater Weather. I still like the original version of the song by The Neighborhood, but I have to admit Pentatonix's cover of it is very catchy and I like what they did to adjust it their style...

And because today is Christmas Eve, my second pick is Joy to the World by Mariah Carey. Even though Carey has a second holiday music album, the first one, Merry Christmas, will always be my favorite. And this version of Joy to the World is awesome….

Adri: My pick for this Music Monday is Dream a Dream by Charlotte Church featuring Billy Gilman. I first enjoyed this song from the iTunes Holiday Sampler. Eventually, I forgot about it, only finding it again after looking through my music library.

Andrea: I've been so busy lately, but I've still made time to listen to great Christmas music. One of the songs on my current playlist is One Wish (For Christmas) by Whitney Houston....

What are you listening to this week?

The Best Music I’ve Listened To in 2018...

It’s that time of year again. 2018 flew by and before I knew it, it was time to sit down and write some posts about the best books, movies, TV shows, and music that I liked. To make this manageable, I’m breaking it down into a section for books, a section for movies/TV shows, and a section for music respectively. Honestly, it gives me an excuse to use the year-specific post graphic a few more times before changing it to the new one. 

As the title of this post suggests, I’m going start with a list some of the music I enjoyed listening to in 2018. 2018 was a good year for music. A lot of long awaited albums finally came out such as Dirty Computer by Janelle Monáe, Invasion of Privacy by Cardi B, and Twenty One Pilots follow-up to Blurryface, Trench. But I also found myself seeking out albums that came out in 2017 as well as others that were released as far back as 2015. So, here is a list of my  favorite albums, songs, and EPs… 

Note: I’m not limiting the albums/songs/EP s by the year they were released, and instead their inclusion is determined by if I happened to come across them in 2018….

• Primal Heart by Kimbra: Primal Heart is probably the album that most surprised me. Over the years, I’ve listened to Kimbra off and on and had a list of favorite songs by her. So, I was ecstatic to learn that she had new music coming out in 2018. And after listening to the songs released prior to the rest of the album, the hype was real. Honestly, Primal Heart is such a gem. It’s one of the few albums where I can say that I love every song from it. 

• Christmas is Here! By Pentatonix: Its holiday music by Pentatonix right on time for December. From classic holiday songs, to tracks featuring Kelly Clarkson and Maren Morris, and covers of music from The Nightmare Before Christmas, there’s a lot to love about this album….

• Caution by Mariah Carey: SHE’S BACK. Honestly, I’ve been waiting for Mariah Carey to release another album. I didn’t hear much about Caution until a few days after it was released. I like it. 

• Trench by Twenty One Pilots: While Blurryface will always have a special place in my heart—after all, it’s the album that got me into Twenty One Pilot’s music—there’s no denying how excellent Trench is. The release of the singles of Jumpsuit and Nico and the Niners already had me feeling immensely excited for what else Trench had to offer. And the wait was worth it, because from the lyrics to the sound, I love everything about the album. 

• Back to the Woods by Angel Haze: While Back to the Woods was released in September of 2015, it turned out to be one of the best albums I listened to in 2018. I wrote a post explaining some of the reasons behind why I thoroughly enjoyed listening to it HERE. 

• The Kids are Alright by Chloe x Halle: The Kids are Alright is one album I forgot was coming out this year until I saw it mentioned somewhere. It showcased Chloe and Halle’s vocal capabilities with gems like Hi Lo, Warrior, Babybird, and the titular The Kids Are Alright. As such, it’s one of my favorite studio debuts to come out of 2018. 

• Bittersweet Volume 1 by OSHUN: OSHUN always has such a distinctive sound to their music and Bittersweet Volume 1 is no exception. 

• Every Open Eye and Love is Dead by CHVRCHES: Prior to 2018, I didn’t listen to much music by CHVRCHES. But, then their recent album, Love is Dead, got my attention. And through recommendation, I listened to Every Open Eye. And, I have to admit that I’ve come to really enjoy their style of music. 

So, those are just some of the albums/EPs that I personally enjoyed. Next, I want to quickly list some of the other music I’ve been listening to this year such as work by content creators—like youtubers—as well as other noteworthy singles… 

• Chapter 28 (EP) by Daina 

• Turbo by Nathan Sharp (NateWantsToBattle) 

• God is a Woman by Ariana Grande 

• Django Jane by Janelle Monáe 

• Close by Rae Sremmurd, Swae Lee, Slim Jxmmi featuring Travis Scott 

• All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar and SZA 

• Pills; Masseduction; Sugarboy; and Los Ageless by St. Vincent 

And that’s it for today. Up next, I'm going to talk about the books I read and enjoyed in 2018. What’s some of the music you’ve been listening to this year?

The Joy of Christmas Book Tag (2018)

Today, I wanted to participate in one last book tag before the year is over. Instead of finding one I haven’t done before, I decided to do The Joy of Christmas Book Tag again to see how much my answers have changed after 3 years. Before I get started, I have to go over some of the technical details.

This tag was created by Sam’s Nonsense (Novel and Nonsense). The original video can be found HERE. And the updated video is HERE. 

Anticipation: The Christmas excitement is real, what book release(s) are you most anticipating?

• Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan 

• The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon 

• The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory 

• The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie 

• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 

Christmas Songs & Carols: What book or author can you not help but sing it's praises?

I have two answers for this one. Mem by Bethany C. Morrow: it was a short book but an incredibly good one. And Why We Sleep by Matthew Walker: if you’ve ever wanted to learn more about sleep and dreams, then this would be the book to start with.

Gingerbread Houses: What book or series has wonderful world building?

Oh, this one is easy: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik and the entire Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden. The world building in these books are among my all-time favorites. They’re immersive and atmospheric tales with layers of detail that make the settings vivid with scenery with a bit of political intrigue and magic. I’ve already done a review for Spinning Silver HERE and also talked about it on another post HERE. And as for the final book in the Winternight Trilogy, The Winter of the Witch, I’ll share my thoughts about it closer to the release date.

A Christmas Carol: Favorite classic or one that you want to read
One of my favorite classic novels is Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott, and the one I want to read is Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Christmas Sweets: What book would you love to receive for Christmas

Any volume of The Case Study of Vanitas by Jun Mochizuki.

Candles in the Window: What book gives you that warm fuzzy feelings

The first story from Star-Touched Stories by Roshani Chokshi: Death and Night. It’s by far my favorite of the three stories from the collection. And while it’s technically the backstory of some of the prominent characters from the series, it was excellent and there were some cute moments.

Christmas Trees & Decorations: What are some of your favorite book covers?

The book covers from the Heroine Complex series by Sarah Kuhn as well as the ones for the Tales from the Chocolate Heart series by Stephanie Burgis. And, of course, the book covers for the Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie, because John Harris did the illustrations.

Christmas Joy: What are some of your favorite things about Christmas And/Or some of your favorite Christmas memories?

My favorite thing about Christmas is probably everything—music, an excuse to bake, spending time with family, etc.—and the fact that it’s in December means that the weather is cooler.

So, that’s about it for today. Don’t forget to check out Sam’s Nonsense over on youtube, and I tag anyone who wants to participate.

Music Monday (67): Two Steps From Hell, Stevie Wonder, & Andra Day

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: My pick this week is Christmas Medley by Two Steps From Hell. I’ve been a fan of them for a number of years and their music is best described as epic. And while their Christmas Medley is perfectly festive, it's clearly influenced by their style.  It's epic, which is one of the reasons I enjoy listening to this song around this time of year...

Andrea:  My playlist this week is filled with Christmas Music by several of my favorite artists. One of the songs I’m listening to is Some Day At Christmas by Stevie Wonder & Andra Day.

What's some of your favorite holiday music?

Review: The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman

Title: The Masked City
Series: The Invisible Library #2
Author: Genevieve Cogman
Source/Format: Borrowed from the Library; Paperback
More Details: Historical; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Ace Books; September 6, 2016

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Working in an alternate version of Victorian London, Librarian-spy Irene has settled into a routine, collecting important fiction for the mysterious Library and blending in nicely with the local culture. But when her apprentice, Kai—a dragon of royal descent—is kidnapped by the Fae, her carefully crafted undercover operation begins to crumble.
Kai’s abduction could incite a conflict between the forces of chaos and order that would devastate all worlds and all dimensions. To keep humanity from getting caught in the crossfire, Irene will have to team up with a local Fae leader to travel deep into a version of Venice filled with dark magic, strange coincidences, and a perpetual celebration of Carnival—and save her friend before he becomes the first casualty of a catastrophic war.
But navigating the tumultuous landscape of Fae politics will take more than Irene’s book-smarts and fast-talking—to ward off Armageddon, she might have to sacrifice everything she holds dear....

Since I recently read and loved The Mortal Word, book #5 of the Invisible Library series, I’d decided to make it a goal to read the other three books I’d missed. So the obvious place to start was The Masked City.

I loved this book. It combined elements of historical fiction with those of fantasy with an added touch of futuristic technology in certain aspects of the setting. The Masked City was also fast paced and packed with enough danger, action, and mystery to make the story an exciting follow-up to The Invisible Library (book #1). All of my favorite characters—Irene, Vale, Kai, and Silver—were present as new and familiar worlds were further explored. Although, this time around, Irene’s usual duties as a Librarian were mostly put on hold in favor of rescuing her apprentice.

There were some parts of the mystery that got solved relatively early on, but it wasn’t bad considering the answers brought more questions rather than a firm resolution. The Masked City also delved into more of the politics between dragons and the Fae with the focus on the latter since the story mainly took place in a world heavily influenced by chaos. These details are somewhat beneficial to know when trying to understad the Fae of Cogman’s series. It not only provided context for their nature it showed it as well through Irene’s interactions with Silver and others—something that was especially highlighted given the setting being in an extremely high chaos zone, which was a stark contrast to the other worlds Irene had been to. To say the least, it was interesting how stories/personal narratives came into play. There were also some new enemies, as well others who were very familiar, working behind the scenes toward their own goals.

So, overall, the story was good, and I plan to read The Burning Page sometime soon. I’ve already read the synopsis for it, and I’m interested in seeing how the Alberich situation gets resolved....