Friday, July 16, 2021

The Friday 56 (203) & Book Beginnings: The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE


Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.



Synopsis from Goodreads...
In the third volume of The Lord of the Rings trilogy the good and evil forces join battle, and we see that the triumph of good is not absolute. The Third Age of Middle-earth ends, and the age of the dominion of Men begins.


Beginning: "Pippin looked out from the shelter of Gandalf's cloak."

56: "A young man, Merry thought as he returned the glance, less in height and girth than most."


Comments: I have finally read The Return of the King, and so I can mark The Lord of the Rings off my TBR list. I had a great time reading this story. What are you reading this week?

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Review: Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore

Title: Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You
Series: n/a
Author: Scotto Moore
Source/Format: Won from a contest; Paperback
More Details: Science Fiction; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: Tor.com; February 5, 2019

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Synopsis from Goodreads...
Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You is a story of music, obsession, violence, and madness by Scotto Moore

I was home alone on a Saturday night when I experienced the most beautiful piece of music I had ever heard in my life...

Beautiful Remorse is the hot new band on the scene, releasing one track a day for ten days straight. Each track has a mysterious name and a strangely powerful effect on the band's fans. A curious music blogger decides to investigate the phenomenon up close by following Beautiful Remorse on tour across Texas and Kansas, realizing along the way that the band's lead singer, is hiding an incredible, impossible secret.


When Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You initially came out, I completely missed it. But better late than never, right? So I have finally read this book, and it was nothing like I was expecting it to be. The summary on the back is vague and kind of implied a story that might be somewhat surreal and mysterious (think contemporary fantasy). Yet that wasn’t totally the case, and I will get to that in a minute.

Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You was a really good read. I would describe the story as like looking at an album, or more specifically as going through the stages of listening to each song—seeing how you react to it. The music is mysterious in the beginning—from the identity of the band, to the effect it had on people who listened to the songs—but the story doesn’t have much of a central mystery. Instead it had a feeling to it, a certain kind of atmosphere that was built upon as the story went along. Somewhere along the way, it quickly took a turn into cosmic horror with a musical edge, and it never left that track.

What I liked best about this story was how hard Moore leaned into the love of everything about music—with characters who knew their stuff—as well as the speculative elements. It culminated into a fast paced, page-turner of a read.

Monday, July 12, 2021

Music Monday (163): Magdalena Bay, Brownstone

 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: There has been so much good music released between the end of June and early July. I cam across a group called is Magdalena Bay while exploring my Spotify recommendations. I really like their song called Chaeri, and I look forward to checking out their album when its released in October. Note: there is a strobe warning for the music video.


Andrea: Hi all! I'm listening to If You Love Me by Brownstone. Have a great week!



What are you listening to this week?



Friday, July 9, 2021

The Friday 56 (202) & Book Beginnings: Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE


Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...
Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You is a story of music, obsession, violence, and madness by Scotto Moore

I was home alone on a Saturday night when I experienced the most beautiful piece of music I had ever heard in my life...

Beautiful Remorse is the hot new band on the scene, releasing one track a day for ten days straight. Each track has a mysterious name and a strangely powerful effect on the band's fans. A curious music blogger decides to investigate the phenomenon up close by following Beautiful Remorse on tour across Texas and Kansas, realizing along the way that the band's lead singer, is hiding an incredible, impossible secret.


Beginning: "Took me hours to even begin to understand what had happened, actually."

56: "Conveniently, those of you in the Houston area have a chance to find out TONIGHT."


Comments: Two of my most recent reads have been music related things, and I have to say that I enjoyed them both. The latest was this one: Your Favorite Band Cannot Save You by Scotto Moore. It was great, and I enjoyed reading it. My beginning comes from the second sentence, because the opening line is actually in the synopsis above. What are you reading this week? 


Tuesday, July 6, 2021

ARC Review: The Brilliant Abyss: Exploring the Majestic Hidden Life of the Deep Ocean, and the Looming Threat That Imperils It by Helen Scales

Title: The Brilliant Abyss
Series: n/a
Author: Helen Scales
Source/Format: Publisher;eARC
More Details: Nonfiction; Science
Publisher/Publication Date: Atlantic Monthly Press; July 6, 2021 

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Synopsis from Goodreads...
"The oceans have always shaped human lives," writes marine biologist Helen Scales in her vibrant new book The Brilliant Abyss, but the surface and the very edges have so far mattered the most. "However, one way or another, the future ocean is the deep ocean." 

A golden era of deep-sea discovery is underway. Revolutionary studies in the deep are rewriting the very notion of life on Earth and the rules of what is possible. In the process, the abyss is being revealed as perhaps the most amazing part of our planet, with a topography even more varied and extreme than its Earthbound counterpart. Teeming with unsuspected life, an extraordinary interconnected ecosystem deep below the waves has a huge effect on our daily lives, influencing climate and weather systems, with the potential for much more--good or bad depending on how it is exploited. Currently the fantastic creatures that live in the deep--many of them incandescent in a world without light--and its formations capture and trap vast quantities of carbon that would otherwise poison our atmosphere; and novel bacteria as yet undiscovered hold the promise of potent new medicines. Yet the deep also holds huge mineral riches lusted after by many nations and corporations; mining them could ultimately devastate the planet, compounded by the deepening impacts of ubiquitous pollutants and rampant overfishing. Eloquently and passionately, Helen Scales brings to life the majesty and mystery of an alien realm that nonetheless sustains us, while urgently making clear the price we could pay if it is further disrupted. The Brilliant Abyss is at once a revelation and a clarion call to preserve this vast unseen world

One subject I haven’t read enough about is the ocean. So it’s something of interest to me. When I came across The Brilliant Abyss, I instantly knew I wanted to give it a go. Helen Scales wrote a truly fascinating book, which offered an in-depth look at some of the murkier depths of the ocean as well as a number of the amazing animals that live there.

The first portion of the book was spent expertly showing how diverse, delicate, and vital deep-sea environments actually are. The animals have a much bigger role to play in the depths of the ocean than what even I originally gave them credit for. The kind of resilience needed to survive at depths with crushing pressure, frigid temperatures and searing hot (and often toxic) hydrothermal vents is almost unimaginable—yet it exists. And The Brilliant Abyss excels at making this point.

So in the later to last potions of the book, the implications of the damaging and irreparable effects of deep sea mining and fishing was laid out on the table. Loss of habitat was one key factor—i.e. the destruction of old growth coral and the steep declines in animal populations that can’t keep up with demand. The argument Scales’s makes is backed up by a few examples. Such as when she talked thoroughly about the history of a deep sea fish called Orange Roughy.

The Brilliant Abyss was an excellent read. It leaned hard into the science behind what makes the ocean the ocean, and all the many ways the animals that live there have adapted to the characteristics of their environment. Many different studies were cited, which included a few detailed sections about Scales’s own experiences. In conclusion, the abyss is as brilliant as it is fascinating. 

About the author...

Dr Helen Scales is a marine biologist, writer and broadcaster. She is author of the Guardian bestseller Spirals in Time, New Scientist book of the year Eye of the Shoal, and the children’s book The Great Barrier Reef. She writes for National Geographic Magazine, the Guardian, and New Scientist, among others. She teaches at Cambridge University and is science advisor for the marine conservation charity Sea Changers. Helen divides her time between Cambridge, England, and the wild Atlantic coast of of France.


Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Atlantic Monthly Press) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!
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