The Friday 56 (205) & Book Beginnings: The Case Study of Vanitas vol. 8 by Jun Mochizuki

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...

The Beast of Gévaudan is put to rest once and for all as Chloé makes peace with her truest desire—but Vanitas’s troubles continue as both he and Jeanne are struck with certain... ailments of the heart! There’s no time for him to dwell on this rather unwelcome development, though, as Domi is swept away in the machinations of a phantom from his past...

Beginning: "Isn't it time yet, Roland?"

56: "It's all over now...."

Comments: I finally got around to reading volume 8 of The Case Study of Vanitas. I know the quotes are kind of vague, but the rest of the dialogue contained too many spoilers for the current arc. What are you reading this week?

I Listened to Music by Magdalena Bay

Last month, I added another group to my playlist called Magdalena Bay. I really liked their song, Cheari, and spent some time exploring their backlist of music in preparation for their album, Mercurial World, which will be released on October 8, 2021.

My first foray was one of their 2020 releases: A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling. Totaling at eight tracks, this album was really good. The overall sound reminded me of the same style of Cheari, which was pop and electronic track (I mentioned it on a Music Monday post a few weeks back). The uniformity didn’t mean that it was boring though, far from it actually. There was plenty to find here.

Next, I tackled the first part out of two EPs called Mini Mix vol. 1. Magdalena Bay has a particular style to their music, which is easy enough to pick up on. Mini Mix vol.1 had the same kind of electronic/pop type sound as their album, except it had a slightly mellower feel to it than the upbeat tone to A Little Rhythm and a Wicked Feeling. It often felt kind of experimental. The songs were way shorter here with the longest coming in at two minutes and twenty-three seconds. Another artist who did this was Tierra Whack (Whack World was a full length album with fifteen songs that were only a minute each). And just like with Whack World, I wished that a few of Mini Mix vol. 1 tracks were longer than they were such as Turning Off The Rain, Afternoon in Heaven, and U Wanna Dance?.

From there, I jumped right into Mini Mix vol. 2, which was their second 2020 release. I was much more prepared for the length of the songs, which were all under three minutes here as well. Still, there was so much to like about it. I won’t go on too long rehashing the type of music you’ll find, since much of what I said about Mini Mix vol. 1 also applies to the second EP. Some of my favorites from vol.2 were Sky2Fall, Body, Live 4ever, and Sky2Fall Reprise.

Despite the short length of the songs, Mini Mix vol. 1 and vol. 2 offered a good variety of bite-sized offerings of Magdalena Bay’s music.

Overall, I recommend all three. And now, I will be over here waiting for Mercurial World.

Music Monday (170): Halsey, Moon Boots, Fiora, Kane Brown & AJR

 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: I'm currently listening to Halsey's new album: If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power. One of my favorite songs is The Tradition.

Adri: This week I'm listening to some more chill music. It's I Want Your Attention by Moon Boots feat. Fiora

Andrea: Hi All, this week I am listening to Worship You by Kane Brown & Bang by AJR.

Until next time, have an amazing week and stay safe!

What are you listening to this week?

Short Stories I Read In July

It’s the twenty-ninth of August. So it’s time to talk about the short stories, miscellaneous posts, and podcast episodes I read or listened to in July.

Eilam is Forever by Beth Dawkins (Apex Magazine, July 6, 2021)

The first of two short stories I read in July was Eliam is Forever by Beth Dawkins. This story was fine. I liked a few of its aspects, especially the themes. Some of it kind of reminded me of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. In that the story is told from the point of view of what appeared to be a ship. But it was like SecUnit if SecUnit had only just hacked itself and discovered emotions.

Data Migration by Melanie Harding-Shaw (Strange Horizons; Issue: 12 July 2021)

The second and last story I read was Data Migration by Melanie Harding-Shaw. I liked this story. It was told in a somewhat mixed format that was equal parts homework and comments made by the person doing the assigning and reading of those assignments. The major theme here was climate change, and it was an interesting choice to explore that topic through the above mentioned format.

From around the web…

• Through A Thousand Eyes (Nisi Shawl; Uncanny Magazine Issue Forty-One)
• Explore the Culinary Delights of Elizabeth Lim’s Six Crimson Cranes (Elizabeth Lim; Tor.com, July 7, 2021)
• Print Run Podcast episode #143: Irreplaceable
• Understanding Horses: Yes, Riding Is a Sport (Judith Tar; Tor.com, July 12, 2021)

ARC Review: Seven-Year Witch by Angela M. Sanders

 Title: Seven-Year Witch

Series: Witch Way Librarian Mysteries #2
Author: Angela M. Sanders
Source/Format: Netgalley; eARC
More Details: Mystery; Paranormal
Publisher/Publication Date: Kensington; August 24, 2021

Goodreads    Amazon      Barnes & Noble      Target

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Finding your feet in a new job isn't always easy. That goes double for Josie Way, who's settling in as Wilfred, Oregon's, new librarian--and has just discovered she's a witch. But will her fledgling powers be enough to save her from a spell of murder? 

While Josie develops her witchcraft with the help of letters left by her grandmother, there are other changes happening in her new hometown. A retreat center is being built at the old mill site, and rumor has it that the location is cursed. That piques Josie's interest almost as much as Sam Wilfred, handsome FBI agent and descendent of the town's founder. When Sam's soon-to-be ex-wife, Fiona, goes missing at the same time that a bloodied weapon is found, Josie enlists her witchy insight, and her cat familiar, to clear Sam's name. But then the mill project's architect is found dead, and it's clear that someone has been drawing up a vicious plan. Now Josie will have to divine her way out of fatal mischief, before this deadly trouble turns double...

 

Seven-Year Witch’s premise is what drew me to the story. There are a few cozy mystery series that I can think of off the top of my head that also involve witches and magic. I’m a total sucker for stories that have a contemporary setting with a supernatural edge, so I had high hopes for this book.

Overall, I liked the story. The setting was a small town, and there seemed to be secrets around every corner. The mystery portion of the story was good. It had a strong presence in the story. And while the characters went about their daily routines, I mostly liked the way they approached investigating the incident. There were a few stumbles with the main character putting too much focus on one possible scenario/cause, which didn’t really lead anywhere. But besides that, the mystery was good. 

Josie Way is a witch that’s technically in training. She’s also a librarian with an unrequited crush who also happens to live in the apartment above the library, which comes in handy since her magic is mostly book based. That alone, was quite an enjoyable aspect about the story. The books really stood out as a highlight, because of the way the quotes and their presence were used in Seven-Year Witch. At times, the library felt like a character in its own right.

There were a lot of good and interesting ideas here, which wrapped up with a nice but open-ended conclusion for some aspects of the story. Seven-Year Witch was a fun read.

About the author...

Angela grew up in rural Northern California building forts in the woods where she devoured Nancy Drew mysteries. She earned degrees in economics and public administration, and in graduate school studied six months in Paris, sparking a lifelong interest in French culture. After 11 years as a congressional investigator, Angela realized she was more fascinated by the stories at the edges of her investigations–the decrepit exercise equipment in the ladies room of a Czech oil company; the curious number of framed photographs of women on a nuclear weapons official’s desk; the stupendous speed by which a particular Agriculture undersecretary inhaled chili dogs–than by the policies she evaluated. She returned to the west coast to explore the world and her imagination through magazine stories and fiction.

Angela lives in Portland, Oregon.

Goodreads     Website     Twitter    Instagram

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