Monday, March 14, 2022

Music Monday (191): MØ, Oleksa Lozowchuk, Lovisa Bergdahl, Ariana Gillis

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 still listening to Motordrome. Another one of my favorite songs is Wheelspin. It's one of the best tracks from the album.


Adri: I have been playing Horizon: Forbidden West, and I adore the soundtrack so much. One of the earliest cutscenes played the song In The Flood by Oleksa Lozowchuk and Lovisa Bergdahl featuring Ariana Gillis. And my second pick is Lovisa's version of In The Flood. 




What are you listening to this week?



Friday, March 11, 2022

I Listened to Motordrome by MØ

 

It’s been a while since MØ’s last album (Forever Neverland came out in 2018). So, another one of my most anticipated albums of the first part of 2022 was Motordrome. I didn’t closely follow the singles leading up to the January 28th release date, but I was still eager to dive into this album.

Motordrome is MØ’s third studio album. There were no features, but honestly it wasn’t needed. Motordrome was a solid foray into pop music, with touches of electronic and a few beats that felt like a brief reference to the sound of MØ’s first studio album, No Mythologies to Follow. It was so good. Some of my favorites included Live to Survive, Wheelspin, New Moon, Goosebumps, and Hip Bones.

Don’t get me wrong though, Motordrome is its own thing. MØ clearly had something to say, and the album feels as if it’s telling a story to its listeners and is, overall, carried by a different tone in a lot of aspects. It was still markedly a MØ album, and there was a lot to enjoy about Motordrome.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee

Title: A Thousand Steps Into Night
Series: n/a
Author: Traci Chee
Source/Format: NetGalley (Publisher); eARC
More Details: Fantasy; Young Adult
Publisher/Publication Date: Clarion Books; March 1, 2022

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble    

Synopsis from Goodreads...
In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter. But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again. But with her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she’ll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her… and perhaps never did.

It’s been a while since I last read anything by Traci Chee, but I was eager to check out her latest young adult novel: A Thousand Steps Into Night. Books that deal with curses are sometimes my favorite thing. There are many ways to interpret what constitutes as a curse. In one of Traci Chee’s newsletters, she talked about some of the work that went into A Thousand Steps Into Night, and I was interested in seeing how that would come in to play.

As a standalone, I liked this story. There were a lot of strong aspects about it including the endearing characters—Miuko as well as some surprising allies—to the world building and the major turning points that culminated in an excellent and satisfying conclusion.

The opening chapters got the ball rolling at a fast pace, but it was an effective opener for a story that barely had time to slow down and breath. There was a lot of ground to cover though, and so traveling made up a good chunk of the story. However, those bits were good, as it showed the setting through Miuko’s eyes as she experienced it. At times, the outward factors seemed to work against the characters, and there was literally danger around every corner from the ordinary and the supernatural. There were a few comical moments, but the tension (from the race against time and the ensuing chase) was the defining tone of A Thousand Steps Into Night.

So the characters: I liked them. The secondary cast, as well as the villain, were detailed and complex. The villain in particular had a clear motive, and his actions were a foil to Miuko’s ultimate quest.

All the hallmarks of a coming of age tale were present with Miuko (the sole POV) having to figure out who she wanted to be after being cursed. Awara was a society that was restrictive to women, and that was one of the big themes of the story. Add in a curse, and you’re pretty much everything they don’t want. So with her banishment from the only places and family she’s ever known, she was left in a difficult situation. Her endurance was admirable, but I also liked when she finally got some support and built those friendships she’d craved for. In the end, I appreciated Miuko’s characterization, and her story was so satisfying to watch playout.

A Thousand Steps Into Night was an interesting and enjoyable read.

About the author....
Traci Chee is a New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award Finalist. An all-around word geek, she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts, though she also dabbles at bonsai gardening, egg painting, and hosting potluck game nights for family and friends. She studied literature and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog.
Goodreads     Website     Twitter     Instagram

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Clarion Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Monday, March 7, 2022

Music Monday (190): MØ, Ralf GUM, Mike Avery, Diamondancer, & Madonna

 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 listening to MØ's new album, Motordrome. I'll have a full post about it later this month, but I wanted to mention one of my favorite songs: New Moon. I love the music video for it. 

 

Adri: This week I'm listening to Ralf Gum. It's Searching (Full Mix) featuring Mike Avery and All This Love For You (Original Mix) featuring Diamondancer.



Andrea: Hi all! I hope everyone is having a great week. I've always loved Frozen by Madonna, and now there's a remix... You can listen to both versions below. Which one do you like the best?




What are you listening to this week?



Friday, March 4, 2022

The Friday 56 (213) & Book Beginnings: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

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...
Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan.

Beginning: "Midway in our life's journey, I went astray
from the straight road and woke to find myself 
alone in a dark wood."

56: "And he to me: "Your own city, so rife
with hatred that the bitter cup flowers over
was mine to in that other, clearer life."


Comments: One of my blogging goals of 2022 is to read The Divine Comedy. I started at the beginning with Inferno, and I liked it. I'm really looking forward to The Purgatorio. What are you reading this week?


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