Monday, February 20, 2023

Music Monday (231): Hemlocke Springs, 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: Hemlocke Springs released another song. It's called Stranger Danger, and I love it. (Warning for flashing lights)


Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Rise Up by Andra Day. Have an amazing week!



What are you listening to this week?


Friday, February 17, 2023

The Friday 56 (228) & Book Beginnings: Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton

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...

For nearly seventy years readers have chosen this book above all others to discover the thrilling, enchanting, and fascinating world of Western mythology. From Odysseus's adventure-filled journey to the Norse god Odin's effort to postpone the final day of doom, Edith Hamilton's classic collection not only retells these stories with brilliant clarity but shows us how the ancients saw their own place in the world and how their themes echo in our consciousness today. An essential part of every home library, Mythology is the definitive volume for anyone who wants to know the key dramas, the primary characters, the triumphs, failures, fears, and hopes first narrated thousands of years ago - and is still spellbinding to this day.


Beginning: "Greek and Roman mythology is quite generally supposed to show us the way the human race thought and felt untold ages ago."

56: "Four lovely maidens, sisters, coming to draw water from the well, saw her and asked her pityingly what she did there."


Comments: My first read of 2023 was Edith Hamilton's Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. The first quote comes from the introduction. 

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

Title: Lud-in-the-Mist
Series: n/a
Author: Hope Mirrlees
Source/Format: Purchased; paperback
More Details: Fantasy; Classic
Publisher/Publication Date: Originally published in 1926

Goodreads     Amazon     Barnes & Noble    

Synopsis from Goodreads...
Lud-in-the-Mist - a prosperous country town situated where two rivers meet: the Dawl and the Dapple. The latter, which has its source in the land of Faerie, is a great trial to Lud, which had long rejected anything 'other', preferring to believe only in what is known, what is solid. Nathaniel Chanticleer is a somewhat dreamy, slightly melancholy man, not one for making waves, who is deliberately ignoring a vital part of his own past; a secret he refuses even to acknowledge. But with the disappearance of his own daughter, and a long-overdue desire to protect his young son, he realises that something is changing in Lud - and something must be done.

Lud-in-the-Mist is a true classic, an adult fairy tale exploring the need to embrace what we fear and to come to terms with 'the shadows' - those sweet and dark impulses that our public selves ignore or repress.

One of my last reads of 2022 was Hope Mirrlees’ 1926 fantasy classic, Lud-in-the-Mist. I first saw this novel while watching one of Christy Anne Jones’ videos earlier in 2022. I was instantly intrigued by the way she described the book, and that it was a pre-Tolkien fantasy. So I bought a copy for myself. But, it was a couple of months before I finally got around to reading it. In December, I was in the mood for more fairy related content after I read Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (which was amazing). So, Lud-in-the-Mist was an easy choice. And, ultimately, it quickly became one of my top-favorite fantasy classics to date. 

At times, I felt like I was being told the events by an omnipresent narrator, which worked well for it. And, while Lud-in-the-Mist wasn’t action packed—and I wasn’t expecting it to be—it was still a very thrilling novel with plenty of mystery and something of a comedic streak at its most ridiculous moments. It had plenty to say of course, because it was a novel about a country that was determined to deny a part of its origins, and so allowed space for a cunning villain to get into their midst. The quote that follows is one of my favorites and is an example of (as well as an explanation) for the attitudes present in story. 

“In the eye of the law, neither Fairyland nor fairy things existed. But then, as Master Josiah had pointed out, the law plays fast and loose with reality—and no one really believes it.”—page 13

I liked the wide range of characters that made up the cast, which included everyone from Nathaniel Chanticleer to his wife, children, and neighbors. Nathaniel, and, in particular, his wife, Dame Marigold, were some of my favorites. He could be irritable and so on and so forth. And she was cunning when she wanted. They, like much of the cast, was described as typical (for a Dorimarite). But, Nathaniel had secrets, mainly about the Note. I thought it was so interesting how that one thing really shaped his personality, and influenced the way he responded and behaved toward others.

Lud-in-the-Mist had a softer magic system, with no real rigid explanation. But, every instance of “magic” and every clue toward something amiss and uncanny felt entirely organic to Dorimare—the fictional country where the story takes place. There was an emphasis on the titular Lud-in-the-Mist, which was Dorimare’s capital. But, the setting was as much of a character as the characters themselves—seemingly entirely set in their ways, but not really, especially around the overlooked edges.

All-in-all, Lud-in-the-Mist was fantastic.

Monday, February 13, 2023

Music Monday (230): Fall Out Boy, Koryn Hawthorn

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: New Fall Out Boy music! I've been waiting for more songs since their last album, and I'm so excited that they're releasing new stuff in 2023. Check out Love From The Other Side!


Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Enough by Koryn Hawthorn. Have a great week!



What are you listening to this week?

Friday, February 10, 2023

The Friday 56 (227) & Book Beginnings: Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirrlees

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...
Lud-in-the-Mist - a prosperous country town situated where two rivers meet: the Dawl and the Dapple. The latter, which has its source in the land of Faerie, is a great trial to Lud, which had long rejected anything 'other', preferring to believe only in what is known, what is solid. Nathaniel Chanticleer is a somewhat dreamy, slightly melancholy man, not one for making waves, who is deliberately ignoring a vital part of his own past; a secret he refuses even to acknowledge. But with the disappearance of his own daughter, and a long-overdue desire to protect his young son, he realises that something is changing in Lud - and something must be done.

Lud-in-the-Mist is a true classic, an adult fairy tale exploring the need to embrace what we fear and to come to terms with 'the shadows' - those sweet and dark impulses that our public selves ignore or repress.


Beginning: "The free state of Dorimare was a very small country, but, seeing that it was bounded on the south by the sea and on the north and east by mountains, while its centre consisted of a rich plain, watered by two rivers, a considerable variety of scenery and vegetation was to be found within its borders."

56: "Sometimes their path led through a little wood of liege-oaks with trunks, where the bark had been stripped, showing as red as blood, and everywhere there were short, wiry, aromatic shrubs, beset by myriads of bees."


Comments: One of my last reads of 2022 was Hope Mirrlees' 1926 fantasy classic: Lud-in-the-Mist. I loved the story! 

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