Music Monday (307): Lil Nas X, Jon Batiste

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: Recently, I added Lil Nas X's new song, Need Dat Boy, to my playlist. I'm really enjoying the direction his latest music is going in.

Andrea: Hi all! This week I'm listening to Für Elise - Batiste by Jon Batiste. Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?

The Friday 56 (251) & Book Beginnings: The Wood at Midwinter by Susanna Clarke

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. **Note: Freda @ Freda's Voice is taking a break from The Friday 56; Anne @Head is Full of Books is hosting for now.**

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...

From the internationally bestselling and prize-winning author of Piranesi and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an enchanting, beautifully illustrated short story set in the Strange universe.

"A church is a sort of wood. A wood is a sort of church. They're the same thing really."

Nineteen-year-old Merowdis Scott is an unusual girl. She can talk to animals and trees - and she is only ever happy when she is walking in the woods. One snowy afternoon, out with her dogs and Apple the pig, Merowdis encounters a blackbird and a fox. As darkness falls, a strange figure enters in their midst - and the path of her life is changed forever.

Beginning: "It was winter, just a few days before Christmas. A few flakes of snow fell on the quiet fields."

56: "Some stories sink down into your bones. In my own writing I had become fascinated by characters who are bridges between different worlds, between different states of being, characters who feel compelled to try and reconcile the unreconcilable."

Comments: I really liked this short story from Susanna Clarke. Its a very quick read but a good one, and it's illustrated by Victoria Sawdon. Since this was a so short, my 56 this week comes from the author's afterward, just because of how much I loved the quote. What are you reading this week?

What I've Been Listening To (October 2024)

October was actually a busier month for music releases than I anticipated. So, it’s time for another What I’ve Been Listening To. 

Ache In My Tooth by Flowerovlove (October 11): I was first recommended Flowerovlove’s music by my co-blogger, Adri, and since then I’ve gone on to check out more of her music. Last month, she released an EP called Ache In My Tooth, which included the single Breaking News. It was an airy, sugary Pop EP about love and relationships with a bright aesthetic. I liked this one, and I look forward to seeing what Flowerovlove does next.

Clancy by Twenty One Pilots (May 24): Admittedly, it took me entirely too long to listen to Clancy, considering it was one of my more highly anticipated albums of 2024. But, anyway, it is what it is. Did I like Clancy? Yes, and by a lot, actually. I’ve been following along with the lore/story being told, since Blurryface, and this album felt like a nice wrap-up to the journey, and it was done in Twenty One Pilots usual style—a genre mashup. Some of my favorite songs included Overcompensate, Backslide, Next Semester, and At The Risk Of Feeling Dumb, just to name a few.

Symphony of Lungs (BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall) by Florence + The Machine with Jules Buckley (October 25): Symphony of Lungs is Florence + The Machine’s new live album with Jules Buckley and an orchestra. I wasn’t expecting it, but I love it! And, it was nice to revisit the band’s 2009 album, Lungs, with this performance.

Megan Act II by Megan Thee Stallion (October 25): Megan Thee Stallion released a deluxe edition of her album, Megan. Titled, Megan Act II, this version added an additional thirteen tacks to one of my favorite rep albums of the years. And, I had as much fun listening to this one as I did the original. I also liked the features too: Flo Milli on Roc Steady, a remix of Mamushi with Twice, another collaboration with Spiritbox on TYG, and Neva Play with BTS’s RM.

Brat and it’s completely different but also still Brat by Charli XCX (October 11): And, the Brat train continues. It’s not the deluxe, no, we already got that, instead Brat and it’s completely different but also still Brat it’s the remix album. And, for the most part, I enjoyed this version of it too. It’s Brat but a rework of the formula, which offered another way to experience the album as well as some great features. After all, Charli XCX worked with artists like Troye Sivan, Tinashe, Caroline Polachek, Kesha, Billie Eilish, Shygirl, Bladee, BB Trickz, and more.

New singles and songs on my playlist: On Your Knees and Don’t Mess With The Messer by Grace Jones, Supernatural by Frost Children featuring Haru Nemuri, Pull Up by Internet Girl Featuring Maglera Doe Boy, RIP by Qveen Herby, and Frankenstein by Qveen Herby featuring Tech N9ne.

Music Monday (306): Nao, Jennifer Hudson, Loosefingers

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: One of my favorite artists, Nao, is back with a new single. Check out Elevate!

Adri: I love running into new-to-me songs. In this case, from 2005, my pick this week is Deep Inside by Loosefingers (Larry Heard).

Andrea: It's the middle of November, so, you know what time it is! It's time to share songs from my Christmas playlist! I saw Jennifer Hudson perform Santa for Someone live at a taping of her show. Now, I have her latest album, The Gift of Love, on repeat. Have an amazing week all!

What are you listening to this week?

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

Title: The Raven King
Series: The Raven Cycle #4
Author: Maggie Stiefvater
Source/Format: Purchased; Paperback
More Details: Fantasy; Young Adult
Publisher/Publication Date: Scholasic Press; April 26, 2016

Goodreads 

Synopsis from Goodreads...                                                                                                                                              All her life, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love's death. She doesn't believe in true love and never thought this would be a problem, but as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she's not so sure anymore.

Earlier this year, I mentioned one of my blogging related goals was to tackle at least one of the unfinished series that had been on my TBR list for far too long, and one such collection of books was Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Cycle. I know there’s a spinoff trilogy, but my goal was to read all of the initial books—or reread, in the case of The Raven Boys. And now, I finally got around to The Raven King.

“Richard Gansey III had forgotten how many times he had been told he was destined for greatness.”—pg.1

Every story has its beginning and its end. And every page of The Raven King felt like another ending. It was, effectively, the culmination of every plot thread, hint, and pivotal moment that occurred from The Raven Boys, The Dream Thieves, and Blue Lily Lily Blue. The Raven Cycle has always also been about its characters—the titular Raven Boys and Blue Sargent—as well as boasting of a colorful secondary cast that were given as much care as the core group. The character arcs came full circle in The Raven King too. And it was exciting—an emotional rollercoaster—to say the least, to see how it would all end: the hunt for Glendower, the prophecy that Blue would kill her true love with a kiss, Noah’s true role in all that had happened, and what would become of the places and characters with the threat of a demon and an unchecked (and horribly misguided) quest for influence.

Let me reiterate: The Raven King is a page turner, and it’s easily one of the best books I’ve read this year.