Then and Now #4 (8/9 - 8/15)

The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted @ Caffeinated Reviewer. See rules here: Sunday Post MemeMailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.  It is hosted weekly over at Mailbox Monday and every Friday they do a round-up of some of their favourite, shared reads! 

Last Week

Another crazy week and this one was honestly a little exhausting. I had a work meeting on Monday afternoon which was great and very productive. Afterwards I dropped by family friends for a distanced dinner at home. I was surprisingly exhausted afterwards and am starting to realize that I really am out of social practice. Because while I had Tuesday to recover, Wednesday completely for a loop when I went to an all-day BHV training. (BHV is Dutch for Emergency Response). I was a bit of a tired mess on Thursday and talked myself into a bit of a frenzy about whether I had picked up COVID during the ER day, even though we had all masked and did our best to keep distance. A self-test put that to rest but still, by the time Friday came around I was TIRED. I wonder if I'm ever going to get over that anxious feeling of 'you still have so much to do, there are so many balls you're dropping', but at least I've gotten better at ignoring that voice over the years.

So I haven't gotten as much done as I wanted to this week but I have been able to get a few balls rolling for some important things so that is good. I am also really happy to have completed the Emergency Response training, even though I hope I'll never have to use any of those skills. I might go see The Green Knight again next week, but that all depends on how I feel.

Here's what I posted:

Recommendations

I don't really have any very exciting recommendations today except for the two music ones below that I have been listening to loads!

The Sun Might Rise in the West - Jakob Ahlbom 

I just think this instrumental piece is stunning, the way it combines nature sounds and really does sound like a slowly rising sun. 

you're a princess dreaming in a palace garden - ultravclet

I have become a massive fan of these kinds of playlist videos. They make for great reading soundtracks and I love how much creativity and imagination goes into these by the creators. They're not just putting music together, they're trying to create a mood. And it is super effective! So many of the Comments sections for these kinds of videos are filled with pieces of writing inspired by the music. This one is beautifully dramatic while still allowing for nice calm moments.

In My Mailbox


The Girl Upstairs by Georgina Lees (12/9/2021; HarperCollins UK)

How well do you know your neighbour?Would you trust them with your life?

I heard Emily before I saw her. The harsh smack of heels against cheap wooden floorboards. The loud phone calls. The incessant music.

I knew Emily before I met her. Discarded receipts in our communal hallway. Sticky leftovers in the shared food waste bin. Wine shop vouchers in the letterbox.

Now she’s gone missing, and I’m the only one who can find her. The only one who can save her.

Because I know her best, and I heard everything.

As someone who can also hear their neighbours very clearly, this is horrifying to me. So of course I'm desperate to read it!

The Trapped Wife by Samantha Hayes (9/8/2021; Bookouture)

My family gathers around the large oak table in our beautifully renovated home. I’ve put on a dress and lit candles, and there’s a wonderful aroma coming from the dinner you’ve so lovingly prepared. I feel your hand squeeze mine as you top up my glass and ask about my day as a doctor in our small town. It’s the perfect domestic scene, except for one tiny fact: I think my husband is dead, and you are just another patient of mine…

I had no choice but to let you in. If I laugh at your jokes and run my fingers through your hair, maybe I can delete the photos on your phone and find the truth about the night I can’t remember, just before my husband left on the trip he never returned from. Perhaps my son and I will have a chance at a normal life again.

But as I carefully piece together the shards of what really happened that fateful night, only one thing can possibly be true: everyone is lying, even me…

Aah yes, an unreliable narrator! Do give it to me! Bookouture has honestly been putting out great thriller after great thriller over the past year or so, they've definitely become a go to for me.

Hourglass by Elizabeth Means (MonkeyTree Publishing; 6/1/2021)

What would you do if you knew exactly when you would die?

Like everyone else in the 24th century United States, ambitious young scientist Evergreen Mason knows the precise minute she will die. When she hears that a sixteen-year-old girl has surpassed her predicted lifespan, she is compelled to solve the existential riddle of what allowed her to be the only known survivor of her biological clock.

But Evergreen’s unrelenting search for answers is not without peril. The shocking truth could bring society to its knees, and those in power will stop at nothing to keep it secret.

Can Evergreen expose the government’s ghastly plot, or will the next clock that stops be her own?

I just loved the sound of the blurb, but I do also know I'd hate to know exactly when I would do! I also haven't read Dystopia in a while and considering the world and my own anxiety levels, maybe it would actually be cathartic.

The Hand of the Sun King by J.T. Greathouse (JABberwocky Literary Agency; 8/5/2021)

Wen Alder was born into two worlds.

On his father’s side, a legacy of proud loyalty and service to the god-like Sienese Emperor spanning generations. And it is expected that Alder, too, will follow this tradition by passing the Imperial exams, learning the accepted ways of magic and, if he serves with honor, enhancing his family's prominence by rising to take a most powerful position in Sien—the Hand of the Emperor.

But from his mother he has inherited defiance from the Empire, a history of wild gods and magic unlike anything the Imperial sorcerers could yet control. It began when his spirited, rebellious grandmother took Alder into the woods and introduced him to her ways—ways he has never been able to forget.

Now, on the verge of taking the steps that will forge the path of his life, Alder discovers that the conflict between the Empire and the resistance is only the beginning of a war that will engulf both heaven and earth, gods and man—and he may be the key to final victory for whichever side can claim him as their own…

I kept seeing this book around and it kept drawing me in, so I was super happy to see it come through on NetGalley last week!

So that's it for me! How has your week been?

Comments

  1. I hope next week will leave you feeling more relaxed, Juli. I bet it's stressful to work in the health field now!
    Your new books look great, I want to know what happened to Emily :)
    Have a wonderful week ahead and happy reading.

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    1. Yes, honestly I don't think I should feel as anxious as I do when I compare it to people working in healthcare. And yes, 'The Girl Upstairs' looks thrilling, can't wait to get started with it! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  2. I'll look out for The Girl Upstairs. Sounds like a good plot.

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    1. Right? I love the set-up of it! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  3. Sounds like a busy week! I hope this week will be a little less hectic for you.

    Nice new reads! All totally new to me ones but I hope you enjoy them all!


    Here's my StS

    Have a GREAT day!

    Old Follower :)

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    1. Fingers crossed it will be better! I'm very excited for all the new ones and can't wait to see what you have lined up! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  4. Ooo.…you got some wonderful sounding books this week. I want to read them all! And I want to see The Green Knight too. I had almost forgotten about that movie. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is one of my favorite stories. Hope this week finds you not as exhausted and stressed.

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    1. When I heard it was actually being shown here in the Netherlands I almost lost my mind, I love the Middle English poem as well! I hope you get a chance to see it soon! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  5. The Girl Upstairs and The Trapped Wife are calling to me! I do enjoy these kinds of books, even though they bring out the prickles and chills.

    Adding events and activities to our lists does make for more fatigue. Even when I don't go anywhere, I am still always doing something more to settle in here.

    I would like to go out more, though. Thanks for visiting my blog, and enjoy your week.

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    1. They look so intriguing, don't they? And I love reading thrillers while traveling so hopefully they'll make the hours fly by soon. And I completely get you! On the one hand it is nice to keep yourself busy, but sometimes there also isn't enough time in the day to come to rest! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  6. I hope next week's a little less stressful. The Hand of the Sun King and Hourglass look so interesting. :D

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    1. Fingers crossed! I think I'm fully restored again, so hopefully I can go full steam ahead from tomorrow. Thanks for dropping by :)

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  7. Oh thanks for sharing the YouTube channel! I love background music when I'm reading and am always looking for good channels. I use Ambient Worlds a lot (the Downton Abby video is my favorite I think) and I love the look of this one! Social stuff can be so exhausting! I'm always glad to see people but need a nap after! Have a wonderful week!

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    1. Ambient Worlds is one of my absolute favourites, their Hunger Games video got me through much of 2020 xD And yes, I've done some solid napping and now feel like myself again. Thanks for dropping by :)

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  8. Sounds like such a busy week you have had and I can't imagine the level of anxiety you are experiencing with that training but glad you were able to get things done this week. Hope its more of a relaxed week for you.

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    1. I reached the point this weekend where I felt kind of proud of myself for making it through it all and distracting myself in good, healthy ways, so yay! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  9. Sounds like a really busy week for you.

    The Girl Upstairs and The Trapped Wife both sound so good. I'll have to look for them. Hope this is an easier week for you.

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    1. Fingers crossed it will be :) And yesss, I'm so excited to start those two! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  10. I understand the feeling that you have so much to do and not enough time. I hope this next week is better for you. That book Hourglass looks interesting!
    Lisa Loves Literature

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    1. Yes, Hourglass really intrigued me and I can't wait to start. And yes, that's exactly the feeling but I've started tackling some important things so hopefully that will help! Thanks for dropping by :)

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  11. Covid makes everything so hard.

    I love a good playlist video or compilation. they really do create a mood and are awesome for reading or creative stuff. I'm listening to the second one now... imagining myself in a drawing room with a harp and maybe a writing table or a good book. :)

    The Girl Upstairs sounds fabulous.

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    1. Hahaha so true! And I love that mental image, that feels soothing straight away! And yes, that one is definitely at the top of my list at the moment. Thanks for dropping by :)

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  12. You have me curious about The Girl Upstairs! Hoping you have a better week and enjoy some good reading.

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    1. It looks like a great mix between thriller and the desire to snoop! I hope you have a lovely week :)

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  13. I’m impressed you have access to self tests, we don’t have them available here. With luck you’ll never need the Emergency Training but it can be comforting to have.

    Wishing you a great reading week

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    1. Having self tests really does ease some of the worry because you can keep an eye on yourself. And yes, good skills that will hopefully never be used! Thanks for dropping by and have a great week yourself :)

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  14. I like the sound of The Girl Upstairs and The Trapped Wife.

    ENJOY all of your books and your week.

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    1. They're exactly the kind of thrillers that I have been craving! I hope you have a lovely week :)

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  15. I totally relate to that social feeling. My university has announced that it will be completely in person for the upcoming semester, and I am feeling very anxious about the whole thing. I have no clue how my introverted anxious self will handle it (especially with the fear of COVID! ugh). Have a great week!

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    1. Omg exactly, like how am I going to cope with suddenly being in a room with 20 others with opinions when my 2 housemates are sometimes too much for me? I hope you have a lovely week as well :)

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  16. I completely understand being out of social practice! I think the lockdowns and WFH have just made me get so tired at doing the slightest thing outside my house. Hopefully we get back into the swing of things soon. Hope you are having a nice week!

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  17. I'm fine at work but I too have some hesitancy in going to social functions.
    The music pieces are very nice. I agree that they set a mood.
    Your four books all sound intriguing. Have a good week and Happy Reading.

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  18. I've never been a big fan of crowds but since I've been so isolated during covid, I've gotten infinitely worse. Even just having one friend visit us for a week left me putting up my feet and soaking in the silence for two days after she left. And she's not a high-energy, exhausting person by any means.

    The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin hinges on that same premise of knowing the date that you're going to die. But it's set in the near past rather than a distant future.

    Enjoy your week!

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  19. Ooo, The Girl Upstairs, and that lonely red shoe. Curious.

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