Then and Now #33 (31/10/2022 - 6/11/2022

Happy Sunday and yay for the clocks changing back!  The Sunday Post is a blog news meme hosted @ Caffeinated Reviewer. See rules here: Sunday Post Meme. Mailbox 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

It's been quite a busy week, with kind of high highs and some low lows! On Tuesday we had a national holiday here in Germany which means everything, absolutely everything is closed. Of course my cat picked that day to suddenly act up. He was super quiet all day and didn't seem to want to jump, which is weird because he loves doing parcour through out entire apartment. So I freaked out a bit and really had to get myself in line to calm down. He spent most of the day napping and lying in the sun, and thankfully on Wednesday he seemed to be doing better and was a bit more active. By Thursday he was back to his usual hyper-active self, so maybe he just had a blegh day, which is absolutely fair cause I have those as well sometimes. But it was a little bit scary and kind of brought home to me that I had moved and kind of left my support network behind. So a good reminder to start building one here in Germany!

Aside from that hick-up, though, it was a really fun week! I had my second experience teaching which was actually super fun! The first time was a bit nerve-wracking, cause I didn't know what to expect, but I went into it with more excitement this time and the students also responded really well and seemed a bit more relaxed themselves. So I'm excited to keep going and develop my new module for the next semester! I also continued to write my paper for a conference in Bergen, Norway, next week. I've never been to Norway but have been wanting to go for ages. I really hope I get to see the Northern Lights although maybe Bergen is a little too "southern" to get the full effect. Fingers crossed!

I didn't post a whole lot but I did read some very exciting books, so those reviews are coming up! I've also got an interview with S. Elizabeth, whose The Art of Darkness I loved, ready to post, so keep an eye out for that!

What I posted:

• Review: The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran (Loved this book!)
• Friday Friyay: The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran
• Review: Chinese Homestyle: Everyday Plant-Based Recipes for Takeout, Dim Sum, Noodles, and More by Maggie Zhu

Recommendation

I fell in love with Taylor Swift's albums Folklore and Evermore during the early days of the pandemic so I had been really excited for Midnights. My previous housemates are absolutely darlings who gifted me the vinyl for my birthday so I've been listening to it on loop. Below are two of my favourite songs from the album.

Snow on the Beach feat. Lana del Rey

You're On Your Own, Kid

Mailbox Monday

I'm trying to scale down on the books I bring in while I try yo stay on top of my reading and backlog, so this week I've only got one new book.

The Three Deaths of Willa Stannard by Kate Robards (Crooked Lane Books; 6/20/2023)

A missing child, a small town’s secrets, and a desperate killer set the stage for a darkly wrought debut novel that will haunt readers long after the last page. Perfect for fans of Julia Heaberlin and Chevy Stevens.

It’s not that they’ve been all that close in the past few years, but sisters Willa and Sawyer Stannard are bonded by the ups and downs of the life they’ve lived with their mercurial single mother. When Willa is found dead in her apartment from an apparent suicide, Sawyer just knows it’s not possible. A cryptic note from the acclaimed broadcast journalist leads police to rule out foul play. Shattered by grief—and obsessed by the idea that her sister’s death was not a suicide—Sawyer plunges into a search for the truth.

When Sawyer learns that Willa was writing an explosive true crime book about the decades-old disappearance of a toddler that rocked a small town hundreds of miles away, she’s even more convinced that Willa’s death is suspicious. Believing it is somehow connected to the research Willa was doing for the book, Sawyer begins to trace her sister’s steps, deep into a community she can’t begin to understand and to a truth that could destroy her as easily as it did Willa.

As she masterfully ratchets up the suspense, Robards never loosens her grip in a debut novel sure to keep readers guessing—and talking.

Love me a good thriller! This one seems to have all the prerequisites to assure a thrilling read, from loving but difficult sibling relationships, an unexplained murder, a cold case, to true crime meta-commentary!

That's it from me today!