Then and Now #48 (6/8/23 - 12/8/23)

Happy Sunday and welcome to July!  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

This week was a real combo between great things and exhausting things. On the one hand I finally watched Barbie, which was amazing and inspired a podcast episode, read He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan and finished another draft of my article. On the other hand I was absolutely exhausted and had one or two stress head-aches. I kind of had to take a "mental hygiene" day on Wednesday where I kept working but was a little kinder to myself and slowed the pace, just to calm my mind. It was actually really good that I did that cause it allowed me to slowly think through some things and set myself up for a productive Thursday and Friday. 

I also didn't read as much as I wanted, but I did really enjoy going back into The Radiant Emperor duology. I'm still sorting out my thoughts on He Who Drowned the World, but I was absolutely gripped by it. I've got my reads for the next week or so lined up, some more wuxia-inspired Fantasy, as well as some Dystopians. But today I'm diving back into A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness! Also, guess what, because I don't have enough to do, my brain somehow came up with the idea of trying some creative writing with werewolves... Yeah, who knows where that came from, but it's fun so far to kind of work out an Urban Fantasy/Thriller plot.

This week I posted:

• Friday Friyay: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
• Book Central #6 - Seven Books to Read if You Liked 'Barbie'

Recommendation

I had to ponder on this one for a bit. I can't share another Taylor Swift song really, even with the 1987 rerecord being announced, cause I already did that last week. So instead, get something utterly random which has been playing in my mind all week: Through Heaven's Eyes from The Prince of Egypt.

Mailbox Monday

Temporary by Hilary Leichter (Audible)

In Temporary, a young woman's workplace is the size of the world. She fills increasingly bizarre placements in search of steadiness, connection, and something, at last, to call her own. Whether it's shining an endless closet of shoes, swabbing the deck of a pirate ship, assisting an assassin, or filling in for the Chairman of the Board, for the mythical Temporary, "there is nothing more personal than doing your job."

This riveting quest, at once hilarious and profound, will resonate with anyone who has ever done their best at work, even when the work is only temporary.

I saw this novel recommended on Electric Literature and I was really intrigued, so I looked it up on Audible. I haven't started it yet, but I'm really eager to. It sounds absurd, and I think I'm definitely going to be in the mood for that this month. I also looovvee the side-eye on the cover and the use of a blank mask.

A Season of Monstrous Conceptions by Lina Rather (Tordotcom; 10/31/23)

Lina Rather's A Season of Monstrous Conceptions is an eldritch historical fantasy of midwifery, monstrosity, and the rending of the world, for fans of The Essex Serpent and The Death of Jane Lawrence.

In 17th-century London, unnatural babies are being born, with eyes made for the dark and webbed digits suited to the sea.

Sarah Davis is intimately familiar with such strangeness—having hidden her uncanny nature all her life and fled to London under suspicious circumstances, Sarah starts over as a midwife’s apprentice to a member of the illegal Worshipful Company of Midwives, hoping to carve out for herself an independent life. But with each new unnatural birth, the fear in London grows of the Devil's work.

When the wealthy Lady Wren hires her to see her through her pregnancy, Sarah quickly becomes a favorite of her husband, the famous architect Lord Christopher Wren, whose interest in the uncanny borders on obsession. Sarah soon finds herself caught in a web of magic and intrigue created by those who want to use her power for themselves, and whose pursuits threaten to unmake the earth itself.

I loved The Essex Serpent and I'm always down for some eldritch horror, so of course I was intrigued by A Season of Monstrous Conceptions. I also love the cover and the idea of birth, motherhood, and midwifery that the blurb is playing with. Perfect for October!

So, that's it for me! Have you seen 'Barbie'? And how was your week?