Then and Now #61 (14/1/24 - 21/1/24)

Happy Sunday!  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

I kind of completely fell out of blogging the last two weeks of 2023 as I finished off work for the year and then very much cocooned myself into my sofa and did absolutely nothing. I did have a lovely and mostly calm holiday period, though, and I was so glad I actually took the days between Christmas and NYE off. I intended to do some sneaky work still, but eventually didn't, which was good cause I really needed the mental headspace. Since then, work has been manic, hence why I have also been slow in getting back to blogging. I've been quite productive, however, getting thesis writing done, prepping teaching, translating texts, it's all getting done! I've got some deadlines coming up, both for conferences and for a thesis chapter, but once the semester is over in two weeks, I'll have plenty of time!

I did also do some reading, of course, during my days off, although not half as much as I intended to. BUT I finally found a book club, through a friend, and guess what? They're just setting off on reading The Fellowship of the Ring, which is ideal. I'm really excited for our first meeting on Tuesday!

I've also caught up on some films and shows the past few weeks. Dune came onto the German Netflix, so I watched that. Then I watched Snyder's Rebel Moon which honestly... was not great. It's fine, but it is not really cohesive or gripping as a story. Up next was the second Avatar film, which was fine and very pretty to look at. I did also start watching the Percy Jackson series and that is just absolutely delightful. While I'm not really the target audience anymore I'm still very much enjoying it and have emotionally adopted the main three characters. And I have also begun watching The X-Files which is honestly a delight, even though you can see that it's a bit dated. But I have officially decided to match Scully's wardrobe once I get that PhD! 

Posted since last time:

• Review: Lore by Alexandra Bracken, narr. by Fryda Wolff
• Review: The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo, trans. by Louise Heal Kawai, narr. by Akira Matsumoto
• BC #18 - The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo
• Friday Friyay: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• Review: One of the Good Guys by Araminta Hall

Recommendation

As my thesis deals with anger and monstrosity, I've been listening to a lot "classical music playlists for villains" as inspiration while I'm writing. This one came up yesterday and I added it to my Watch Later for next week's writing sessions.

Mailbox Monday

Limitarianism: The Case Against Extreme Wealth by Ingrid Robeyns (Astra Publishing House; 1/16/2024)

How much money is too much? Is it ethical, and democratic, for an individual to amass a limitless amount of wealth, and then spend it however they choose? Many of us feel that the answer to that is no—but what can we do about it?

Ingrid Robeyns has long written and argued for the principle she calls "limitarianism"—or the need to limit extreme wealth. This idea is gaining momentum in the mainstream – with calls to "tax the rich" and slogans like "every billionaire is a policy failure"—but what does it mean in practice?

Robeyns explains the key reasons to support the case against extreme wealth: 

• It keeps the poor poor and inequalities growing
• It’s often dirty money
• It undermines democracy
• It’s one of the leading causes of  climate change

• Nobody actually deserves to be a millionaire
• There are better things to do with excess money
• The rich will benefit, too

This will be the first authoritative trade book to unpack the concept of a cap on wealth, where to draw the line, how to collect the excess and what to do with the money. In the process, Robeyns will ignite an urgent debate about wealth, one that calls into question the very forces we live by (capitalism and neoliberalism) and invites us to a radical reimagining of our world.

I saw this book recommended over on LitHub and then saw it was still available for request on NetGalley, so I jumped at the chance. So far, it's blowing my mind and constantly has me somewhere between enraged and intrigued.

Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase (Kensington Books; 1/23/2024)

Nelah seems to have it all: fame, wealth, and a long-awaited daughter growing in a government lab. But, trapped in a loveless marriage to a policeman who uses a microchip to monitor her every move, Nelah’s perfect life is precarious. After a drug-fueled evening culminates in an eerie car accident, Nelah commits a desperate crime and buries the body, daring to hope that she can keep one last secret.

The truth claws its way into Nelah’s life from the grave. 

As the ghost of her victim viciously hunts down the people Nelah holds dear, she is thrust into a race against the clock: in order to save any of her remaining loved ones, Nelah must unravel the political conspiracy her victim was on the verge of exposing—or risk losing everyone. 

Set in a cruel futuristic surveillance state where bodies are a government-issued resource, this harrowing story is a twisty, nail-biting commentary on power, monstrosity, and bodily autonomy. In sickeningly evocative prose, Womb City interrogates how patriarchy pits women against each other as unwitting collaborators in their own oppression. In this devastatingly timely debut novel, acclaimed short fiction writer Tlotlo Tsamaase brings a searing intelligence and Botswana’s cultural sensibility to the question: just how far must a woman go to bring the whole system crashing down?

Another book I saw recommended on LitHub! I am super-intrigued by this Afrofuturist novel and how it seems to be combining horror and dystopia and cultural commentary all in one go! I might actually get into this one this weekend already!

Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell (DAW; 4/1/2024)

Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she's fallen in love.
 
Shesheshen is a shapeshifter, who happily resides as an amorphous lump at the bottom of a ruined manor. When her rest is interrupted by hunters intent on murdering her, she constructs a body from the remains of past meals: a metal chain for a backbone, borrowed bones for limbs, and a bear trap as an extra mouth.  
 
However, the hunters chase Shesheshen out of her home and off a cliff. Badly hurt, she’s found and nursed back to health by Homily, a warm-hearted human, who has mistaken Shesheshen as a fellow human. Homily is kind and nurturing and would make an excellent co-parent: an ideal place to lay Shesheshen’s eggs so their young could devour Homily from the inside out. But as they grow close, she realizes humans don’t think about love that way.
 
Shesheshen hates keeping her identity secret from Homily, but just as she’s about to confess, Homily reveals why she’s in the area: she’s hunting a shapeshifting monster that supposedly cursed her family. Has Shesheshen seen it anywhere?
 
Eating her girlfriend isn’t an option. Shesheshen didn’t curse anyone, but to give herself and Homily a chance at happiness, she has to figure out why Homily’s twisted family thinks she did. As the hunt for the monster becomes increasingly deadly, Shesheshen must unearth the truth quickly, or soon both of their lives will be at risk.

And the bigger challenge remains: surviving her toxic in-laws long enough to learn to build a life with, rather than in, the love of her life.

Absolutely adore the premise of this book, of the twisted nature of the romance and the fascinating conception of monstrosity here. I'm so intrigued by the whole of it!!

So that's it for me this week! How was your start of the year?