Well, what a political whirlwind! I'm quite tired of living in interesting times! 


Are we all watching the Olympics? I love seeing all the competitions because I'm not an athlete. The gymnastics always scare me because I'm worried someone will get severely hurt but I still avidly watch. I also love the obscure (to me) sports - like the speed walking!! That one looks so intense. 


I saved this NPR news article about a group that buys up medical debt in bundles and then forgives it. Truly a brilliant concept. The name of the group was RIP Debt, but they changed their name to Undue Medical Debt. 

At this point (of me checking online), they've forgiven 11 billion in debt, which is truly wonderful. I also appreciate how they have their links to Charity Navigator and Financial Statements. I like transparency! 

I've been in a soundtrack mood...but for 1920s era or at least a vibe from that era. I found the Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries soundtrack, so I've been listening to this while I work. 

I got this book in one of my book subscriptions (that was from the UK and is closing it's book part, I am DEVESTATED). It might be one of my top reads of the year. The book I received has sprayed edges and is signed by the author. It also comes with a letter from the author. This version has been translated into English, and the translation is wonderful, not stilted at all. 

Title: Yule Island
Author: Johana Gustawsson
Page Number: 256 (hardcover)
Genre: fiction, mystery, gothic
Publisher: Orenda Books
Year: 2023

Our main character is Emma Lindahl, an art expert that's been hired by the wealthy Gussman family to catalog the estate. The family is odd, only letting Emma in the house during certain times. Rooms are locked and staff are mysterious. The Gussman family do not socialize with anyone else on the island. 

Nine years before Emma arrives, a young woman was murdered by a tree in a ritualized way that worried the Swedish police, but since nothing happened since, worries about the killer faded into the background. Until a second body is discovered in the icy island waters, the other main character, Detective Karl Rosen, arrives to the island to investigate. He links the two murders together as the ritual is similar. 

Both Emma and Karl have sad pasts that they're working through during the story. Karl's wife is his source of sadness. Emma's family is also a source for her. 

Emma returns to the bright city with loving a fun friends, which is the polar opposite of the oppressed vibe of the icy island. 

This title is amazing. Truly, I feel like it sets the tone for the novel itself. It's a mystery with some tense relationships between the characters. 

This is a publishing trip, where multiple authors are on a trip to Italy. They are joined by a small group of fans that won a contest. They go to Rome, to Capri, to Pompeii. They eat yummy food and eat gelato. Ugh, I want to go back to Italy. It's a dangerous country for me because I walk everywhere and eat so much (the food is amazing) and then I gain weight. This doesn't happen in any other country. 

Did I buy this for the synopsis alone? Yup. The cover art was just a bonus. I read this one after a disastrous book club pick (time traveling romance...not for me!). There was a LOT of mother aspects, mostly of children leaching the lifeforce from them...which is actually what happens during pregnancy. My cousin had cavities after being pregnant, even while taking care of her teeth because pregnancy requires so much from the mother that it was leeching from her teeth. Fun things to learn. 

Strangely, this is my first Riley Sager novel! It's a suspense type book. I think we could even say there's a twist or two in the book as well. Perhaps too much true crime on the brain, but the story set up reminds of Lizzy Borden. Let me explain. One of the main characters is named Lenore Hope and one night her whole family was murdered. A local nursery rhyme was created about how Lenore probably killed them all. This is similar to Lizzy Borden, who's father and stepmother were murdered one day and she was thought to be a possible suspect. A nursery rhyme also was created about that. 

I can't remember when I picked this up but I've seen other Lucy Score books before but they didn't really appeal to me (they were mostly romance based). While this one has a zanier plot, it reminded me a bit of Janey Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. I actually gave up reading the Plum series although I might pick it back up at the library...it was when the giraffe was running around Trenten. I just got snapped out of the series so hard. What I mean about the feeling that they could be in the same fun genre, main lady character is divorced and down on her luck, the main dude character is detective-adjacent (he's a Private Investigator), there's a close set mystery (a neighbor murdered). Score's book has the the main lady, Riley Thorn, as a reluctant psychic, which is quite different. 

Longform (but not super long) on the history of a Baroque masterpiece. It was found in the 1870s by choirmaster Innocenz Achleitner. He found the work being used as grocery wrapping. He recognized that the paper was older and was a complicated musical score. He took it to the the Salzberg music archivists who believed it to be a work by Baroque Italian composer Orazio Benevoli. It was named the Missa Salisburgensis. In 1969, Ernst Hintermaier started to study the piece and concluded that the hand was the same as other works by an artists known as "Copyist No. III." By comparing pieces and analyzing paper, Hintermaier narrowed the composer to two Baroque composers: Andreas Hofer or Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber. Most musical archivists believe the piece to be composed by Biber. 

I found this so interesting for a variety of reasons. Finding out the composer from analyzing paper from 300 years ago is amazing.  Also, Biber is truly an interesting composer. His works are varied and unique. When I used to sing (an eon ago), I sang a beautiful piece by Franz Biber called Ave Maria {linke opens a video}. 

Damn That's Interesting: The Greatest Composer Never Known
Wikipedia for the Missa Salisburgensis 
Wikipedia for Franz Biber

I joined a book club (and so far it hasn't folded...yay!) and this book was our first read of the year. Julia Bartz was new to me author wise, so I was excited to give it a go. To be honest, this was one of the better books that was picked as the rest tend to have crazy time traveling plots that drive me mental. Or ghosts. I feel cheated when a ghost pops up as the criminal in a mystery that had no indication that paranormal elements would be part of the story line. Anyways!

Isn't the cover neat? I love the bright green against a snowy forest, It's so striking. 

So, a while ago, one of my favorite subscription boxes, Postmark'd Studio,  ended with the owner retiring. I was sad but all good things must end...except two other ladies bought the box subscription and restarted it! Yay! 

This is June's parcel. I picked the Parcel Post level, which includes a little extra item that matches the theme. This month's Posh item was the Pinch Minimergency Kit in pink velvet. Perfection! 

​Let's get into it:

I was excited by this special edition Postmark'd collection. If you were unaware, Postmark'd reopened as a subscription and specialty card shop. I signed back up because there just aren't enough stationary shops in my life. Anyways, this particular themed parcel is based on "May the Force" quote. In the United States, May the Fourth (4th) has been reworked as "Star Wars Day." It's unofficial as far as I know, but we love a good theme. 

At the moment, the parcel is on sale (since it's after May 4th), at $23 USD. That's a pretty good price to be honest, especially since I paid full price!

Isn't this a stunning cover? I love that the script also has images within in. Strangely, I haven't read any Anne Cleeves' books before this particular one, nor have I seen the show created from this series. It's on my list! I'm just very, very behind on TV shows. The show is called Shetland (and the cinematography gorgeous because they filmed in the Shetland Islands). Well, okay, I saw the first few minutes of it, which doesn't truly count.

Raven Black is the first book in the series. I picked up the second one yesterday (it's called White Nights). The setting is the Shetland Islands which are apart of Scotland. 

Shockingly (or not if you can see my TBR), I own quite a few Adichie books but I haven't gotten to them yet. I have read this one because I caught Adichie on the Daily Show and I enjoyed the interview. This title is also easy to read in one sitting because it's on the thinner side. 

This book is adapted from Adichie's Ted Talk. For me, Adichie has such a lovely voice. It's one of those accents that could read that Wall Street stock ticker and I'd be content. 

Well, goodness! I didn't mean to fall into a black hole. I moved house, everything is a mess, and I fell behind on free time. 

I decided to change the layout of the website a bit. Maybe making the font a bit bigger. Hopefully that helps with reading and navigation. I might need to spend some time going back into the archives to make sure it all looks passable. I'll just add it to my to-do list and hope I get to it...this month. 

I was shocked to see that the police arrested a man who may/may not be LISK/Gilgo Beach Killer.  I suppose I was surprised because I didn't think there was much evidence that could conclusively lead to a person but apparently that was not the case! The book I read about the people who were murdered and buried in the Gilgo Beach area is called Lost Girls and is by Robert Kolker. I appreciated the intense focus on the victims instead of the purported killer (at the time of print - completely unknown). I hope this focus on the victim continues as a standard in true crime.  

I read a LOT last year. Maybe I'll do a mid-year reading graph...for the year before. It was well over 300 books. Strangely, with Twitter imploding and Reddit being on strike, I've been spending less time on social media. I feel like it's so obvious to say that there is this correlation/causation between mental health and social media but since being off...I've been able to sit down and watch more TV  and new movies (being less antsy).  I purposefully did not join any of the new social media apps that popped up (ex: Threads) to keep my time for myself.  

Papergang is a UK subscription, so I don't get it at the same time as people in the UK and Europe do. This isn't a big deal to me, but I suppose it's worth mentioning because half the time I don't know what the month is because they don't number/label it that way. 

I ~think~ I have almost all my photos uploaded, edited and done. It made sense to break them up with June by itself. Unless I find more. Ugh. The weather has been killing me so I'm so much slower than I normally am. 

I've done zero laundry. I'm about to go about my life in a housecoat if this continues. Hopefully I'll catch up this weekend.  

This was one of the most colorful Postmark'd boxes. It was super cute! It was rainbow themed! I love rainbows just for how pretty they are. 

I'm in 2022 now! I'll probably play catch up again and hopefully be set by mid-May. I'm a little behind on my letters for the pen pal exchange too. A whole bunch came at one time which is fantastic but I'm really only to do about one a day in return. 

January 2021 was a "Books for Elixer" pick, which means it was a fantasy genre pick. Every other month is fantasy, and the rest of the time is romance. I've hit quite a few fantasy posts in a row. 

April's theme was a cowboy type themed. It had one of the coolest postcards I've ever seen. 

Postmark'd is a subscription for mail and stamps. There's always a monthly theme. It's one of my favorite ways to get cards (although now my local indie is stocking some, so that's a relief). 
​

I think this is the last 2021 box for Postmark'd. I think. So after half of 2022, I've caught up? I bet I'll find more stuff later. That's on me. Here we go! 

Okay, I have three 2021 Book Drop Subscription unboxings and I'm caught up...I think. So, let's start with the first one - March 2021. 

I've really got to get my photos together. Like, maybe do a full 2021 catch up in one post? Might as well. I've been on a total book reading streak in between friend catchups so I've done zero photo editing.