I adopted another cat last weekend. I had been checking the humane society’s website for a few weeks to see what cats were available for adoption. There were a few I wanted to meet, but once I spent some time looking at the cats at the shelter, I connected with this little guy who’d only come available that day and once we actually met, I knew he was the one. It’s been mildly chaotic over the past several days as we all got used to each other. The new cat settled in quickly but my older cat, Mina, was unsettled by the new arrival. After a few days of hissing and hiding, though, she has begun to accept his presence and peace is slowly starting to reign again. The cats are getting along better than I expected them to at this stage and they started to play together a little this morning. I think they had a bit of a bonding experience last night when a storm rolled through the area, and they both hid under the bed when the thunder got loud enough to rattle the walls.
So meet Merlin! He is about a year old and weighs eight pounds. He loves long walks across the kitchen counter, birdwatching from the windows, and napping on the couch. What else does he enjoy? Getting up in the pre-dawn hours and walking all over me while I’m trying to sleep. Mina will also wake me up very early in the morning, but she usually does that by enthusiastically playing with her toys and knocking her scratching tunnel over. With two crepuscular beasts now roaming my apartment, I fear that I will be sleepier than ever this summer. Definitely worth it. It’s only been a week and already I love this little guy so much. Recently Read:
The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden Anne, Duchess of Brittany, faces a perilous future. Her little duchy by the sea is poor and doesn’t have an army that can withstand an invasion from France. She has been secretly betrothed to the ruler of France’s great enemy, but the marriage hasn’t taken place before a French emissary shows up, demanding that Anne marry the French king and hand Brittany over to France. To stall for time, Anne suggests a unicorn hunt in the forest of Broceliande. Events take an unexpected turn when a unicorn actually appears. Katherine Arden has been one of my favorite authors since she published the Winternight Trilogy several years ago. Her blending of history and regional folklore is so thoughtful and respectful to the culture. Her characters always feel so real, and the stories never outstay their welcome– probably thanks to the fact that she writes the first draft by hand. Her previous novel, The Warm Hands of Ghosts, was one of my favorite books of 2024, and The Unicorn Hunters is already one of my favorites of 2026. I’ll have a more in-depth review later this week. Thank you to NetGalley and Del Rey for the advance copy for review. The Unicorn Hunters comes out on June 2nd. Currently Reading:
Our Sister’s Keeper by Jasmine Holmes Mississippi, 1927. The little town of East Cobb is a prosperous all-Black community free from white oppression, and Thea Ellison and her husband hope to make all their dreams come true there. They don’t know what lurks behind the town’s sunny facade– ghoulish visions and groanings haunt the place, and only the women can see them. Meanwhile, Marah works as a carrier– a woman with the ability to take away the men’s worst memories so they might go through their days free of the pain of the past. The carriers, however, are forced to deal with these memories and cannot get rid of them. After an unexpected death pushes Marah to explore the depths of her abilities, she comes into contact with Thea. Together, the two women will confront the rot at East Cobb’s core and determine the community’s fate. This Southern Gothic horror novel is another one of my most anticipated books of 2026. I’m not very far into it, but so far it’s living up to my expectations. I was able to get a hardback copy thanks to a special early release from the Aardvark Book Club. I also had an advance digital copy thanks to NetGalley and Bindery Books. I should also note that I’m a member of the Mareas community, whose imprint selected Our Sister’s Keeper for publication. Our Sister’s Keeper comes out on June 9th.
Wagnerism: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music written and narrated by Alex Ross Richard Wagner was a powerhouse of late nineteenth century music, and his influence extended into the art and literature of the twentieth century. Then his music was co-opted by the Third Reich, and his name and music became synonymous with anti-semitism. In this book, music critic Alex Ross delves into Wagner’s career, his music, and the influence he had on art and politics even after his death in 1883. I’m no great Wagner fan, but I enjoy listening to film scores and he has had an outsized influence over the music of film. And because I’ve been wanting to learn more about classical music– and I’ve enjoyed Alex Ross’s other books– I decided to download this audiobook from the library. I’m only about 10% of the way through, but so far I’m enjoying it and have already learned a lot.
The Private Lives of the Tudors by Tracy Borman This book serves as both a general and domestic history of the Tudor era. Alongside the major events of this period in England, Borman discusses clothing, food, games, entertainments, and a variety of other aspects of life as people of the royal court would have experienced it. It’s quite dense, and I’m only getting through ten to twenty pages a day, but there’s a lot of fascinating information that’s generally overlooked when people talk about the Tudors. I do have one quibble with it, though: in a discussion of Anne Boleyn and the gifts Henry VIII gave her during their long courtship, Borman confidently states that Hans Holbein the Younger completed a drawing of Anne. The true identity of the subject of this drawing is in doubt, however, and the label identifying the sitter as Anne Boleyn was added in the eighteenth century. The only confirmed, contemporary likeness we have of Anne is a medal from 1534. Aside from this, though, I’ve found this book to be so interesting, and I’m looking forward to working my way through the rest of it. That’s all for now. My week was devoted to wrangling cats and not much else. Now that new routines have been established, I’m hoping to get back to everything else I enjoy doing at home. Have a great week! Traveling in Books is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you can tell Traveling in Books that their writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless they enable payments.
|
No comments:
Post a Comment