books/music i've been loving
first quarter-ish round up
We’re a little over a quarter of the way through the year, so I thought it would be fun to look back and talk about some of my favorite things I’ve read and listened to. I’ve been reading a LOT on my commute now that I take the train to work, and there’s been a ton of cool music that I either recently found or was recently released. Some of these intersect with each other, such as books bringing me to new music. Without further ado, here’s some of my favorite things I’ve consumed in 2024.
Books
Come Closer by Sara Gran
I don’t read horror super often (although I often watch horror movies), but this was a great horror story that still translated well on paper. The basis of the story is that a normal adult woman is being possessed by a demon. The descriptions throughout the book of how the main character feels as she becomes possessed were terrific and painted a vivid picture. I feel like it’s a lot harder for a book to creep you out compared to a movie, but the book does a good job of being eerie. I also loved the repetition throughout the book that kind of forces benchmarks upon you about the stages of the possession. Some online reviews thought the ending was kinda meh after such a good build up, which I kind of agree with but not enough to ruin the book for me. I really wasn’t sure how it was going to end (will she die? will she get rid of it?), so it was still fun to read and find out in the end.
Just Kids by Patti Smith
This is probably my new favorite book and one of my few 5 star picks. It’s somewhat long, but it doesn’t feel that way at all. No matter what she describes, nothing feels trivial or like unnecessary details. Her writing style is captivating and inspiring, and while reading this book I did a lot of writing that I looked back on and loved. It was really interesting to go back through her life, learn about Robert, and see how her path crossed with other famous musicians like Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, and more. I was completely enthralled by her writing style, her manner of describing things, and the palpable emotion that you can’t help but feel along with her as you read. I definitely want to read more of her work, perhaps picking up a book of poetry next. I wish I had more words, but this is really just a fantastic book that I think anyone would love.
All She Was Worth by Miyuki Miyabi
I read this book for book club, and it was an interesting read that I wouldn’t have thought to pick up if it weren’t for the club’s vote. It’s sort of a mystery/thriller, but it is more aptly described as a “why done it” than a “who done it” (I stole this from someone else, but I thought it was a great description). I was occasionally bored by hearing details about the history of credit and the main character’s personal life, but otherwise I was reading the book often as I could to find out more details about what happened. I wish that the book was about 20 more pages to give a neater, wrapped up ending, but I think it also works well to have left off the way it did. I would potentially reread this in the future to see if there were any breadcrumbs that I missed in my first read, but I found it kind of hard to predict because there was just a lot of information that you wouldn’t expect to come up. I had a few vague predictions, but most of the book was uncovering all these seemingly disjointed clues to finally start to get a big picture of what truly happened.
A Thousand Ships by Natalie Haynes
I already wrote about this book in another article on this blog, so you can go to that post if you want a more in-depth discussion of my thoughts on this book, particularly in regard to the place of women in ancient stories. One of the only other things I have to say is that I didn’t end up getting a physical copy of this book, but I really regret having only read it on my phone. I would love to have a physical copy of this book, especially because I had so many passages highlighted with quotes that really stuck with me as I read them. I’ve recently been enjoying these newer novels describing the myths.
Music
Infliction — Scheer
I randomly found this album while I was listening to a bunch of 90’s/00’s rock, and then I just kept returning to it. The first song “Shea” is what stood out to me and made me listen to the rest of the album; I loved the bending, ringing guitar that feels like it’s spinning around your head in the beginning. There’s just something about the layered and intricate way that 90’s bands wrote their guitar rifts that makes me gravitate so strongly towards this era. I also love the style of a lot of the female vocalists from this era of rock, with the mix of sounds that go between sweet melodic, yelling, and honest talking. I’ve seen them described as “metalgaze,” which feels fair. There’s definitely a mix of metal and the droning instruments that characterize shoegaze. Also, since they’re pretty underrated, they’re a great baseboard to push off from to find more of this metal-shoegaze-grungey-female led type of rock.
Portraits — Quarters of Change
I’ve liked this band for a few years, and I was excited to listen to their new release. “Portraits” is a great modern rock album, and my favorites are “Depression II,” “Turn It Away,” and “Hollywood Baby.” I got the awesome opportunity to not only see Quarters of Change in concert during their tour, but they also came to WKDU to do a live set and be interviewed by a fellow DJ and I. They were super nice and gave great performances in the morning and at night at each location. They said they were proud that each song on the album is also a good standalone piece, which I agreed with. Each song is good on its own without relying on the rest of the album to have it make sense or sound right. Obviously there is a cohesion to the songs, but they also sound great without having to hear the entire album. If you’re looking for some fun danceable new rock music, check out this album.
Wave by Patti Smith
And here is the overlap. As I read Just Kids, I couldn’t help but constantly listen to music from Patti and the time period in which she wrote. I adore the songs “Frederick,” “Dancing Barefoot,” and “Revenge.” My love for her writing extends to her songwriting, and she has a special way of blending poetry and rock’n’roll. Usually I listen to music more for the general sound than the vocals, but there’s a few artists, such as Patti Smith, that have particularly striking lyrics. I also didn’t realize that “Fire of Unknown Origin” started out as one of her poems, so it was really cool to hear her version on this album. I was glad that reading the book pushed me to explore more of her music.
Body Farm — The Angies
This is a new hard rock EP that came out about a month ago. I go into a lot more detail about the album on my post for the WKDU blog, so definitely go check that out to hear more. I talk a lot about how I love the quick pace, the various singing styles, and the awesome guitar riffs.
Thanks for reading this week! Leave a comment if you’ve read/listened to anything from the list, or leave your own recommendation of something you’ve been loving recently. It’s always nice to sit down and revisit some recent reads/listens and remember what about them stood out to me so much. Hope you enjoyed this week’s post! TTYL <3
Needed these books recs thanks girl 🙌🏻
What do you mean by repetition and benchmarks in Come Closer? Like motifs?