Let’s Rewind: June 2021

We’re already halfway through the year. I won’t express surprise at how quickly time is passing since it insists on maintaining a galloping pace when I’m not paying attention. It’s a tricksy thing, time. It loves to sneak past us, faster than light, and leave us bewildered about where it’s going and what we’ll be doing when we get there.

Let’s Rewind is a monthly wrap up but instead of talking about only books, I include all types of other stuff, like articles… bookish news… commercials… random-ass links… movies… art… podcasts… cartoons… and whatever else happened to me in the month. You know, the usual stuff that people talk about in monthly wrap ups. So read on to see what I did and read this month. You might stumble upon something that interests you.

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June. It was fun. I did things, saw people, and felt exhausted by the end of it. There was lots to celebrate since it was Pride month and Juneteenth became a federal holiday, but… I don’t know. I guess I was exhausted or something because I only celebrated these things in very minor ways.

A break was needed, so I was happy for the few outings I went on — visiting a different town with friends to hang out and shop books and visiting Las Vegas with family to… basically look around, walk until tired, and then give in to the time difference and sleep.

Awesome things I did this month that I’ll cherish is 1) FINALLY seeing what dry land looks like and experiencing dry heat because flying out to the west was a real eye-opener for me. I’m used to tropical climes so such an environment was a surprise. Number 2) is seeing the dance crew Jabbawockeez perform. I’ve been a fan of them for a LONG time, so I was over-the-moon excited to attend their performance. Since I spent such a short time in Las Vegas, I intend to return and see the Jabbawockeez perform again (and do a bunch of stuff I wanted to do but didn’t have the time for or was turned off by the heat).

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I didn’t expect this, but I managed to complete my typical 5 books this month.

The first was Conspiracy of Ravens by Leah Moore & John Reppion, illus. by Sally Jane Thompson. It’s YA fantasy about a girl attending a boarding school in the U.K. who inherits supernatural abilities after her aunt dies. It was a pretty good read, but I think it wraps up too quickly. I liked the illustrations.

I also reread Eragon by Christopher Paolini on audio because I wanted something to listen to and would like to continue my reread of this series. It was narrated by Gerard Doyle, who did a great job. I liked it, but the more I reread this book, the more I dislike how Saphira the dragon is portrayed. She says the most obvious things and I wish she was more prideful. Basically, Robin Hobb’s dragons spoiled all dragons for me, lol. Although Hobb’s dragons annoyed me, I love how prideful, boastful, and possessive they are. Also, Eragon is SO dramatic. OH my gawd!

Grave Mercy by Robin LaFevers was next. I read it for my book club and I kind of struggled with it because it bored me 90% of the time. It’s YA fantasy about a girl who joins a nunnery for the daughters of death who are trained to be assassins. The story was too focused on political intrigue that I didn’t care for, and I didn’t like the protagonist.

I buddy-read Joe Abercrombie’s The Blade Itself with Emily from Embuhleeliest, my buddy-reader in all things Hobb, as we try to find another series to sink into. This one seems promising. It’s a fantasy novel but, although I liked it, I have no idea what it’s about, really. All I know is war is brewing (probably everywhere) and a bunch of interesting characters were introduced.

Thanks to Lashaan’s review of one of the other volumes, I bought and read DCeased by Tom Taylor, illus. by Trevor Hairsine, Stefano Gaudiano, and many others because it’s about zombie superheroes AND I’M SO HAPPY THAT I DID!! This was SO cool!! I love zombie stories and zombie superheroes was the story I didn’t know I needed until I got it. I just hope they do a movie. Oh man! I need a movie.

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What’s in a Genre Name? The Trouble With ‘Asian Fantasy’ (npr.org)

— Various Asian authors weigh in on the term “Asian fantasy”

“I think the term ‘Asian fantasy’ makes about as much sense as the term ‘Asian food’ in that it’s useful insofar as it delineates a broad category of things that you could define as being different from the Western normative. But also, isn’t particularly helpful because it doesn’t tell you anything about whether you’re eating sushi or samosas.”

Fonda Lee

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Around the blog-o-verse

[2021] Mid-Year Podcast Update (eustaciatan.com)

— Eustacia shares some of the podcasts she’s been listening to. I’d like to check out a few when I inevitably go back to working in the office (😩 not looking forward to returning to the office).

Some stuff I pubbed

“The Other Black Girl” by Zakiya Dalila Harris

— A review of a currently popular book

Comics Roundup #55: 1602 — Angela and Marvel

— One of a few comic book reviews I did in June

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N.K. Jemisin’s ‘The Broken Earth’ Trilogy Lands a Seven-Figure Deal With Sony Pictures (ebony.com)

— Which means I need to get started on her books before the films roll out

Harry Potter Flagship Store Opens in NYC (shelf-awareness.com)

— Huge Harry Potter fan here, so I’m looking forward to visiting this store.

5 Black Women on Embracing Cottagecore as an Act of Rebellion (glamour.com)

— I really like this since Black folks hardly ever pop up in such stuff.

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Daredevil

— I completed season 2 in May but didn’t mention it in my Rewind post because I’ve been in a funky mood lately and have either not been doing posts or have been half-assing some of them. Anyway, season 2 was good, but I much preferred season 1. I think the reason why I didn’t like season 2 much is because Daredevil pulled away from Foggy (and I really like Foggy). Also, I didn’t get his romance with Karen Page. They didn’t connect to me. And I liked Elektra but didn’t see why she had to be a crazy ex-girlfriend. (Btw, I’ve never read the comics, so I have no idea if these romantic entanglements are carried over from there.) Otherwise, I enjoyed the fighting and that the Punisher is in it and all that it hints at to come later.

Punisher

— I rewatched season 1 after watching Daredevil season 2, and I’m SO happy I did. It filled in some holes and answered questions I had. I enjoyed it just as much as I did the first time I watched it just a month or two ago, lol! The Punisher is my favorite character. Such a badass. And I’m also digging Ben Barnes’s character. He’s such a smooth-talking, twisted killer dude with a pretty face. I’ll start on season 2 as soon as I get over my zombie crave that was brought on by DCeased.

Shadow and Bone

— Umm… it was okay. I wasn’t expecting anything from it because I’ve only read the first book, Shadow and Bone. As with the book (well, so it seems in my memory), I didn’t care for Alina’s story and thought she was a little too naïve about certain things. I haven’t yet read the books where the heist crew pops up, but they were A LOT more interesting than Alina in the show. Kind of wish they were the focus with Alina as the side story. Jesper is my favorite and that cutie Ben Barnes is in too as the villain.

Black Summer

— I love this show! 😱🤣 It’s a zombie show. Season 2 recently came out. Of course, I rewatched season 1! Now I’m almost done with season 2. I like it. I like it a lot. Fast zombies. Lots of them. And people behaving badly and selfishly. Lots of them.

Big Sky

— I think I wrapped up Big Sky in May. I think the show is on break now before its next season rolls around. I was surprised at the ending at how certain characters turned out to be and that the bad dude is still getting away with stuff. I was expecting him to be caught by now.

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Well, that was how June went down.

It was a pretty good month.

But how about you? What did you get up to?