Miranda > Recent Status Updates

Ik I have a bad habit of ditching books I get from work, but this might actually hold my attention.

Anyway, shoutout to Edmond Albius for figuring out a method to artificially pollinate vanilla (and with so much success it’s still used today) at the age of TWELVE

Okay no one hate me but this is joining the list of “books I started at work and kept for a month but lost momentum reading” and maybe it’ll come back later but also maybe not

Either I’m stupid or there’s a footnote telling me the subject of the sentence I just read was mentioned in the chapter I just read, followed by a summary of the sentence😅

:(

I’ve noticed that every single man I come across here who is not immediately introduced as a friend of Eros is guaranteed to be an asshole.

Huh.

There is little reason for Medusa to make an appearance in this book, but, somehow, she has. It led me to revisit the source material for this story to confirm. I wish I had not; now the interesting storytelling choices are much more glaring.

I’m an Apollo apologist and an Ares defender.

I am also keeping track of the characters that show up as throwaways for the “meet the myths” quota she seems to have.

I have my complaints, but Eros muttering a very relatable “fuck” made me chuckle.

And poor Ares is out here catching strays😭

I keep finding myself trying to draw a comparison between the writing here and the writing of Til We Have Faces. The issue there is that they are fundamentally centered on different details within the same myth. Psyche and Eros is perhaps more comparable to some of the other modern retellings that have been trending.

“Zeus told me about it.” Girl you were born quite literally seven minutes ago. Zeus didn’t tell you shit.

I’m being very careful not to judge this book based only on the myths the author has chosen as the gods’ origins. She is allowed to pick different myths than my personal favorites.

There is hope.

Even if I must carve it myself out of the stones left unturned.

Legit thought I updated this last night again oops.

Anyway, I am loving Anita’s bits of dry humor through this and the way she breaks down complex processes into explanations that the layperson can understand. Her journey is fascinating, and as much as it came down to some bouts of luck and people taking a chance on her ideas, I’ve almost cried several times because of how hopeful it all feels.

Don’t mind me

I fear this may be my next fixation🥸

Sorry I know I’m literally on page two but

Eros: “…we were not fulfilling some prophesy or old story. We were writing our own.”
Me, who already knows the myth: well yes… but also no

If at any point I start rapid fire adding books to my Read shelf, please disregard🥸

Ahaha oh wait never mind

I’ve gotten so used to authors being too afraid to kill their darlings that each one in this book is a genuine sucker punch.

Except for Woodhouse; his death was so vague that I’m holding onto hope that he’s alive. Is he? No. But still.

Got a slight ick at the mention of Watson and his initial motivations for studying science, but other than that, life is good :)

Also the appendices and other notes are like 200/600 (computer) pages, so this book is going to go a little faster than I thought

Of all of the horrors this book has offered, the “ghosts on the road” not actually being any ghosts was probably the only one so far that made my stomach drop

It’s wild having a narrator this go around because every time Jericho opens his mouth I go “when did Prince Zuko get here🤨”

“Oh golly, I wish I could find someone to talk to my recently deceased friend and make sure she didn’t die hating me!”

Oh boy, if only you knew someone who could walk in dreams and talk to ghosts while she sleeps🤔

I’m stuck listening to an audiobook for this one and the jumping between energy levels is so funny

“Isaiah sat up too quickly and caught his brother in the nose😰”
“Ow😐”

Like gurl gimme something

Awright now that my Libby loans are all read and returned, we can see what my new book is. It might not be my next read, but it’ll be coming up soon.

For $10 from Pearl Street Books and with the first lines “We cannot tend to her. Something is wrong with her.” My new fiction book from 2020 is…

The Butterfly Lampshade by Aimee Bender

Okay because I’m not going to leave an official review, I want to take a moment before I say I’ve completed the book.

We got a slightly more bad than neutral ending, but I really think it’s probably the best ending for the story. I was expecting to be disappointed with it, but I really wasn’t. Satisfied? Maybe not completely, but to be satisfied with everyone’s end here would be to cheapen the story.

“Babe, babe, look at me. This isn’t you. He isn’t worth it. Babe, look at me-“

Ik this is, like, the climax of the book, and there’s so much bloodshed, but I had a chuckle at the main character trying to get her bf (?) to snap out of it……. Whatever it is.