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The Sunday Post is a chance to recap the past week, talk about next week, tell you what I’m reading, and share news. It’s hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer, Readerbuzz, and Book Date.

The Sunday Post #359 

On The Blog Recently

• Best January - June 2024 Young Adult Book Releases
• I Read 200+ "Best Books Of 2023" Lists
• February 2024 Book Releases
• Best Short Novels
• Recent Additions To My To-Be-Read List

In My Reading Life

I finished two books last week.

The first was Winterkill by Kate A. Boorman. It was fine. It's a young adult dystopia that takes place in a settlement on the Canadian plains (I think?). I love the setting and the culture of the characters because I haven't seen them in a dystopia before. The dystopias I've read have mostly felt like USA hellscapes. It's nice to see a different country's hellscape.

Unfortunately, the setting is the only thing I liked. Everything else follows a stereotypical YA dystopia script. If I read this book in 2010, I might have been obsessed, but in 2024? Not so much. That's probably my fault more than the book's. I went through a very intense dystopia phase in the early 2000s and read way too many of them.

Like most dystopias, Winterkill has Very Important Capitalized Words. There's a love triangle. There's an outcast teenage girl who seems to be the only person with a semi-functional brain. There are many moments of *Gasp* "The leaders lied to us? Who could have seen this coming?" There are forbidden woods where the leaders (very obviously) keep their secrets. There are prophetic dreams about the secrets in the forbidden woods.

I know I'm ragging on the book, but I didn't hate it! It has a few excellent plot twists, and you're never sure which characters to trust. You might like it if you want an extra dose of The Village, The Hunger Games, or The Forest Of Hands And Teeth.

Then I reread A Darker Shade Of Magic by V.E. Schwab. I've lost track of how many times I've read this book over the years. I think this might be my fourth or fifth reread. The logical part of my brain always says, “I have some issues with this book.” The other part of my brain just fangirls over the adventures and Kell’s fabulous coat. Seriously, I want that coat.

A Darker Shade of Magic is about a magician, Kell, who has the ability to travel between parallel Londons. When he comes into possession of a dangerous magical stone from Black London, he teams up with a thief named Lila to destroy it.

The characters have so much personality, and it’s easy to fall in love with them. The dialogue is sharp, smart, and funny. The humor feels very organic and true to the characters. 

I was happy for the mood-lightening dialogue because a few of the Londons are depressing places. The world-building is impressive. The Londons each have their own unique culture, language, history, and architecture. It’s fascinating to read about. I think White London is my favorite because it’s creepy.

Like all of V.E. Schwab's books, I wish the magic system had been explained better and earlier in the story. It took me a long time to figure out how the magic works.

The problem with rereading the first book in a series is that I now want to reread the other two. This is terrible news for my TBR shelf and library books.

In The Rest Of My Life

Let's talk skunks! (I know you're only here for the skunk update.)

Last week, I discovered that there are a distressing number of skunks living under my house. After I wrote about them on the blog, the comments were like, "We need videos of the skunks!"

A perk of working in the wilderness conservation field is knowing experts on the local wildlife. I sent a group text that said, "I'd like to observe a cuddle puddle of skunks in the dead of winter. How?" I got back essay-length replies that started with, "First, you must spend your life savings on special camera batteries because mere mortal batteries won't survive the mission."

Long story short: I now have trail cameras. And winterized batteries. And no money.

It was worth it because I'm having fun with these cameras. I feel like I'm making a nature documentary. Except, it's all skunks. It's a skunk-umentary.

If the skunks didn't smell like Uncle Lester's foot fungus literally all the time, I'd let them stay under the house. The house smells absolutely foul. It gives me headaches. I have to drench my clothes in skunk odor neutralizer so I don't go to the grocery store smelling like a crime against humanity.

I have tried multiple skunk deterrents to make them leave. The best part of the cameras is watching the skunks briefly consider the deterrents before deciding they don't care.

Here's what I've tried:

Removing all food and water sources. I haven't seen the skunks eat anything. I also haven't seen them order delivery. I suspect they're dining out every night, which is financially irresponsible, but I can't judge because I bought skunk cameras.

Spotlights and strobe lights. At first, these mildly startled the skunks. Then they got used to them. Now the yard is a skunk disco with fabulous lighting.

Piling heavy stuff on top of their hole. This caused them to dig a new and much-improved hole. It just shows that challenges spark innovation.

Skunk powder, cups of ammonia, rags soaked in ammonia, all the ammonia. The skunks sniffed them and decided that ammonia smells better than skunks.

Leaving a radio next to their hole. It was my dad's radio, so it was tuned to a scary, shouty, conservative talk station. The skunks might be #MAGA now, but they're still in the yard.

Since I can't get rid of the skunks, I did the next logical thing and made them a YouTube channel. Here's Part 1 of their Skunkumentary. Like and subscribe! (I can't believe I just typed that. Gross.)

My DMs Are Open If The BBC Wants My Sweet Nature Footage

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Take care of yourselves and be kind to each other. See you around the blogosphere!