What I'm Listening to This August

Tune In's a monthly-or-so column for me to share what I'm listening to (and sometimes watching.)

Every month, I try to share what I've been listening to. Sometimes, there's novelty; other times, it's a repetitive peek at some playlists in my rotation. Lately, I've been listening to audiobooks instead of music—mainly—which isn't characteristic of me. I'm going to ride that wave for as long as it lasts.

Aside from that, I got to take a glorious months-long break from my debut novel, Mountain Sounds, after [redacted publishing process.] I can't speak too much about that yet, but you can take a stab in the dark about what it means that I'm still talking about it in the present tense.

Last year around this time, I was so burnt out and exhausted from this book, but also loved it more than anything else. Life dream, y'all.

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As it got harder and more involved and repetitive, edits gradually took me longer and longer to do; other aspects of my life fell by the wayside because Mountain Sounds was taking more and more of my energy, but giving me less and less in return. There was a light at the end of the tunnel, but God: that final stretch was tough. The further away I am from it, the more astonished I am by how much that required from me.

So I was very grateful for the time to reset and get fresh eyes—and, in this case, ears. This book playlist has been a soundtrack for so long that some of the songs started to feel like white noise (which is actually the prime type of writing music anyway.)

When I picked back up the Mountain Sounds playlist earlier this month, it felt invigorating again. Having a playlist feel new again is the best feeling in all realms, but will be especially nice whenever I sit down to work on the book again.

And....I feel myself veering into the territory I can't share about yet. Soon, y'all.

My Latest Playlists

I love to dump new songs on a monthly playlist. For one, they serve as small time capsules, since music is so closely tied to memory. For another, I'd rather make a short, oddly specific playlist than to queue up songs. Might as well have a record of it.

Notable Songs:

• Lonesome Town — Ricky Nelson
• I Heard It Through the Grapevine — Creedence Clearwater Revival
• In the Middle — Mt. Joy, Gigi Perez
• Everything We Need — Wilfred
• Carrying Your Love with Me — George Strait
• John Henry — Caamp, Jesse Henry
• Jack Daniels — Eric Church (if I have a favorite country artist, it's probably him)
• Ain't Gonna Lose You — Brett Dennen
• Trying So Hard Not to Know (Demo) — Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats
• she got a thing about her — Thomas Day

I should admit, also, that my top song of the month was apparently No Hands by Waka Flocka Flame, Roscoe Dash, and Wale. I have no defense other than exercise.

Mountain Sounds

Missed ya! Basically just sharing a few recent additions or favorites.

Notable Songs:

• Tennessee Whiskey — Chris Stapleton
• Easy Does It — GoldFord
• secrecy — Ethan Regan
• Hell is a Dance Floor — Vincent Mason
• Edelweiss (any violin cover)
• Trippin' — Futurebirds
• Classy Girls (B Version) — The Lumineers

The Audiobooks

I'll definitely write these up in a separate post, but definitely wanted to share some of the books I've started or finished—usually from my local library!

• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater (whole series)
• The Winners by Fredrik Backman
• The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien
• Middlemarch by George Eliot
• Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky