Reviews and other ramblings
We knew August was going to be packed and indeed it was. We bookended the month with holidays celebrating weddings. It’s been a lot of fun and I am exhausted. I need a quiet September.
Somehow I did manage to read eight books in August, three of them by women in translation, most of them excellent.
Also, Tim and I celebrated 22 years together. Which is a lot of years. More than half my life. Go us.
Continue reading “August 2024 reading round-up”
Stupid Covid is stupid. We had a rainy start to the month, attending multiple birthday barbecues in the rain. Then the sun came out and a few days later I caught Covid and had to spend the last 10 days of the month confined to home, feeling too ill to read anything more challenging than YA.
But if I cast my mind back a few weeks to the start of the month there were some highlights. I went to Bristol Pride with a bunch of friends (and the dog). The parade was huge this year (apparently 20,000 marched) and we were near the back, missing a lot of the spectacle but thoroughly enjoying the atmosphere. It was a beautiful, uplifting experience. But as we walked home and left the safety of the Pride crowds, there were some hateful comments directed our way. Even this open-hearted, forward-thinking city has its haters, sadly.
And of course we had a general election that resulted in a Labour government and 4 Green Party MPs. It does feel like I can breathe clearer and hope for a better future again. But the current Labour leaders aren’t perfect. They have a long way to go to improve the status of trans people, refugees and disabled people, and I’m still worried for the NHS. But it does look like they will improve the UK’s environment and carbon emissions.
Continue reading “July 2024 reading round-up”
Another month when I read a lot and didn’t do much reviewing. We also watched some good films and started watching season 3 of The Bear. Which continues to be both stressful and brilliant. Oh, and we watched all of Mr and Mrs Smith, created by and starring Donald Glover. It’s not as good as Atlanta but it is good – and much lighter fare.
Most days have been gorgeous so I’ve done a lot of sitting in the garden reading and throwing a ball for the dog. I’ve been on some bike rides, taken a couple of days off work to enjoy the summer, and treated myself to multiple book shop visits.
I attended a brilliant event at Bookhaus called Reading For Gaza. Palestinian-Italian author Sabrin Hasbun read an excerpt from her memoir about visiting Gaza. Noreen Masud read extracts from her book A Flat Place and explained why she has joined Book Workers for a Free Palestine. Nikesh Shukla introduced the work of a writer he is mentoring, Anam Raheem, who lived in Gaza for five years. She worked at Gaza Sky Geeks, a tech hub and community space, with Matt Davis who also spoke at Bookhaus. I found this event sad and hopeful, inspiring and beautiful. Matt runs a mutual aid fund for Gaza if you are looking for a specific place to donate money where it can truly help.
Continue reading “June 2024 reading round-up”
Well that was quite the about turn from wet lingering winter to sudden summer. In the first half of May I powered through books, for lack of much else to do. Then finally the sun came out and we managed a few long(ish) bike rides. I am quite far behind previous years in my cycling practice for annoying health reasons but I’m pleased to find I can keep pootling along, albeit much slower than Tim.
I watched the TV adaptation of One Day, which was great and just like the book it made me cry. And we’ve started season 3 of Bridgerton, which is fun as ever. And I’m excited to see that a TV adaptation of Queenie is coming soon.
Continue reading “May 2024 reading round-up”
April wasn’t very eventful, which might be for the best. I fell asleep in most films we watched and rain postponed a lot of plans. But we did get a couple of sunny weekends that felt something like spring. The books were a mixed bag. I think I might need more upbeat reads on my TBR.
If you’re reading this on 1 May, happy International Workers Day! Else, happy whatever day it is.
Continue reading “April 2024 reading round-up”
Happy Easter Monday, folks! As is traditional I have spent my weekend mostly reading. I also did some library reorganising for added bookish activity. It’s been a good long weekend.
March has been…wet. I’m starting to miss taking the dog on long, fun expeditions – much as I like the four parks near our house. I really hope we get a few dry days soon. On the plus side our front garden is full of daffodils, tulips and pansies.
Continue reading “March 2024 reading round-up”
Unusually, I didn’t just stumble across my most recent K-drama, it was recommended by a friend. Marry My Husband (tvN 2024) is brand new to Amazon Prime and it’s a typical K-drama blend of genres. In this case, it’s a mix of saccharine romance, light sci-fi, crime thriller and workplace drama.
As is often the case, it’s impossible to explain the overall premise of this series without completely spoiling the plot of the first episode, so I will do my best and then give a big fat spoiler warning before I get into it.
When we meet Kang Ji-won (Park Min-young) she is an ordinary woman in her early 40s with gastric cancer and a mid-level corporate job at U&K Food. After almost 10 years of financially supporting her useless husband Park Min-hwan (Lee Yi-kyung from Descendants of the Sun) Ji-won has just discovered he is having an affair with her best friend Jeong Su-min (Song Ha-yoon). It is peak sad melodrama.
Then there is a major plot flip and it all lightens up. There’s a comically terrible boss, multiple love triangles, a very bitchy high school reunion and a lot of lies are told – some more transparent than others. Marry My Husband goes through a few stages, ramping up gradually from office politics to action thriller.
Continue reading “K-drama review: Marry My Husband”
We started the month on holiday in Paris, then spent the rest of it hiding from the miserable rain and wind back home in Bristol. On the plus side I’ve read some excellent books and watched most of a fun new K-drama series called Marry My Husband.
Happy St David’s Day and here’s to spring coming soon.
Continue reading “February 2024 reading round-up”
This was a great month for reading, a mixed month in other respects. I mean, it started with my birthday and is ending with a holiday in Paris so it’s certainly not a bad month.
I’ve also watched some excellent films this month, including Poor Things at the cinema. It is honestly so dark and strange, I would only recommend it if you have a high tolerance for weird. But if that’s you, I hope you love it like I did.
We’ve come to Paris for the massive Rothko retrospective at the Fondation Louis Vuitton, which is impressive. But Rothko is really Tim’s thing so in return I made him go to the Catacombs, which I enjoyed a lot. We have eaten a lot of excellent food and the sunsets from our hotel room balcony have been beautiful. Plus the roof terrace is a great spot for reading.
Happy February!
Continue reading “January 2024 reading round-up”
As I mentioned in my December reading round-up last week, 2023 was an odd year for me. I feel more in need of the arbitrary fresh start of a new year than I can remember for a very long time.
However, “odd” doesn’t mean all bad, and among my highlights were some truly great books. According to Storygraph I read 81 books and gave 5 of them the maximum rating of 5 (though the ratings are a gut reaction when I finish the book and don’t always match which books I’m still enthusing about months later). My most-read genres were literary, contemporary, LGBTQIA+ and classics – so no surprises there. My average book size was 240 pages and the mood of the books got darker over the course of the year (the mood is based on aggregate “light” or “dark” ratings from readers so isn’t necessarily an accurate reflection of what I thought of a book’s mood).
But I know what you’re here for is my favourite reads of 2023. So with the usual caveat that these are chosen from books I read in 2023, not necessarily published last year, here goes…
Continue reading “My top books of 2023 and reading goals”