The Month That Was…
Life:
Well, with the end of July right around the corner, the year is officially practically over. There are even people out there starting to murmur about Christmas… (please stop).
This month has just flown by for me. I feel like the days have been too short and there has always been just too much to do. I’ve had some health issues that have led to several appointments and what seems like a never-ending run of medical tests and in turn, that has seen my reading time shrink and an all-round feeling of time slipping away. (I’m okay, by the way, everything is in hand, but tests are still ongoing to ensure nothing has been overlooked). I find it frustrating how everything is now outsourced. You used to go the doctor and get everything done in the one place, now you have to go to a different lab for every different test and then go back to your doctor over and over and the whole thing is not very manageable when you work fulltime. First world problems, I know, and yes, I am very grateful for good, affordable medical care, I just long for the days of the one stop medical shop, so to speak.
On that note, time for a joke:
Zeus has been showing signs of rather bookish behaviour of late:
He’s either expressing a desire to learn to read or reminding me that my review books tbr is out of control and I need to get reading. He also enjoyed some time in his happiest of places, the beach. For a non-active dog, he becomes quite the little prancer once his paws hit the sand…just don’t try and take him near the water!
What I’ve been watching:
Quite a mixed bag this month. Let’s start with TV. I’m currently on a free trial for Apple TV so I’ve been watching and enjoying Dickinson, a genre-bending series inspired by the life of Emily Dickinson. Season one and two were excellent, season three a little less so, but I’m still enjoying it and would recommend it. The Clearing is based on the JP Pomare book, In the Clearing, which was in turn based on true events surrounding the Australian cult that was known as ‘The Family’. It’s a gripping series, one that relies heavily on the use of an unreliable narrator and at times it was a bit confusing and slow, but again, worth watching. It is one you need to pay attention to though, as there are a lot of subtle tells throughout and flashbacks. Warnie I watched with my son. What can I say, he was a trainwreck in his personal life and a legend on the cricket pitch. The show conveyed both, and it was done rather well, using a combination of dramatisation and real-life news and commentary cut ins. M and I have only just started watching Platonic. I’m on the fence so far. It’s not as funny as I expected, and the friendship is less platonic than I’d like. We’ll see how it pans out.
So, High School Musical was a theatre outing, my son’s college musical production for 2023. He wasn’t in it but a dear friend of mine teaches at the college and we always make a point of attending the musical together. It was a fine performance from all the students, there was so much talent on display. I’m not the biggest fan of High School Musical as an actual musical – does anyone else think it’s the most boring musical ever? – but that aside, it was a good show and a good night out.
Onto movies, of which there were four this month. It came to my attention that M had never seen Interview with a Vampire. Deeply shocking, I know. It is one of my favourite films ever, so that needed to be addressed. Watching this, after having attempted to watch the new TV series of Interview with a Vampire assured me that I was right to abandon that series after only one episode. Compared to the film, which Anne Rice wrote, the TV series is the pits and not at all what I envisage she would have wanted her novel to be interpreted as. Love Again was delightful, a really lovely rom com that was genuinely funny and genuinely touching. Also, Celine Dion playing herself in the movie was an unexpected highlight. And for those of you (including me) who had never seen Sam Heughan acting in anything other than Outlander, guess what, he’s really good in other things too! And last, but not least, Oppenheimer, the three-hour epic new release from Christopher Nolan. Look, it’s long, it’s not light, the weight of history is hanging heavy throughout, but it’s worth seeing and quite impactful on the big screen. The horror of what they unleashed had me in tears during one scene. Take snacks.
What I’ve been reading:
A lot less reading than watching this month, but sometimes you just need to go with it. The Escapades of Tribulation Johnson, After She Wrote Him, and Birnam Wood were all review books. I enjoyed them all and rated each highly. Karen Brooks never disappoints with her epic historical fictions and Sulari Gentill is proving to be the same with her meta-crime fiction releases. Eleanor Catton is an exceptional writer and I look forward to reading her other two novels, both of which are on my Kobo tbr virtual shelf. Birnam Wood is the top pick for July from me, a tough call because all of the books I read were good – another month of quality over quantity. Yellowface was my bookclub pick for the month. I enjoyed it, there were many laugh out loud moments and just as many OMG declarations. It was a book I looked forward to picking up whenever I could. Mixed feelings about it throughout the bookclub, but that just made for interesting book chat, which is what it’s all about in the end. Which brings me to Mere Christianity by CS Lewis. I read this as a classic, with the era in which it was written at the forefront of my mind. I have long been fascinated by this aspect of Lewis, ever since reading Becoming Mrs Lewis by Patti Callahan. His switch from atheism to Christianity was something I wanted to dig into further and this book, which is actually his radio talks from World War two published into a three-part book, was insightful. It’s dated, yes, in terms of the conservative views he expressed and some of his opinions were heavy handed, but as I noted before, it’s a classic, and it really should be approached that way. What fascinated me about it, was his journey into Christianity and his firm beliefs born out of his experiences across two world wars.
I’m looking forward to reading more than five books next month…watch this space.
And speaking of spaces, I am really enjoying the current trend on Instagram of combining books with plants for decor. I’m starting a bit of that up here at home, but on a much smaller scale than what can be found on Instagram. Mine so far involves one bookshelf and about half a dozen plants in bottles. Anyway, #lifegoals…
Until next month, good reading!
