What have you been reading this week?

It’s not like 2020 was going well but August has been a big blow to the year. Last week, drag queen Chi Chi DeVayne died at the age of 34 and yesterday we woke up to the news that Chadwick Boseman had died after a long battle with cancer. Boseman was only 43. It’s no age. I don’t normally like to buy into that Social Media displays of mourning for famous people but this got to me. I was crying when scrolling through Twitter. The actor may be best remembered for bringing the superhero Black Panther to the screen and giving some much needed representation in the MCU. However, he was so much more than that. Boseman was a fantastic actor and always followed his beliefs. He did great things for the Black community and he will be sorely missed by so many. I’ve decided to dedicate this week to him and will be reviewing two of his films.

Weekly Blog Posts

• BOOK REVIEW – Sula by Toni Morrison

This month’s book club review was this short book by Toni Morrison. It had been my pick in the choices we were offered and I enjoyed reading it. At least until the actual meeting. Most of the people in the group hated it. They spent had a lot of criticism about it and, the more they spoke, the more they started to convince me I was wrong. This meant, by the time I was ready to write my review, I was super confused . Had I changed my mind? You’ll have to read my review to hear more.

• TUESDAY REVIEW – Dating Amber (2020)

Another original film from a streaming service. After last week, you have to ask what I was thinking. I thought this one sounded different. Have we seen similar LGBTQ stories before? Yes but this showed two sides to that story. Instead of a closeted gay teen dating a straight teen, this has two teenagers hoping to stay secret. The trailer did’t make it seem like every other teen movie. Read my review to find out if it really was special.

• BOOK REVIEW – Intuition by Dominic J. Anton

August was a good month for me and poetry. I was lucky enough to get sent some free collections. This is the latest one and it sounded really interesting. As I say all the time, I’ve not had the best relationship with contemporary poetry. I think a lot of it tends to be style over substance. I know poetry is a more fluid format but poets like Rupi Kaur and Amanda Lovelace have cornered the marketing with their spread out sentences. I’m kind of over it. Would this be the same? Head over to my review to find out.

• TBT REVIEW – Love, Simon (2018)

I’m a kind of petty and stubborn person in certain areas of my life. One of those areas is YA fiction. I’ve so rarely found a YA book that I actually enjoyed that I just assume there’s nothing in it for me. This also means that I skip most YA film adaptations. In light of my Tuesday review, I decided to watch this one. A friend of mine has said it was pretty good and we tend to agree on most things. So, I went for it. If you’re feeling nostalgic then check out my review.

Just Read

• Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

I had pre-ordered this book ages ago but there was an issue at Amazon that meant I didn’t get it for ages. I’m not going to give it a proper review because I’m a 32-year-old woman reading a book that is meant to be for babies. It’s a cute read and is definitely a great first step into the realm of race in society.

Currently Reading

• Q by Christina Dalcher

If you’ve been around for a while, you may remember that I wasn’t particularly fond of Dalcher’s previous novel Vox. In fact, it made me angry. I thought it was badly written, ham-fisted, and unhelpful to feminist discourse. So, why did I buy Q? I’m a glutton for punishment I guess. I Plus, Dalcher writes readable books. Yes, they aren’t great but they’re cheesy and dramatic. Oh, and it was also really cheap on Amazon. And I’ve been writing far fewer really cutting reviews this year. I feel like I’m losing my edge.

• Gotta Get Theroux This by Louis Theroux

I started listening to the audiobook of Louis Theroux’s book last week. Admittedly, I haven’t got very far because I started reading something else but I’ll get there. His voiceover style seems really relaxed and fun. I’m expecting great things here.

Recently Purchased

I caved a pre-ordered a couple of books this week. I’m also probably going to buy more this weekend because it’s double points at Waterstones and I’m super close to getting my money off voucher. The things I’ll do to justify buying books.

• Red Pill by Hari Kunzru – This sounded like the perfect book for right now. It’s about a writer who goes to Berlin for a three month residency. So far so bland, right? Wrong. To quote the Amazon page, this is a novel about the alt-right, online culture, creativity, sanity and history. Who isn’t buying that?
• The Harpy by Megan Hunter – The story of a housewife who finds out that her husband is cheating on her. To even the score, they agree that she will hurt him 3 times but he won’t know how or when. What a fucking great concept.

Recently Watched

• TV:
  • RuPaul’s Drag Race – Yep, still going. Work is so stressful at the moment that I need this. This show makes me feel so happy no matter how many times I watch it.
  • The Simpsons – Yep, I’m still going through all of the episodes on Disney+. I had thought that I was up-to-date with the show but I guess I’ve missed some seasons along the way. It’s hardly the greatest stuff but it’s comforting in its familiarity.