What have you been reading this week?

What a week it’s been. The UK have been given their lockdown escape plan and we have a potential end date in sight. Of course, I’m waiting to see how that actually works out but the idea of seeing people again does bring me joy. It’s a shame that the outdoor rules don’t start to change until 8th March because it’s my birthday on Friday. This will the be the first year when I haven’t arranged to see my twin sister at any point and it’s very weird. I don’t know when we’ll actually be able to meet up. After spending my childhood wishing that I didn’t have to share the celebration with someone else, it’s not great when you’re kept apart for reasons beyond your control. But, people have been celebrating their birthdays in lockdown for almost a year. I really shouldn’t complain.

Weekly Blog Posts

• BOOK REVIEW – The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

I’ve officially put Rainbow Milk on hold until I’m in a better reading mood. I’ll try it again in March and hope that I do it justice. To kickstart my reading again, I decided to pick up a few shorter books from my TBR. This book crossed off the letter U from my Spell the Month TBR Challenge. Did it help me out of my slump? You’ll have to head over to my review to find out.

• BOOK REVIEW – The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford

We ended up having to postpone our book club meeting until this Thursday because so many people had struggled to finish on time. I’ll be honest, it took me a bit longer to finish this than it normally would have. I had to buy the audiobook to get me through. Just another consequence of my current reading slump. I suspect that, during my listen, I was distracted a bit and probably missed a few big moments. Meaning I’ll probably be no help during the meeting. But was the book worth the effort? You’ll need to head over to my review to find out.

• TBT REVIEW – 101 Dalmatians (1996)

Last week, the first trailer for Disney’s Cruella came out and I had a lot of feelings about it. Rather than going on about that, I decided to rewatch this childhood favourite. If nothing else, it would remind me of just how good Glenn Close was in the role. But was the film as good as I remembered it being? We’ve established time and time again that I had terrible taste when I was younger. If you’re feeling nostalgic, head over to my review.

Just Read

• Yellow by Janni Visman

It was a struggle to find another book that started with Y for me reading challenge but I stumbled across this one. I knew nothing about it or the author. I just picked it for its title. It did sound kind of intriguing though. The story of a woman who can’t leave her flat. It’s quite an exciting premise.

• The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket

This series passed me by when I was younger. It’s not that I was the wrong age either. This book, the first in the series, was published in 1999 when I was 11. Yet, for some reason, I never bothered with it. It wasn’t until the Netflix adaptation came out that I really began to care about reading them. When it became clear that I would struggle to finish my Spell the Month challenge for February, I decided it was time to give them ago.

Currently Reading

• The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket

This will be the last letter on my Spell the Month reading challenge and a replacement for Rainbow Milk. I never bothered to read these books when I was younger but adored the Netflix series. After reading the first book to cross off B, I decided that I might as well read the second too. And, as a bonus, I will definitely cross of the final letter before the end of the month.

Book Haul

Don’t think that I’ve actually bought anything this week. I’ve been far too distracted by other things.

Recently Watched

• TV:
  • American Dad– Now that Disney+ has Star, I’ve been enjoying catching up with this show. Although, I say enjoying when I’ve just been putting it on in the background as I do other stuff.
• Movies:
  • Thor: The Dark World – Continuing my current rewatching of all of the Marvel films and, as usual, I’m approaching it in a random way. I’ve spent a long time defending this film to people who automatically proclaim it to be the worst film in the MCU. Watching it again, it’s hard to ignore the awful dialogue and boring story. Still, I’m positive that Iron Man 2 is worse. Guess I’ll have to watch it again to be sure.