What have you been reading this week?

Work still feels stressful this week but things are finally starting to look up. I’m back to working 4/5 days a week which gives me more time to get things done. As much as I’ve enjoyed having my afternoons to sort out my life, it’s not been easy and I wouldn’t want to keep it up for long. With lockdown coming to an end, it’s weird to think that I could be back in the office soon. Back to a normal work schedule. Of course, it’s been such a long time since life was actually normal and it won’t really be normal yet. Who even knows if anything will be properly normal again anyway? But lets not get too deep this soon. On the plus side, the elevating of stress has given me more energy to read, which mean I’m in a better position than last week. Hopefully, I can bring March back from reading despair.

Weekly Blog Posts

• BOOK REVIEW – Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

I decided that I didn’t have enough to say about either The Bad Beginning or The Reptile Room to review them separaretly. So, instead, I pushed them together. Then, as an added touch of whimsy, I gave it a title reminiscent of the series. Of course, I struggled to find a suitable word that began with “unfor” that really fit the situation. Meaning I picked the first one I found that vaguely worked. Are my reviews unfortified? In the same way that all of my reviews are. If you decide to attack them, I can’t defend myself and will probably cry. To find out if it’s worth attacking, you’ll want to give my review a quick read.

• TUESDAY REVIEW – Coming 2 America (2020)

Since the pandemic shut cinemas in 2020, I’ve not really been very good at keeping up with the biggest film releases. I’ve still not seen Tenet or any of the really big releases last year. I’ve not bothered to check the Oscar nominations because there’s little chance I’ll have much to say about them I just haven’t been feeling movies during the Covid days. Which is perhaps why I felt compelled to watch this sequel despite having not really enjoyed the first one when I first watched it. It seemed like a really bad idea to return to this story but, surely, it coudn’t be as bad as I was imagining right? Give my review a read to find out.

• BOOKISH REVIEW – Crooked House by Agatha Christie

What do you do when you have a monthly reading challenge to work towards and very little time left to complete it? Dig out some Agatha Christie to get you back on track. I love reading Christie when I’m feeling out of sorts with reading. I enjoy her writing so much and it always feels good to race through a novel. This is one of her absolute best books, so it was a great choice to get me back on track. If you’ve not read this standalone Christie novel, head over to my review to find out more.

Just Read

• Crooked House by Agatha Christie

I decided to listen to the audiobook version of this whilst I was working this week and it was a great idea. Yes, there are normally some issues with this. Like when I’m writing emails and I’m tempted to start writing random words from the book instead of what I need to say. However, it worked for the most part. I haven’t revisited this story for a while, so it seemed like a good time. The fact that it also crossed off the letter A in my reading challenge was also a big factor.

• Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer

I loved this book when I was younger. I think it was something my parents bought for me rather than something I asked for. Probably my dad but I tend to assume he’s responsible for all of my significant reading choices as a child. Not because my mother didn’t care but because he was definitely responsible for some. Anyway, whoever bought it for me, I loved this book and enjoyed the second. After that, I kind of lost track. I was probably too old when the third book came out. It wasn’t until the Disney+ film came out that I realised how long it had been. To celebrate the book’s 20th anniversary, I decided to reread it in my birthday month. The fact that it was also St Patrick’s Day was a happy coincidence.

Currently Reading

• The Rose and the Yew Tree by Mary Westmacott

Despite being a huge fan of Agatha Christie, I’ve never actually read any of her Mary Westmacott novels. Written under this pseudonym, Christie wrote a series of books that had a more romantic focus. She was able to use her understanding of human psychology to explore love and relationships. They were moderately successful in their day but have definitely gone out of fashion in recent years. I thought I’d give this one a go and cross off another letter on my list.

Book Haul

I’ve made a few naughty eBay purchases recently but, in my defence, they’re all donating money to charity. I’ve mostly been expanding my Folio Society collection. I’ll probably do a quick post on my recent haul and look into my new purchases at some point. So, check back soon..

Recently Watched

• TV:
  • Family Guy – Unlike this show, which has only become less funny and more pathetic as time goes on. I’ve watched a few of the episodes I’ve missed over the years but it’s not doing anything for me. It’s just sad.
  • Superstore – I got through all of the episodes on Netflix, so now I have to wait for latest series to get added. As this is still being aired, it’ll probably be much later this year at the earliest. Still, it gives me a chance to go back and watch them again I guess.
• Movies: