First month of 2023? Completed it mate.
So, let’s have a little look, shall we…
Books:
I read 7 books in January. A slight decrease on the amount I cranked out last year – but I guess isolating with covid gives Jan 2022 an unfair time advantage.
All The Light We Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
“A historical fiction set throughout Europe during the rise of Hitler and the subsequent war. We start in the middle of the action which also happens to be the end – an allied attack on one of the few remaining German strongholds in France at the end of the war. But we're taken back in time before we can even find our feet.
Pre-war Germany. Werner is a young boy, orphaned with his little sister after a mining accident, they live in an impoverished children’s home. Werner yearns for knowledge, and information and hankers to learn everything about anything. After finding a broken radio in the trash, Werner teaches himself how to fix it – then how to fix more things – then how to build things from scratch. But it all starts with that little radio – and the things he and the children hear over it – the rise of a great new German leader, Adolph Hitler, who will fix all of Germany’s problems. And then there is the strange distant broadcast of a French man’s voice – and he says things a little differently to their trusted German broadcasters.
Paris, France. Marie-Laure has been completely blind since the age of six. She finds her way through touch, learning all the shells and creature husks in the museum where her father works. She knows how many steps it takes to get from their home to the square and how many streetlamps she must count to get to the bakery a few blocks away. When Paris falls to Nazi invasion – Marie and her father flee to an estranged uncle miles away. Her father has more than just his daughter to carry as precious cargo – an ancient gem hidden away in the museum for years and said to be centuries old and hold a deadly curse - has been entrusted to the man, to keep safe from German hands.
When Werner is recruited to an elite Nazi training programme and Marie’s father vanishes without a trace, their two young lives are set on an intertwined path – and it all starts with a radio.”
I really enjoyed this book. It is not my favourite historical fiction I have ever read but nonetheless, it is very well written, clearly by someone who is deeply knowledgeable about the period in question and there was real care shown to the shaping of the characters.
#murdertrending – Gretchen McNeil
“Welcome to Alcatraz 2.0. If you commit a crime considered particularly heinous, this is where you will end up – where your movements will be live-streamed to the rest of the nation every minute of every day. And this includes the moment you are selected by one of the semi-psychotic executioners to make your death a truly retweetable spectacle. You’ve got the one who uses wild animals to maul the prisoners to death. The twins - who wouldn’t be out of place in The Shining. Or the most charming of Princes who dresses his female prey in various fairy-tale garb, before hunting them through a twisted and torturous maze.
This hell hole is where Dee finds herself. Arrested, charged and found guilty of a crime she did not commit – the internet is already taking bets on how long she’ll last.
And Dee is determined to beat the odds.”
Last One to Die – Cynthia Murphy
“What do you do when it’s your first time away from home, you’re trying to get used to London, make new friends, and girls keep turning up maimed or dead? Girls, who look disturbingly like you?”
An interesting setup concept – a slightly disappointingly executed resolution. Had bags of potential and don’t get me wrong, it was still a solid read – but I’m of the opinion it could have been so much more.
What I am certain of though is that, with a little tweaking and the right cast, it would make a really cool supernatural thriller movie.
Hamilton and Me: An Actor’s Journal – Giles Terera
“Giles Terera originated the West End version of the role of Aaron Burr in the smash hit Hamilton: An American Musical. A prolific diarist, this book is the collated edition of the journal Terera kept throughout his time involved with the show. From the beginning of the audition journey to performing at the Olivier awards, Terera details the process as a whole, his individual process as an actor and the significance that the era-defining musical had and still holds.”
Errrmyyyygawwwd this was soooo gooooood! Honestly, if I had read this when I was still at college I might have stuck with acting and pursued it properly. The life of an actor or any performer really is gruelling, painful, and often disappointing. But my god when it’s worth it? It’s so, so, so worth it.
Good Girl, Bad Blood – Holly Jackson
The second in the Good Girl Murder trilogy – I’m planning on doing a full review of all three books once I have finished the final one but rest assured, I ADORE this series so far.
Hotel Magnifique – Emily J. Taylor
“No one knows when the Hotel will appear – and when it does, it doesn’t stay long. Few people get to venture inside as distinguished guests and even fewer are offered the life-changing opportunity of a job contract at the hotel.
When Jani’s little sister Zosa is hired as a singer for the hotel’s entertainment, Jani begs, borrows and barters her way into getting a contract too. No way is her sister going it alone.
The two girl’s start work in the wonderous hotel – under the watchful eyes of the Maître, his magical suminaires and the vexingly handsome doorman, Bel. But as the days stretch into weeks and time inside the hotel loses all meaning – Jani starts to realise that not everything is as it seems in the Hotel Magnifique – and under all that magic, might just lie something darker than anyone realised.”
This was a really good book. I like the details and descriptions of the magic that surrounds all the characters. Very Alice-In-Wonderland-Esque, if Wonderland was a teleporting, time travelling hotel, under the control of a sociopathic nutjob… so actually yeah, pretty similar in that vein.
Not going to lie, it took me a minute to warm up to Jani as the protagonist – I think there are times where you could read her as a little whiny, but all in all she’s a solid lead for the story and her motivations mostly make sense.
Plus it’s a pretty book.
It’s very pretty and y’all know I’m a sucker for a pretty face.
The Midnight Zoo – Sonya Hartnett
“Somewhere in war-torn Europe, two Gypsy brothers travel together. They hide during the day and walk miles by night, carrying their baby sister in a sack tied together. One night the bombs start falling, thick and fast and oh so loud.
That’s when they find the Zoo. It is not a big place and has long since been abandoned, the animals left to die behind iron bars. There’s the lioness who’s mate and cubs were taken away to appease a powerful man. There’s the anxious Llama and Chamois, afraid of the noise that the planes make. The monkey and a seal gone mad with hunger and rounding up the sorry gathering are a bear, an eagle, and a wolf.
When the boys and their baby take shelter among the cages, they share their tale of woe with the animals that surround them… but then the animals start talking back…”
This was sweet. So sad but very sweet and kind of ethereal too. Reminded me of reading Rudyard Kipling’s Just So Stories with my Gran.
Events:
An Evening With Leigh Bardugo – 26th January
On the 26th of January, I packed my little knapsack and hitched a ride to good ol’ London town. A birthday present ticket to a Q&A + Book Signing with my favourite author in the world, Leigh Bardugo.
I rave about Leigh Bardugo and her books any opportunity I get, so if by some miracle you haven’t heard me rant about her at an alarmingly passionate level then brace yourself my friends.
I will more than likely dedicate a separate post to this evening, but holy crap on the holiest of crackers, can I just like have this woman’s voice played on a loop in my ears for the rest of time?
Back to work and Uni
Not much to tell – I went back to work a couple of days into the new year and was finally back in class this Monday just gone.
Finally got my assignments in and treated myself to a plushie bumblebee, because fuck you, I earned it.
Looking Forwards:
Coming up, I’m genuinely happy to be back in class. My neuro-spicy brain craves the learning aspect as much as it loves the structure a timetable provides.
I have tickets to see my favourite comedian in two weeks (I wonder who that could be?) and so will be embarking on another 24 hour London trip (praying emphatically to the gods of transport not to ruin my dreams).
In all truthfulness, I probably won’t get as much leisure reading done as I would like, solely because I will have so much to do for University – that reading is not unenjoyable, it’s just not stuff I would have ever picked for myself. But I’m currently reading The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean and hope to finish it in the next month at least – it’s awesome so far, definitely one of the most original ideas I’ve read for a while!
February is always a quick one – lots to do and so little time. Onwards!
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