september round up
Back to school/work month. September finally brought the summer sunshine and along with it my beautiful Mama from America. It also brought mine and Joe’s birthdays and the start of new schools and jobs. All change all change. The sunshine has now left us and it feels like a proper Autumnal day here. We have had a roast the past few Sundays and I just had beetroot for lunch today. Yes for Autumnal veg and those crackly leaves, fires and cosying up at home in new socks with a blanket and new books. Speaking of which…
What I Read This Month
1. Beautiful World, Where Are You By Sally Rooney
2. The Guest List by Lucy Foley
3. The Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
4. What I Learnt From Falling by Claire Nelson
Oh Sally Rooney, I am so pleased you are back! And what a treat this was. Clever, easy to read, deadpan, funny, charming, relatable. The way the book is written via an epistolary gives a platform to musings on climate anxiety, class consciousness and the main characters’ relationships. How else would she have been able to provide this much insight into millennial dilemas?
So much of this is autobiographical and charts her recent life in the strange semi fame that she has got in the past few years. Despite not wanting her life to be in the public sphere the characters personalities must have been drawn from her life and they surprised and thrilled me. A lot goes unsaid, with just a look, relationship intricacies are observed with such humour and utter despair. I felt bereft when it was over.
MONTHLY FAVOURITES
Watched… Sex Education is back! Yay. It’s brilliant and funny and clever.
Listened… I finally downloaded the Adam Buxton Ramble Book. I love Adam Buxton’s podcast and find his humour ridiculous and great. His book speaks a lot about the death of his Father, his love of David Bowie, his school days and friendships and of course his dog Rosie. I really recommend it.
Turned Up to… I went to not one but TWO live events this month. The wonderful Hollie McNish at Komedia reading her astute and brilliant poetry and short stories. I love her new book Slug, it speaks about her beloved Grandma who died in lockdown and she didn’t get to go to her funeral in Glasgow but watched it on her laptop. She spoke of this at Komedia but also chatted about her teenage years, life as a woman, blood, parenting and so many other important topics. The second was a live gig at Patterns. Jess and I were blown away by Arxx, an absolute wall of sound followed by the wonderful wonderful Liz Lawrence. I have been humming California Screaming for about 2 months now and I am not bored of it.
