The Book Family Rogerson June Round-Up

It’s been a long time since we did these round-ups and frankly I’ve missed them. In fact I’ve missed blogging full stop. It’s lovely to be able to escape to this little online home while the world is in chaos outside.

We’re still grappling with lockdown here though. Covid-19 has been really tough in some ways, but there have been upsides too. It has made us appreciate the smaller things in life and really think about what we love to do. We’re desperate to go on some proper bookish adventures and as things ease, we’re planning new journeys. In the meantime, the reading continues. Here’s the latest from June:

Mel

There have been some solid reads in June – with Girl, Woman, Other and A Claxton Diary (non-fiction) standing out. I’m still in the middle of two which are listed below. These are from my Lockdown TBR Pile Challenge which is going a bit more slowly than anticipated because I keep on being distracted by other books. After writing down my 5 reasons to love the TBR pile, I’m not so worried about this though. Their time will come.

Books Read

• The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon 4/5
• The Strangers in the House by Georges Simenon 3.5/5
• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo 4.5/5
• A Claxton Diary by Mark Cocker 4.25/5
• The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson (to be finished)
• The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst (to be finished)

Al

It’s taken Al all month to read Duncton Wood which we’ve owned and not read for years (this should also be on my TBR pile to be honest). His verdict – slow plot, original concept (anthropomorphic moles).

Books Read

• Duncton Wood by William Horwood 3.5/5

Little M

Little M’s attention span is very short at the moment so we have had several books on rotation. She loves the Isadora Moon series and also keeps returning to her picture books, especially All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold. Werewolf Club Rules!: and other Poems by Joseph Coelho is also back on the scene. Short and sweet definitely preferred!

Books Read

• The Magician’s Nephew by C.S.Lewis (4.25/5)
• Isadora Moon Gets in Trouble by Harriet Muncaster (4/5)
• Earth Heroes by Lily Dyu (4.5/5)
• Werewolf Club Rules!: and other Poems by Joseph Coelho (tricky to rate!)
• The Creakers by Tom Fletcher – still to finish

Movies and TV

We let our Netflix subscription lapse so we’ve been working our way through our Studio Ghibli collection again. Movies watched so far include Spirited Away, Porco Rosso and Howl’s Moving Castle.

Nothing on TV really appealed this month, but earlier this year we binge-watched The Witcher and Devs. Next up, Dark Season 3.

Family Days Out

We’ve pretty much stuck to lockdown even though places are opening up. Luckily we have a garden, which has kept us busy. At the moment we’re growing vegetables for the first time so have lots of lettuce, herbs and strawberries with tomatoes, potatoes, onions and courgettes on the way.

I’ve been keeping an eye on local bookshops and wrote a post about these recently. We’ve been ordering online during the last few months but we’re really looking forward to having a proper browse soon. Until then, there’s plenty of unread books to catch up on at home.

Wishing you all many book-filled hours!

Mel, Al & Little M

xxx