The Book Family Rogerson July Round-Up

July has seen a lot of change and activity in our house. I didn’t anticipate publishing many posts because I was busy running all things digital for an online festival, but in the end I wrote 7 pieces including this one.

We also managed to finally get our new bookshelves built (see picture) and have a few days out after being stuck in for months. I feel as if I’m beginning to wake up from a long sleep and need to stretch my legs (and mind). Here’s what we did this month:

Mel

I channelled all my energy into work at the beginning of July and hit a reading slump – with two weeks spent on The Dragonfly Pool. My pace speeded up eventually, but I faffed around with books for a while before I decided on Going Postal by Terry Pratchett as part of my Lockdown TBR Pile challenge. I also started my first audio book, Daisy Jones and the Six which I’m now two-thirds of the way through. I was slow finishing this because I dropped everything to read a much-awaited early review copy of The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton.

Books Read

• The Dragonfly Pool by Eva Ibbotson 4/5
• Going Postal by Terry Pratchett 4/5
• The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton 4.25/5
• Daisy Jones and the Six (ongoing)

Al

Al also had a reading block at the beginning of the month. He’s since picked up Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis after seeing the movie.

Books Read

• Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game by Michael Lewis (ongoing)

Little M

Little M is currently obsessed with The Demon Headmaster series by Gillian Cross and anything involving puppies! The ratings below are hers.

Books Read

• The Demon Headmaster Takes Over by Gillian Cross (5/5)
• Oi Puppies by Kes Gray and Jim Field (5/5)
• Midge & Mo by Lara Williamson & Becky Cameron (5/5)

We really like to buy books that will help her to understand the world better so I compiled 9 Inspirational Kids Books to Make You Think Differently to review and plan our collection.

Movies and TV

July was amazing for movies and TV. We kicked off the month with The Booksellers Documentary – an absolute must-see for booklovers.

Pretty soon after we resubscribed to Netflix to watch Dark Season 3. I’m not going to deny that it was slow in parts (and relentlessly well er dark) but the finale was worth the sluggish bits. If you haven’t seen it think caves, time travel, YA romance and brain-tangling plotlines.

Our mood needed a boost afterwards so we watched Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga – classic Will Ferrell with a great cameo from Dan Stevens. As a family, we viewed the whole two seasons of Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts, which is an awesome SF animated series for kids.

Family Days Out

We ventured further afield in July. Fitting in a visit to the Nantwich Bookshop and then several hikes in our favourite hidden Peak District places. It was a strange and welcome sensation to be out again. Fingers crossed, we’re going away for a long weekend in August so I’m already thinking about which books to take. This fuelled the post 7 Questions to Help You Pick Your Holiday Reads and I’m really glad I wrote it because maybe for once, I’ll be more realistic about what I pack!

Aside from taking these few days out, I’m focusing on creating content for the blog and our Bookstagram account while I have some time off work. I have a bunch of ideas in the pipeline which I hope to develop too.

Wishing you a fantastic summer – home and away.

Mel, Al & Little M

xxx