Blogging and reading took a back step in April as I hit my madly busy period at work. As a freelance digital marketer for an arts festival taking place in July, this is a super important time for promoting events. I only ended up writing one blog post – Twitter for Authors – a summary of my Twitter thoughts as a reader, together with a few digital marketing tips. I have a few other posts up my sleeve, but it’s likely that these will pop out one by one over the next few months.
On the reading front, the whole family found some corkers. I’ve listed our updates below:
Mel
I started the month with a massive book hangover after reading the Rampart Trilogy by M.R.Carey so found it tricky to get into anything and finally settled on a graphic novel, Summer Magic, to get me back into the mood. Full confession that I chose shorter books to reach my goal of 7 in April. However, this turned out to be a real bonus as I ended up trying formats and genres that I don’t normally dip into including Currency Collection, which was sent to me as part of a paid Bookstagram campaign. I really enjoyed reading these and will aim to complete more shorts this year.
It turns out that I’m still on track with my reading total at 29/80 books – HAPPY!
Books Read
- Summer Magic: The Complete Journal of Luke Kirby by Alan McKenzie and John M Ridgway (4/5)
- Men At Arms by Terry Pratchett (4/5)
- [Ad] Currency Collection including tories by Jia Tolentino and Kiley Reid (4.25/5)
- A Time to Keep Silence by Patrick Leigh Fermor (4.25/5)
- Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch (4.25/5)
- The Well by Catherine Chanter (3.5/4)
- Myth and Magic by Claude Lévi-Strauss (4.25/5)
Al
Al also surprised himself with the book tally this month and finished three titles. The shared strategy of reading short books seems to be working well.
Books Read
- The Last Enemy by Richard Hillary (5/5)
- Questions I am Asked About the Holocaust by Hédi Fried (5/5)
- My friend Maigret by Georges Simenon (4/5)
Little M
Little M motored through two more books in the Scarlet and Ivy series and is now onto the last one. The May bank holiday weekend will involve a quest to find a worthy successor. We also subscribed to The Phoenix comic after Little M discovered an old issue in her room. She thinks the stories are hilarious.
Books Read
- Scarlet and Ivy: The Lights Under the Lake by Sophie Cleverly (5/5)
- Scarlet and Ivy: The Curse in the Candlelight (5/5)
Film and TV
The Mandalorian provided lots of entertainment for the three of us, and we’ve only got 4 episodes to watch before the wait for Season 3 begins. Although I didn’t fall in love with the book, Al and I have binged on Shadow and Bone this week. Favourite characters so far – Kaz, Inej and Jesper with an honourable mention for Ben Barnes as General Kirigan. Little M has been practically living in Wakfu.
Days Out
We’ve been slower than some to get out and about but we have made two visits to local bookshops – Scrivener’s Books and Bookbinders and High Peak Bookstore and Cafe (combined haul 9 books). There are plans afoot to travel to 2 more this weekend and then we’ll have a short break while we get our stacks in order.
If you’re in the UK, hope you’re enjoying your newfound freedom!
Mel, Al & Little M
xxx
