After a strong reading month in October, I thought I’d easily nail my 80 book target for the year, but turns out I was a little too confident. Birthday celebrations took up most of the month, topped with an amazing trip to the Warner Bros Studios to see the Harry Potter sets. The rest was pretty much a blur – it passsed way too quickly!
Mel
If I’m truthful, this was not the best reading month of the year. This isn’t because the books were bad – far from it – but because I had overhyped two of them (Pratchett and Powers) in my head. The Overstory and The Traveller’s Tree also took ages to absorb because of the sheer amount of wordage they contained. The best thing that came out of The Overstory was that it made me reassess our plan for greening our lifestyles and this includes our relationship with books. I wrote a blog about eco-conscious book buying to reflect on this and we’ve made the decision to seriously cut down on new books in 2022.
Books Read (78 books out of 80 target)
- Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (4.25/5)
- The Overstory by Richard Powers (4.25/5)
- Selected Poems of Andrew Motion 1989-2004 by Andrew Motion (4/5)
- The Traveller’s Tree by Patrick Leigh Fermor (4/5)
Al
Al preferred to watch films and TV to relax in November. He’s started Klara and the Sun so looking forward to comparing notes in a few weeks.
Books Read
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (ongoing)
Little M
Another awesome read from Phil Hickes. M also dipped back into The Boy Who Flew with Dragons by Andy Shepherd.
Books Read
- The Bewitching of Aveline Jones by Phil Hickes (5/5)
Film and TV
We managed two family films this month. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (watched at home) and Dune (at the cinema). Shang-Chi was fun and we enjoyed the world-building, but Dune was another level. As a big fan of the book, it was a relief to see that the cast and crew had done the original story justice. Little M went into a planet drawing frenzy afterwards!
Days Out
As mentioned at the start of this post, we made it to see the Harry Potter sets at the Warner Bros Studio Tour in Leavesden mid-month for a family celebration (there were 8 of us). It was much bigger and more impressive than expected and we took full advantage of the greenscreen opportunities! We all agreed that the destruction of Gringott’s Bank was our favourite set piece, although the Great Hall in festive finery came a close second.
We’re madly organising Christmas now, with a another trip to Harry Potter (this time the Forbidden Forest) and lots of festive parties. I don’t envisage reading a ton of books, but if I can make my 80 then I’ll be happy.
Wishing you a sparkly December.
Mel, Al & Little M
xxx
