Internet highlights – w/c 2nd October 2022
8 10 2022Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : The Best of the Internet, Uncategorized
The Road Trip – by Beth O’Leary
8 10 2022Having read The Flat Share at the start of the year, I was keen to read more of Beth O’Leary, and a friend completely raved about this one, so I thought I’d go for it next!
Addie and her sister Deb are driving from Chichester to Scotland for a friend’s wedding, with a randomer who also needed a lift, but very early on a car rams into the back of them. In the car are Addie’s ex and his friend, on their way to the same wedding, and so with their car not driveable, the girls agree to take them too. Thus we end up with five people in a mini for many, many hours.
The book then starts telling two stories in parallel, both the story of the drive, and the story of how Addie and Dylan met, fell in love, and eventually split about 18 months prior to this trip.
Only a couple of minor negatives: I didn’t like Dylan at the start, he was massively into poetry, something I’ve never quite understood and so just found him a bit pompous, but it wasn’t so much it was overwhelming and it soon settled down. My other apprehension at the start was whether they were falling in lust rather than love, but things did deepen over time, so I let them off.
But really they were nothing compared to the positives; it was really well told, it’s rare a book keeps me awake – normally I fall asleep when I read! But I found myself still awake at midnight reading 50-70 pages at a time and just flew through it, I enjoyed the relationships developing between characters, and some of the side characters were really fun too. A very enjoyable read.
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Tags: beth o'leary, beth oleary, beth o`leary, book reviews, chick lit, fiction
Categories : Books I've Read
Internet highlights – f/c 18th September 2022
1 10 2022
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Categories : The Best of the Internet
Black and British: A short, essential history – by David Olusoga
28 09 2022There is a version of this book which is over 600 pages, and goes into a lot more detail, but as someone who struggled with history at school and is very slow to read non fiction I would never consider even trying to read it. So I was delighted to find that there was a children’s version of the book that would cover it more at my level – the words are more spaced out too!
It covers black British history as far back as the Romans, then jumping forward to the Tudors and working through from there to the 20th Century. It’s a great resource covering so much that we weren’t taught in school, or in other ways we learn about our country.
One of the things that stood out to me the most was that the celebrated abolition of the slave trade in 1807 was not the end of slavery; it was only the trade that became illegal at that point, but it can tend to be talked about it like everything was done at that point.
The book is also full of illustrations and images to help follow what’s going on. It’s a really accessible book, and so if like me, history isn’t your thing, this is a non-scary way of learning a bit more. I think I’ll need to read it a couple more times over the years for a refresh, but it’s not difficult to read!
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Tags: black history, book reviews, history, non fiction
Categories : Books I've Read
Internet highlights – f/c 3rd September 2022
17 09 2022It didn’t feel appropriate to post last week, but now I’m left with a whole mixture of funny things, sad things, and various things between, so please excuse the chaos of both the content and the chronology (even more so than usual!), and hopefully you’ll appreciate/enjoy some of the content below.
10 Brilliant things the Queen has said about God – Premier Christianity.
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Categories : The Best of the Internet
How To Kill Your Family – by Bella Mackie
13 09 2022Grace was brought up by her mum, who had a fling with a stupidly wealthy businessman, who wanted nothing to do with her when he found out she was expecting, and neither did the rest of the family.
Grace is now an adult, her mother has passed away, and she’s ready to take her revenge, by killing off every member of the family she should have been a part of.
This isn’t just someone going on a random killing spree. Each member of the family is carefully considered as to the best way for them to meet their end: What does she know about them? How can she make it look like an accident? She is meticulous in her plans.
So when you hear that she’s writing her story from prison, you would assume it all went wrong, but surprisingly, she’s been incarcerated for a murder she didn’t actually commit!
I really enjoyed this, some bits were somewhat harrowing, but the creativity was wonderful!
There was one point in the book where a jump in the timeline wasn’t as smooth as it might have been, though while the way the ending was a little odd in the way it was told, the ending itself was good!
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Tags: book reviews, fiction
Categories : Books I've Read
Internet highlights – w/c 28 July 2022
3 09 2022Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : The Best of the Internet
Internet highlights – w/c 21st August 2022
27 08 2022Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : The Best of the Internet
Internet highlights – w/c 14th August 2022
20 08 2022Comments : Leave a Comment »
Categories : The Best of the Internet
Friday Five Favourite – Things on Apple TV+
19 08 2022Earlier this year I had a 7 day free trial of Apple TV+, and used it to blitz the famous Ted Lasso I’d heard so much about. Then in June, there was an offer for Sky customers to get 3 months for free, so I’ve able to explore its contents a lot more! There are some wonderful things on there, hopefully my top five (in no particular order) has something to suit everyone – TV shows, films, even a musical, across the spectrum from comedy to sci-fi drama.
“Come From Away” – Musical
Filmed live on Broadway and set in Gander, Newfoundland, Canada in September 2001. When the twin towers were hit, 38 transatlantic planes were diverted to Gander, and the towns population doubled for several days. This is the story of those few days. The score is wonderful, and with the main props just being a load of mis-matched chairs arranged to form each scene.
“The Morning Show” – TV – Drama
There are currently two series available, and a third is in the works. Starring Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon and Steve Carrell, you’d be forgiven for thinking this was a comedy, but it was much darker than I expected! A co-host of a morning TV show is fired for sexual misconduct, and the show deals with the fallout of that, as well as the culture that allowed it, and bringing in someone new to replace him.
“Ted Lasso” – TV – Comedy
Ted is a coach of an American Football team, and is brought over to manage fictional, struggling football team, AFC Richmond by the ex-wife of its former owner, who wants to drive the club into the ground. Ted is adorable, ever positive, and knows literally nothing about the beautiful game. I’ve heard someone describe him as a secular Ned Flanders, which I think could be a perfect description! It’s not just about him though, the cast is great and keeps it well rounded.
“CODA” – Film – Drama
CODA stands for “Child Of Deaf Adults”. Ruby is one, and works with her family on their fishing boat before school, partly so they have a hearing person on board. But she wants to sing and go to college, something her family just don’t understand. It’s a beautiful film, it shows the deaf family as just normal people, with a sense of humour, and with problems, just like the rest of us.
“Severance” – TV – Sci-fi Drama
Only one series has been created so far, but I believe there is more to come. A company called Lumen runs a procedure on its recruits so that at work they remember nothing of their life outside of work, and outside of work, remember nothing of their work life. Such a strong concept, and lots of interesting connotations that follow on from it. Something weird is going on, but we don’t know what.
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Tags: apple tv+, coda, come from away, film, severance, ted lasso, the morning show, tv, watchlist, what to watch
Categories : Friday Five Favourite
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