GEORGIA

What can I say - I was so intrigued by the concept of Quentin Tarantino writing a novel that I had to pick up his novelisation of the film  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Not entirely sure why I was surprised that a world-renowned screenwriter would be able to expertly craft a book, but I was! And yes - that is my confession that this was a 4 star read for me. I have never watched the film, but that did not matter at all. This delves deeply into many of his characters, and takes a meandering journey through Hollywood in the sixties, complete with: fascinating film knowledge, a creative cast of characters, and a reading experience that for some reason reminds me of eating a good meal. Would recommend! I was much more optimistic about Mary Oliver's  Dream Work , because BookTube icon uncarley recommended it, and rightly so! If Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was a good meal, Dream Work was a waterfall on a lush mountainside. Every poem was richly gorgeous, with ruminations on natu...

To kick off the scariest month of the year, I absolutely conquered George Orwell's  1984. In my little world, and maybe the wider world as well - I don't want to make assumptions, it's probably one of the most famous novels of all time. And for good reason. It's an intimate portrait of life under authoritarian rule, from the perspective of maybe the most average man of all time. I'm kidding - Winston is actually quite an endearing character. It's impossible not to root for him: the seemingly last human standing in the face of incredibly bleak insanity. However, this bleakness does lead to some repetitiveness as Winston lives his daily life. The passages about the destruction of words and the horrifying scenes in Room 101 were breathtaking, which more than makes up for a few of the dull moments. I gave it 4.75 stars, because I loved the storyline, the language, and the ideas, but it was a slog at times: so not quite a perfect read. If I thought 1984 was bleak, I ...

August has been a big reading month! In less than ten days I spent about 40 hours in the car, so I've gotten through quite a lot. And we have quite a range: a few classics, 2 by the same author, 2 new absolute favourites, and a lot of books from the library! Three cheers for that public service. Here we go: I had high hopes for Kiley Reid's  Such a Fun Age. Everyone raves about it and it deals with such an important topic, but it just falls flat. Some of the dialogue is just ridiculous and there are so many contrived coincidences in the plot that it's almost painful to read. But it is very dramatic and a quick read, and the relationship between Emira and the little girl is sweet. And the prose was decent, so I gave it 3 stars.  Homesick for Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh was another 3 star read, although I was less disappointed by this one. I've never read her before (I'm leading up to My Year of Rest and Relaxation) and I find her writing style to be very exciti...

Everybody knows Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining . Hailed as probably one of the greatest horror films of all time, it still stands the test of time even forty years since its release. One aspect of this is its familiarity: it dominates pop culture. Every American comedy has spoofed parts of The Shining for their Halloween episodes. And these parts slot so well into other media because they have been integral to horror for hundreds of years — clichés, if you will. Perhaps the most important cliche used by Kubrick, is Isolation. The Overlook Hotel is cut off from the world. There’s no other staff, it sits at the top of a bleak and lonely mountain, and it is far too large for three people. The hotel can be seen as a twist on the classic Gothic haunted castle. Emptiness and solitude are integral fears for all of us: loneliness goes against the human condition. No wonder this film has such a profound impact on almost all who watch it. Is everyone at risk of losing our minds, if we are just l...

Technically I read most of  Tennis Lessons by Susannah Dickey in June, but that post got very crowded and I finished this book on the first day of July so it's heading up this month instead. This is the first novel I've read in second person and I'm really not sure how I feel about it; being responsible for such a gross main character and all the terrible things that happened to her wasn't hugely up my street. But it was well-written and follows a pretty classic coming-of-age structure so it was altogether an enjoyable read. Plus I'm a sucker for contemporary Irish literature so I was never going to rate this too harshly. Excited to see where Dickey goes next because I think this was slightly held-back by debut novel syndrome. Still, it gets 3.5 stars out of 5. Despite having only read one of her books before, I'm a huge Liane Moriarty fan. Crime fiction is my favourite genre and the way she blends it so seamlessly with humour is brilliant. So it's no surpri...

For the first time in a while, a really busy reading month! I've finally managed to get back to the library so I've borrowed loads of books I've wanted to read for a while, finished two books that I've been slogging through for months, and read my first ever book in a foreign language! It's been very exciting. Another library book, I picked up  The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman. Crime fiction is my favourite ever genre of books and I love to laugh (what a stupid thing to say- who doesn't), so this was a real delight. Each of the characters was just so sweet and I honestly just wanted to make them all a cup of tea. Also, the twists and turns in the mystery were really fun. I know some people are annoyed by the ending but honestly I'm just excited for a sequel- I couldn't get enough. Osman is very funny. I gave this 5 stars just because it was so entertaining. I love books that are just a whirlwind of escapism and this was exactly that. Then I read...