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...