Let’s talk about life.
I feel like that is a thing that should happen, since it’s
what’s been going on in the way that it tends to do, and seems to have gotten
in the way of any kind of blogging ever. I was doing so well this year too,
reading all the books and writing all the reviews and then LIFE. So, let’s have
a catch-up post. Not that any of my news is all that exciting.
Except, maybe a little bit exciting.
You may remember that I spoke a few months ago about The Break-Up which was epically epically shite and totally knocked me off my feet.
It took me a while to pick myself back up again truth be told, but I did. I did
some crying and some shouting and I lost my dignity for a while because hey,
there’s nothing less dignified than a heart that is broken, but now I’m here
and I am doing ok.
No really. I am. I’m doing ok. I am doing so much better than I was two months ago. I can stand here,
finally and say I’m alright and more importantly I can mean
it. I made it.
And, AND, I have my own place.
This is A Major Thing. I’m 32 and for the first time ever
(save for a few months when I was 18 and lived in a grotty bed sit that falls
under Things We Don’t Talk About) I am living on my own. ALL BY MYSELF. I know.
Amazing.
It’s a cute little house too, super small, and also super
cute and I feel like I’m going to really love it. I already kind of really love
it. I mean, it’s not perfect yet: I need to get pictures on the walls and my
books on shelves but once all that happens I feel like it’s going to be
excellent and I’m actually kind of excited.
Let’s be real here: this was not what I wanted and this is
not the direction I ever expected my life to go in, but since it has I’m kind
of determined to make the very most of it. I’m going to make the rest of my
life the best of my life and I care not a freaking jot how much of a cliché
that makes me. Do you hear me? I do not care.
So, in amongst breaking up and moving out and starting over,
WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING?
Well, I went to London
to visit Jen. We walked a million miles along Regents Canal - a million miles and that is not an
exaggeration (I know, I know, totes an exaggeration) – and drank cider and ate
pizza and giggled our way around Alice’s Adventures Underground which is crazy
and trippy and all kinds of excellent. I
also saw Jen again on Saturday night – this never happens. Seriously, the two
of us being in the same place at the same time without several months between
is unheard of. So on Saturday night I drove
over to Ilkley where Jen was doing an event and we went for dinner and it was,
as always, marv. Jen’s doing another 100 poem challenge this week actually, you
should check that out.
And Helen had a baby who has stolen my
heart oh my God. Seriously, I am so in love. SO IN LOVE. She’s
called Molly and she has all this hair and she’s
just perfect. Perfect.
I’m off to London
again on Friday to see Cumberbatch as Hamlet, again with the exciting. That’s
with my friend Natalie. We’ll see Hamlet and eayt lots and drink cocktails and
probably shop and maybe catch the Audrey Hepburn thing at the National PortraitGallery and it shall be a lovely lovely time.
Other than that I guess I’ve just been being,
you know? It’s been nice because I live 5 minutes walk away from my favourite
pub so I’ve slipped right back into going there on a Friday night with the same
friends I used to drink with a decade ago so that’s been excellent. I’m seeing
Helen and my Mum and I have other friends in walking distance and I’m also
doing a really godo job of enjoying my own company. Naturally that means I’ve
done a little bit of reading and a little bit of getting excited about books
because that’s just what I do, even if I’ve done it a little bit less this
summer. Let’s talk about that a minute shall we? Let’s talk a little bit about
the 6 books that I am probably most excited about right now, and then I’ll
queue up some reviews and it will be like I WAS NEVER AWAY. (You do not even
know how much I cannot wait to have internet access at my house. Hashtag first
world problems, I know.)
If you know me at all then you’ll know how much of a Rainbow
Rowell fangirl I have turned out to be and it will come as no surprise that I
am spiralling a little every time I think about her new novel Carry On which is released this month. Carry On
is the novel that features in Rainbow’s fabulous Fangirl
and I am gloriously delighted by all that it stands for. I absolutely laughed
my socks off when I heard that Rainbow was writing it and I cannot wait.
The third book in Kat Zhang’s Hybrid
Chronicles was released in paperback a couple of weeks ago. I loved
the first two books in this series, and if you haven’t already I suggest you
read them right now. SO GOOD. I read Echoes of Us
this weekend, and I actually really liked it. It’s a pretty good conclusion to
the series I think and I’ll talk about it soon in its own post so I shan’t go
on too much, just, check it out okay? Okay.
There’s a new Atwood - The Heart Goes Last
- out RIGHT NOW, which y’know even though this is definitely not my favourite
of hers, Atwood owns a piece of my soul and I can’t not be excited for more of
her stuff being out in the world. I’’ll be posting a review of that one very
soon so eyes peeled please!
Imagine a world where everyone is born with a 'skin' name. Without skin you cannot learn, you are not permitted to marry, and you grow up an outsider amongst your own people. This is no future dystopia. This is Celtic Britain
I know right, it sounds amazing. There’s been a lot of buzz surrounding this book and I have to admit to having gotten a little caught up in the hype. I hope it’s as good as I feel like it might be.
David Levithan’s Another Day was published at the end of July. It’s a companion to Every Day which I loved and I’m super looking forward to it.
Since The Gracekeepers is one of the best books I read so far this year it’s probably no surprise that I’m super excited about A Portable Shelter. It’s on my bookshelf due to my pre-ordering skills (it was published in August) and it’s so pretty and I just know it’s going to be wonderful. I can’t wait to read it.
If you keep checking back I’ll be talking about the new
Atwood, Patrick Gale’s fabulous A Place Called Winter, Sarah
Crossan’s One, Katie Pierson’s ’89 Walls, What Milo Saw and The Sin Eater’s
Daughter as well as The Hybrid Chroncicles over
the next few days. I’m also planning a lovely re-read of the Little House on the Prairie books so I’ll likely blog about
those. Lets see if I love them as much as I did twenty-plus years ago. Also Jen
and I discussed a reread of His Dark Materials
so that might be a thing I talk about.
Right now I’m reading Rainbow Rowell’s Landline. It’s
a nice time. Then I might read A Little Life.
I’ve had an ARC for a while, but it’s so huge. I think I need to work on my
arms a bit at the gym to be able to lift it….
