#31: Things I’ve loved recently
Including, more insufferable romanticising your life
Hi friends,
It’s been a while! I have had a couple of months of ‘I could read that book or write a newsletter but I don’t have the wherewithal’. I’m back though and I’m on another ‘build good habits’ kick which I’m trying not to overpromise and underdeliver as usual. I’ll let you know how it went next month.
Things I’ve enjoyed
My new pyjamas. I haven’t bought pyjamas since before I was twenty and I LOVE these. These are them and they are from Tu.
I went to Peel Park on a solo date with a pistachio coffee from a nearby Persian place and I felt disgustingly thrilled with myself for romanticising my life (for a change).
WI this month was ‘Museum in a Box’ where we got to look at stuff from WWI with a focus on Land Girls and the local area. And eat jam tarts and cake.
I just love tulips and spring flowers. They make me so happy.
Alice bought me a huge tin which formerly contained Perello olives so now I have a small family! It’s got pasta in it now.
Film and TV
Four Seasons (Netflix), charting ‘shit happening’ during four quarterly vacations that happen between four midlife couples. This is already one of my favourite TV shows this year, and it’s at all times warm, dramatic, emotional and funny at once.
Sirens (Netflix). I’m only two episodes in but it’s so good! Not sure where it’s going! Julianne Moore! Rich people! Sutton from The Bold Type! Maybe cults! *edit: I thought there were a few misdirects, but overall thought the ending was very clever after listening to a podcast that told me how clever it was.
Jon introduced me to cult rom com Blow Dry (Amazon Prime), where two rival hairdressers in a small Yorkshire town compete in a national competition. It features loads of really famous people Alan Rickman and a young Josh Hartnett really trying to do a Yorkshire accent. I loved it.
You Season 5 (Netflix) - it was a’ight. I enjoyed the conclusion to this series, and I binged it in a few days, but I don’t really think it needed S4 or 5. Some of the acting seemed quite over the top and expositional, but I really enjoyed Anna Camp.
Food
We did another Taste Film night with our fave film, Chef, Carrie and Gareth, and it was predictably, excellent, delicious, and we had many leftovers.
Nikki and Sam did pizza for us (not photographed but gorgeous) in their Ooni, along with delicious salads, so we had to copy them. I didn’t realise I liked Caesar salad, so thanks Nikki!
Jon made Caldo Verde (potato and kale soup with cured smoked pork) and other delicious tapas-y bits and it was so bloody good.
These smoked brisket loaded fries wouldn’t be up my street usually and the photo is shit, but I could eat several bowls to myself.
Books
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton. Every time Aiden wakes up, it’s in one of seven bodies. He has to solve the mystery of Evelyn Hardcastle’s murder before he’s lived out seven days. This is a murder mystery with a twist, and as someone who loves different points of view / elements of sci-fi, it was right up my street. I thought the character development and conclusion was satisfying, but some people felt the book was too long and ending was rushed. I didn’t though!
An Unwanted Inheritance - Imogen Clark. If you like mysteries, family dramas, you might enjoy this. A excellent present from Carrie! The plot: a man dies and his daughter-in-law finds a suitcase full of cash hidden under his bed, tensions rise and family shit gets real. A good thriller which really went into family dynamics.
Don’t Make Me Laugh - Julia Raeside. This was not a fun read, but a good and relevant one, about sketchy comedians. I whizzed through it very quickly.
The Party - Elizabeth Day. I picked up a copy of this at a charity shop on a whim, not really knowing Lizzy D was an author (I love her How to Fail podcast). It was such a good example of a thriller. Like so many more layers than your average thriller. Multiple POVs and a real sense of building unease. It follows the aftermath of Ben’s party - which Martin, who worships him, attends, along with Lucy, his long-suffering wife, and zooms in on privilege, friendship and obsession. It’s so dark! And clever! And guess what - unbeknownst to me whilst reading, is a sequel coming out soon, and I have an advance copy. I’ll keep you posted…
Food Person - Adam D. Roberts. This ticks off my list of ‘will 100% read’ list: rich people behaving badly, food, food writing in a big city, and publishing. The concept: a woman gets fired from her food website job, and gets enlisted to ghostwrite a cookbook with a vapid actress. It’s so moreish, delicious and I ate it up in hours. It comes out 3 July (thanks NetGalley and Penguin!).
Until next time!