What I've Been Reading, Watching And Listening To // February

 

Well February seemed to pass by at a rather speedy pace (or maybe it's just because I only wrote the January version of this post two weeks ago), and I managed to read rather a lot, but not watch all that much, which has been quite nice really and I feel in a much calmer headspace spending more time with my head in a book and less time in front of something trashy on the telly (although I've still not been able to resist a little bit of Made In Chelsea with breakfast so some things will never change).

But anyway, here's what I've been reading, watching and listening to in February:

R E A D I N G :

The Cat And The City by Nick Bradley // Okay so yes, I got drawn into this by the simple fact of the cat on the cover and in the title. Turns out that sometimes I do judge books by their covers. It sounded like a pretty unique premise; a stray cat in Tokyo wandering around bumping into different people and the intertwining of all their individual stories. In practice I didn't like it as much as I thought I would. Although the individual stories were interesting I thought there were too many of them to fully get invested in and there was an odd supernatural element to it that never really made sense to me. I rated it three stars.

The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri // Definitely the best book I've read so far this year (and a long time before that too), this is the story of a Syrian beekeeper and his wife and their journey to England to try and claim asylum. It's very loosely based on refugees the author met in real life, it's an extremely harrowing but humbling read and I would recommend it to pretty much everybody. This earned a very rare five star rating from me.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman // I've heard mixed reviews about this one, but I loved it. It was a very easy read (gotta love short chapters), and I loved the general concept, which is that a group of OAPs living in a retirement village can club together to try and solve a murder. I rated this one four stars and will definitely be reading the next one in the series! 

Once Upon A River by Diane Setterfield // This was a slow burner for me, but once I got to know the characters I got really into it. A young girl seemingly drowns in the river before everyone discovers she's actually alive, but nobody knows who she is or where she's come from. A few different claims to her identity are made and the book follows these and eventually reveals the truth. I rated this four stars.

W A T C H I N G :

The Girl Before / BBC // I think this was out around Christmas time, so I'm a little late to the party, but it was definitely a unique concept and good watch. It follows the stories of two women who've lived in the same house, one of them trying to uncover what really happened to the 'girl before'. 

The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window / Netflix // I was so not convinced by the first couple of episodes of this; what is supposedly a parody just didn't seem comical enough to me, but I think once you get used to the tone it becomes funnier. We're only three episodes in I think so I can't really fully review it, but the episodes are only half an hour long so it's a pretty easy watch!

L I S T E N I N G :

British Scandal // I only started listening to this a couple of weeks ago and I'm absolutely hooked. Hosted by Alice Levine and Matt Forde, they delve into a different British scandal each series and it's so interesting and well told. I've listened to the Litvinenko series, which is just surreal and I've just started the Iraq War dossier series. Definitely one to add to the to listen list if you're a podcast fan!

Give Me The Future by Bastille // Bastille are one of my favourite bands and I've been listening to their new album on repeat this month (this is where my commute comes in handy). It's so energetic so always puts me in a good mood for the day ahead.

What are your recommendations from the last month?

Amy x