My July 2021 Round-up

So exciting, this is my first end of the month round up! I feel good about this month; I think I’ve read a bit more than I usually do, and I have definitely bought more books than I should have – a few charity shop hauls! I’ve read 8 books this month. I am also going to include what I have watched too (even though this is a book blog).

What I’ve listened to this month on Audible:

1. The Art of Rest by Claudia Hammond (non-fiction)
2. The Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes (non-fiction)
3. The Marriage by K L Slater (fiction) – this months bookclub book
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (classic)
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (classic)
6. Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult (fiction)
7. Still Alice by Lisa Genova (fiction)

Physical books I read:

1. Duty of Care (Covid-19) by Dominic Pimenta

It takes me a long time to read physical books, partly because I always have so many on the go at the same time, but also because I work full-time, and have two young children, so I have very little free time to sit and read a book. I listen to loads of books though as they are easier to fit in, I can listen when I am cooking and cleaning and walking etc. So don’t judge me for reading so few physical books.

It is very dfifficult to choose a favourite, as I read a lot of good books this month, however, I think my favourite would have to be:

Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult

This was a 5 star book, it was fantastic, it was magical. This is about a teenage girl who aches for her mother every day and so decides to employ a psychic and a PI to help find her mother who left when she was 3 years old. But did her mother leave willingly, was she forced to go and is she even alive? A beautiful book where stories about elephants are interwoven with the story of a missing woman.

The book I liked least this month was Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (2 stars). I’m not sure if I am meant to love Dickens, I just struggle to read his books. I absolutely loved David Copperfield and enjoyed A Christmas Carol but everything else, I don’t know.

My Book Reviews in July (not above)

The Yorkshire Shepherdess (biography)

Jodi Picoult (mini reviews)

Bill Bryson (mini reviews)

What I have watched at the cinema this month:

The Suicide Squad – saw it last night, can I just ask, why is it called “the” suicide squad and not Suicide Squad 2? Weird! I loved the first movie, but this was was unnecessarily violent, seriously it was grotesque and entirely not needed, so I did not enjoy it as much, even though Idris Elba was in it!

The Croods 2 – took my kids to see this and it was hilarious! Soooo good.

Old – This is a M. Night Shymalan movie so I knew it would be weird, and weird it was. A few families are taken to a deserted island, and they quickly find out that they are aging at a rate of about 1 year every 15 minutes – crazy. I won’t ruin it and say why, but it was strange.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife – I loved this, almost as much as the first one, so funny! The first movie was one of the funniest movies I have seen, I love this kind of sarcastic dry humour and I love Ryan Reynolds.

What I have been watching on TV:

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics – of course!

Grey’s Anatomy – series 17 – this season is so real because it is all about Covid! We lost a bunch of our long-standing actors though, which made me sad.

Our Yorkshire Farm – series 4