Catching up | I used quite some time over the past two days to finally catch up with all the articles I tend to save in my bookmarks app to read later. Links to articles I see in newsletters or on social media. So so many articles. I need to get into a routine to not just save and save – like a squirrel before the winter comes – but to actually read those articles in time. Some were so out of date that I deleted the link unread, because global politics moved much faster than I read sometimes.
These day it is newsletters from various independent news organisations and social media (their accounts and others) were I get most of my news (articles) from. I also check and read what mainstream media, because I still mostly trust them. I only pay for one of those though whereas I have a paid subscription for at least 3 or 4 of the independent ones.
Books | When I wasn’t reading news articles on my laptop or phone, I was a deep into a proper book, ink on paper and such.
Here are two of my current reviews on Goodreads. Note that I made good on one of my (never publically shared) resolutions to start writing proper reviews on the website and not just a few words through the app.
Thieves’ Gambit: “A fast-paced YA thriller about a cutthroat competition for the world’s best thieves, including the teen girl who must win to save her parents’ lives.” My review ★★★
We Are The Brennans: “We Are the Brennans explores the staying power of shame―and the redemptive power of love―in an Irish Catholic family torn apart by secrets.” My review ★★★★★
I thought I should use the remainder of the long time off (a whole week still from today) to delve into one of the bigger books on my to-read-shelf. I sort of liked “Fourth Wing” and thus bought “Iron Flame” when it came out this summer.
Last night I read the first few pages of both of these books and came to a quick decision. “Homecoming” it is and I might just sell both the “The Empyrean” series in the near future. Because I did not remember a lot of the first book when I read those pages in the 2nd one last night. It all felt quite foreign to me and I didn’t feel the urge to skim through the first book again for a recap.
Other Entertainment | Bits and pieces of various podcasts, but my mind just couldn’t settle on one for long. But also Tim Burton’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” (Netflix), because I was planning to and will in fact tonight watch “Wonka” at the cinema. I found the trailer interesting enough when I first saw it this summer. But I thought I probably should watch “Charlie and…” first at least once, because I hadn’t done that yet. Neither have I read the book. I liked the movie fine, typical Tim Burton stuff. My first though when I saw Helena Bonham Carter and more so Johnny Depp was “They look young”. And then I looked up the year of the movie. 2005. Of course they look bloody young, they filmed it 20 years ago. And then I felt rather old, but I guess that’s just the way of life.
