Category: Books

Read, Watch and Listen – 2023

Every month I put together reviews of various books, TV shows and things to listen to. In this regular feature I recommend some great entertainment that you may or may not have heard of. These are my latest suggestions for things to read, watch and listen to in May, including the highly anticipated Queen Charlotte.

Right now, I am bogged down with work deadlines but I have still found time to enjoy my favourite pastimes, guzzling up books and watching or listening to TV shows, podcasts and great music. Hopefully one of them will grab your interest and make you want to check it out.

Read ‘The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo’

I am slap bang in the middle of this book and really engaged with the story. When a journalist is invited to meet Evelyn Hugo, a famous Hollywood star, she has no idea what is in store. A well written narrative by Taylor Jenkins Reid takes us on a journey through Evelyn’s dramatic life.

I won’t give anything away but we can assume that Evelyn had seven husbands. Each part of the book focuses on her experiences with each of them. The journalist gets swallowed up in Evelyn’s uncomfortable experiences and the prejudices she faced as she navigated her way through a film career.

I have no idea how it will end but the quality of writing seems good and the story is really interesting.

Watch ‘Queen Charlotte’ on Netflix

Set loosely in the time period where Mad King George ruled over England with his wife, Charlotte, this drama is fruitful. Although it is a spin-off from Bridgerton, it works well as a stand alone.

We see the Queen that we know and love from Bridgerton and her bestie, Lady Danbury, both during the Bridgerton time period and also several years earlier. Forced to marry an English King, Charlotte felt quite remote and judged for her race, but soon tried to take control of the situation.

Without saying too much, there is a lot of rumpy pumpy in this series, much like in Bridgerton season one. It is funny, romantic, harrowing and intriguing. For me, the highlights are hearing Julie Andrews narrate and listening to the orchestral arrangements of modern pop songs.

Listen to ‘Padum Padum’ by Kylie Minogue

I was just about to recommend another podcast when Kylie’s new single popped on my screen. Veiled in red, Kylie has a brilliant new song that has a heart beat backdrop.

Going back to her pop roots and working with writers and producers from her Fever album, she does not disappoint. The music is catchy and as an ear worm it plays over and over in my head. Maybe it will yours too?

My favourite current song.

Final Thoughts

I really like all of the things I have recommended in this post. I have been a Kylie fan since I was 8 and am enjoying reading a Taylor Jenkins Reid book for the first time.

Hopefully you find something you like in my suggestions to read, watch and listen to for May. Recently I also reviewed The Mother on Netflix, starring Jennifer Lopez. Please comment your thoughts on my reviews and consider following my lifestyle blog for similar future posts.

Frazzled – Book Review

It has been a while since I sat down and wrote a book review post. I have been busy working my way through several great books and they are finally coming to an end. So now you can expect a bunch of bookish posts, starting with my Frazzled book review.

Frazzled- A brilliant book about mental health

As a long term fan of Ruby Wax, I noticed she had some books out and ‘A Mindfulness Guide For The Frazzled’ had been a number one best seller a few years ago. It seemed like a good place to start. So I got myself a copy and read it straight away. Usually if I am reading non-fiction it is biographies I go to. This book is partly personal but is also an exploration of the topic of mindfulness. A uniquely original text.

In A Nutshell

Ruby has completed a Masters in Mindfulness for Oxford University. This book takes us through what mindfulness is and what it meant to her when she struggled with depression.

I remember her famous TV show, ‘The Full Wax’ which used to get 14 million viewers. She would spend time with celebrities up close and personal, chatting and winding them up. I especially enjoyed her interview with Goldie Hawn and the crazy one with Donald Trump where she managed to make him squirm.

This brilliant red book is organised into helpful chapters, such as ‘How our brains work and the science behind mindfulness.’ She also goes into detail about how to introduce mindfulness practices when parenting. She intersperses factual information with her own funny reflections (always shown in a different bold font).

I learned so much about how the mind works from this book. Ruby has a way of explaining things that really grabs me. She is an expert writer and her anecdotes are so personal and funny. It has really opened my eyes to some important ideas relating to looking after my mental health.

Final Thoughts

I really enjoyed this book. It was well organised and written in a relatable way. The funny moments were balanced with serious examples and I now want to read Ruby’s second publication. I can totally recommend checking out her writing, especially if you are wanting to know more about mindfulness.

Hopefully you were intrigued by my Frazzled book review and will check out one of Ruby’s books. Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article. For another intriguing book recommendation, check out my Apples Never Fall review and maybe consider following my blog for more of the same.

My Dramatic Book – An Extract

In celebration of the fact that my book has now gone on sale at a cheaper rate on Amazon, I wanted to share another snippet. The Kindle version is approximately half price for the next month and I would love some new readers. Check out my dramatic book and maybe snap up an ebook if it takes your interest.

At the time of me writing this the UK version is £1.75 and the US version is $2.18.

——————————————————————————————-

The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost

Extract from Chapter 19 (Max)

Today we all sat around a table, going through every line and discussing possible staging. The director, Mr Simmons, was very helpful and guided us kindly through each scene, suggesting ways we could alter our tone and bring out the characters appropriately. He was a legend in school, and we all took what he said very seriously, often taking time to note down his suggestions. My scripts ended up covered in copious notes, which I would probably have to type up later in order to make sense of them. The reviews for last year’s play were outstanding, and none of us wanted to let the others down. We all badly wanted to pull off a masterpiece and the concentration on our faces must have looked intense.


My phone vibrated and I caught it in time to send it to voicemail, but everyone seemed to glare at me as I tried to play it down. Dad then texted me, and I could see that it flashed up with the words ‘pizza later?’ This brought out a smile, which distracted me from what I was about to say.
“Keep up, Max,” Mr Simmons nudged, supportively.


Lisa repeated her cue to me and I managed to get through a few sentences correctly, even pausing for effect whilst showing a concerned expression on my face. A small clap came about as I completed the monologue, and a few more people read their lines before we were stopped and told to get a drink or use the washrooms.


Taking the opportunity to message Dad back, I agreed a time and he said he would pick me up. It was great because I hadn’t seen him for over a week now. I wondered if he had been around Sam’s house, but he hadn’t mentioned it and I hadn’t bothered to ask. With Sam and me, the less said about our two dads at the moment, the better.

Since we both discovered them together, we had been a bit emotionally scarred. I mean, I love gay people. I love my dad. I always thought Sam’s dad was great. But putting all of those elements together at the same time freaked me out. It would just take some getting used to I supposed, and the last thing I wanted was for it to drive a wedge between Dad and me.

It was partly my fault though that Mum found out; as in my distress I had messaged Chloe for support and she had told her nan, who just happened to be my neighbour, old Ruby. So taken aback, Ruby had gone straight around to tell my very surprised mum, who immediately flipped out, threw a toaster across the room, nearly hitting me and chucked everything that Dad possessed into bin bags, dumping them in the driveway.

Anyway, that was over with; the dust was settling, and it was important that Dad and I got to spend some quality time together. When he came to pick me up after rehearsals, he nodded at me to get in the car and drove off quickly, hardly speaking all the way there. When we sat down in Pizza Bob’s, I made the first move and asked him what he had been up to.

He was friendly and relieved that I was still speaking to him. I was, of course, likewise pleased that he was not holding a grudge. We managed to make some small talk and he mentioned how bad the football game had been the previous night and how our favourite team’s manager was appalling and should have been sacked. We definitely agreed on that. It made him laugh when I did an impression of the ignorant goalie who was basically not even paying attention when the striker came by and scored from up close. Dad seemed at ease with me, so I considered bringing up Josh, my old teacher.

——————————————————————————————————

Thank you for checking out an extract from my dramatic book – ‘The Fathers, the Sons and the Anxious Ghost’. I hope that you enjoyed it and maybe even found it intriguing. Check out Another Book Extract here.