When I originally sat down on Tuesday evening to write today’s post, I found myself starting and stopping, changing the title a thousand times over, to the point that I gave up entirely. Part of it has to be attributed to the fact that I’m deep in the throes of the Christmas feels now and all I can think of doing is reading, drinking Bailey’s hot chocolates and eating my body weight (and beyond) in roast potatoes.
So, here we are, writing a thoroughly impromptu post and basically checking in one more time before I sign off from the blog for Christmas! Just two more working days stand between me and a whole lot of being horizontal and I couldn’t be happier, and I’m sure many of you are feeling the same way. Without further ado, here’s everything that I’ve been reading, watching and listening to lately – perfect for your festive prep perusal!
Reading
I’ve shared plenty of Christmas and winter posts recently, if you’ve missed them. There’s a festive to-do list, a post all about how Milo will be celebrating Christmas, a chat about starting new festive traditions and even some notes about why I always plan to slow down in December.
Hot off the heels of Wednesday’s post, I’ve been reading a lot this year and December has been of no exception. In fact, I managed to complete my reading goal of the year two weeks early! I read Lost Boy by Christina Henry, a horror retelling of Peter Pan, and felt super let down. I’d been really looking forward to finally reading this book, but it felt forced and contrived. The protagonist is continually wronged and boy doesn’t he let you know?! Worst still, midway through it felt as though the author was simply checking things off a list and the narrative was repetitive and slow.
In better news, I’m now more than halfway through the epic that is Shogun by James Clavell. Embarrassingly, I’ve been reading this on and off for over a year! But I’d reached a point where I’d read every single book in my house and this was the only thing left. A few reading sprints and coffees later, I’m absolutely loving this war fiction and can’t wait to see how it all pans out. Most recently though, I’ve been reading The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin. It’s been a slow burner so far but I’m really intrigued by the concept: four children find out when they’ll die, and it sets into motion a series of events that’ll take them down far-flung paths.
Watching
After visiting FriendsFest a few weeks ago, admittedly I’ve been watching Friends all the time. I gravitate towards Friends whenever I’m feeling anxious and, if I’m honest, I’ve felt really anxious recently. I like the comfort of knowing exactly what is in store for me and even the canned laughter cloaks me in a bubble of comfort. Aside from that, it’s all about His Dark Materials still, preparing for a brand new season of You (I’m terrified but excited!), and fitting in the odd Christmas film. Louise and I watching The Knight Before Christmas and it ticked all of the boxes for us!
Listening
Now that The High Low and My Dad Writes A Porno is on hiatus, I’m not really quite sure what to do with myself, podcast-wise! I’ve recently started listening to The Lighthouse, a true crime podcast by The Australian which covers a missing person case. It’s brilliantly done; I’m only two episodes in and looking forward to listening to a few more episodes throughout my working day today.
Of course I’m still religiously listening to Friends With Friends and Sh**ged Married Annoyed, but I’ve also started listening to some episodes of Asian, Not Asian, a podcast by two American-Asians. I don’t think the hosts are particularly well-versed in the race chat but I like how refreshingly honest, candid and down-to-earth their conversations are. Sometimes the online space can feel really scary and intimidating when it comes to the whole race conversation, so this pod is a great gateway.
And with that, I’d love to wish you all a very merry Christmas, Daisybutter clan! I’ll be back on the blog on Monday 30th December with a yearly round-up.
