Welcome back for another wrap up, in the video I’ll talk about all the books I read (including a semi savage discussion on Sally Rooney’s new book) and my Film and TV highlights of the month of September.
I am really getting in the festive mood this year, and with less than 20 days until Christmas, I thought I would share some gift ideas for anyone struggling for inspiration. One of my favourite things about Christmas is gift shopping, and while I usually would head out to a shopping centre for that one of a kind Christmas vibe, I will be doing all of my gift shopping online this year. Yes, I will miss all the beautiful displays at Liberty’s, Selfridges and Harrods, the carol singers on the streets, random acts of Christmas kindness and the struggle of shuffling in and out of your coat every time you enter or leave a store. But for me staying COVID free and spending time with my family is far more important than the annual Christmas Shop experience. So without further ado, I present 8 gift ideas to get you inspired and ready to shop!
1. Untold Day and Night by Bae Suah | 2. Kate Spade Nicola Micro Crossbody Bag | 3. Chanel N°5 Perfume | 4. Anthropologie Bistro Tiled Margot Monogram Mug | 5. Avène Refreshing Eye Contour Care Cream | 6. BY WISHTREND Green Tea and Enzyme Powder Cleanser | 7. Kate Spade Star Studs & Pendant Boxed Set | 8. Normal People by Sally Rooney
The above links are affiliate links so I do make a small commision if you make a purchase through them.
A Mubi subscription for an Art House Cinema lover, Spotify Premium for a music nut, Wine for a budding sommelier or help save an endangered species with WWF.
As promised here are the books I recommend you read to pass the time while we are in Quarantine. Fiction is a great distraction so I hope you can delve into these books to escape reality for a short while.
To quote myself last year in my review of the book is perhaps the best way to recommend it to you now as I don’t think I can improve upon my summary:
‘Invisible Cities is not just a novel by any means. It’s a poetic study of the human experience. Framed by a conversation between the famed Venetian explorer Marco Polo and Kublai Khan, Invisible Cities explores 55 different cities that may or may not be imaginary or in the very least a description of Polo’s hometown Venice.’
READ THIS BOOK! It has become one of my favourites and I am currently reading Cosmicomics by Calvino and I feel like that will also become a favourite.
Murakami is a genius, in my opinion, I love how he writes and I love what he writes about. I’m still relatively new to his works as I started reading him in late 2016, and to be honest, I have only read four of his books (and countless short stories). But, I am nearing the end of my degree - literally in a few weeks so I feel like I can fully delve into his work and slowly work my way through it.
My recommendations based on what I’ve read of him so far is Norwegian Wood and Sputnik Sweetheart.
An uplifting story of a Salmon who was unlike his fellow Salmons thanks to his silver scales, he learns to defy expectations and keep working hard to pursue a dream. This is a poetic fable that will warm your heart and inspire you to look deep within and question what you want out of life.
To continue the theme of heartwarming reads that cause you to have a profound moment of introspection is one of my favourite recent reads (It was the last book I read in 2019). Before the Coffee Gets Cold takes the concept of time travel and turns it into a lesson on how to cherish each moment and that you should always appreciate what you have while you have it! THis book isn’t in the pile as I lent it to my sister so that she could have something healing to read in this time (I also gave her some of Haemin Sunim’s beautiful little books of wisdom too).
A beautiful love story that will take you back to a safer time, one summer in Italy when Elio and Oliver fall in love. I love the movie and I love this book, I feel like I may have to re-read (and re-watch) it this summer. And I also want to read the follow up Find Me as soon as it’s published in Paperback.
With the BBC adaptation imminent I keep wanting to revisit this book. I love Rooney’s writing and I feel like this whole quarantine situation has made me want to read about love stories. Either I’m compensating for the extreme lack of romance in my life or I am trying to expel the heavy emotions that this time is putting on us all. I can’t decide what it is…maybe it’s both (insert cry emoji)
If you're not feeling too fragile this book is a masterpiece I was going to try and write about it for my final essay at Uni but they cancelled it (cries, both tears of sorrow and tears of joy). The Vegetarian tells the story of Yeong-hye from the point of view of three different people: Her husband, Her brother-in-law and Her sister. Its complex and beautiful and is one of the best novels I have ever read! I also have a second-hand copy I managed to get on eBay that is in Korean so with all the spare time I’ve got at the moment I am going to work towards reading it in Korean!
I love it when art inspires art, and for Kang, a line of poetry by Lee Sang inspired her story.
What a strange and interesting sentiment. Perhaps we should at the very least look to plants for inspiration. They work within their ecosystems to keep a balance in nature and support other living things around them.
This comedy about a Korean-Canadian family that runs a Convenience store is actually hilarious and I binged the first 3 seasons at the beginning of the year so I am looking forward to revisiting this sitcom. Also, Simu Liu who plays Chung is Marvel’s Shang-Chi so check out this show if you're looking forward to that movie!
Yes! We are actually getting Killing Eve Season 3 a lot sooner than expected, normally we (here in the UK) have to wait for aeons after the US to watch it but luckily we are getting each episode the day after the US showing on BBC iPlayer! I love this show so much, its hilariously dark and Villanelle is one of the best characters on TV at the moment. If you’ve never watched the show buckle up for an adventure.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge aka everyone’s favourite writer at the moment has a new TV show coming out. And it’s an intriguing premise about reconnecting with an old acquaintance due to a pact that was made 17 years earlier. It’s apparently a black comedy thriller which in itself is rather appealing.
This new drama is from Kim Eun-sook the creator of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (aka Goblin) and Mr Sunshine which are some of my all-time favourite Korean dramas. The cast is great with Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun, Woo Do-hwan and Jung Eun-chae to name a few. And it’s about parallel worlds!!! Count me in!
As a fan of this book and just Sally Rooney in general I have been waiting for this adaptation ever since it was announced. I’m intrigued to see whether there will be any dramatic changes and just how faithful it will stay to the book. Rooney is very much a literary voice of my generation and I love how she captured the two main characters so rawly in the book… so let’s see if this drama does the same, although from the trailer I feel like it will which is a relief.
I read quite a bit more this month and I also have a couple of unfinished books that will roll over into march or beyond as I have a lot of books to read in part or whole for uni right now. But here are all the books I read this month!
Freud is a must-read for any student of English lit, so naturally, I gravitated towards this collection of essays to accompany my unit on modern lit. I have been fascinated by psychology for many years and even considered studying it instead of Eng Lit. This was an interesting read but some points regarding women vexed me slightly but that’s to be expected from a 20th-century text.
A light-hearted, fun and quick read. The story was a little predictable but I don’t really care about that as it was rather funny and a nice way to pass an evening or two.
I thought this was going to be a short story but it was actually just a collection of Wilde’s witticisms, Funny as they are I was a little disappointed.
I read a couple of Sally Rooney’s short stories to try and get on backtrack with my (totally impossible) 75 books in a year challenge, which I didn’t but I like reading a good short story nonetheless. I like Rooney’s writing and I like how she navigates heavy topics in a sensitive but real way.
I like the David Fincher movie so I thought I would check out the source material. I think its a case of the film is better than the book, in the respect of dealing with the whole Tyler Durden revelation and the iconic ending scene has much more power than the cop-out ending of the book.
I cried. And I can’t believe I only have 2 more books to go before I’ve finished Harry Potter, I only started listening to the audiobooks last year and I’m already nearly finished! Once again I have to commend Stephen Fry on bringing these stories to life with his exceptional narration and I feel like he adds a lot of magic to the stories.
