Media Log
All the media I am currently consuming! Scroll down past the summaries for my thoughts and feelings.
Currently . . .
Nova Scotia House
── by Charlie Porter
"Johnny Grant faces stark life decisions. Seeking answers, he looks back to his relationship with Jerry Field. When they met, nearly thirty years ago, Johnny was 19, Jerry was 45. They fell in love and made a life on their own terms in Jerry’s flat: 1, Nova Scotia House. Johnny is still there today – but Jerry is gone, and so is the world they knew."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: This is another Martyr! situation. Fundamentally, I should love this book, it's exactly up my alley set in a time period I am interested in, and yet it falls flat. I love a book with unconventional prose but this goes too far the other way at times. I cried and I enjoyed it but there's such structural issues with it in places that it is tryhard word vomit that leaves me a tad cringing.
An unconventional story expressed through unconventional means is always a thumbs up, but when it becomes inaccessible in places or downright dull in it's repition and page long paragraphs - it loses me.
An unconventional story expressed through unconventional means is always a thumbs up, but when it becomes inaccessible in places or downright dull in it's repition and page long paragraphs - it loses me.
Persepolis
── by Marjane Satrapi
"Persepolis is the story of Satrapi's unforgettable childhood and coming of age within a large and loving family in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution; of the contradictions between private and public life in a country plagued by political upheaval; of her high school years in Vienna facing the trials of adolescence far from her family; of her homecoming—both sweet and terrible; and, finally, of her self-imposed exile from her beloved homeland. It is the chronicle of a girlhood and adolescence at once outrageous and familiar, a young life entwined with the history of her country yet filled with the universal trials and joys of growing up."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: Wow, wow, wow. I have gone for years seeing Persepolis in my favourite Waterstones and never had much interest to pick it up, and regretably the sad passing of Marjane inspired me to finally read
and now I am absolutely kicking myself for never picking it up sooner.
Persepolis is in that category of non-fiction I enjoy of exploring major events from the 'common man's' perspective mixed with the gorgeously expressive and candid artstyle. Absolutely deserves its flowers and now I absolutely have to watch the movie.
Persepolis is in that category of non-fiction I enjoy of exploring major events from the 'common man's' perspective mixed with the gorgeously expressive and candid artstyle. Absolutely deserves its flowers and now I absolutely have to watch the movie.
Queen James: The Life and Loves of Britain's First King
── by Gareth Russel
"James Stuart, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland did not always love wisely, but he never failed to do so boldly.
We know so much about the six wives of Henry VIII, why not the six loves of James I? This groundbreaking new book puts James – genius, liar, spendthrift, idealist, witch-hunter – and the men he loved at the centre of one of the most dramatic stories in British royal history."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: Wonderful, perfectly wonderful. One of my most enjoyable reads, which I didn't expect from a non-fiction historical read. I always assumed historical books would be very... blah, but Russel is wonderful at choosing
the most interesting sources to arrange in to an expectedly rich queer life. If only I had saved it for pride month, but I am very glad to have read it - I'll have to check out Russel's other works.
The Boys
── Season 5
"It’s Homelander’s world, completely subject to his erratic, egomaniacal whims. Hughie, Mother's Milk, and Frenchie are imprisoned in a ‘Freedom Camp’. Annie struggles to mount a resistance against the overwhelming Supe force. Kimiko is nowhere to be found. But when Butcher reappears, ready and willing to use a virus that will wipe all Supes off the map, he sets in motion a chain of events that will forever change the world and everyone in it. It’s the climax, people. Big stuff’s gonna happen and it's gonna be fuckin diabolical."
─ Taken from the Fandom Wiki
My thoughts: HOT STEAMING DOODOO GARBAGE. Kripke you are a heinous creature. I will never claim The Boys is anywhere near peak television, but this season was absolutely horrid. Honestly, I could have dropped the season at any point with how quickly I did not care for this backdoor pilot bullshit for Vought Rising. Antony Starr you deserved a better show to absolutely acting mog people in.
Eric Kripke count your days.
Eric Kripke count your days.
Project Hail Mary
"A science teacher wakes up alone on a spaceship. As his memory returns, he uncovers a mission to stop a mysterious substance killing Earth's sun, and realizes that an unexpected friendship may be the key."
─ Taken from IMDB
My thoughts: Kat loves Project Hail Mary, statement!
I originally wasn't going to see this film int he cinema, I didn't have much interest in it, but when picking a good movie to go see with my best friend - we said why not! Perfect choice.
It's one of the most refreshing sci-fi films in awhile - I adore the characters, the setting, the story. Especially as someone who has been following James Ortiz for awhile for his cosplays, it was such a fabulous performance and show of practical puppetry.
I originally wasn't going to see this film int he cinema, I didn't have much interest in it, but when picking a good movie to go see with my best friend - we said why not! Perfect choice.
It's one of the most refreshing sci-fi films in awhile - I adore the characters, the setting, the story. Especially as someone who has been following James Ortiz for awhile for his cosplays, it was such a fabulous performance and show of practical puppetry.
The Devil Wears Prada 2
"Andy Sachs reunites with Miranda Priestly as they navigate their careers amid the decline of traditional magazine publishing."
─ Taken from IMDB
My thoughts: I am constantly perplexed with the state of modern cinema that this movie opens with a firm stance in favour of journalism and hired artists specifically to create artwork that looks like AI... and then partnered with Google Gemini.
How thankful I am they kept Miranda a total bitch though, that is my queen for a reason.
I really am conflicted on how to feel about the movie with its messaging but then choice of marketing. I understand they likely had no say but the anti-AI messaging paired with AI ads is... eeyuck.
How thankful I am they kept Miranda a total bitch though, that is my queen for a reason.
I really am conflicted on how to feel about the movie with its messaging but then choice of marketing. I understand they likely had no say but the anti-AI messaging paired with AI ads is... eeyuck.
A Short Stay in Hell
── by Stevn L. Peck
The Other Girl
── by Annie Ernaux
The Door
── by Magda Szabó
Witch Hat Atelier
── Volume 1
Agua Viva
── by Clarice Lispector
Euro Trash
── by Christian Kracht
"Realising he and she are the very worst kind of people, a middle-aged man embarks on a dubious road trip through Switzerland with his eighty-year-old mother, recently discharged from a mental institution. Traversing the country in a hired cab, they attempt to give away the wealth she has amassed from investing in the arms industry, but a fortune of such immensity is surprisingly hard to squander. Haunted in different ways by the figure of her father, an ardent supporter of Nazism, mother and son can no longer avoid delving into the darkest truths about their past."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: And I will be honest with you, I don't remember this book. It was perfectly servicable but I read it in a very odd time in my life that I don't think it fair if I review it here. Will have to re-read eventually.
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom: Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China
── by Emily Feng
"A deeply reported investigation into the battle over identity in China, chronicling the state oppression of those who fail to conform to Xi Jinping's definition of who is "Chinese," from an award-winning NPR correspondent.
... Illuminating a country that has for too long been secretive of the real lives its citizens are living, Feng reveals what it’s really like to be anything other than party-supporting Han Chinese in China, and the myriad ways they’re trying to survive in the face of an oppressive regime."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: Wow. A very difficult read. Not because of the writing style but because of the content itself. Feng pulls back the curtain on the current state of life for the many ethnic minorities in modern day China in such a profound way. It isn't purposefully disturbing, just the
state of things itself are disturbing. Deeply informative even if a slow read.
The Dry Heart
── by Natalia Ginzburg
"The Dry Heart begins and ends with the matter-of-fact pronouncement: “I shot him between the eyes.” As the tale—a plunge into the chilly waters of loneliness, desperation, and bitterness—proceeds, the narrator’s murder of her flighty husband takes on a certain logical inevitability. Stripped of any preciousness or sentimentality, Natalia Ginzburg’s writing here is white-hot, tempered by rage. She transforms the unhappy tale of an ordinary dull marriage into a rich psychological thriller that seems to beg the question: why don’t more wives kill their husbands?"
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: Another one of those books that I beg people I know to read. Delightfully short and sweet, I have never met a man so fucking contemptable in fiction that I was seething the entire read. That was why I finished it in one day, couldn't put the book down.
The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House
── by Audre Lorde
"From the self-described 'black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet', these soaring, urgent essays on the power of women, poetry and anger are filled with darkness and light."
─ Taken from GoodReads
Martyr!
── by Kaveh Akbar
"A newly sober, orphaned son of Iranian immigrants, guided by the voices of artists, poets, and kings, embarks on a remarkable search for a family secret that leads him to a terminally ill painter living out her final days in the Brooklyn Museum. Electrifying, funny, and wholly original, Martyr! heralds the arrival of an essential new voice in contemporary fiction."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: I am desperately and constantly trying to get one of my friends to read this book. I need to talk to someone about it. Cyrus is such a conflicting character I adore, but the pacing and some of the choices leaves me so on the fence.
It's the exact sort of book I should naturally adore, and yet here I am - yapping my friend's off about it.
Small Things Like These
── by Claire Keegan
"It is 1985 in a small Irish town. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, Bill Furlong, a coal merchant and family man faces into his busiest season. Early one morning, while delivering an order to the local convent, Bill makes a discovery which forces him to confront both his past and the complicit silences of a town controlled by the church.
Already an international bestseller, Small Things Like These is a deeply affecting story of hope, quiet heroism, and empathy from one of our most critically lauded and iconic writers."
My thoughts: Beautiful! Once again a very interesting but well crafted short story. One of my favourite reads this year.
The Six Detahs of the Saint
── by Alex E. Harrow
"The Saint of War spares the life of a servant girl so she can fulfill her destiny as the kingdom’s greatest warrior in this short story of love and loyalty by New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow.
Always mindful of the debt she owes, the girl finds her worth as a weapon in the hand of the Prince. Her victories make him a king, then an emperor. The bards sing her name and her enemies fear it. But the war never ends and the cost keeps rising—how many times will she repeat her own story?"
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: An absolutely charming short read. The most creative use of tenses I have ever seen! Inspiring, I hope one day to be able to emulate that sort of whiplash in my own work in such a short span of pages (only 33 pages!). Need to read more of Alex E. Harrow's work eventually.
The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius
── by George Orwell
"George Orwell's moving reflections on the English character and his passionate belief in the need for political change.The Lion and the Unicorn was written in London during the worst period of the blitz. It is vintage Orwell, a dynamic outline of his belief in socialism, patriotism and an English revolution. His fullest political statement, it has been described as 'one of the most moving and incisive portraits of the English character' and is as relevant now as it ever has been."
─ Taken from GoodReads
My thoughts: One of my first non-fiction books ironically. I think it is rather poignant in places with how society has absolutely not progress beyond the point of early day socialism in the UK, though the essays are constantly bogged down as clearly being 'pieces of their time'. Putting aside some of those unsavoury aspects, it's generally a decent and an informative read. To no one's surprise, Orwell can make an interesting narrative even in discussion about England at the time.