This covers week three thousand of the lock down… or something like 10-13 if you’re not using hyperbole. This might be my last full month of it before getting to go back to work but we will see!

What I have read

I read a lot this month, not because I had any more time than usual but because a) I discovered a new series, b) started reading some books I had missed from an old favourite series and c) spent less time on my phone and laptop and got in a good hour or two of reading each night (and went to bed too late as a result, but you can’t have everything.)

• The Burning (Unseen Trilogy #1) – Jeffrey J Mariotte
• Door To Alternity (Unseen Trilogy #1) – Jeffrey J Mariotte
• Dawn and the We Love Kids Club (Baby-Sitter’s Club #73) – Ann M.Martin
• Kristy and the Copycat (Baby-Sitter’s Club #74) – Ann M.Martin
• Undead and Unstable (Undead #11) – MaryJanice Davidson
• A Swiftly Tilting Planet (Time Quintet #3) – Madeleine L’Engle
• Jessi’s Horrible Prank (Baby-Sitter’s Club #75) – Ann M.Martin
• Mallory Pike #1 Fan (Baby-Sitter’s Club #80) – Ann M.Martin
• Rivers of London (Rivers of London #1) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Kristy and Mr Mom (Baby-Sitter’s Club #81) – Ann M.Martin
• Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London #2) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Mary Anne and Camp BSC (Baby-Sitter’s Club #86) – Ann M.Martin
• Whispers Underground (Rivers of London #3) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Stacey and the Bad Girls (Baby-Sitter’s Club #87) – Ann M.Martin
• Broken Homes (Rivers of London #4)- Ben Aaronovitch
• Mary Anne and the Zoo Mystery (Baby-Sitter’s Mystery #20) – Ann M.Martin
• Foxglove Summer (Rivers of London #5) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Babysitters’ Fright Night (The Baby-Sitters Club Super Mystery #3) – Ann M. Martin
• The Furthest Station (Rivers of London #5.5) – Ben Aaronovitch

As always I’ve got some on the go that I haven’t finished:

• Gender Rebels:  50 Influential Cross-Dressers, Impersonators, Name-Changers, and Game-Changers – Anneka Harry
• The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London #6) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Bandaging the Blitz – Phyll Macdonald-Ross
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

So that was 19 books, including 6 full length ones for grown ups. As you can tell the Ben Aaronovitch books were my new series (recommended by fans of Jodi Taylor and Jasper Fforde). My rediscovered series was the Baby-Sitters Club, of which I have over a hundred titles in paperback, but I was missing various later ones so I’m now trying to read those on my Kindle hence the jumps between series numbers. I prefer the covers with the roofs on top; those are the British editions published by Scholastic Hippo and what I grew up with, but I couldn’t find many examples online. I discovered also that the text was slightly altered for British readers, the girls pay “dues” every week in America, but “subs” here, for example.

I have been so busy with Peter Grant and the Baby Sitters that I have completely abandoned the Unseen Trilogy I started at the beginning of June and also the Undead series which I’ve been reading for a while.

If anyone fancies picking up the Gender Rebels book I urge you not to bother. I’ve read about half a dozen of the stories and I’ve not picked it back up in ages because it’s awful. The author has thrown in so many bits of slang and so many jokes it entirely detracts from the meagre details given about these women. (Therefore, I won’t mention how DUH NUGGET, POXY ASS, MOUTH BREATHER, STOOPID UPON STOOPID centuries-old sexism is is just one example of the writing style. When Kit became more precarious than a sedated flamingo on a Segway is another gem.)

What I have watched

• Hollyoaks but still only twice a week
• Angel seasons 1-4
• Not so much watched as been aware of some football on in the background as apparently the premier league is back, but sans fans.
• Meet the Fockers (a not very funny at all sequel to Meet the Parents)
• Some of The Blues Brothers as Ewan was watching it (it was not at all what I expected)
• One episode of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces where one build was turning an old bake house into a tiny apartment with a rotating kitchen/bathroom and a fire breathing dragon on the front wall.
• Ralph Breaks the Internet (sequel to Wreck-it-Ralph) which was fairly good.
• Malory Towers on the iPlayer, which I have been reviewing two episodes at a time.

What I have done

• Some more socially distanced garden meetings in various weathers including temperatures that required blankets.
• Been for some walks in woods which fall within the 5 miles we are allowed to travel
• Carried on with my locked down library displays and my cross stitch
• Tried to bring some caterpillars in to grow them into butterflies which was an absolute failure as despite my best efforts they all died
• Continued the 5 weekly workouts I’ve been doing which have included Tabata, Boxfit, HIIT, Body Balance, yoga, aerobics, pilates and functional fit.

That’s his flower-smelling face in the middle, just in case you were wondering. He has to smell just about every flower he passes when we go out.

What has your month looked like?