Last month I said

This might be my last full month of [lockdown] before getting to go back to work but we will see!

I’m still off work with not even the suggestion of a reopening date, so maybe this month will be my last month of being stuck at home, but I’m not holding my breath.

What I have read

It felt like a not-so-good month numbers wise as I didn’t read much in the last week of July, I couldn’t settle on anything having finished all the Rivers of London books. Saying that I still have 18 titles in my read list! I reached my 100 during this month and have upped my target to 150, though I’m already 74% of the way there.

• The Hanging Tree (Rivers of London #6) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Welcome to the BSC, Abby (The Baby-Sitters Club #90) – Ann M. Martin
• A Rare Book of Cunning Device (Rivers of London #6.5) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Bandaging the Blitz – Phyll Macdonald-Ross
• Lies Sleeping (Rivers of London #7) – Ben Aaronovitch
• The October Man – (Rivers of London #6) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Mallory’s Christmas Wish (The Baby-Sitters Club #92) – Ann M. Martin
• False Value (Rivers of London #8) – Ben Aaronovitch
• Stacey McGill, Super Sitter (The Baby-Sitters Club #94) – Ann M. Martin
• The Adventurers and the Cursed Castle (The Adventurers #1) – Jemma Hatt, reviewed here.
• Dawn and Too Many Sitters (The Baby-Sitters Club #98) – Ann M. Martin
• St Mary’s and the Great Toilet Roll Crisis – Jodi Taylor
• The Muse of History – Jodi Taylor
• The Deeper Meaning of Liff – Douglas Adams
• Undead and Underwater (Undead #11.5) – MaryJanice Davidson
• Claudia Kishi, Middle School Dropout (The Baby-Sitters Club #101) – Ann M. Martin
• The Little Bookshop of Lonely Hearts (Lonely Hearts Bookshop #1) – Annie Darling
• The Picture Post Album – Robert Kee

As always I’ve got some on the go that I haven’t finished (way more than these three but I only list ones I’ve actually picked up in the past month!):

• Dubious Definitions – Brian Allen
• Little Stars (Hetty Feather #5) – Jacqueline Wilson
• Tales From the Folly (Rivers of London short stories) – Ben Aaronovitch

I still haven’t read book three in the Unseen trilogy but that’s mostly because I couldn’t find it! I’ve either taken it out the cupboard as I knew I’d be reading it soon and it’s fallen down the back of something, or it’s still in the cupboard… the cupboard which is a disorganised riot of books after I repeatedly went though all the books there for my displays. I’m sure it’ll turn up eventually.

Once I finish the Rivers of London short stories that’s me done with the series until Ben Aaronovitch writes some more! There are some graphic novels but I find graphic novels really hard to follow. I might try the ones in the library when it reopens though.

I’ve still got plenty of Baby-Sitters books (which seem to get more and more ridiculous as the series progresses) to go, at least!

What I have watched

• Hollyoaks, twice a week until they ran out!
• Angel seasons 4 and 5, now to decide what to watch next.
• Malory Towers on the iPlayer, which I have been reviewing two episodes at a time.
• The Baby-Sitters Club on Netflix, a really really good adaptation of the first eight books, plus two episodes with a new story line. Good acting, good adapting of the source material, generally decent additions/changes where necessary. I hope they make more!
• Tiny House Nation on Netflix – I love watching them build tiny houses with fold out beds and magic storage solutions. I could never “go tiny” as they put it, though, as no magic storage could ever hold all my books!

What I have done

• Been for more local walks but also some further afield ones as we are allowed to travel now.
• Play parks are also open again so we have been going to those a lot.
• Children under 12 no longer have to socially distance so Brodie has been able to play with his cousins and spend proper time with his grandparents, aunties and uncle (and I’ve even had a few hours off when he’s gone to someone else’s house!)
• We’ve had some picnics, including one in the rain, after which we played on the beach in the rain. The weather was great when we couldn’t do anything but sit in the garden, now we can go to the beach it doesn’t seem to want to stop raining!
• Finished my book displays
• Bought some more toy storage for the living room and did some online shopping for Brodie’s birthday – he will be three on Thursday!
• Continued the 5 weekly workouts I’ve been doing which have included Tabata, Boxfit, HIIT, Body Balance, yoga, aerobics and pilates.

What has your month looked like?