Inspired by Artwork by Mona Hatoum, in particular Quarters and Remains (play space)
Digital Photography - Lockdown
I’ve mostly been practicing my portrait photography during lockdown and I’m not overly keen on sharing those publicly so enjoy some scrappy shots of dogs and the back of my girlfriend’s head.
Monthly Book review - The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
I’ve been reading a lot lately. And by a lot i mean almost a book every two days (well there isn’t much else to do at the moment is there?) However nothing has really inspired me to write a review. Not until I read The Silent Patient that is. Suddenly my word rate had doubled and my heart rate with it., I sawed through this book in a matter of hours and finished breathless, exhilarated and strangely empty inside.
Pale Walls pt. 5
The Importance of Leaving
Monthly Book Review - The Beautiful Bureaucrat
Most books you think are good have a good story. A natural and kind progression, something that the reader can be sympathetic, and something they enjoy. Most books that are considered an ‘enjoyable read’ will couple emotive and exciting writing with good story and make the reader happy to be reading that book. This book is a notable exception: it was very good but it absolutely did not make me happy.
Porto
Well how best to round off two weeks of outdoors adventure? Why, with a mini city break of course! The perfect way to ease ourselves back into the hectic London lifestyle after our fresh air overload. Portugal offers several exciting cities, however given that we had already been to Lisbon this year; Porto was clearly the obvious choice.
Madeira
The fantastic thing about a three part trip is that it feels like three separate holidays, after two and a bit weeks away I’ve felt like I’ve managed to squeeze in a whole years worth of travel. Three places, three very different experiences have become stand-alone events in my mind that I remember as distinctly as though they were years apart.
The Azores
Yet again, here I sit, back in London, a nice olive glow warming my skin as I tap away at my work computer and serving as a healthy reminder f the excitement I’ve had over the past few weeks. Strangely it doesn’t feel so bad being back, having experienced what I did during what was one of the better holidays of my life.
Monthly Book Review - The Alchemist
What I thought would be a short and sweet fable here from Paulo Coelho, suggested to me for my monthly Book club, has actually hit rather closer to home than I expected. So much so in fact that after reading it once in less than a day, I read it again the day after, I then purchased the audiobook so that I could have Jeremy Irons growl it to me for another go over on my way into work.
Crossed Keys part 2 - Fresh Bread and Muddy Boots
Monthly Book Review - The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Another month another book. That’s what I though at least when I first picked up ‘The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle’. Little did I know that what I had actually picked up was not another book, no, this was in fact 500 pages of sheer edge of my seat, heart in my mouth, sweat on my brow mindfuckery.
Crossed Keys Part 1 - The Running Man
Cosmology - Why the world needs Brian Cox
Holly the Dog
Monthly Book Review - Mythos/Heroes by Steven Fry
Just take a deep breath, and relax.
Let’s be honest, this review is going to be less of a book review and more of a Steven review. I made the intelligent decision to read this book and then to buy it on audiobook immediately after and I have to say, this is one of the few times in life where the audiobook far outstrips the written word.
Lisbon
Monthly Book Review - What if Cats Disappeared from the World?
This was an… interesting read. I’ve read a few reviews online since finishing this book, all gushingly positive (as I often am) and with rarely a bad word to say about it. Now I’m not saying that I hated the book or even didn’t like it I just felt it was very… middle of the road, not because it was badly written nor because it had any poor topics but in all honesty it felt slightly like it was a victim of itself. I’ll try and explain, if language allows.
Monthly book review - This is Going to Hurt
Comedy writing is extremely difficult to achieve. It is hard to make someone laugh out lout in a public space simply from something they have read. Likewise, emotionally powerful writing is extremely difficult to achieve. It is hard to make someone burst into tears in a public space simply from something they have read. To be able to do both, on the same page, within the space of 30 seconds, whilst delivering an important and powerful message now that is a rare talent.
