Sunday Stories #4

It is just me or has this week felt like the longest in existence? But now it’s Sunday, and not just any Sunday, but Sunday on a Bank Holiday weekend! (How many times can I say Sunday in one sentence?) Even in this strange time I think it’s good to acknowledge these things, even if you aren’t still in work or life isn’t following the normal pattern. We’ve got to celebrate the small things, right!? Let’s get into this week’s Sunday Stories – a small celebration of all the things I’ve loved over the last seven days.

Reading

This week I read Dracula by Bram Stoker which, as I mentioned in my April Wrap Up, is one of my other half’s favourite books. I didn’t get much of a chance to read anything else as it’s a decent length (those Gothic novels can go on…) But, last night I did start Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I’m really excited to get into it as I’ve only heard good things about it.

Watching

Following from my recent read, I watched the film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. I’d never seen it before (I’m generally in the read-before-you-watch camp) and it was a sexed-up, bloody version of the story. Good fun if you’ve read the book!

Please note – I will watch and recommend films from the 1990s etc. as if they are brand new, sorry.

Like many other booklovers, I’ve also been tuning into the Hay Festival Digital 2020 to catch some talks. So far I watched A Night in With the Wordsworths where an incredible group of people performed poetry and journals from the Wordsworth siblings. It was incredibly soothing and almost meditative to listen to. Also, I was just loving peeking at Stephen Fry’s bookcase and pretending that him and Monty Don had come over for dinner. I’ve got a couple of others in my diary for this week coming! There are so many amazing talks planned and it’s all free, so I’d really recommend checking out the full schedule.

Listening

During one of my walks this week, I listened to the Women’s Prize for Fiction Nationhood episode. It was like a mini book club where 3 guests discuss previous prize winning books and I really enjoyed their conversation. I liked that they didn’t all agree all the time and all brought their own experience to the table to discuss a fairly weighty topic in an accessible way.

I also loved the most recent How To Fail episode* with Daisy Edgar-Jones aka Marianne from the Normal People TV adaptation. Basically I’m still not over this series, so I was all over this podcast when I saw it come up on my feed! The premise is that guests talk to host Elizabeth Day about their failures (and overcoming them). Daisy Edgar-Jones comes across as warm, kind and genuine in this interview and basically she can do no wrong.

* Caveat – I haven’t actually listened to the whole podcast but let’s be honest I’m entirely predictable and we all know I will love anything she ever does now, based on this one performance and her hair.

Other

In a completely shameless self-plug, I was really excited to do an interview for Rachel at Created To Read talking about starting up a book blog during lockdown and using her guide for help. I’d love if you took a look and followed Rachel’s blog too!

I hope you enjoyed this week’s Sunday Stories and as ever, let me know how your week has been or what you’ve been enjoying.