Some Fantasy, a Rom-com and Swedish Crime
What I've been reading and watching lately.
I’m writing to you from the bowels of winter… again. And, from the way things are looking, I’m afraid not the last time this year either. The snow has piled up outside my window (we got about 50cm in the last week), and with these temperatures, I doubt it’s going anywhere soon. Not practical, but certainly beautiful. Since I last wrote, my wonderful grandmother passed away. She was 94 and 11 months. I have many funny memories with her that include getting stuck on a remote road somewhere in the middle of sisal farm in Kenya and having to walk all the way home through humongous puddles of water with nothing but the moon to light the way. I must have been 11 or 12 years old. I don’t think we’ve ever laughed so much together as on that night. She taught me how to knit and how to play cards, and she was my first, only, and ever-patient ear, as I clanked away on the piano. There was a room in her nursing home with a grand piano in it, and every Sunday I used to visit with her and play her the small repertoire I was learning. Then we’d sit, and if she was in a chatty mood, we’d gossip a little.
In the world of reading, it’s been a good start of the year. I finished reading:
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney
Which, no surprise here, I loved. In the broadest strokes, it’s about two best friends, Alice, a successful novelist, and Eileen, an editor for a literary magazine, both on the cusp of 30, living in different cities as they iron out their friendship and each deal with their respective love interests. But as with any Sally Rooney novel, this one too, is filled with discussions on marxism, class, capitalism, and the idea that the world is at its end. I love Sally Rooney novels for their ability to interweave love stories, a rather vague plot and serious discussions on the state of society today.
I’m saving Intermezzo. Once I read it, I can’t unread it, and I’m assuming it’s going to be another year in the absolute best case scenario until she treats us to next book. Let’s see how long I can hold out. My guess is by mother’s day I will have it in hand.
Both An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against The Night by Sabaa Tahir
I was in the mood for a little fantasy, and this delicious series fell into my lap. The books are loosely inspired by the Roman Empire and follow Laia, a slave girl, and Elias, a soldier of the oppressive Martial Empire. The fact that I picked up the second book right after finishing book one says all you need to know about it. Fantasy isn’t my genre of choice, but every once in a while, I like to indulge. If you like action packed fantasy with excellent world building and a tad of romance, I highly recommend trying this series.
The Rom-Commers by Katherine Center
After over 800 pages of Roman Empire-esque brutality, I needed something a little softer, something where no one gets oppressed and there’s a happily ever after. So I went with this one recommended by
, and didn’t regret it one bit. It delivers all the promises of a good romcom. It has an enemies to lovers trope, about Emma Wheeler, connoisseur extraordinaire of rom-coms, struggling to start her career as screenwriter, and her biggest hero, the famous screenwriter—Charlie Yates. She has to help him with his failing rom-com. The only problem is, he doesn’t believe in love and wants nothing to do with her help.Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
This one was a reread, but felt like a first-time read, because I read it a few years ago and couldn’t remember much anything about it. It’s about two people, Cleo and Frank, who meet on New Year’s Eve at a party and are married six months later. Along the way we meet their friends, and Frank’s sister, and the novel becomes a wonderful lesson in character study, and tribute to New York City. If you’re a plot heavy reader, perhaps this isn’t the book for you, but if you love good prose and unique and well fleshed-out characters, then go ahead and give this one a try.
In the world of film, I randomly got hooked onto a Swedish crime show on Netflix called,
The Ã…re Murders with Carla Sehn
As though I needed a show with more snow in it 😅. The series is based on the books Hidden in Snow and Hidden in the Shadows by the Swedish writer Viveca Stentwo. It’s about the police officer Hanna Ahlander, who, after a suspension and a break-up, moves from Stockholm to Åre, a small snowy town (in the middle of winter) where she’s hoping to find peace. As a crime show would have it, however, a teenage girl goes missing in the snowy town, and Hanna finds herself unable to stay away from the investigation. Apparently I wasn’t the only one who got hooked.
I binged the mini-series,
American Primeval directed by Peter Berg
A western that takes place in 1857 during the Utah war, where a mother and son are fleeing from their past and need to make it to Crooks Springs through untamed land that’s in the middle of a war between the Mormon militia, US army, the Native Americans and the pioneers, all with a bounty on their heads.
And to ease up a little on the violence and murder, I decided to give
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy
a go and didn’t regret it one bit. Bridget Jones seems to have joined the younger man wave that’s taken off in the film world lately, and I kind of like the twist in the end (even though I predicted it would happen). It has a healthy dose of returning characters, so there’s definitely still some Bridget Jones nostalgia there. The film is touching, and I may have shed a tear or two.
A couple of things that caught my attention:
☀︎Who’s watched Babygirl? I haven’t seen it yet, but this Father Figure resurgence made me smile. Even Pedro Pascal is totally into it.
☀︎Oprah’s new bookclub pick looks good. Do you usually watch interviews with the author before or after reading the book?
I’d love to know if there’s anything you’ve consumed lately that you’d like to share. I just finished reading a book this morning that I’ll share with you next time, so I’m always open for book recommendations.
I’ll leave you with a quote from Beautiful World, Where Are You
What if the meaning of life on earth is not eternal progress toward some unspecified goal—the engineering and production of more and more powerful technologies, the development of more and more complex and abstruse cultural forms? What if these things just rise and recede naturally, like tides, while the meaning of life remains the same always—just to live and be with other people?
— Sally Rooney
Until next time,
XO Ingrid
That is such a sweet memory with your grandmother.
I am a fantasy fan, so I'll surely check out your recommendation here! Thanks. :)
I was not expecting The Are Murders to get that much attention but it seems a lot of people loved it like you said. It's made me want to watch it. It sounds like it's a good bingeable crime show.