Mini-Reviews: Summerland, Ladies in Black, Mary, Queen of Scots

Accidentally, this set of mini-reviews has a period drama theme. What can I say, a girl likes what she likes!

variety.com

Summerland

Words can barely describe how perfect this film is. Honestly, it was just beautiful. I've been a fan of several of Gemma Arterton's works for quite a while now, and so I was excited to see this one even though I didn't know too much about it to start. Actually, I don't even believe I had watched the trailer for it! But after seeing it, I was moved by it in so many ways. It was a lovely story, beautifully filmed and acted, and it has stuck with me for months after. I would absolutely recommend it many times over.

netflix.com

Ladies in Black

This movie was...fine. I really loved Angourie Rice in Every Day, and I can't fault her on her performance here, nor that of Rachael Taylor. Overall though, I just didn't really attach to it much. If it's on, I wouldn't be against watching it again, but I wouldn't actively seek it out to view it.

theguardian.com

Mary, Queen of Scots

You might know that I'm a huge Tudor history lover, so I watched this rather cautiously. A lot of the films and shows that come out regarding this time period I avoid like the plague because I can get very hung-up on the lack of historical accuracy, and I instead prefer documentaries (if you know Lucy Worsley, know that I adore her). You know the saying "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all"? Let's just say that the music is gorgeous, and Saoirse Ronan does a decent job. Does that tell you enough? Shockingly I finished it...I must have been very strong that day.

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Have you seen any of these? What do you think? Are you a stickler for details in historical pieces, or are you fine with some creative license?

TMST: Pandemic-Born Hobbies

Tell Me Something Tuesday is a weekly feature started by the lovely Rainy Day Ramblings, and now hosted by a team of bloggers, Roberta @ Offbeat YA, Karen @ For What It's Worth, Berls @ Because Reading Is Better Than Real Life, Jen @ That's What I'm Talking About, and Linda @ Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell.

Have you kept any hobbies that you started during the pandemic?

Yes and no. The two main hobbies I picked up during the pandemic were gardening and working with polymer clay. Now, prior to this I had done some gardening before, but during the years of the pandemic I really brought this into overdrive. I have to admit that I have not only not calmed down, I have actually sort of gotten worse. My house is being taken over by plants haha.

With polymer clay, I used to use air dry clay, and always loved working with it. I finally decided to try polymer clay (you need to bake it in the oven to cure it, rather than the air dry variety), which I had been interested in for years but had been intimidated by it. I made a sort of palm stone/emblem to help a friend going through a really tough time and learned how the medium worked. Then my clay obsession transferred to this new style, and I haven't looked back. Now I mostly make magnets and figurines for my friends, and have tried a few pairs of earrings.

So although those two hobbies were definitely kicked into hyperdrive during the pandemic, they were activities I enjoyed in some form or another prior to.

What are some hobbies you picked up during the pandemic? Did you continue doing them afterwards?

Mini-Reviews: Daisy Jones and the Six, Bewilderment

Working through my huge backlog of books, movies, and TV shows from the past year or so, so I'm focusing on some mini-reviews. If you've read any of these, I'd love to chat more about them!

goodreads.com

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins-Reid

I listened to this one on audiobook and thought that was the perfect format for it! Switching between multiple characters, the audio version had different actors for each voice. This made it easy to follow and engaging, allowing me to connect with it in a way that I don't think I would have in print. I haven't read any other books by Taylor Jenkins-Reid, or watched the series that was based on this book, but this was an enjoyable introduction to her work. I'd recommend it if you're a fan of the era, but I don't think the interview format this book is written in is going to work for everyone.

goodreads.com

Bewilderment by Richard Powers

This book was a ride. At first I had very little idea of what was going on (and honestly, even after finishing it, I know I didn't get everything), but I was instantly intrigued. The relationship between Theo and his son Robin was both sweet and heartbreaking at different moments, and Robin's experiences with neurofeedback training constantly made me wish I could be inside his head to learn more. That is the brilliance of the book though. Even if you know where it's going, the journey was still such an important one.