November feels like it flew by (as do the 14 days since I was supposed to finish and post this round-up, oops). I honestly can’t say where it went or what I did but after only finishing two books in October, I got gently back into the reading flow with four books.

Books

Magpie Lane by Lucy Atkins ★★★★☆

Eight-year old selectively mute Felicity, the daughter of an Oxford College Master, has gone missing and her nanny, Dee, denies any involvement in her disappearance. Told mostly through flashbacks as Dee is being interviewed by the police, Atkins weaves an original, brooding story that incorporates suggestions of ghost stories and dark academia into its close domestic setting.

In Your Defence: Stories of Life and Law by Sarah Langford ★★★☆☆

This is what I wanted and expected The Secret Barrister to be: an engaging true account of a barrister and the people she has represented in both family and criminal courts. This is accessible and honest, but missed the author’s own commentary and analysis of the law. I’m glad I squeezed this in as my single Non-Fiction November read though, as I have been meaning to pick it up since last year.

University Reads

Oroonoko, or the Royal Slave by Aphra Behn ★★★☆☆

Often referred to as one of the first English novels, Behn’s work tells the tale of a South American prince who is tricked and sold into slavery. Oroonoko discusses slavery and its horrors in surprising detail, but Behn’s opposition to Oroonoko’s plight unfortunately seems more to do with him being treated so abhorrently as a royal, rather than the inhumanity and cruelty and slavery as a whole.

Candide, or Optimism by Voltaire ★★☆☆☆

In this satire written in 1759, Voltaire makes fun his characters who suggest that all the evil in the world is “for the best” as they endure relentless horrors. It’s only a short read, under 100 pages, and it was funny in places and I didn’t really disagree with Voltaire at any point, but I just got bored. Satire as a genre (when reading it, anyway) is a bit exhausting for me and not what I would usually pick up.

Film

Little Women (2019) ★★★☆☆

I’ve never quite fully boarded the Little Women train and couldn’t finish the book (or get very far in at all) when I tried reading it a fair few years ago. I did enjoy the film and lots of the performances, but I’m just gonna say it, I hate the Jo bias and I actually like Amy.

Parasite (2019, Prime Video) ★★★★★

You know when you know something is going to be good, and then it blows all of your expectations out of the window and is even better than you imagined? That’s Parasite and its damning dissection of class. I could immediately have watched this all over again as soon as I finished it.

Dog Day Afternoon (Amazon Video, 1975) ★★★★☆

I didn’t expect to enjoy this film as much as I did (bank robberies are just not that interesting?) and didn’t realise until after I’d watched it that I’d actually heard of the real-life events that this is based on. I’d never seen Al Pacino in anything before, and it was great, and has set the bar high for any more of his films I might see in the future.

TV

Happy Valley (Britbox, 2014-present) ★★★★☆

I loved police procedurals as a teen so I kind of exhausted my interest in them by the time I became an adult. However, I needed something distracting and with plenty of episodes to watch, and this is really popular so I gave it a shot. I really enjoyed it!

The End of the Fucking World (Netflix, 2017-2019) ★★★★☆

All I knew about this when I watched it at the start of the month was: it’s based on a graphic novel, and it’s about a guy and a girl and the guy wants to kill the girl. It’s so much more than that, exploring friendship, love, finding your voice, Complete in its sixteen short episodes, this series knows exactly what it wants to do and achieves it seamlessly.

The Crown Season 4 (Netflix, 2020) ★★★★☆

I don’t understand how anyone can watch this and not hate the Royal Family and I LOVE IT.

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Thanks for reading! My December reading is well underway now, and I always love this time of year for the days I usually get to spend absorbed in a book. How’s December going for you so far?