What This Week #6

The year is definitely starting to gather momentum, the weeks speeding up.

This time last week I felt the daffodils seemed a little ahead of themselves. I wasn’t yet ready to stop being in awe of snowdrops. It was still February, after all. This week it’s undeniably March, and I’ve acclimatised to the vibrant yellow explosions in the garden, on the verge and scattered through the house in vases. This week it’s the blossom high in my neighbours’ trees that seems out of place. Too soon, too soon. Give me chance to catch up, catch my breath, take it all in.

Reading:

Speaking of catching up (seamless segue there), this week I was on a mission to get back on track with the chapter-a-day War & Peace readalong I’m taking part in over on bookstagram. I had lulled a while in the war chapters (my eyes glaze over at the mention of the word ‘flank’ it seems), and where that halted my progress for months when I first read it, this time round with hundreds reading around me, I only paused for days. I’m absolutely loving it (apart from the aforementioned inability to mentally engage with any form of military strategy) and am getting so much more out of it this time—when you already know where you’re going, you can spend more time enjoying the detail on the way there.

I also read the utterly beautiful and brilliant Foster by Claire Keegan this week. Finally. I’ve been looking forward to this early novella from the Small Things Like These author for so long, and it didn’t disappoint. The oldest daughter of a struggling Irish family goes to spend the summer with a couple who’ve lost a child. For the first time in her life the girl is ‘minded’, as it’s so beautifully described, and under this care she thrives. It’s so well-crafted as to take your breath away. Every word counts. I found myself wanting to grab a pencil and underline sentence after sentence—and I never do that (I would like to reassure the East Riding Library Service that I did not succumb to this urge). There will one day be a shelf copy festooned with pencil markings.

Watching:

Fleishman is in Trouble (Disney+)—I haven’t read Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s much-loved novel—actually, I did start it once, but picking up a book that centres itself around the complex and differing perspectives of a divorcing couple a matter of weeks after going through my own separation proved a little too raw. Much water under the bridge later and the TV adaptation hit no such nerve. It’s smart and thought-provoking, I loved so much about it—but I’m left with the sense that I’d enjoy the book more.

The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (Netflix)—I saw this series mentioned in a glowing Guardian article and I’m so grateful I did, it’s an absolute gem. Kiyo and Sumire are teenage best friends who move to Kyoto to become apprentice maiko. Kiyo is the most cheerful human to have ever existed, but possesses none of the quiet elegance required to become a maiko. She is asked to leave, but after demonstrating her exceptional cooking prowess, she is invited to stay on as the makanai, the cook for the maiko house. Pretty much nothing happens across nine episodes. This is slow TV at its slowest—more a vibe than a TV show. A meditation, allowing you to revel in the proliferation of sensory delights on offer. Kiyo’s cooking is mesmerising, we watch her shop for ingredients and create amazing dishes with care and love. Having a window into the lives of the maiko is equally fascinating—the kimonos, the hair, the make-up, the dances and rituals. The gentlest, warmest and most comforting show I’ve seen in a long time.

Sharper (AppleTV+)—Taking advantage of the final week of my AppleTV free trial, I watched this new film starring Julianne Moore (love her) and enjoyed it way more than I expected. A story made up of layer upon layer of confidence trickery told through interconnecting viewpoints. Slick, sharp, set in New York and featuring a gorgeous bookstore—definitely worth a watch.

Honourable mention for The Princess Diaries (Disney+), a successful suggestion to broaden our movie night portfolio with this noughties classic. Proof, if it were needed, that Julie Andrews is always a good idea.

The kettle’s on, tell me how you like your tea and what this week for you.

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