Quarterly Favourites – July to September 2021

During the last three months, I’ve only finished reading four books. It’s the consequence of having spent an entire month reading Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb and not of having watched many films or TV series. With just a few books read, little fiction watched and almost no new music listened to, it wasn’t difficult to pick up just a couple of favourites.

The best book I read during the last three months was, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell. Set in the 16th century, it’s a poignant, touching and believable fictional story about the death of the son of a famous playwright, William Shakespeare, who is never mentioned by his name. O’Farrell masterfully explores the themes of grief, parenthood, family life and love. The emotions of the characters are palpable and intense, particularly those of Agnes. Despite actions being described in utmost detail, the novel never gets boring, partly because the musicality of the prose is astounding.

Last month, I watched for the first time a TV series (mostly) in Icelandic, and I was pleasantly surprised. Katla, which you can watch on Netflix, is a mystery-drama about the appearance of people covered in ash in the town of Vík a year after the eruption of the subglacial volcano Katla. The inhabitants and visitors of the almost empty town are forced to come to terms with their past.

I didn’t listen to much new music in the trimester that has just ended. I was very much still on a Royal Blood mood. Nevertheless, I also loved listening to one of Miles Kane’s newest songs – Don’t Let It Get You Down.

As always, I also spent a significant amount of time reading the great content that other bloggers create. This time I want to highlight two blog posts. Callum shared some of his recommendations for books by women in translation. Some were totally new to me. And Cathy wrote a great review of The Passion by Jeanette Winterson, a book I’ve had on my wish list for a while, but that I hadn’t read much about.

These are my favourites from the last three months? What are yours? Tell me in the comments!