🙏 Sunday Reflection | 21st August 2022: Books, TV, Films & Holidays ☀

Hello friends and a blessed Sunday to you all! 🙏 I hope this post finds you all well. Today I am going to be sharing with you what I’ve been doing, reading and watching over the last 4 weeks.

If you are wondering why I haven’t done a reflection post for so long, that is because I have been away on a 2½ week adventure. The first week I was staying nestled in the beautiful, rolling countryside of Kent: one of the home counties that lies in the South East of England. This was mostly a time of fellowship and relaxation. Please check out my Kent Holiday Post to find out more. 🏡

Straight from Kent, I set off to catch an overnight ferry from Portsmouth for a week-long, longed-for visit to my mum and stepdad, who live in Normandy, France. This was a wonderful time of spending quality time with my family, after three years of restrictions, and going on fascinating trips to historical places, including: the D-Day Beaches, Bayeux and Mont St Michel. Again please check out my Normandy Holiday Post to find out more. ⛪

After all that, I have spent the last week or so just getting acclimatised to being home again! So I have unpacked, washed clothes, read, done a large food shop, been swimming a couple of times, wrote blog posts, and caught up with friends. Yesterday, was the first time I properly ventured out, which was a lovely day trip to Bolsover Castle, with friends. Look out for a full post of trip coming very soon!

Over those weeks, either by the pool in Kent or tucked up on my mum’s shady patio, these are the books I read:

📗 Future Glory by Ed Hindson (2021) – As soon as I was on my holiday, my main focus switched back to finishing this Christian non-fiction, which was our July read for my church’s book club. It is an exploration of the seven unique promises that outline what’s in store for every Christian, from the prophecies of the book of Revelations. Honestly, though Revelations and this book boggle me! I wasn’t able to finish it in time for our meeting on the 22nd, nor did many others, and it made for a slightly salty discussion! ⭐

📗 Soul Music by Terry Pratchett (1994) – Then for a lighter, quicker, fun read to round out the month, I dove into this fantasy-comedy novel from one of my favourite authors, which is the 16th instalment in Pratchett’s fantastical Discworld series. This adventure revolves around the much-loved character of Death and his grand-daughter, Susan, and a new, addictive craze: Music With Rocks In! While I didn’t quite finish this in July, I did polish it off in the first week of August; and it was the perfect, soothing tonic for my tired brain, as I sunbathed by the pool. ⭐⭐

📗 Katherine Parr, The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir (2021) – Next I booted up my Kindle to read my review copy of this historical-fiction: the final volume, published in 2021, in Weir’ ambitious six-book series, Six Tudor Queens, which chronicles the lives of each of Henry VIII’s wives. This takes us back to 1517 to meet Katherine and sweeps us away on a rollercoaster of a life, through many losses, rebellion, religious reform, 3 marriages, becoming Queen of England, dodging arrest, and finally, a fateful, bittersweet pregnancy. I struggled to put this down!

📗 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (1937) – Last but not least, once I got home, I picked up my beautiful, illustrated hardback copy of this classic children’s fantasy for an easy, comforting re-read. Setting off with Bilbo for an adventure over hill, under hill, by air, through forest, and down river to the ominous Lonely Mountain to reclaim the dwarves’ lost home and treasure. Just the book I needed to reset my mind, body and soul after my own adventures. ⭐⭐⭐

This week I have also got back into regularly, dipping in and out of Celtic Daily Prayer: Book One by the Northumbria Community (2015), as it was far too thick and heavy to take on my travels. Whilst today I am looking forward to starting to read the nostalgic mystery, Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King (2005), the eighth Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes mystery.

With no to little access to a television and so many other wonderful things going on while I was away, it won’t surprise you to hear I watched nothing until my return. So I have only the few things I watched over the last week or so since I arrived home:

📺 Star Trek (Season 1) – My main focus has been on finishing off the final 7 episodes of the first season of this classic, American sci-fi television drama. This is something I have watched in bits and pieces before, but this is the first time I have worked my way through it properly and it has been great! This show really was ahead of its time not just in terms of genre, but in the diversity of characters and stories, without the doom, gore and preaching of modern shows. Favourite episodes included: ‘The Enemy Within’, ‘Balance of Terror’, ‘Court Martial’ and ‘Space Seed’. A fascinating and fun watch! ⭐⭐⭐

📽 Life (2017) – An extra watch was this American science-fiction film, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rebecca Ferguson and Ryan Reynolds, that my dad popped on Friday night. The film follows the crew of the International Space Station that uncovers the first evidence of life on Mars, but with the tagline: ‘We were better off alone’ you can tell it doesn’t go well! This received mixed reviews on release, which is perhaps why it passed me by then, however while the story is perhaps nothing ground-breaking, it does have excellent performances and looks amazing. Good, jumpy watch! ⭐⭐

On top of that I enjoyed comforting re-watches of the three classic Indiana Jones films and catching up with my favourite YouTubers’ videos, which included: Super Enthused, Darling Desi, Cruising Alba and Nerdrotic.

(I have linked this post into the weekly meme, Sunday Post)

For now, that’s all folks! Where ever you are in the world, I wish you and your loved ones well. God bless and see you again soon. 👋

What have you been doing, reading and watching? Please let me know or leave a link to your own Sunday post below in the comments. I love to chat with you all!