Letters to Summer - Jinkx Monsoon's Summer Bucket List 2018

1.

Silent Child, by Sarah A. Penzil. This was a free book I downloaded onto my Kindle via Prime Reading, which I thought would be a simple read to get me back into the spirit of things having not finished a book in a while. And it definitely did as it offered - it was pretty badly written, but it was gripping enough that I read the entire thing in an hour or so. The story follows a mother whose child was abducted a decade ago, only for him to suddenly return to her unable - or unwilling - to talk of what happened to him. It's nonsensical and ridiculous, but I did really enjoy reading it. I give this book a 4/10.

2.

24 Hours in Ancient Rome, by Philip Matyszak. Half fiction, half non-fiction - this is a book that goes into depth of the intricate workings of Ancient Roman society, by fictionalising 24 accounts of various social standings and exploring them for an hour of their lives. I enjoyed reading this a lot - it was continually engaging, and no stone was left unturned in the exploration of these various peoples and classes. I give this book a 7/10.

3.

Edinburgh, by Alexander Chee. I first came across this book when I was researching the 1980s for a story idea I had -- Chee was talking about his novel in one of the articles, and after realising the subject matter and how similar it was to the themes I wanted to explore, I knew I needed to read it immediately. Edinburgh is an exploration of growing up after abuse and an exploration of what it meant to grow up as a queer kid in the 80s, and how to reconcile these two facts together into a self-identity that can outgrow its past. I absolutely loved this book - it was written beautifully, and I found myself craving more, though I wasn't sure I liked how rushed the ending seemed. I give this book an 8/10.

4.

England - Poems from a School, edited/compiled by Kate Clanchy. This is a poetry collection from a deeply diverse Oxford school where many of the children who attend are refugees or immigrants from around the world. I first came across their poetry on Twitter a few months ago, and was so amazed by the content that I immediately preordered the book. The poems are poignant and beautiful -- like Edinburgh, I just wanted more content from the relatively small book. I give this collection an 8/10.

5.

Christianity: A Very Short Introduction, by Linda Woodhead. This was a book I had to read for my Renaissance Literature course - though it's only 150 pages, it's incredibly dense and very specialist, which meant that it took me far too long to get through. As someone with only a layman's knowledge of the history of Christianity, the book was very informative, but I think it could have done with being a little more accessible and readable - though, of course, I know that this book would be consumed by specialists as well as strangers like me. I give this book a 7/10.

1.

A weathered-looking man, about 55-60 at a guess, who sat with his tiny chihuahua on his lap, drinking his tea, and minding his own business with a book (I didn't see what of). Salt-and-pepper hair, warm eyes, a walking stick covered in pictures of dogs. Seemed to be taking life at his own pace, like an elderly songbird. Occasionally strokes his tiny dog behind the ear and compliments her on her very fetching pink and white dotted neckerchief. Her name's Lady, and she seems to be having a wonderful time in Costa. She's quiet as anything.

2.

A power couple, probably in their mid-to-late thirties? A blond guy with killer tattoos and a smaller, more androgynous cutie with dyed-silver hair. They seemed to be on a date, though more of the casual sort -- they both seemed very comfortable with each other. The silver-haired one had a very, very expensive coat on -- clearly money isn't a problem for these two. They were discussing work, mostly, from what I could decipher; the blonde man with the pretty blue eyes had recently come back from a trip with his work, and they were discussing ways to celebrate. I think they were talking in euphemisms.... so he's probably a spy.

3.

An Italian guy in his... mid thirties? I wrote thirties, but I'm not sure. He was wearing the ugliest Hawaiian-print shirt I've ever seen in my life, but he somehow made it work. Slicked back brown-black hair, tan. Tried to balance his sips of coffee with grumpily ranting down the phone to his presumed coworkers, who seemed to be the bane of this guy's existence. Heavy Italian accent. Expensive-looking laptop with a wolf sticker decal on the front. Chewing on a pen and drawing something in a notebook as he was writing -- not notes, just drawing. Furrowed his eyebrows a lot when he talked, and seemed to continue to frustratedly simmer even after the phonecall ended.

4.

Two sisters, both black-haired -- possibly Arabic, though I'm bad at identifying people. The older one was about my age -- tallish, long black hair hanging loose over her shoulders. Tapped the table a lot when thinking. She had a book open -- I think she was revising with her younger sister? Shy, collar-biter. About 13-14 and had plaits -- less confident than her sister. Plaid button-up shirt over a t-shirt. Both enjoying a hot chocolate. It was nice to see (presumed???) siblings getting along for once -- I know my brother and I don't always, and the older sister seemed genuinely very passionate about helping her sister with this.