2025 in Review - Apr-Jun

Springtime is my favourite season. It is the stirring from a much needed slumber, greeted with the soft light of slow mornings. Nature begins its dance once more, as the bees return to my garden with the blossoming of the joyful perennials that dance in the breeze.

During this time of the year, I spent a lot of time in the garden. It is the first time in my adult life that I have been able to live with a green space. I was eager to get stuck in, and to start building a paradise for pollinators and a retreat for myself.

Within this retreat, drama was playing out amongst the pages of the books I read.

April 2025

• Finished reading Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin.

• An escape room adventure that still has me chuckling to myself.

In amongst the growth of the season is my boyfriend's birthday, and I do enjoy celebrating him. This year we went into London to entertain ourselves with an Aladdin-themed escape room followed by a delicious meal. We both enjoy a puzzle, and often play along to quiz shows, and so were looking forward to a chance to challenge ourselves whilst having a bit of fun. Escape rooms are so much fun, and I always realise how much of an overthinker I really am! This was the first time I have had to 'sing' in order to activate the next clue. Upon realising we had to sing, we spent moments in denial and just laughed; neither of us are natural performers and so became delirious with stage fright. We would have cleared the room five minutes sooner if we had just sung a song. I still don't know why we decided on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star but I'm sat here smiling at the memory. It is good to make a fool of yourself from time to time.

My book of April echoed this adventure as it was set in the world of the game developers of the nineties. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow filled me with nostalgia, not only as an ex-gamer but also as a 90s kid. Gabrielle Zevin has beautifully crafted a story of sentiment. The characters are intelligent and quirky, but also incredibly ordinary, and the story filled with drama. I have not heard a negative thing about this novel, and I truly have nothing negative to say about it myself. The immersive narrative follows the lives of two friends who face rivalry, tragedy, and legacy. It is a love story, but it is not a romance. Much like us in that escape room, this is a novel that offers a full spectrum of emotion and entertainment that we delight any reader. I will honestly recommend this book to anyone who will listen. You will be captured by the raw humanity of this honest and tragic ode to friendship.

May 2025

• Finished reading In Memoriam by Alice Winn.

• A month in the garden.

My calendar does not give much away for May, and hints at a quiet month, with even my camera roll uncharacteristically lacking. In it I can see the first blooms of the season including alliums speckled with bees.

With thanks to my book of the month, I do recall it to be a month of sitting quietly in the garden with a glass of wine taking in the sun, the sky, and the various creatures I share this space with. Thinking of In Memoriam I recall moments of pause, of closing my eyes and lifting my face to the sun as if to ground me back in this time and place, back into a moment of peace and safety.

In Memoriam is an utterly devastating novel that will seek refuge in your heart for many months after putting it down. It tells the story of a group of privileged boys who lie about their age so that they can join the army during the First World War, and how they fared in the trenches. During this period of history homosexuality is illegal, and Alice Winn uses the trauma and violence of war to explore the pain of forbidden love. Just writing this I can feel my heart grieve for these lads. This is a story that is both horrifying and beautiful; a story that will not let you turn away. Within all the horrors and torment, is the strength of friendship, of comradery, of love, that will carry you through with tears rolling down your face and your hand over your heart.

June 2025

• Finished reading Booth by Karen Joy Fowler.

• The zoo and the blooms.

June continued May's slow living in the garden. Everything came in to bloom and the rhubarb gave me a lot of crumble to make. The air sang with the buzzing of bees, and danced with the colourful wings of butterflies. I did make it out more in June. We celebrated Father's day with a zoo trip and a lovely meal, and I also made it in to London with a friend to wander the rooms of The National Art Gallery. It seems to have been a month of appreciation, and of quietly recognising the beauty around us. I felt a lot of peace in June, and was able to simply enjoy being present.

It is a shame, then, that my book of June did not get the memo. Booth would have been better suited to the cosy seasons as the drama of it unfolds in the bleakness of 19th-century America. Something about the drab backdrop and broody characters did not coordinate with the bright and lively setting I myself was in. Thinking back, Booth could very easily have been a 'did not finish' as I struggled through it. Unfortunately it followed some emotionally intense reads and had to contend with my garden distractions, and so I feel that I did not give it the attention it deserved. Booth is a very interesting book, and explores some important ideas around gender, race, and nationalism, so I am glad I did not give up on it. I think this is not a book that I would recommend to everyone, however, as it is heavy and at times slow in the narrative. Booth will suit readers looking for something slow, but also something that offers intrigue and intellectual challenges.

We are half way through my 2025 recap, and I think we can agree that this second quarter was undoubtedly a quieter time of rest and of growth. I was emotionally charged with soil constantly under my nails, and in amongst it all, I felt good.

Spring will return to us in just a couple of short months, and I honestly cannot wait to see what my garden has in store for me this year ... and what books will sit in it with me.