Komi Can’t Communicate Vol 1 by Tomohito Oda

 

The journey to 100 friends begins with a single conversation.

Socially anxious high school student Shoko Komi's greatest dream is to make some friends, but everyone at school mistakes her crippling social anxiety for cool reserve! With the whole student body keeping their distance and Komi unable to utter a single word, friendship might be forever beyond her reach.

Timid Tadano is a total wallflower, and that's just the way he likes it. But all that changes when he finds himself alone in a classroom on the first day of high school with the legendary Komi. He quickly realizes she isn't aloof-she's just super awkward. Now he's made it his mission to help her on her quest to make 100 friends!

My kids wanted to read this after watching the tv show on Netflix, so I thought why not pick it up myself too. I’ve not read any Manga before , or watched any for that matter, but I actually quite enjoyed this, after I got used to how to read it lol. It is laid out in the original way Manga is, so you read it from the back, top right to left, and down. It gets easy as you read!

I liked this, Komi is obviously a very shy girl, and has trouble speaking to people. But she wants to make friends, 100 to be exact. So after befriending Tadano, and finding a way to let him know what she wants in life, he jumps at the chance of helping her. It’s a lovely start to a friendship, and I think I will read the next one to see how things go. 

Taste by Stanley Tucci

 

From award-winning actor and food obsessive Stanley Tucci comes an intimate and charming memoir of life in and out of the kitchen.

Before Stanley Tucci became a household name with The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games, and the perfect Negroni, he grew up in an Italian American family that spent every night around the table. He shared the magic of those meals with us in The Tucci Cookbook and The Tucci Table, and now he takes us beyond the recipes and into the stories behind them.

Taste is a reflection on the intersection of food and life, filled with anecdotes about growing up in Westchester, New York, preparing for and filming the foodie films Big Night and Julie & Julia, falling in love over dinner, and teaming up with his wife to create conversation-starting meals for their children. Each morsel of this gastronomic journey through good times and bad, five-star meals and burnt dishes, is as heartfelt and delicious as the last.

Written with Stanley's signature wry humor and nostalgia, Taste is a heartwarming read that will be irresistible for anyone who knows the power of a home-cooked meal.

First off, a warning… don’t listen to this, or read it, if you aren’t prepared to be ravenous throughout! I listened to it on audiobook and wow, it made me so hungry.

So I love Stanley Tucci, always have, which made me quite interested in his memoir about his life through food. What a good read it is.

Stanley starts off with his childhood, his mother making huge and hearty meals every day, feeding friends of Stanley’s, and giving him the leftovers for his school packed lunch the next day. Extremely jealous, we got sandwiches, he gets full on pasta dishes, and meatloaf. He talks about his first marriage, the death of his lovely wife, and moving on after and meeting his second wife. The love he has for his family, his children, his parents, is so obvious, the way he talks about them makes you know he would do anything for them. He loves to feed them, he loves to make them happy.

I loved the way he talks about food, so passionate, you can tell he loves it. I felt really bad for him when he talked about his cancer, and the fact he couldn’t eat for so long. I was so happy when he could start to make his own stuff to go through his feeding tube. But I thought it was just beautiful that he said even though he couldn’t taste it (therefore could put anything in really),, he wanted to make sure it would taste good to someone who could taste, if they tried it. He cares about it alot.

One of the most fabulous things in this book is the recipes. I may have to purchase a physical copy just so I have the recipes, there were so many i wanted to try. I got so hungry listening to this, I’ve had pasta twice in the days since finishing it!

If you like food, it’s a must read. But also, just to listen to Mr Tucci talk for 7 hours is bliss.

Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

 

Everybody knows Daisy Jones and the Six.

From the moment Daisy walked barefoot on to the stage at the Whisky, she and the band were a sensation.

Their sound defined an era. Their albums were on every turntable. They played sold-out arenas from coast to coast.

Then, on 12 July 1979, it all came crashing down.

They were lovers, friends, brothers. But they were also rivals.

This is the story of their legendary rise and irrevocable fall. A story of ambition, desire, heartbreak and music.

Everyone was there. Everyone remembers it differently. Nobody knew why they split. Until now…

I’ve had Daisy on my radar for ages, but with the TV show coming up, our book group decided we should get it read before watching. So this was Tsundoku Squads March read.

I loved it, I loved the way it’s written, I loved Daisy, and I loved Billy. Oh, and I loved Camilla, her relationship with Billy was beautiful. Their love was so strong, throughout everything Camilla was there for him, she was his rock. 

But on another front I loved the relationship with Daisy and Billy, a different kind of relationship, but one just as beautiful as any other. 

I love Rock music, even more since meeting my husband, so I knew I’d love this story. A huge rock band who flew to fame pretty much overnight, just for it all to fall apart. The songs were brilliant, the atmosphere I could imagine, I felt like I was there with them sometimes, in the audience watching and singing along. 

This was my first Taylor Jenkins Reid book, and I’m sure it won’t be my last. Thanks to my Squad for the readalong!!

Beyond The Wand by Tom Felton

They called for a break, and Gambon magicked up a cigarette from out of his beard. He and I were often to be found outside the stage door, having 'a breath of fresh air', as we referred to it. There would be painters and plasterers and chippies and sparks, and among them all would be me and Dumbledore having a crafty cigarette.

From Borrower to wizard, Tom Felton's adolescence was anything but ordinary. His early rise to fame saw him catapulted into the limelight aged just twelve when he landed the iconic role of Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films.

Speaking with candour and his own trademark humour, Tom shares his experience of growing up on screen and as part of the wizarding world for the very first time. He tells all about his big break, what filming was really like and the lasting friendships he made during ten years as part of the franchise, as well as the highs and lows of fame and the reality of navigating adult life after filming finished.

Prepare to meet a real-life wizard.

I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, so when I found out Tom had a book coming out, I was dying to get my hands on it. Luckily, Sky were giving away audiobook copies to VIP members, and my good pal Kath had a spare hardback she sent me! I flittered between listening and reading, but I prefered the audiobook this time. 

I loved learning more about Tom. There were so many things I didn’t know. The tales from the Harry Potter sets were my favourite parts, I love hearing how much he admired the other actors on set, and in return how much they admired him too. Alan Rickman making the producers get Tom an adult seat so he was the same as the adults on set, he and Michael Gambon sneaking cigarette breaks, Robbie Coltrane playing pranks on Toms mum with the freaky rubber Tom. It all made me smile so much.

But one part that really got me was him talking about Emma. They have a beautiful friendship, and the whole Duck metaphor was just lovely. I’m so glad they're as good friends as they are. 

I didn’t know a lot of the things that Tom went through after the Potter movies, and my heart went out to him listening to it. I’m glad he's doing better now. I really enjoyed this one, and I think any Potter fan would love it too.

What Writers Read by Pandora Sykes

 

In this love letter to reading, curated by Pandora Sykes in aid of the National Literacy Trust, bestselling and beloved writers share their favourite books: the ones they hold most dearly, that they return to time and again and that helped make them the writers they are.

With contributions from: Nick Hornby, Ruth Ozeki, Ann Patchett, Benjamin Zephaniah, Marian Keyes, Elizabeth Strout, Deborah Levy, Tessa Hadley, Elif Shafak, George the Poet, Leila Slimani, Ali Smith, Derek Owusu, Dolly Alderton, Paris Lees, Jojo Moyes, Paul Mendez, Sebastian Faulks, Diana Evans, Meena Kandasamy, Lisa Taddeo, Nikesh Shukla, Taiye Selasi, Monica Ali, Nina Stibbe, Caleb Azumah Nelson, Elizabeth Day, Sara Collins, Damon Galgut, Naoise Dolan, William Boyd, Emma Dabiri, Fatima Bhutto, Kit de Waal.

I loved reading this. I took my time over it and read a few sections at a time, which is what Pandora Sykes says in the introduction. I preferred reading it this way, if I’d read it in one sitting, I may not have taken in as much as I did.

I love hearing what people’s favourite stories and books are, so this book was perfect. 35 different writers talking about their favourite books, and why. It has given me a list of books I feel like I need to read. 

If you enjoy reading things like this, I would definitely recommend this one.