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Remember to stay up to date with the world, listen to those facing atrocities and help spread awareness/donate where you’re able to.

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Every year Kayla from BooksandLala creates the Buzzword ReadAThon, which is a year long reading challenge with a prompt for each month.

For 2024 I created a list of books I wanted to read for each prompt, as well as a list of films as I thought it would be a fun way to also incorporate my own goal of watching more films – Reading and Watching Plans || 2024. Something I discovered throughout the year is that I don’t do well if I make a set list for a year challenge. And for the film side, I struggled to find some of the films I wanted to watch on the streaming services that I have.

My way of doing this challenge is also very out of order. I don’t think I completed a single prompt in it’s designated month.

Anyway, with all that being said, I completed both challenges! 🥳🥳🥳

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READING

ROW ONE

In row one we start with a classic in And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (⭐⭐⭐⭐). I really enjoyed the characters and setting for this one. The only problem was that the ending was underwhelming and I’m not too fond of when the mystery is just explained to us at the end.

The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) is the second book in the Bridgerton series and, objectively, they’re not great books but I had so much fun with most of them! Anthony is my second favourite Bridgerton man and Kate is my favourite spouse ♥

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Fairies by Heather Fawcett (⭐⭐⭐⭐) is one that had a lot of buzz behind it and while it was a little hard to get into it at first, I ended up really enjoying the story as a whole. Emily grew on me and her character development is done well and naturally.

In this row, the only disappointment I had was The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (⭐⭐.5). This year I loved The Red Palace by this author and was excited to read another book by her. Unfortunately, the main character – Hwani – was frustrating. She was supposedly very smart and great at detecting, but we never actually see that in practise. The history was super interesting, but it was overshadowed by the underdeveloped characters.

ROW TWO

Row two is the best row of the challenge!

To start I read Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire (⭐⭐⭐⭐). This is a great introduction to the series and the concept of these children having been to different worlds and trying to adjust back to Earth. The characters were interesting and for a short novella they were well developed. It was darker than I expected, but that element definitely gripped me as the mystery unfolded and was solved.

I have very much enjoyed the Regency Vows series by Martha Waters and the third book To Marry and to Meddle (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐) is my favourite so far! I love a regency marriage of convenience, especially when the woman has a terrible family and is somewhat reserved but then through her relationship with this rake she stands up for herself more. And obviously the rake becomes reformed and obsessed with her ♥ These books are also so fun!

Another regency romance on this list is Half a Soul by Olivia Atwater (⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐), but this has fantasy elements in that half of our main character’s soul was taken by a Fae when she was a child. The majority of the plot is a mystery, which was interesting and gave us a lot of insight into the world. I also loved Dora and despite not having half her soul, she has so much heart. I also loved Elias and the way their relationship grows.

The only non-fiction read for this challenge is Trans Like Me: Conversations for All of Us by C.N. Lester (⭐⭐⭐⭐). I listened to the audiobook for this one and it was a good listening experience. C.N. Lester is a trans academic and activist and their insights were really insightful and valuable.

ROW THREE

This row included a disappointment and then an outright hate read.

I was excited for The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (⭐⭐⭐.5) and while I did enjoy it, there was a lot that I was not a fan of. I spent a large portion of the book just not liking our main character Bel. I understand that she has trauma and there is manipulation at play, but she knew she was being mean, but didn’t change that behaviour. The mystery was interesting, but it took a while to get into and then the last 100 or so pages was just all in!

For ‘relationships’ I went for the first volume of Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo (⭐⭐⭐⭐) and I don’t know if that counts, but I’m saying it does… Anyway, I enjoyed this so much and Anya was adorable as she started to idolise both Loid and Yor due to their cool secret jobs. I’m looking forward to continuing this series next year.

I was nervous for The Only One Left by Riley Sager (⭐⭐⭐⭐) as I know that he is a very polarising author. I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one! I enjoyed the characters and the mystery. I loved the flashback chapters and that narrative coming to fruition with the knowledge we learn in the “present” timeline.

Lastly is The Christmas Guest by Peter Swanson (⭐) and I hated this. Some men should be banned from writing women characters and Swanson is one of them. It’s such a short novella – only 124 pages – and it felt so long… but because it was so short I felt compelled to complete it. The characters are insufferable and just caricatures of young women. The twists were obvious and then the ending decided to add a supernatural element that felt forced.

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WATCHING

ROW ONE

Originally, I had only put in traditional films, but I decided to include tv programmes and this also includes a stand-up special from Phil Wang: Wang in There, Baby! (2024). I found him hilarious on Taskmaster, but I’d never seen his stand-up before and while the venue (The Globe) was stunning, most of the jokes fell flat and the set wasn’t cohesive.

Next is Wes Anderson’s Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), which was wonderfully made and I enjoyed the dialogue and creative cursing for what is essentially a child’s film. However, I felt that the small plot it had dragged out too long. I think this could have been a really great short film instead.

Enola Holmes (2020) and Palm Springs (2020) were both on my original watchlist for this challenge and I enjoyed both of them! Enola Holmes was super fun. I enjoyed the mystery and the breaking of the fourth wall within the narrative. It made Enola more relatable and engaged my attention. With Palm Springs, I just think that Andy Samberg should be in more rom-coms! The film was super charming and funny.

ROW TWO

Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022) was another from my original list and I was so happy when it was on Channel 4 so I could finally watch it this month. Unfortunately, I did not have a great time. The acting in this is phenomena; those awards were truly well-deserved. However, the film itself contained the sort of sci-fi that just didn’t appeal to me and didn’t make sense despite us being told how it works… and the humour was not good. I felt that despite the central plot being about a mother-daughter relationship, this film was made for men by men.

I then threw in a documentary with The Footballer, His Wife and the Crash (2022) and the premise is so interesting, but this film was so boring. They basically tell you everything in the first few minutes and then we just sit through boring interviews with insufferable people. No-one was actually likeable and it felt that we didn’t even really learn much about the shady stuff that Jlloyd Samuel was doing which sounded the most interesting.

With Woman of the Hour (2023), Anna Kendrick is wonderful as a director, but the actual plot of the film is minimal and told in a way that’s not interesting. The flashback scenes and those involving the victims and crimes were done really well, but also gave the film a disjointed feeling that lessened any emotional impact. There were elements that were so much more interesting than the main focus of the film, which was Sheryl going on a dating show and having like one conversation with a serial killer.

‘Like’ was so hard for me as I did want to watch Some Like it Hot, but I couldn’t find it on any of the streaming services I have… so I went with watching the first series of a British comedy instead – Man Like Mobeen (2016) – which follows a former drug dealer Mobeen who is now raising his 15yr old sister in his Brummie Muslim community. I had a fun time, and despite being a comedy, the conversations it has – especially the racism and islamophobia within England and the institutions – were really well done.

ROW THREE

I saw Look Back (2024) being praised when it came onto Prime, so I went into it not knowing a lot. It’s a Japanese short film about two schoolchildren who become friends through their shared love of creating manga. The art style was really cool and it adapted beautifully for the emotions. However, this needed to be longer. A hugely upsetting event happens in the last part and the emotional connection just didn’t feel fully formed enough for me.

My only re-watch for this challenge occurred for October in that I really wanted to watch The Mummy (1999) and realised that it fit into the prompt ‘relationships’. I know that this film is flawed and somewhat problematic, but it’s so fun! I am never bored and I love Evie and I love O’ Connell and I definitely love the idiot that is Jonathan!

The ‘Only’ prompt is another one where I did want to watch my original choice – Only Lovers Left Alive – but I couldn’t find anywhere to watch it. So, instead I watched the first series of Only Murders in the Building (2021). This was fun and I especially loved Martin Short as Oliver, a struggling Broadway show director who has some wild ideas! The episodes are all fun, but I do think it dragged out a bit and I didn’t realise that each series only focuses on one overarching crime, so it was kind of my own fault for having different expectations.

Lastly, and finishing out the Buzzword Watching Challenge is The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (2018). This was visually so fun! The colours were often really vibrant and interesting. The plot itself, was fine. I thought Mackenzie Foy was great as our main protagonist out to save this magical kingdom while also trying to repair her relationship with her father after the death of her mother. This is also a packed cast of well known actors and while they were underused for the most part, I enjoyed the very different side of Keira Knightly in this as a horny sugar plum fairy. I would highly recommend watching the credits as well as it’s wonderful to watch Misty Copeland dance ♥

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Thanks for reading! I hope your reading was fantastic in 2024 and that you have completed or are on track to fulfil your goals.

I hope you’re having a lovely day and staying safe ♥