If I don’t forget… (and I sure hope I don’t…) I will post a monthly wrap-up from now on! I will post about a few categories: books, comics, movies and tv-shows (the ones I finished during the past month). Let’s begin:

1. Books

February was a month of ups and downs, concerning the books I read… I had two DNF’s (and I don’t like that!) – the reviews can be found on my blog

I started with Lor Gislason’s Inside Out, a little indiehorror novella about some kind of blob that devours people.

Then I read the second novel in Korneel De Rynck’s nonfiction series of how life was in the golden sixties (called De Golden Sixties)

Then came Booth by Karen Joy Fowler, which I had been reading for weeks and I ultimately decided not to finish, it just wasn’t for me unfortunately.

Maaike Neuville, a Belgian actress, wrote a book as well and the publisher sent me a copy which I started and finished the day I received it… my favourite book of 2023 so far.

I also read some true crime. Both women (Laura Scheerlinck and Silke Vandenbroeck) have a podcast called ‘De Volksjury’ and now they published two books with murder cases and the methods to investigate these cases.

I was invited to go to an event, organised by Standaard Uitgeverij at Luddites Books and Wine in Antwerp, to listen to writer Ish Ait Hamou, so I read his latest novel ‘Het moois dat we delen’ beforehand. Another favourite of 2023! (It was published four years ago)

For that same event I also read Tracey Lien’s ‘waar we niet over praten’ (all that’s left unsaid) and we talked about that novel as well (the Dutch translation will release on 7th March)

I finally managed to finish the second book in the Martin Junckersen series by Kim Faber and Janni Pedersen: Hoogzomer. I plan on reading the third book in March!

Then two books about rock legends: Vive ma Liberté about Arno Hintjens, who died in april 2022. It was a collection of interviews Bart Steenhaut had with the man.

And then cale my second DNF, the book by Paul Sexton called ‘Charlie’s good tonight’ about Charlie Watts’ career and life. It wasn’t a bad novel but I think one dead rock legend was all I needed at the time. Sometimes you have to be able to kill your darlings…

And finally I read Paolo Giordano’s latest book ‘Tasmanië’ (Tasmania). I expected a little more of it.

Oh I managed to read one more book in February, on the last day: Uit de Kast, in de Kast by Belgian journalist Riadh Bahri, about his struggle with coming out as gay to his family! A very emotional story!

So all in all not a bad reading month with a few favourites but also a few no-no’s! I also have to mention I started two big books: Nachten van de Pest (Nights of Plague) by Orhan Pamuk en In Opstand! By Pieter Serrien, but I didn’t finish them yet, so that’ll be for March’s wrap-up post!

2. Comics / Graphic Novels

Recently I started blogging about comics and graphic novels as well… just for the fun of it but also to bring comics a little more into the light as well… they deserve the attention!

• Jommeke 313. Monster in Zonnedorp
• De Rode Ridder 277. Tuan de Barbaar
• Galaxa 1. Spiegelblind
• Galaxa 2. Scherven in het donker
• Het Verhaal van Vlaanderen boek 1 & 2
• De Geuzen 1. De Zeven Jagers
• De Geuzen 2. De Elster op de Galg
• De Geuzen 3. Flodderbes, de Heks
• De Geuzen 4. De Rattenvanger
• De Geuzen 5. Soetkin, de Waanzinnige
• De Geuzen 6. Onheil boven Damme
• De Geuzen 7. Strijd om Slot Loevestein
• De Geuzen 8. Verraad in Duindijke

3. Tv-Shows

I only finished some seasons of two tv-shows in February: the first season of Daredevil (a rewatch for me)

And a few seasons of the British serie Inspector George Gently.

And of course ‘Onze Natuur’, a documentary about nature in our little country 🇧🇪 (there was a theatrical release of this as well but this was a seven episode series expanding on the movie)

4. Movies

Apart from books my love goes out to movies and I have watched a fair amount in February… and this will continue the rest of the year, I’m sure 😜

• Im Westen nichts Neues (All Quiet on the Western Front)
• Thir13en Ghosts
• Wishmaster
• Wishmaster 2: Evil never dies
• Gone in Sixty Seconds
• The Blob
• The Return of the Living Dead
• Return of the Living Dead, Part II
• Firestarter 2022
• Bushwick
• Nope
• Arachnophobia
• Eight Legged Freaks (Arac Attack)
• I know what you did last Summer
• I still know what you did last Summer
• In from the Side (cinema)
• Peter Rabbit 2: The Journey

Well, that wasn’t a bad month even though it was the shortest of the year… spring is on the horizon, the first flowers started blooming and the birds are twittering and wooing each other…