Instead of scrolling away the day, read the The Bijoux List. It's Natasha Lester's monthly collection of muse-worthy moments: things to inspire, things to do, things to love and things to ponder.
I haven’t seen The English but will definitely go watch it. I been getting hooked on all the westerns series out lately. Yellowstone and the prequels have been incredible. My fav is 1883 on Prime (I think) with the amazing Isabel May - her voice overs and the way she describes the land, its perils and harshness, but so much beauty is mesmorising.
Love re-reading the classics mainly. Can’t go a year without Jane Austen or JD Salinger. I have Didion’s book you recommended on order from my local bookshop. Looking forward to reading it. Had no idea she had so many titles! The bookshop owner had to scroll through 8 pages to find the right one!
Natasha, I am so glad you "stuck to your guns." Your work is inspiring and carefully researched. I am encouraging my three (adult) daughters to follow your work
Wow! So much food for thought in this newsletter. It seems the more things change the more they stay the same with the atrocities of the past repeating. Well done, Natasha, for refusing to be silenced on what really happens to women in wartime.
I’m a little over the fiesty heroine trope myself and love to see characters who struggle to find their voice. Also, I’m partial to female characters on a spectacular downward spiral, like Miss Haversham, Emma Bovary or Fontaine from Les Mis.Sometimes, it’s as much as we can do to hang on by our fingernails and I like to see this reflected in the stories I read.
Yes, reading has become a blood sport in certain circles. Lately, I have enjoyed reading some books in private without reporting my findings to the world. It does a disservice to the writer if we do a rush job of reading their work, so this year, I will slow down and find the joy of reading again.
I have to say I enjoyed your first ever ‘List’ Natasha! Thank you for sharing on such wide and varied topics.
* Emily Blunt and The English - let me state right from the start - LOVED it! Much like you it would seem, I would not necessarily consider myself interested in Westerns per se. Yet, much like 1883 (don’t get me started on the impact that had on me!) both were presented in such a way that truly spoke to their audience. To quote you Natasha, ‘fascinating and real, inspiring and relatable, spirited and vulnerable’ (the latter most definitely). I would also love peoples thoughts on your comment regarding the lens we look back on history with - history was cruel and very violent, mistakes were undoubtedly made - yet … many parts of today’s society seeks to pass comment through the wrong lens I cannot help but feel. I highly recommend this and 1883 which had me scurrying to read the now-iconic monologues by Elsa Dutton that I would truly pay to have written and bound for me to read again and again.
Which leads me nicely onto the topic of re-reads.
* Being a book reviewer, your words Natasha touched a definite growing nerve of reading being competitive. I cannot even begin to imagine what is often at stake in the publishing business. As a reviewer I often feel equal pleasure and pain. As the saying goes, ‘life is too short to read bad books’. There are the ones that touch your soul so deeply you wish you had the time to read the words once more. Reading is deeply sacred and must, most definitely, be savoured. To see the similarities with listening to music or viewing a painting made the perfect comparison. If I made one resolution at the beginning of this year, it was to ensure that my reading included books that I truly wish to read, or in some circumstance, re-read!
* I watched Lady Chatterley’s Lover this weekend and loved it. Part of the problem why I don’t get enough book reading done is that I go off on research tangents and found it so interesting to see slight changes made or commentaries from both past and present. Still, it was really well done. I also saw a pre-screening of Emily - another fabulous interpretation by our very own Frances O’Connell.
* As to quiet quitting, I self consciously raise my hand. I don’t even like the word ‘quitting’ (as I still take on some hours to my chosen profession each week) rather its readjustment, reprioritising and making decisions about how I wish to live the second half of my life (the choice to do so I am very much aware is a privilege and I don’t take it for granted). Yet, the time has come to do what works for me and lifestyle changes will be required but my change in values and priorities are now the driving force.
Thank you for both the podcast and NGV links - I checked them both out. Your experiences with the Russian publisher was a definite eye opener and more of us must learn to not just ‘talk the talk’ but ‘walk the walk’. Well done you!
Once again, thank you for such a though provoking ‘list’ and encouraging me to sit, reflect and put pen to paper on things inside of me that I wished to say
Hi Natasha - thanks for a wonderful list and lots of thoughtful content. I really appreciate it :-)
On re-reading, I re-read The Alice Network and The Nightingale recently and loved them both just as much - if not more - than the first time. Just, wow! An on notebooks, Kate Forsyth put me on to Paperblanks notebooks which are just as fab as BESPOKE Letterpress and Moleskin. I actually bought myself the monkey print BESPOKE Letterpress 2023 diary for Christmas, small world! Currently reading GREAT CIRCLE but it doesn't have me hooked just yet ... and picked up Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar at my local library, so that's exciting! Thanks for continuing to be so gracious and wonderful, you're a legend! And last but not least, I refuse to buy or read Spare. Mostly because it has too much attention online at the price of better writing, and also because something feels wrong about hanging all your dirty laundry out in public. Hope you have a great month, Ike xx
I haven’t seen The English but will definitely go watch it. I been getting hooked on all the westerns series out lately. Yellowstone and the prequels have been incredible. My fav is 1883 on Prime (I think) with the amazing Isabel May - her voice overs and the way she describes the land, its perils and harshness, but so much beauty is mesmorising.
Love re-reading the classics mainly. Can’t go a year without Jane Austen or JD Salinger. I have Didion’s book you recommended on order from my local bookshop. Looking forward to reading it. Had no idea she had so many titles! The bookshop owner had to scroll through 8 pages to find the right one!
Natasha, I am so glad you "stuck to your guns." Your work is inspiring and carefully researched. I am encouraging my three (adult) daughters to follow your work
Wow! So much food for thought in this newsletter. It seems the more things change the more they stay the same with the atrocities of the past repeating. Well done, Natasha, for refusing to be silenced on what really happens to women in wartime.
I’m a little over the fiesty heroine trope myself and love to see characters who struggle to find their voice. Also, I’m partial to female characters on a spectacular downward spiral, like Miss Haversham, Emma Bovary or Fontaine from Les Mis.Sometimes, it’s as much as we can do to hang on by our fingernails and I like to see this reflected in the stories I read.
Yes, reading has become a blood sport in certain circles. Lately, I have enjoyed reading some books in private without reporting my findings to the world. It does a disservice to the writer if we do a rush job of reading their work, so this year, I will slow down and find the joy of reading again.
Here’s to a better year in 2023!
Hello!
I have to say I enjoyed your first ever ‘List’ Natasha! Thank you for sharing on such wide and varied topics.
* Emily Blunt and The English - let me state right from the start - LOVED it! Much like you it would seem, I would not necessarily consider myself interested in Westerns per se. Yet, much like 1883 (don’t get me started on the impact that had on me!) both were presented in such a way that truly spoke to their audience. To quote you Natasha, ‘fascinating and real, inspiring and relatable, spirited and vulnerable’ (the latter most definitely). I would also love peoples thoughts on your comment regarding the lens we look back on history with - history was cruel and very violent, mistakes were undoubtedly made - yet … many parts of today’s society seeks to pass comment through the wrong lens I cannot help but feel. I highly recommend this and 1883 which had me scurrying to read the now-iconic monologues by Elsa Dutton that I would truly pay to have written and bound for me to read again and again.
Which leads me nicely onto the topic of re-reads.
* Being a book reviewer, your words Natasha touched a definite growing nerve of reading being competitive. I cannot even begin to imagine what is often at stake in the publishing business. As a reviewer I often feel equal pleasure and pain. As the saying goes, ‘life is too short to read bad books’. There are the ones that touch your soul so deeply you wish you had the time to read the words once more. Reading is deeply sacred and must, most definitely, be savoured. To see the similarities with listening to music or viewing a painting made the perfect comparison. If I made one resolution at the beginning of this year, it was to ensure that my reading included books that I truly wish to read, or in some circumstance, re-read!
* I watched Lady Chatterley’s Lover this weekend and loved it. Part of the problem why I don’t get enough book reading done is that I go off on research tangents and found it so interesting to see slight changes made or commentaries from both past and present. Still, it was really well done. I also saw a pre-screening of Emily - another fabulous interpretation by our very own Frances O’Connell.
* As to quiet quitting, I self consciously raise my hand. I don’t even like the word ‘quitting’ (as I still take on some hours to my chosen profession each week) rather its readjustment, reprioritising and making decisions about how I wish to live the second half of my life (the choice to do so I am very much aware is a privilege and I don’t take it for granted). Yet, the time has come to do what works for me and lifestyle changes will be required but my change in values and priorities are now the driving force.
Thank you for both the podcast and NGV links - I checked them both out. Your experiences with the Russian publisher was a definite eye opener and more of us must learn to not just ‘talk the talk’ but ‘walk the walk’. Well done you!
Once again, thank you for such a though provoking ‘list’ and encouraging me to sit, reflect and put pen to paper on things inside of me that I wished to say
Hi Natasha - thanks for a wonderful list and lots of thoughtful content. I really appreciate it :-)
On re-reading, I re-read The Alice Network and The Nightingale recently and loved them both just as much - if not more - than the first time. Just, wow! An on notebooks, Kate Forsyth put me on to Paperblanks notebooks which are just as fab as BESPOKE Letterpress and Moleskin. I actually bought myself the monkey print BESPOKE Letterpress 2023 diary for Christmas, small world! Currently reading GREAT CIRCLE but it doesn't have me hooked just yet ... and picked up Angels of the Resistance by Noelle Salazar at my local library, so that's exciting! Thanks for continuing to be so gracious and wonderful, you're a legend! And last but not least, I refuse to buy or read Spare. Mostly because it has too much attention online at the price of better writing, and also because something feels wrong about hanging all your dirty laundry out in public. Hope you have a great month, Ike xx