Okay, so I’ve been meaning to get into this whole “book review” thing for a while. I finally decided to give it a shot with “Still Life” by Sarah Winman. I picked it up because, well, the cover looked nice, and I’d heard good things, you know, through the grapevine.
First, I grabbed the book. Literally, just walked into a bookstore and there it was. Felt good, you know, holding a physical book. Then, finding a quiet spot was the next mission. My apartment’s tiny, and the city noise is always there. So I thought, “Park time!”
Getting Started (The Hardest Part)
- Finding the Right Spot: Ended up at a little bench under a huge tree. Perfect! Sun was shining, birds were chirping… all that good stuff.
- Actually Starting: This is always the tricky bit, right? Getting past that first page. Took me a few tries, a few sips of coffee.
- No Phone Allowed: To be honest I put my phone in my bag and zipped it up, to get rid of distractions.
Diving In
Once I got going, I really started to get into it. The story is about this group of friends in post-war Italy, and it’s just… beautiful. I’m not gonna lie, I scribbled down notes as I went. Just little things, like quotes that hit me, or thoughts about the characters. Nothing fancy, just chicken scratch in a notebook.
I took my time, reading a few chapters, then taking a break, people-watching, then diving back in. The characters felt so real, I had to find out about their lives and what they were doing.
Wrapping Up (and Feeling Accomplished)
Finally finished it yesterday! It was a bit of a bittersweet feeling, you know? Like saying goodbye to friends. But it also felt good to have actually read a whole book, start to finish. I even wrote down some final thoughts, just to kind of… process it all, I guess.
So, that’s it! My first real attempt at a book review. I kept it simple, focused on how I felt and what I thought. Maybe next time I’ll try something a bit more in-depth. But for now, I’m just happy I did it. It’s the actual reading that counts, right?
