By Sophie
Every so often we want to share what we’re currently reading, watching, and/or listening to. We hope you’ll enjoy our choices!
Tiemen:
Reading: I’m currently reading part 4 of The Dungeon Crawler Carl series to my wife. Every evening I read about half an hour of DCC before we go to sleep.
Watching: Sakamoto Days every Monday on Netflix.
Bella:
Reading: Odyssey by Stephen Fry!
Watching: I just watched Squid Game season 3.
Listening: Last Podcast On the Left (True crime!)
Klaartje:
Reading: Stephen King’s 11-22-63. It came in damaged and I’m reading it to further pieces!
Else:
Reading: I am currently reading the Joubert family chronicles by Kate Mosse; a historical fiction novel series following the Joubert family within the time of the church breaking up in France and the Netherlands, and it is also going to expand to South Africa. Basically it’s a historical fiction about the Huguenots. Very interesting to read about these parts of history, I have already looked up maps of Amsterdam in 1572 for reference. I am currently on book three, The Ghost Ship, which is about pirates and fun sea stuff.
Watching: I’ve been trying to finally watch the latest season of Taskmaster, season 19, because I’ve seen a couple of clips, and those were HILARIOUS. And all the episodes are available for free on YouTube so that is a lot of fun to watch.
Listening: I started a reread (actually more like a relisten) of my favourite fantasy series of all time, Malazan Book of the Fallen, so I am currently listening to Gardens of the Moon. And I am probably going to write some blog pieces about me rereading this amazing series. Starting this series again really feels like coming home for me, it feels like a nice warm blanket to curl up in, with a lot of action and finding out tidbits of information that I missed on my first few reads.
Steven
Reading: I am on book 4 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, because Tiemen is spreading that series around the store like a virus.
Renata
Reading: Good Omens (trying again!)
Watching: The Sandman, just finished Andor.
Listening: Listening to Children of Anguish and Anarchy, as I wait for more episodes of the Star Wars Universe. :)
Iris
Reading: Currently on my billionth reread of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers, in preparation of the new arc of my sci-fi ttrpg campaign (set in the Wayfarers universe!) which is starting soon, and also because I just really needed a comfort read.
Watching: I’m watching the newest season of Masterchef Australia (another comfort thing), which has nothing to do with books except that I once bonded with an Australian family at the register who were very surprised by my in-depth knowledge of this show.
Lynn
Reading: I just finished The CIA Book Club by Charlie English. The history of smuggling in an underground flying library of 10 million books during the Cold War rather than 10 million bombs seems now both quaint and ever-important.
Watching: We binge-watched Mo for two seasons on Netflix after seeing the top recommendation in de Volkskrant. It’s great – about an undocumented Palestinian and his family, born in Kuwait, still waiting after 22 years for a residence permit, and all the hustles he does to keep going in Texas. His Mexican girlfriend and card buddies as well as his mother and autistic brother are well-drawn characters.
Sigrid
Reading: Fowl Eulogies by Lucie Rico. Funny, touching, makes you think.
Watching: Il Gattopardo (The Leopard). Based on the book by Giuseppe Tomasi de Lampedusa. Loved it.
Jurgen
Reading: Ginseng Roots by Craig Thompson! And Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman.
Watching: I think The Sandman adaptation was done really well, based on the graphic novels. I just watched Platonic, very entertaining. Nosferatu is my favorite movie of the year so far.
Listening: Just listened to the first season of Case 63, it was very good. I’m also listening to Raphael Gualazzi, erg lekker.
Jilles
Reading: the new novel Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. First World War, one of the victims… an angel!!!
(Daniel Kraus will be in the Netherlands in October, keep an eye on our events page for more details!)
Damla
Reading: Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (a heartwarming cozy sci-fi about a group of abandoned food service robots opening a noodle shop to survive – and to pay their own exorbitant service fees to avoid being resold – in a futuristic San Francisco). This one hits the shelves in early September!
Watching: The Wheel of Time Season 3 (finally! I had to make sure I finished book 5 to avoid all potential spoilers. It’s the last season they will air, and I will miss the epic shots of beautiful landscapes, strange creatures, and magical battles in this series that reminded me of watching The Lord of the Rings for the first time).
Listening: The Book Review Podcast by The New York Times (gotta stay on top of the book trends! I am always curious about what the critics are currently reading, liking, and gossiping about. The author interviews are also always very interesting – even if I haven’t heard of them or their book yet!).
Sophie
Reading: The West Passage by Jared Pechacek as part of my 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize shortlist readalong – it’s like reading a Hieronymus Bosch painting, as far as the shape of the characters go. Very odd and quite interesting so far. I’m also reading The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper, a YA/Middle Grade classic from the 1970s in which a boy, on his 11th birthday, discovers he is one of the Old Ones and capable of magic, and his quest to gather six signs and stop the Dark.
Watching: Just finished Dept. Q on Netflix, and absolutely loved it. A fantastic cast of characters, some top-notch comical scenes to break tension here and there, and I definitely want to read Jussi Adler-Olsen’s book series now. I’d follow Carl Morck to many places!
Listening: A song called “Pinnacle“, by the band of one of my best friends, Nyjolene, who used to work at ABC The Hague.
