BOOKS & MORE BOOKS: THE CUT, A BOOK I DIDN’T EXPECT TO REVIEW

Richard Armitage - credit Kaitlyn Mikayla

 

I didn't really know whether I was going to write about this book. It was a gift from a very good friend living in England. It is autographed by the author. And the author is Richard Armitage.

Now, if you have been reading FLY HIGH! for a long time, you will understand why this is not quite an ordinary book for me.

I have been following Richard Armitage since he was John Thornton in BBC North and South back in 2004. I watched almost everything he did as an actor, read books he recommended, wrote countless posts about him and his work, and even flew to London to see him on stage.

And, let's be honest, a large part of FLY HIGH!'s success in the past was connected to him. I wrote about him regularly, people came to the blog because of him, and some of the friendships I made through FLY HIGH! began with that shared fascination.

So yes, when he became an author, I was obviously going to read his books.

SCREEN STORIES - THE EARLY SPRING: WHEN CHEMISTRY ALMOST MAKES YOU FORGET THE RED FLAGS

 

There is no doubt that The Early Spring has made quite an entrance.

The Chinese workplace romance, starring Jing Boran as Luan Nian (Luke) and Sun Qian as Shang Zhitao (Flora), premiered on 26 August and immediately attracted a huge international audience. In its first week on Netflix, it reached No. 2 on the Global Non-English TV list, with 2.4 million views and 21.5 million hours watched and it entered the Top 10 in 22 markets.

The premise sounds simple enough. Flora arrives in Beijing and begins working for a prestigious advertising company, where she meets Luan Nian, a brilliant but demanding creative director. He is her boss. They clash, they are attracted to each other and eventually they begin a secret relationship which becomes much more complicated than either of them expected.

And this is where my problem begins. Because I have spent a good part of this drama thinking:

I HATE HIM. WHY? WHY?

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS: THE SECOND CHANCE CONVENIENCE STORE

 

There are books that I enjoy because of their story, books that fascinate me because of the way they are written, and books that somehow manage to do both.

The Second Chance Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon is one of those books for me.

I was hooked almost from the beginning. As I read, I kept visualising the scenes as if I were watching one of my beloved Korean dramas set in Seoul: the characters appearing one after another, each with their own story, their own worries, their own solitude. I could almost see the little convenience store, the people coming and going, the neighbourhood around it.

And then, in Chapter Two, I realised that the author was doing something I particularly love.

We don't simply follow Dok-go, the mysterious homeless man at the centre of the story. We meet him through the eyes of the different people who encounter him, while at the same time discovering their stories. Sometimes we see the same events from different perspectives. Little by little, the separate pieces begin to form an intriguing web.

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS - THE BURNOUT SOCIETY BY BYUNG-CHUL HAN

 

I wanted to kick off this blog post by sharing a little personal journey I embarked on during my summer holidays. You see, recently I've had a deep fascination with philosophy, especially the profound insights that Asian philosophy offers. So, this summer, instead of hitting the typical beach reads, I chose a few thought-provoking books and even enrolled in an intriguing online course.

And let me tell you, it was nothing short of mind-blowing! These philosophical adventures turned out to be not only thought-provoking but also immensely motivational and, dare I say it, life-changing. One particular book, "The Burnout Society" by Byung-Chul Han, left such an impact that I just had to share my reflections with you. So, buckle up, because we're about to delve into a world of ideas that might just transform the way you see the world too. Here's my review, I hope you'll find it interesting and enjoy reading it.

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS: WHEN A READER BECOMES A WRITER

 

A Story Sixteen Years in the Making

A few weeks ago, I was absent-mindedly scrolling through Instagram when a familiar name suddenly made me stop.

June Hur.

For a moment I wondered, Could it really be the same June?

It was.

Sixteen years ago, she was one of the young bloggers I interviewed on FLY HIGH!. We used to exchange emails about Jane Austen, period dramas, British actors and, above all, books. She often told me about her greatest dream: one day becoming a published writer.

Life moved on. We gradually lost touch.

Then, thanks to one of those rare moments when social media gets something wonderfully right, June unexpectedly found her way back into my life.

Only this time she wasn't an aspiring writer anymore.

She was a New York Times bestselling author celebrating the publication of her fourth novel.

Some stories begin with a book.

This one began with a reader.

SCREEN STORIES: THE COURAGE TO SLOW DOWN

 

Some stories entertain us. Others stay with us because, almost without noticing, they ask questions we have been carrying inside for a long time.

Meet Yourself is one of those stories.

When I started watching this forty-episode Chinese drama, I expected a comforting slice-of-life series. What I didn't expect was to find myself wondering, episode after episode, what it really means to build a meaningful life.

THINKING ALOUD: CAN ART BE DIVIDED BY GEOGRAPHY?

 

 

During the Covid pandemic, a friend suggested I watch my first Korean drama. I accepted almost out of curiosity, with no idea that one recommendation would open the door to an entirely new cultural world. One series led to another, then to Korean cinema, Korean literature and, eventually, to BTS.

Around the same time, I discovered that Michela Murgia—whose work and public voice I deeply admired—shared the same passion for Korea, K-dramas and BTS. Listening to her speak about K-pop changed something in me. She argued that a genuine passion is never superficial: if it drives us to learn, to understand and to explore, it becomes an act of knowledge. Those words stayed with me. They gave me permission to stop apologising for my curiosity.

Yesterday's news brought them back to mind.

BOOKS & MORE BOOKS - THE VEGETARIAN BY HAN KANG: THE IMPOSSIBLE ESCAPE

 

Some novels leave us with a clear opinion.

Others leave us disturbed, fascinated and uncertain about what, exactly, we have just experienced.

The Vegetarian belongs to the second category.

BOOK & MORE BOOKS: INTERMEZZO BY SALLY ROONEY, THE QUIET MIRACLE OF LITERATURE

 

There are writers we admire from the very first novel we read. And then there are those rare moments when, after following their work for years, we realise they have reached a new stage in their artistic journey.

That was my experience with Intermezzo.

I have read all of Sally Rooney's novels. Normal People introduced me to a voice that felt fresh, intelligent and emotionally honest. I enjoyed Conversations with Friends and Beautiful World, Where Are You, but neither quite recreated that exhilarating sense of discovery.

Intermezzo did.

TEACHING IN THE AI ERA: 10 TIPS FOR TEACHERS WHO WANT STUDENTS TO REALLY LEARN

 

 

When ChatGPT and other AI tools became widely available, many teachers wondered whether homework had suddenly become pointless.

If a chatbot can write an essay, answer comprehension questions, solve grammar exercises and even analyse a poem in seconds, what is left for students to do?

Rather than asking how we can prevent students from using AI, perhaps we should ask a different question:

How can we design learning that students cannot outsource?

After experimenting in my own classroom, I have come to believe that AI has not made teaching impossible. It has simply forced us to rethink some of our habits.

Here are a few ideas that may help.