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feather_ghyll) wrote2024-01-04 12:09 pm
feather_ghyll) wrote2024-01-04 12:09 pm
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OVERVIEW: 2023 highlights
I see I'm getting round to this a day earlier than last year. Perhaps 'summary' is a better description than 'highlights.'
I read 49 books in 2023, a decent increase on last year, thanks in part to the Good Thing that happened at the end of April. The vast majority were by women and new to me, and had mainly been bought (mostly online) in 2020. But I returned properly to charity shops and bookshops, so I bought more random books, which have gone on my 'to be read' pile.
Most of the children’s books I read were Girls Own books, although a lot were mediocre and some subpar, and I didn’t bother posting about them (be grateful I didn’t review ‘A Girl Governess’ by A.E. Ward.) I read Loyal to the School by Angela Brazil, not one of her best, and Dancer’s Luck by Lorna Hill, where we and Annette Dancy get to see ‘the real Skye’. I didn’t enjoy it as much as its prequel ‘Dancing Peel’.
The Girls Own books I enjoyed the most were The Head Girl at Wynfords by Winifred Darch, Sally Travels to School by Muriel Fyfe, who doesn’t seem to have written more in that vein – both were day school stories – and Flowering Spring by Elfrida Vipont, about whether Laura Haverard is a stage-struck dreamer or has what it takes. Although it's only part of her story, she does go to boarding school for a bit!
Moving on to other books for children, I reread The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson and enjoyed it. To quote from my review, ‘a lovely, lovely book, adapting the romance of the foundling girl to a specific time and place, rich and wise.’ I also enjoyed Barefoot on the Wind by Zoe Marriott, which is a Young Adult book, and retells Beauty and the Beast in a fantasy version of Japan. The best murder mystery I read this year was The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers, said documents being a dossier, mainly of letters, but with some statements compiled by the bereaved son of a man he can’t believe died accidentally, sent to the director of public prosecutions, although Sayers seemed to be straining a little to tell her story in those constraints. My plan is to reread her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries at some point.
I am glad I read Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood, which I just reviewed, and will be looking out for more of her YA romances. However, my favourite book was The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein, a prequel to ‘Code Name Verity’ where Julie is spending a last summer, packing up her grandfather’s Scottish estate before it is sold. On the verge of turning 16, there’s a mystery for her to solve as well as self-discoveries to make, privileges and prejudice, class, sexuality and gender are mulled over in a rich book with a strong sense of Scottish history.
I rewatched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society adaptations at the star of the year, and discussed seeing the adaptation of the funny, angry and a little touching, Catherine Called Birdy, which I enjoyed a lot, and Petite Maman on streaming, which I found very moving (and have now bought on DVD.)
Sara returned to present The Great British Sewing Bee, with judges Patrick and Esme. We had a new theme in ‘Art week’. Two of the finalists were the ones I expected, Asmaa from Cardiff and Mia, the youngest and least experienced at sewing. Tony had only won one garment of the week, Mia had won two and was strong in the transformation challenge, while Asmaa was strong in the pattern challenge and had won three garments of the week on the trot. Although Mia had put up a strong challenge, Asmaa’s final made to measure (and body of work) made her the deserved champion. Kiell Smith-Bynoe presented The Great British Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special, so I await to see who will present the show proper when it returns.
In tennis, I was able to watch quite a bit of the Australian Open (when I didn’t think much about Vondrousova beating Jabeur in the early stages other than it opened the draw up.) Magda Linette and Tommy Paul were surprise semi-finalists, but Djokovic would go on to beat Tsitsipas, drawing equal with the injured Nadal in total Slams, while Sabalenka finally broke through to win a slam by beating Rybakina, having been the strongest women’s player all championship.
Having acquired Amazon Prime, I was able to watch much more of the European clay court season, so I got to see a tussle between the top two women – with Sabalenka beating Swiatek - in Madrid, and Alcaraz retain his title in Madrid. Very different conditions in Rome, which Rybakina won after two retirements, and Medvedev won for the first time. I had to listen to the French Open rather than watch it – notable for the semi-final between Djokovic and Alacaraz, which was an amazing match for the first hour, and then the young Spaniard cramped, and lost tamely, meaning Djokovic was through to the final to beat Ruud handily and win his twenty-third Slam. Meanwhile, Muchova made good on her promise to beat Sabalenka and get to the final, pushing Swiatek to three, but the Pole retained her French Open title.
I probably overdid it with the grass-court season, watching the Nottingham Open, where Katie Boulter backed up her status as British no. 1 by beating fellow Brit Jodie Burrage, while Murray, the champion at Surbiton and again playing at a Challenger level to improve his chances at Wimbledon, won the men’s tournament. I followed Amazon’s coverage of Queen’s and watched Alcaraz make his remarkable debut there, improving match by match and learning grass-court tennis until he faced de Minaur (who’d beaten Murray in their first round match). But it was Alcaraz’s tournament (a tournament he might not have played had he done better in the French), making him world no. 1. At Eastbourne, it was Madison Keys who won, beating Kastakina (and the wind) in two very different sets, for the second time after many years
I also watched the documentary 'The Gods of Tennis', the first episode focusing on Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King, the second Borg versus MacEnroe, the third Navratilova and Evert (until time and one Steffi Graf came for both, which is about when I started getting really into tennis.)
With Wimbledon, I mostly approved of the changes they’d made to ‘Today at Wimbledon’ – a presenter who seems to like tennis! Also recording it as the day went on instead of having to drop the live show for live tennis meant that it worked better as a round-up. Murray went out early to Tsitsipas, I got my first sighting of prodigy Andreeva, Svitolina continued her inspired comeback after maternity leave, beating Venus Williams, Azarenka, Swiatek until she met Vondrousova and her variety in the semi. In the other half, Jabeur had got her revenge on Rybakina and beat Sabalenka to make the finals again.
The top 3 men got through (as had Sinner) to the semis, and Alcaraz took advantage of all the ground Medvedev ceded with his returning position to set up a rematch with Djokovic in the final. Despite having a lead, being the favourite and the crowd’s darling, it was Vondrousova who imposed her game on Jabeur (perhaps she wants it too much) and was the surprise Wimbledon champion, although due credit to Czech women’s tennis.
On the men’s side, it was ‘the final we all wanted’, where Alcaraz was nearly bagelled by Djokovic in the first set, but the second set was much more competivite, going to a tiebreak, which the youngster won. The fifth game of the third set was a long, crucial one, won by the Spaniard, leading to the set. Djokovic regrouped, played more attacking tennis, winning the fourth and taking it to a fifth set. The living highlights reel recognised that it was a one-set shoot-out, and though Djokovic made him serve it out, Alcaraz won the most important final of his life. (His first Grand Slam victory hadn’t been against one of the Big Three, hadn’t been about denying Djokovic his twenty-fourth slam.) Although everyone had said it was too soon before the match, Alcaraz was Wimbledon champion.
I was able to watch a lot of ‘the North American swing’ starting with the DC Open, where women and men played, with Dan Evans flourishing on the hard courts after a woeful few months of 12 first round losses. Jessica Pegula was playing well until she encountered Maria Sakkari in the semis, the Greek being determined to get into a final, having failed to progress beyond five or six semis this year. There, she’d face Coco Gauff, who had gone off and worked hard after losing to Kenin at Wimbledon, (she’s also got Brad Gilbert in her box, joining her relatively new coach), having beat the defending champion on the way. Gauff was the better player throughout the final, and won the championship, her best result yet. Meanwhile, Evans won the surprising men’s final (going by rankings.)
The top men (apart from Djokovic) played in Toronto, although it wasn’t necessarily the players you’d expect who made it through to the end of the tournament, while the top women played in Montreal and three of the top four seeds made it to the semis. Swiatek lost in three to Pegula (the commentators pointed out that maybe Swiatek’s level hasn’t been quite so much above the rest this year in the way it was last year, and that Pegula’s defensive skills have improved.) The schedule and Samsonova were too much for Rybakina, but Samsonova had to play the final on the same day as the semi. Pegula won the tournament, while Sinner won in Toronto.
The Cincinnati Masters featured lots of tasty rematches. Swiatek was playing against Gauff in the first semi, with a 7-0 head-to-head record over the American, but the first set was competitive, with Gauff winning the first set tiebreak. She couldn’t keep up the same level in the second set, but remembered her tactics in the third, and beat Swiatek for the first time. Muchova, having beat Sabalenka again, would face her in the final. Gauff seemed to need less coaching and didn’t over-celebrate after winning the first set. She needed her double break in the second set, but won her first Masters, backing up her result at the DC Open. On the men’s side, Alcaraz had made the final, although all his matches had gone to three sets, while his opponent, Djokovic, had won all his matches in two. But that had been at night, this match was in the heat of the day, and at first Djokovic was really struggling physically. Alcaraz was leading 4-2 in the second set and only needed to hold his serve twice to win, but then proceeded to play his loosest service game, and whatever pills Djokovic had taken started to work. It shouldn’t have, but the second set went to a tiebreak, which Djokovic won. The third set was longer than some matches, full of twists and reversals and magnificent tennis. Djokovic won, making it 2-2 against Alcaraz.
After all that build-up, I was in the same position as with the French Open for the US Open, unable to watch the tennis and relying on the radio and newspapers. Young Jack Draper, coming back from a shoulder injury, had a good run, while Gauff who stopped Wozniacki’s remarkable comeback run. Ostapenko beat Swiatek, meaning she wouldn’t defend this slam and would lose her no. 1 ranking to Sabalenka. Keys was perhaps the surprise women’s semi-finalist, along with Sabalenka, Muchova and Gauff. But Ben Shelton was even more of a surprise semi-finalist, along with Djokovic, Alcaraz and Medvedev, not just the top 3 players, but the last three champions at Flushing Meadows. Unsurprisingly, Djokovic beat Shelton, but Medvedev beat Alcaraz. Crowning her excellent American late summer, Gauff beat Sabalenka to win her home slam (so four different women won all four slams. Oh, women’s tennis.) Djokovic got his revenge for the 2021 loss here, winning against Medvedev in three, his third slam of the year, having been in all four finals. Oh, and he has 24 grand slam titles to his name.
I watched some Davis Cup at the end of the year, with Dan Evans being vital to the GB team making it through to the quarter-finals at Malaga.
The WTA finals were held in Cancun and the conditions were terrible, but Swiatek won the tournament, making her the no. 1 seed at the end of the year, replacing Sabalenka. (The WTA could really do with a proper rivalry between them in 2024.) The ATP finals were on a fast indoor court in Turin and the contrast between tour finals was not good. Sinner had made everyone sit up by beating Djokovic in the round-robin stage, while Alcaraz had needed to beat Medvedev, who was already through, to make it to the knockout stage, which he did, where he faced Djokovic. To the delight of the home crowd, Sinner won his semi against Medvedev in three. In the second semi, Alcaraz was facing a most intense Djokovic, who beat him in two sets. It turned out that Djokovic could and would improve on how he’d played in the final, and despite the Italian crowd getting involved and some tight play towards the end, Djokovic not only won but showed that he’s the greatest of all time and the greatest right now. (This win meant that he’d won this tournament more often than Federer.)
Djokovic turned up to play at the Davis Cup the next week, helping to beat GB. But Sinner had turned up to play for Italy, who faced Serbia in the semis, and this time Sinner beat Djokovic twice, in the singles and in the crucial doubles. He then led Italy to beat Australia in the finals, and with that and the ATP finals, put himself ‘in the conversation’. We’ll see if this is the boost he needed to put it all together, he is, after all, only a little older than Alcaraz, and everyone develops at a different age (I keep remembering that time when Djokovic was good, but not yet as great as Nadal and Federer.)
Here's hoping the best for 2024.
I read 49 books in 2023, a decent increase on last year, thanks in part to the Good Thing that happened at the end of April. The vast majority were by women and new to me, and had mainly been bought (mostly online) in 2020. But I returned properly to charity shops and bookshops, so I bought more random books, which have gone on my 'to be read' pile.
Most of the children’s books I read were Girls Own books, although a lot were mediocre and some subpar, and I didn’t bother posting about them (be grateful I didn’t review ‘A Girl Governess’ by A.E. Ward.) I read Loyal to the School by Angela Brazil, not one of her best, and Dancer’s Luck by Lorna Hill, where we and Annette Dancy get to see ‘the real Skye’. I didn’t enjoy it as much as its prequel ‘Dancing Peel’.
The Girls Own books I enjoyed the most were The Head Girl at Wynfords by Winifred Darch, Sally Travels to School by Muriel Fyfe, who doesn’t seem to have written more in that vein – both were day school stories – and Flowering Spring by Elfrida Vipont, about whether Laura Haverard is a stage-struck dreamer or has what it takes. Although it's only part of her story, she does go to boarding school for a bit!
Moving on to other books for children, I reread The Star of Kazan by Eva Ibbotson and enjoyed it. To quote from my review, ‘a lovely, lovely book, adapting the romance of the foundling girl to a specific time and place, rich and wise.’ I also enjoyed Barefoot on the Wind by Zoe Marriott, which is a Young Adult book, and retells Beauty and the Beast in a fantasy version of Japan. The best murder mystery I read this year was The Documents in the Case by Dorothy L. Sayers, said documents being a dossier, mainly of letters, but with some statements compiled by the bereaved son of a man he can’t believe died accidentally, sent to the director of public prosecutions, although Sayers seemed to be straining a little to tell her story in those constraints. My plan is to reread her Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries at some point.
I am glad I read Under A Dancing Star by Laura Wood, which I just reviewed, and will be looking out for more of her YA romances. However, my favourite book was The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein, a prequel to ‘Code Name Verity’ where Julie is spending a last summer, packing up her grandfather’s Scottish estate before it is sold. On the verge of turning 16, there’s a mystery for her to solve as well as self-discoveries to make, privileges and prejudice, class, sexuality and gender are mulled over in a rich book with a strong sense of Scottish history.
I rewatched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society adaptations at the star of the year, and discussed seeing the adaptation of the funny, angry and a little touching, Catherine Called Birdy, which I enjoyed a lot, and Petite Maman on streaming, which I found very moving (and have now bought on DVD.)
Sara returned to present The Great British Sewing Bee, with judges Patrick and Esme. We had a new theme in ‘Art week’. Two of the finalists were the ones I expected, Asmaa from Cardiff and Mia, the youngest and least experienced at sewing. Tony had only won one garment of the week, Mia had won two and was strong in the transformation challenge, while Asmaa was strong in the pattern challenge and had won three garments of the week on the trot. Although Mia had put up a strong challenge, Asmaa’s final made to measure (and body of work) made her the deserved champion. Kiell Smith-Bynoe presented The Great British Sewing Bee Celebrity Christmas Special, so I await to see who will present the show proper when it returns.
In tennis, I was able to watch quite a bit of the Australian Open (when I didn’t think much about Vondrousova beating Jabeur in the early stages other than it opened the draw up.) Magda Linette and Tommy Paul were surprise semi-finalists, but Djokovic would go on to beat Tsitsipas, drawing equal with the injured Nadal in total Slams, while Sabalenka finally broke through to win a slam by beating Rybakina, having been the strongest women’s player all championship.
Having acquired Amazon Prime, I was able to watch much more of the European clay court season, so I got to see a tussle between the top two women – with Sabalenka beating Swiatek - in Madrid, and Alcaraz retain his title in Madrid. Very different conditions in Rome, which Rybakina won after two retirements, and Medvedev won for the first time. I had to listen to the French Open rather than watch it – notable for the semi-final between Djokovic and Alacaraz, which was an amazing match for the first hour, and then the young Spaniard cramped, and lost tamely, meaning Djokovic was through to the final to beat Ruud handily and win his twenty-third Slam. Meanwhile, Muchova made good on her promise to beat Sabalenka and get to the final, pushing Swiatek to three, but the Pole retained her French Open title.
I probably overdid it with the grass-court season, watching the Nottingham Open, where Katie Boulter backed up her status as British no. 1 by beating fellow Brit Jodie Burrage, while Murray, the champion at Surbiton and again playing at a Challenger level to improve his chances at Wimbledon, won the men’s tournament. I followed Amazon’s coverage of Queen’s and watched Alcaraz make his remarkable debut there, improving match by match and learning grass-court tennis until he faced de Minaur (who’d beaten Murray in their first round match). But it was Alcaraz’s tournament (a tournament he might not have played had he done better in the French), making him world no. 1. At Eastbourne, it was Madison Keys who won, beating Kastakina (and the wind) in two very different sets, for the second time after many years
I also watched the documentary 'The Gods of Tennis', the first episode focusing on Arthur Ashe and Billie Jean King, the second Borg versus MacEnroe, the third Navratilova and Evert (until time and one Steffi Graf came for both, which is about when I started getting really into tennis.)
With Wimbledon, I mostly approved of the changes they’d made to ‘Today at Wimbledon’ – a presenter who seems to like tennis! Also recording it as the day went on instead of having to drop the live show for live tennis meant that it worked better as a round-up. Murray went out early to Tsitsipas, I got my first sighting of prodigy Andreeva, Svitolina continued her inspired comeback after maternity leave, beating Venus Williams, Azarenka, Swiatek until she met Vondrousova and her variety in the semi. In the other half, Jabeur had got her revenge on Rybakina and beat Sabalenka to make the finals again.
The top 3 men got through (as had Sinner) to the semis, and Alcaraz took advantage of all the ground Medvedev ceded with his returning position to set up a rematch with Djokovic in the final. Despite having a lead, being the favourite and the crowd’s darling, it was Vondrousova who imposed her game on Jabeur (perhaps she wants it too much) and was the surprise Wimbledon champion, although due credit to Czech women’s tennis.
On the men’s side, it was ‘the final we all wanted’, where Alcaraz was nearly bagelled by Djokovic in the first set, but the second set was much more competivite, going to a tiebreak, which the youngster won. The fifth game of the third set was a long, crucial one, won by the Spaniard, leading to the set. Djokovic regrouped, played more attacking tennis, winning the fourth and taking it to a fifth set. The living highlights reel recognised that it was a one-set shoot-out, and though Djokovic made him serve it out, Alcaraz won the most important final of his life. (His first Grand Slam victory hadn’t been against one of the Big Three, hadn’t been about denying Djokovic his twenty-fourth slam.) Although everyone had said it was too soon before the match, Alcaraz was Wimbledon champion.
I was able to watch a lot of ‘the North American swing’ starting with the DC Open, where women and men played, with Dan Evans flourishing on the hard courts after a woeful few months of 12 first round losses. Jessica Pegula was playing well until she encountered Maria Sakkari in the semis, the Greek being determined to get into a final, having failed to progress beyond five or six semis this year. There, she’d face Coco Gauff, who had gone off and worked hard after losing to Kenin at Wimbledon, (she’s also got Brad Gilbert in her box, joining her relatively new coach), having beat the defending champion on the way. Gauff was the better player throughout the final, and won the championship, her best result yet. Meanwhile, Evans won the surprising men’s final (going by rankings.)
The top men (apart from Djokovic) played in Toronto, although it wasn’t necessarily the players you’d expect who made it through to the end of the tournament, while the top women played in Montreal and three of the top four seeds made it to the semis. Swiatek lost in three to Pegula (the commentators pointed out that maybe Swiatek’s level hasn’t been quite so much above the rest this year in the way it was last year, and that Pegula’s defensive skills have improved.) The schedule and Samsonova were too much for Rybakina, but Samsonova had to play the final on the same day as the semi. Pegula won the tournament, while Sinner won in Toronto.
The Cincinnati Masters featured lots of tasty rematches. Swiatek was playing against Gauff in the first semi, with a 7-0 head-to-head record over the American, but the first set was competitive, with Gauff winning the first set tiebreak. She couldn’t keep up the same level in the second set, but remembered her tactics in the third, and beat Swiatek for the first time. Muchova, having beat Sabalenka again, would face her in the final. Gauff seemed to need less coaching and didn’t over-celebrate after winning the first set. She needed her double break in the second set, but won her first Masters, backing up her result at the DC Open. On the men’s side, Alcaraz had made the final, although all his matches had gone to three sets, while his opponent, Djokovic, had won all his matches in two. But that had been at night, this match was in the heat of the day, and at first Djokovic was really struggling physically. Alcaraz was leading 4-2 in the second set and only needed to hold his serve twice to win, but then proceeded to play his loosest service game, and whatever pills Djokovic had taken started to work. It shouldn’t have, but the second set went to a tiebreak, which Djokovic won. The third set was longer than some matches, full of twists and reversals and magnificent tennis. Djokovic won, making it 2-2 against Alcaraz.
After all that build-up, I was in the same position as with the French Open for the US Open, unable to watch the tennis and relying on the radio and newspapers. Young Jack Draper, coming back from a shoulder injury, had a good run, while Gauff who stopped Wozniacki’s remarkable comeback run. Ostapenko beat Swiatek, meaning she wouldn’t defend this slam and would lose her no. 1 ranking to Sabalenka. Keys was perhaps the surprise women’s semi-finalist, along with Sabalenka, Muchova and Gauff. But Ben Shelton was even more of a surprise semi-finalist, along with Djokovic, Alcaraz and Medvedev, not just the top 3 players, but the last three champions at Flushing Meadows. Unsurprisingly, Djokovic beat Shelton, but Medvedev beat Alcaraz. Crowning her excellent American late summer, Gauff beat Sabalenka to win her home slam (so four different women won all four slams. Oh, women’s tennis.) Djokovic got his revenge for the 2021 loss here, winning against Medvedev in three, his third slam of the year, having been in all four finals. Oh, and he has 24 grand slam titles to his name.
I watched some Davis Cup at the end of the year, with Dan Evans being vital to the GB team making it through to the quarter-finals at Malaga.
The WTA finals were held in Cancun and the conditions were terrible, but Swiatek won the tournament, making her the no. 1 seed at the end of the year, replacing Sabalenka. (The WTA could really do with a proper rivalry between them in 2024.) The ATP finals were on a fast indoor court in Turin and the contrast between tour finals was not good. Sinner had made everyone sit up by beating Djokovic in the round-robin stage, while Alcaraz had needed to beat Medvedev, who was already through, to make it to the knockout stage, which he did, where he faced Djokovic. To the delight of the home crowd, Sinner won his semi against Medvedev in three. In the second semi, Alcaraz was facing a most intense Djokovic, who beat him in two sets. It turned out that Djokovic could and would improve on how he’d played in the final, and despite the Italian crowd getting involved and some tight play towards the end, Djokovic not only won but showed that he’s the greatest of all time and the greatest right now. (This win meant that he’d won this tournament more often than Federer.)
Djokovic turned up to play at the Davis Cup the next week, helping to beat GB. But Sinner had turned up to play for Italy, who faced Serbia in the semis, and this time Sinner beat Djokovic twice, in the singles and in the crucial doubles. He then led Italy to beat Australia in the finals, and with that and the ATP finals, put himself ‘in the conversation’. We’ll see if this is the boost he needed to put it all together, he is, after all, only a little older than Alcaraz, and everyone develops at a different age (I keep remembering that time when Djokovic was good, but not yet as great as Nadal and Federer.)
Here's hoping the best for 2024.