I have been reading, listening to and watching a few things recently that are new (at least to me) and a few things that I have revisited. I thought I would share them with you and my thoughts about them.
Starting with books. Continuing my trial of new books and authors I have taken a few books out of the library recently which I thought could be interesting. The first is called 'Me And You' by Niccolò Ammaniti. It is a really well written story of family fragmentation. There is a full review on GoodReads but it is worth just reading it without prior knowledge (which I think is true of most books, the discovery that is part of the enjoyment). The next one is called 'Falling Out Of Time' by David Grossman. I found this a little hard going at times, partly because it is written almost like a play. It is a well focused book about loss and community. The third book is 'Bar Balto' by Faiza Cuene. It is a brilliantly written crime novel with a difference, all you read are the statements of the witnesses and suspects. I am about two thirds of the way through the excellent book 'The Billy Fidget Letters' by Nick Battle and Eric Delve, which is about conversations with God. Then I have the first of Danny Baker's autobiography 'Going To Sea In A Sieve' and 'Festival Of Insignificance: a novel' by Milan Kundera, that I am looking forward to reading. All of these books are well worth a read and I would recommend them to everyone.
Moving on to TV and I've been watching quite a bit of stuff lately, both on normal TV and on Netflix. So let's start with comedy. On Netflix I've been watching a series called 'Danger 5' it is a bizarre adventure comedy from Australia that is difficult to describe but it has elements of many other shows including The Mighty Boost and Police Squad but with an originality and strangeness all of it's own. On normal TV, BBC to be exact, I really like 'Two Doors Down' an excellently observed sit-com set in Scotland with a set of odd neighbours. On the drama front, I absolutely loved series 2 of 'The Missing', a brilliant story that was well made and had a fantastic cast. On the BBC iplayer I'be watched a great series, another Australian import, called 'Deep Water' which is a interesting crime show that has a few twists and turns that make it more engaging. On Netflix I've been watching 'How To Get Away With Murder', season 1 was excellent and I'm pleased to say season 2 is just as good, and a tad confusing in parts. I have also watched the new season of Charlie Brooker's fantastic 'Black Mirror' and it is just as great as always, brilliantly made and acted, we'll written and thought provoking, and a little worrying too. All of these shows are well worth a watch if you get the chance.
I haven't seen many films of late, except on TV and most of those are old ones, but I have been listening to a bit of Radio. Alexei Sayle has been back on the BBC with a great short Radio series called 'Imaginary Sandwich Bar', it is still on the BBC Radio iplayer and is his usual mix of shouting, political insight and social comment mixed with some personal stories, and is just great.
We'll, that's about it for this post. If you have any comment or suggestions for me to watch, read or listen to please feel free to leave a comment here. Thanks.
