What I've Been Reading
Margaret Olley: a generous life - this was a glorious coffee table style book with plenty of pictures of her work. It had essays and words and even poetry by various people who knew her or worked with her. The poem is from Barry Humphries. It was not a biography, but pieces of her life and how she worked and like anything to do with Margaret, glorious and bold...generous indeed!
Six Days in Leningrad by Paullina Simons - I have read a couple of Paullina's novels when she first started her career. They are sweeping sagas of families and often include historical elements. This is the story behind her research for her bestseller, The Bronze Horseman. I have not read this novel but it is set against the Russian Revolution. Simons, which I did not know, is Russian and lived there for the first 10 years of her life. She has strong and fond memories and has not returned since leaving. She wanted to revisit sites and areas that she wanted to include in her book. She convinced her father to go with her.
I actually came across this on talking book and I love reading about Russia, which is why I chose this book. It was narrated by Simons, which was utterly fascinating. Her accent is unique, she grew up in New York and has a very strong New York accent laced with a slight amount of Russia. Listening to her tell this story added to it's intensity.
Whilst Paullina was only in Leningrad (as it was still called at the time) for 6 days, it felt much longer as she packed a lot in and also reflected a lot of memories or history within the trip - family history and characters and history of the country. The people were fascinating, friends and family, generous and kind, but living under less than great social situations. The story is told with humour and had me absolutely enthralled. MY favourite parts were her hunt for a decent public toilet...this never really happened.
Paullina and her papa visited in the early 90s as communism was collapsing. What they saw was terribly sad and yet also rather heroic. I really must read The Bronze Horseman now. This is a great book for those that love travel, Russia, or Paullina's books. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The Attachment: letters from a most unlikely friendship by
Ailsa Piper and Tony Doherty. I recently listened to, on talking book,
Ailsa’s travel book about the Camino, and this was mentioned at the end of it.
So I had to have a listen. What an amazing story. This is about the friendship
Ailsa formed with Tony, an 80 year old priest, after he read her book and wrote
to her about it. This is the copy of their exchanges via email and a sneak peak
into the forming of a beautiful friendship. It is funny and poignant,
philosophical and at times religious. They cover a lot of ground from
personal history, work related (his as a priest and her as a writer), and
general information, thoughts, and philosophies. What an entertaining
read/listen. The talking book has each of them reading their own letters.
Ultimately the book is about friendship, an odd friendship, but a great
one.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor - Vally and Pearl Cole live in a bookshop. Cole's Book Arcade in fact, which was a real bookshop in Melbourne in the 1890s. They are 2 of 6 children and the bookshop, which is much more than a bookshop is their playground. The Arcade has books, lollies, a small zoo, plants, and all sorts of magical surrounds. One day a mysterious man in a top hat turns up in the arcade and questions Pearl. SHe is unnerved by him, he called himself Obscurosmith, and he seemed to know a lot about her family, especially her Dad.
He returns and says her father has given him the arcade in return for him to conjure their sister, Ruby, who had recently passed. Pearl tells Vally and they are devastated. They would love their sister back but didn't think this could happen and didn't want to lose the Arcade. They strike a deal with the Obscurosmith to pass a series of tests, and regain the Arcade.
And so their adventures begin, with many hoops to jump. It is a battle of brain and will, and one by one they include their older siblings.
Mellor writes beautifully and draws a stunning picture with her words. The games or tests are magical and outlandish, with water filling rooms, animals escaping, things disappearing, bursts of colour. Her imagination matches exactly how you would expect Cole's Book Arcade to look and feel.
This is a children's book, but I adored it, and I think people of all ages will. It has won just about every award it has been up for and when you have disappeared into it's magic you will understand why.
The backdrop of the Arcade and the people who lived there were real. Mr Cole was ahead of his time with a large multi-cultural staff. Parts of the arcade are replicated in the Melbourne Museum.
Old Seems to be Other People by Lily Brett - Lily is one of my favourite authors, whether she is writing fiction or one of her fabulous book of essays. Old is the later, a series of essays about ageing and also living in New York. Lily is always funny and her take on ageing will sit beautifully alongside Nora Ephron. Throughout the book, she writes about her eyesight, she needs cataract surgery but has been avoiding it. It is only when she goes to pat a cute dog and realises it is a fire hydrant that she decides to agree to the surgery. After the surgery, she really sees herself and is unsure it was a good idea. She is less sporty than she thought, paler than she thought and then there are the lines on her face.
There is so much humour and great stories packed into this small book, I couldn't put it down. She has stories that involve Cher, and Keith Richards, eating out in New York. Why New York is good for older people, there is so much to do.
One of the constant's in all of Lily's books is her father, the greatest character she never had to invent. He moved from Melbourne to NY to be with her at 80. Her final chapter is a homage to him. He passed a few months shy of 102 and the chapter, poignant as it is, is also hilarious, and a testament to a life well lived. The book also covers Black Lives Matters, COVID, and the election. I cannot recommend this book enough.
What I've Been Watching
Out of Her Mind - Sara Pascoe is a British comedian, you would have seen her on 8 out of 10 cats or Would I Lie to You, and this is her show. It is a hyper-realistic, meta kind of show. She plays a fictitious version on herself looking back on where her life went wrong. She dresses up crazy cool, sits on a tele or whatever and narrates the show where clips of her going about her life with her family are shown. It is really good and funny. And with Juliet Stevenson and Adrian Edmondson as her out of control parents, you know this is a winner. It's definitely out there and definitely hilarious!
Enslaved - documentary series by Samuel Jackson looking at slavery in the US, but now the usual things you would think. We know ships overfull with slaves headed from Africa to the US, but not all of them made it. A lot of this series is following these ships,what happened on them or to them as many never even made it. A lot of sonar technology and mini submarines were used to locate these death ships. It was a really fascinating series, deeply disturbing, and yet presented with a respectfully light touch by Jackson.
Sanditon - I finally got around to this adaption of Jane Austen's final unfinished novel and just loved it. I call it Pride and Prejudice by the sea. After a series of unfortunate events, our heroine Charlotte finds her way to Sanditon, a seaside resort. Charlotte is a smart and forth-right in her speech, like most of Austen's heroines, and immediately runs foul with the younger brother of the family she is staying and working with. Sidney is very much a Darcy character. What is great about this novel/series, is there is much more to thwarted romance, and crazy families. There are other themes such as progress, race, and class, which she has dipped into previously but not as much as this. The novel was unfinished so the series fleshes out some of her book and does pretty good. The series is dramatic, fascinating, and quite funny. It ends of a cliff-hanger, and was not renewed which is disappointing, but at the time of writing it looks like there will be a second series, but possibly without Sidney? I guess we wait and see!!
Finding Alice is about a widow coping with life after her beloved partner dies after falling down the stairs on the first night in their fancy new house he built. Alice is the fabulous Keeley Hawes, and she is outstanding in this. Nothing goes right, least of all, her husband is dead, and she bumbles though life mistake after mistake, using every reaction and emotion possible. Things are unravelling before her, she irritates family members, finds out information about her husband she didn't know, and so on. A lot happens, and it is a black comedy. It also has a stunning supporting cast with Nigel Havers and Joanna Lumley as her parents. I enjoyed this one.
The Irwins - are back for S3 and life is complete. I love this behind the scenes at Australia Zoo show which features the Irwin family. I love their passion for wildlife conservation and while I am never really a fan of zoos, they really do it well and conservation and Steve's passion is not lost in anything they do. The real star of the show is young Robert, wise and smart beyond his years, yet a typical jokey teenage boy, a chip off the old block of his father without the complete madness. Robert is a freaking star! You cannot take your gaze off him when he is on the screen. Plus loads of cute animals and this season the ever growing baby bump of Bindi.
Old People's Homes for 4 year olds - this is the second series of this reality show pairing up preschools and the elderly. This time it is set in the preschool with the elderly not in homes but still living at home by themselves and wanting to keep it that way despite their loneliness. Of course having the 2 age groups pair up gives the elderly a sense of purpose and mends them exponentially, and the kids learn so much from their older friends!
The Nevers - this was Joss Whedon's last show before being cancelled and maybe that should have been enough not to watch this. But it looked good on paper, a group of amazing women in Victorian England with a steampunk feel. They have power or are 'touched' and live together and have to fight off other people who do not understand or like them. The women were fascinating, a great ensemble cast or acting.
Unfortunately it wasn't enough, the story is slow and when exciting things happen they get glossed over. There are too many conflicting storylines, way too many characters and it loses you very quickly. I only hung on as someone told me about the final episode and when you watch that it is a game changer. Information and storylines that should have been injected earlier. I'm really conflicted on this, a second set of 6 episodes are forthcoming next year with a new showrunner, that hopefully follows what we found out in the final episode. I guess I'll give it a go.
Mare of Easttown - this is absolutely one of the best things I have seen for a long, long time possibly ever. Kate Winslett is Mare, a single Mum who is the town's detective. When a young local girl turns up murdered the investigation threatens to tear the town apart. There really is nothing more to add to all the praise that has been bestowed and written about this mini-series. Kate Winslet, who is always exceptional, is above and beyond anything I have seen her do. She is unpolished, un-made up, sweary, and so very real. Is it a masterclass in acting so just give her all the awards now! Having said that, the supporting cast is also outstanding, especially the always outstanding Jean Smart, who plays Mare's mother. Watching them together is absolute joy! This is a bleak, dire drama, but it has it's moment of humour. It reminded me a lot of Broadchurch and is must see, if you have not seen, go now!!!
Boogie Nights - we've been having a classic movie night each Saturday night, it was great to rewatch this modern classic. Set amongst the backdrop of the porn industry this is great ensemble cast with outstanding performances from everyone. Julianne Moore was robbed of an Oscar in this. Nothing feels dated and the soundtrack is a killer.
The Big Lebowksi - what can be said that hasn't already been said. This is a bona fide cult classic. I have watched this film so many times, and yet I always find something new and never ever tire of it. It is a great cast, but Bridges is the rug that ties it all together. He IS The Dude. There is so much crazy in this film, but it works. It is laugh out loud funny, and seemingly every line, quotable. And then there's the music, a quirky, crazy film. It you haven't seen this, what is stopping yoou!
What I've Been Listening To
Pet Shop Boys - after our 80s night out, we got into some PSB, and they hold up so very well.
The Wall - Pink Floyd - I am a huge Pink Floyd fan but not really listened to them in a long time. I pulled this out for a listen and it sounds fabulous. I don't think this album will ever fade or date. The guitar work of Gilmour is out of site. Just listening to the title track, Another Brick in the Wall, arguably Pink Floyd's most famous song, it sounds fresh and full of twists and turns. Funky, melodramatic, sweeping, with ample pop and rock within.
Out of Mind, Out of Sight - The Models - I picked this up on vinyl and really enjoyed stepping back in time. Back to my teenage years, where I rode my bicycle around my neighbourhood with my walkman going, and this was on high rotation. I remembered every lyric and every breath and it was sheer joy!
Podcasts
Clear and Vivid with Alan Alda - Alan always has interesting guests, even if you've never heard of them. But this month he had Brian May and Bill Bryson. Brian and Alan spoke mostly about science and the science of music and it was so interesting. Bill spoke about the miniature of life, and what a great chat they had. Both worth checking out.
Smartless - is Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, an unlikely trio of very close friends and the premise is one gets a guest in but the other 2 do not know and therefore are unprepared and ask genuine questions. They interviewed Tina Fey and it was hilarious.
The 5Ws is a nerdy podcast about Marvel, superheroes, anime, sci-fi, music, film, and all things pop culture. Featuring AJ and Macca, best friends and discuss what they have been watching and listening to. Yeah AJ is my boyfriend, but there is some good stuff in there, I promise you.
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