Reading - December 2024

Space: The Human Story by Tim Peake (2023)

A chatty, informal jaunt through the history of space travel. I don't think much of this is particularly new - I've read quite a bit about the Apollo missions and so the sections on that were somewhat familiar - but it's presented in a very readable style. An ideal introduction to the subject or, indeed, a perfect summary if what you want is a general reader on the subject rather than excruciating detail (I'm looking at you, James R Hansen).

The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth (1983)

Very convincingly detailed but also rather transparently reflective of the author's own views and prejudices. A great yarn nevertheless.

The Maid by Nita Prose (2022)

A nice little murder mystery, featuring a central narrator - the maid - who is presumably autistic (although this is never specifically mentioned). It feels like a cross between Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and the series that presumably all publishers want to duplicate, Richard Osman's record breaking Thursday Murder Club books. Very readable - I finished it in a day, although I was off work with a heavy cold so I wasn't doing much else - and enjoyable.  However, I did feel that the final "twist" wasn't very believable.

How Not to Murder Your Ex by Katie Marsh (2023)

I enjoyed this, a female-centred whodunnit/thriller, but found the characters a bit stereotyped.

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (1964)

A Pocket Full of Rye by Agatha Christie (1953)

The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (1962)

They Do It with Mirrors by Agatha Christie (1952)

Well, there's nothing quite like Agatha Christie for nice comforting murder mysteries, is there? Very often one of my go-tos when I'm not feeling well. All four novels (here from the Miss Marple Omnibus Volume 2) are classic Christie, setting the template for all future writers by making sure it's the least predictable person who dunnit, thereby making it a little bit predictable - but only from the perspective of seventy years later! 

The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie (1932)

Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie (1979)

All the Miss Marple short stories (collected in a single volume here), but did you notice the incredible time between them? Yet they don't really read any different: Christie and Miss Marple in particular were always caught in a time warp. The stories themselves are nicely condensed, and don't feel too brief.

Marr's Guitars by Johnny Marr (2023)

For some reason it took me ages to get round to reading this, but once I did it only took me an afternoon. It's a sumptuous document of an astonishing collection of guitars but as a book it's a waste of money for me, and I'm not really sure why I bought it. I mean, you've seen one picture of a '58 'burst, you've seen 'em all, right? I'm not going to get to actually play any of these; I might play something similar and then I'll be interested in that. And I'm not sure what motivated Marr to make the book, as he doesn't come across as the type to just do it for the money. Still, nice to get a glimpse into another world!

The Secret Public by Jon Savage (2024)

Blimey, this was hard work. And I really wanted to like it - a history of how gay sub-cultures have informed and bled into mainstream entertainment over the decades is a story worth telling. But this isn't that story, sadly. It feels like Savage wants to be writing an academic tome for future historians to pore over, whereas I think what the subject needs - and certainly what I was hoping for - is a good summary. What we get is a mess of a structure that prevents any kind of clear narrative emerging, and a wealth of unnecessary detail. But none of it is new information and by including too much, the main point of the book - "How LGBTQ Performers Shaped Popular Culture (1955-1979)", to quote the over-reaching subtitle (it's mostly about gay men and pop music) - is fudged and obscured. I finished it eventually - over two months after I started - out of sheer bloody-mindedness but I'm not sure I should have bothered.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith (1998)

I wrote last time I read this about the possible charge of cultural appropriation and I haven't changed my opinion (but then I am a white middle-aged, middle-class male so what do I know). What I'd forgotten is how filled with pathos it is - it's not just a jolly African Miss Marple. Very readable and with a clear, unique voice, which is rare I think. I didn't realise until today though that there are twenty five novels in the series!

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith (2000)

The mix of small mysteries, homespun wisdom and little life choices is what makes these, for me anyway. Nothing really bad happens, nothing really major changes - just life moving along at it's usual pace. I don't know if McCall Smith planned these books as a series but in resisting the temptation to stuff each book with a lot of drama, he has given himself all the space to allow a much more appealingly gradual character and plot development. In hindsight, it's a brilliant idea, if the writing and characters are up to it - which they are of course.

Watching - December 2024

Herbie Fully Loaded (2005)

The Herbie films were a staple of my childhood, and I remember my Grandma taking me to see all of them. They were great children's films - silly and fun, and the formula wasn't significantly changed for this reboot, except that it's set in a recognisable world (NASCAR). Mostly brainless fun for an evening when I was feeling ill and needed something completely unchallenging.

Taskmaster (season 1, 2015)

I started (thanks to K) with season 2, so just going back and catching up. It's interesting to see that most of the elements are already in place, with a couple of differences.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015)

Like Men in Black crossed with James Bond, complete with lisping evil villain who has a lair in a hollowed out mountain, but with perhaps even less pretence at realism. Great fun though.

20 Feet From Stardom (2013)

I love the idea of this documentary - finding out about what it's like to be a backing singer for some of the biggest artists - but in practice it was a bit too focussed on about half a dozen well known singers. I say "well known", but it is relative: if you have an interest in 60s music you might have heard of the legendary Darlene Love but otherwise probably not; if you're a Rolling Stones fan you might know that it's Merry Clayton performing the spine-tingling female vocals on "Gimme Shelter" but I'm guessing that 99% of listeners haven't a clue; and if you're into reading album credits you might recognise the name of Lisa Fischer (who sings the most incredible section in the whole film) but I have to admit I didn't, despite her incredible discography. Their stories are fascinating but I would have liked to hear from a wider selection. The sound of black female gospel-rooted backing singers is fundamental to rock music but there's more to it than that, not least from the UK (off the top of my head I can think of Sam Brown, Tessa Niles and Clare Torry, all industry legends). In fairness though, I think the intent of this film was to reclaim the black, female history elements of the music and history, and in this it succeeds.

The Eras Tour (Taylor's Version) (2024)

Even if find Taylor Swift's appeal elusive or you're immune to her music (although I'd say you can't call yourself a lover of good pop and not enjoy something like "Cruel Summer" or "Style" - it's like saying you don't like ABBA, you're basically saying you don't actually like music much ... but I digress), I'd recommend you watch this. The sheer spectacle and scale - it's 3½ hours long - precision and commitment is staggering. But the bits I enjoyed most were the glimpses of the crowd. I'm the wrong demographic to get it properly but seeing the effect on the youngsters in the crowd is very moving. A fitting document to an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.

Strictly Come Dancing (series 22, 2024)

Obviously I didn't watch this in December only: C and I were there from the beginning of the series (blimey, back in mid-September!) and we didn't just watch the Saturday shows but pretty much all the It Takes Two episodes during the weeks as well. Despite all the routine proclamations from cast, judges etc of this series being the best ever, I'd say it was ... well, about the same as the others. I mean, that's it's appeal, right? The formula is so well bedded-in now and the whole juggernaut runs on rails. I realise it's an immense amount of work by a whole bunch of incredibly talented people behind the scenes but out front it's incredibly consistent and slick and that's what people want, I reckon. Claudia Winkleman is a fantastic presenter (the way she handles moments like this is brilliant) and an ideal antidote to the slightly robotic Tess Daly, Craig is reliably a baddie with a heart of gold, and the dances are pretty spectacular. That said, after all these years I still don't know much about dancing and I have to admit at least 50% of the appeal for me is the eye candy, but it's easy to get swept up in the stories and, god help us, "journeys". For the record, I would have voted for JB if C hadn't used all our votes on Chris (C says, "all lies, he would have voted for Tasha").

The Matrix (1999)

Still a great film, despite the wooden acting in places and, let's be honest, stilted dialog and plot holes.

Phil Collins: Drummer First (2024)

An admirable attempt at a documentary by the YouTube channel Drumeo, featuring the legend that is Phil Collins. Unfortunately it suffers from being too long and, almost fatally, from not being able to feature any of the music being discussed, presumably due to clearance issues and costs. As a result, it drags quite a bit. Collins' health isn't the best these days, sadly, which does show, and actually he doesn't have that much to say. But there's clearly a lot of affection for him behind this, and not just because his son Nic is doing the interviewing. (Drumeo is a really good channel, incidentally.)

Simple Minds: Everything Is Possible (2024)

I never really got into Simple Minds in the their heyday, possibly because U2 were "my band" in the 80s and there was only room for one celtic-inspired "big music" group in my life. But this is an interesting and nicely paced summary of their career, and I can't deny the power of their big hits. Worth watching, and has inspired me to go back and listen to the albums again, which is surely a good result of any music documentary (and as a side note, if you've never listened to "Theme for Great Cities" before, do - it's great).

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl (2024)

Family Christmas viewing and lots of fun it was. You can't fault the amount of imagination that goes into the Aardman animations (at one point I noticed that Gromit was reading "A Room of One's Own" by Virginia Woof), and it was never less than entertaining, but it was perhaps a little bit forgettable.

Definitely Maybe (2008)

With K - I meant to just show the first scenes to tempt her into watching the rest some other time, but we ended up staying up late (for me, not for her) and sitting through the whole thing. I was pleased she enjoyed it though!

The Holiday (2006)

'Tis the season ... for a vaguely Christmas-themed sentimental TV movie. Because despite the presence of heavyweight actors like Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Rufus Sewell, and big US stars like Cameron Diaz and (miscast) Jack Black, that is what this feels like. But sweet, entertaining and occasionally moving anyway. A nice way to pass the time.

What's Up, Doc? (1972)

An amusing but slight farce, very much of its time,  lit up by a luminescent performance from Barbra Streisand.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2023)

A surprising choice by the "kids" for a family film night, but an acceptable plot and plenty of jokes kept everyone interested.