in which I wrap up August
Wait, where did that go?
(1) Things which I have read.
Early Riser- Jasper Fforde. This was a lot of fun, if not really patch on the Thursday Next books (what is?), and a thoroughly novel idea.
Cassandra at the Wedding - Dorothy Baker. This was our book club’s choice and I really enjoyed it a good deal. Short, definitely not sweet, but sparky and with a lot going on below the surface.
America is not the Heart - Elaine Castillo. I really loved this, and I was so glad to read it before getting on a plane to the Philippines, because while a lot of it is not set there, the depth of Philippino backstory is so rich and fascinating. It’s really warm and opens up its world - all without condescending to explain all of the language and culture it is sharing, trusting the reader to get it, go with it, or google bits and pieces for themselves.
(2) Things which I have watched At the cinema:
The Incredibles - a good fun time, but aside from Edna Mode, Incredibles has never been at the top of my personal Pixar tree.
Ant Man and the Wasp - a delightful change of pace after the heavy dose of Avengers: Infinity War. I still think Paul Rudd has a portrait stashed in an attic and I don’t know how Scott Lang can afford to live in that house in San Francisco (I want it), but it was stratightforward and well done, and characters were snarky at Michael Douglas, so that was great.
Set It Up - a Netflix own, but this one is actually pretty good (unlike A Christmas Prince which must be watched with copious amounts of mulled wine), and I do just genuinely enjoy Zoey Deutsch in pretty much everything I’ve seen her in (yes, even Vampire Academy, lol) and yes I am here for a movie where the women are the sports fans.
The Spy Who Dumped Me - was it everything I wanted? Probably not. Was it still a lot of fun, and at least the equal if not superior of a dozenty-zillion bro-comedies? YES. I would be thoroughly happy to attempt to keep up with Mila Kunis and Kate Mackinnon on a mad dash around Europe, and this entertained me nicely.
(3) Things which I wrote Hahaha, what?
(4) Two pieces from a Year of Wonder Actually, I’m gonna give you three. Two that were new to me are Steve Reich’s Duet for Two Violins, and Ólafur Arnald’s Eyes Shut, from his Chopin Project. And then, just because you can’t have too much Rachmaninov piano music and because this month included the Second Piano Concerto, here is the peerless second movement
(5) A photo from the month gone by I went to Belgium for the bank holiday with some friends. It was my first time really exploring some of the sites of the western front. Here is a photo from the trenches in Sanctuary Wood, and of an art installation remembering all the dead.
(6) In the pile for September A holiday! A veritable, week-long holiday! I am reading Laurent Binet’s 7th Function of Language (which I’ve started and which is so up my street), Meg Wolitzer’s The Uncoupling for book club, and Iain M Banks’ Surface Detail because dammit I love reading Banks on holidays.