Everything I read, watched and listened to last week #1
A rundown of everything I've had my nose in over the past seven days
Welcome to the first instalment of a new series that I’ll be posting every other Monday on The Conversation. As the title suggests, it will be a rundown of everything I’ve been reading, watching and listening to over the previous seven days. I’m hoping it will be a nice mix of books (duh!), articles, Substacks, TV series, films, audiobooks, podcasts and music.
I am a sucker for a good recommendation, so if you have been reading, watching or listening to anything really great recently then please do leave a comment and I’ll always give credit where credit’s due if your rec pops up in the weekly roundup!
Reading…
Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth
I picked up Slags by Emma Jane Unsworth on a bit of a whim last week while having a browse in Waterstones (I’m blessed, and my bank account would argue cursed, to have the wonderful Tottenham Court Road branch a five minute walk from my office) mainly because of the name and the cover - I thought it was fantastic.
However, it has unfortunately shown itself to be one of those instances where I really did judge a book by its cover and then found myself let down by the contents. The story follows 41-year-old Sarah who is single, living in London and spends a great deal of her time either working or trying to get a hold on her relationship with drugs and alcohol and the fact that none of her friends are out partying anymore.
The books flips back and forth between the past, where we see Sarah as a teenager in the 90s, smoking menthols, getting drunk on Malibu and falling in love with her English teacher, and the present, where Sarah and her sister Juliette are on a road trip around Scotland to celebrate Juliette’s birthday.
On paper, the book is everything I love - literary fiction, the struggles and experiences of being a young woman in the 90s, complex relationships, grappling with young love and coming of age, but sadly it seems somewhat underdeveloped and lacking in cohesion.
I would also argue that it all feels a bit messy - granted, I think this is partially intentional, it suits the narrative and the lifestyle of Sarah, but I also think there are elements of the story that just don’t land very well. For example, I love the sister trope and feel as though that could have been explored far more and to greater effect. I feel similarly about the experiences of sexual assault, as these seemed to crop up unexpectedly and then disappear again after limited exploration which felt jarring and difficult to process.
Ultimately, all the ingredients are there, but the end product just isn’t quite what the recipe promised.
Watching…
Four Seasons (Netflix)
My sister and I have been watching Four Seasons on Netflix as our easy watch when Josh is out of the house and we just want something we’re not seriously committed to.
The show, which stars Tina Fay and Steve Carrell, follows three middle-aged couples who regularly go on holiday and spend weekends together at each others’ homes. But when one of the couples end up separating, it throws the whole setup into disarray.
We’re now six episodes in (there are eight in total) and I wouldn’t say the show is anything groundbreaking, but it is very funny and offers a sometimes heartbreaking, but more often heartwarming, look at what it’s like to separate later in life and the twists and turns of navigating a separation, whether you’re the one going through it or a friend on the outside trying to do the right thing to help.
The fact that the episodes are only half an hour long (something that I feel is too rare these days!) is also a win when you just need a small morsel of something in the evening.
Say Nothing (Disney+)
The current group watch (whatever I’m watching at home with both Josh and Hattie) is Say Nothing on Disney+, which we started last week.
For those who don’t know (you will do soon when my final God-tier books post is published), Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe is one of my favourite books of all time, so I’m not actually quite sure why it’s taken me so long to get around to watching the series.
My mum and her side of the family are also Northern Irish and she and her siblings grew up in Belfast during The Troubles so the historical events explored by Radden Keefe are something that is very real for me.
The series follows the lives of a number of people who were involved in The Troubles in one way or another. The brutal abduction of Jean McConville, who was taken from her flat in West Belfast by members of the Provisional IRA in December 1972, acts as a starting off point for both the book and the series. What unfolds is unimaginable.
We have only watched one episode so far and the focus has mainly been on setting up the story and getting to know two of the key players: the Price sisters - Dolours and Marian - and their background, association with Gerry Adams, and subsequent involvement in the IRA. But, so far so good.
I have read mixed reviews and I’m sure the series will not be without its flaws but I will never get over how interesting this period of history is and I’m therefore a sucker for any media which explores it. The very fact that The Troubles only (officially) ended in the year I was born will never fail to blow my mind. I would easily believe it if someone told me the story of Say Nothing was fiction. But it’s not. It’s very very real.
Listening…
The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland (BookBeat)
As you will soon learn in an upcoming post on my audiobook conundrum, I am incredibly fussy about what books I am actually able to enjoy listening to. In short, it has to have multiple narrators or be a memoir narrated by the author.
With that knowledge, my most recent pick is The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland, which falls into the former category. As audiobook-specific recommendations/reviews don’t tend to be very common in mainstream media, my selection process is very much trial and error so I went in with little to no expectations for this one.
As it stands, I’m 62% of the way through and would say it’s currently sitting around three-star territory. The story sees four Londoners from varying backgrounds and walks of life come together for a somewhat experimental therapy session once a week. Each of the characters has had an experience of grief that has led them to therapy and as the story unfolds the reader discovers more details about the individuals and the traumas they have been through.
It’s a gentle book, about friendships and finding strength and hope amongst people who you may never have looked twice at if you walked past them in the street. I also keep reminding myself that the opening suggested there will be a twist and I’m really hoping it will be a good one, which might level things up.
I must also warn you that the characters dip into cringey territory and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s cringe. So, I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t found myself considering whether to DNF on a couple of occasions but now I’m more than half way through, I’ll definitely persevere as I’m intrigued to see where it goes but I wouldn’t say I’m expecting anything major.