This Week In Recommendations - 16.04.23

Breaking my book buying ban, a cinema resulting in a movie recommendations and sharing some future plans

Apr 15, 2023

Hello and welcome to this weeks You Should Check Out. I had a very unexpected week which threw some of my plans in the air but, the main thing is everything is back to normal now. Since we last spoke, my herbs are all planted and my potatoes have sprouted so by the time you read this, they will be planted!

I also have, as I write this, just about fully recovered from Monday’s episode of Succession. WHAT A GUT PUNCH!! What an episode. WOW.

I gave my bookshelves a bit of an organise mid week since the sun was beating in and they look so fresh and glorious in the sunshine. Only a couple of shelves to go before they will be at full capacity - that happened quicker than I thought! I also went for a little date night for some pizza which was lush and went to the cinema to see a movie that I’ll mention below. So with my week out the way, let me get into this weeks recommendations!

READING

I managed to read two books this week and they were both very good. I had planned to manage to squeeze in another but time ran away from me since I’ve been so busy.

Elena Knows by Claudia Piñero, translated by Frances Riddle, is the story of a mothers quest to find the truth out about her daughters death. Elena’s daughter Rita was found dead hanging from the bell tower of the church she was involved with. The police have ruled this as suicide but, Elena does not believe her daughter would ever take her own life. The book follows her on her journey to get answers. A literal journey where she travels a difficult route to settle an old debt - and have a difficult conversation. Whenever I’ve seen this shared on social media, it is always about how it is almost ‘true crime’ like. But, I couldn’t disagree more. This book yes, does have a focus on Rita’s death and their mother/daughter relationship. But, Elena has Parkinson’s disease. This is slowly debilitating her more and more. Her journey is made more difficult due to the way the illness takes hold of her body. I had limited knowledge of Parkinson’s and this book sheds light on how cruel and brutal it is. There was a mystery throughout but it was much, much more than that. It is in three parts and I found the middle part a little slower than the others but, 4 star rating from me. Highly recommend!

This next novel was very unexpected and that was Close To Home by Michael Magee. I bought this expecting this to be a sibling drama but this wasn’t what I got. Instead we follow Sean who lives in Belfast in the aftermath of The Troubles. He managed to escape his hometown to go study English in Liverpool. But he winds up back in the town he was raised in with a degree not worth the paper it is written on. There are no jobs and Sean falls into a lifestyle of heavy drinking, drug taking and getting into trouble - big trouble. When he loses his cool at a party one night and punches a fellow party-goer, he winds up in trouble with the law. He also has to juggle his older brother who is completely off the rails. Although the role of his brother doesn’t play a huge part in the book as much as I thought, this was a very well executed story of feeling helpless, stuck in a cycle, poverty, addiction and family trauma. It is raw, gritty and utterly mesmerising. Despite thinking the book was different from the blurb, I adored this story more. I felt so sorry for Sean whilst also wanting to shake him so badly. It has similar vibes to Shuggie Bain. Loved this one and probably would give it 4.25 stars.

ONE FROM THE ARCHIVES

A book with the same raw, gritty feeling Close To Home gave me is In Our Mad And Furious City by Guy Gunarante. This was on the Booker long list a few years ago which is how I wound up reading it but, I loved this. This was so atmospheric. It follows a group of boys living in a London high-rise estate that is rough. They have a love for grime and girls. Navigating the city and elements like race, religion etc, it is multi-layered and brilliant. Plus it is written in slang which I loved. Highly recommend!

NEW IN BOOKS

So yeah, remember my book buying ban? I broke it earlier this week. It has been a challenging week and I’d had my eye on these and I even read one. But three weeks was good going and gave me time to clear some of my physical TBR.

I’ve already touched on Close to Home. I picked up Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet. The premise of this one has really reeled me in. A woman believes her sister has been driven to suicide by a charismatic psychotherapist, Collins Braithwaite. So, she creates a new identity and presents herself as a new patient to him. The story is split between her account and Braithwaite’s account. Sounds very intriguing.

My next book is also one I have had one my wish-list for such a long time (and can justify as podcast research). Fangirls: Scenes from Modern Music Culture by Hannah Hewes is an exploration of the female dominance in “fandoms” and the structure and role they play in the music industry - and how artists can be propped up by such a loyal force. I was a fangirl as a teen and reckon this will make me feel nostalgic. Plus, I am craving some non-fiction and this sounds perfect!

INTERNET READING

WATCHING

I have watched so many wonderful things on TV this week. I am still glued to Race Around The World on BBC iPlayer and loving the pool of contestants they have this year. I have also been enjoying Gordon Ramsay’s Food Stars which is also on iPlayer. It is like a foodie apprentice with contestants who have food brands/products fighting for investment from Gordon. I love the tasks and since The Apprentice has been rubbish this year, it has filled that void.

I binged over two nights Beef on Netflix and wow, I loved this!!! Everyone has been watching this it seems and I have to say, it is worth the hype. It follows Amy and Danny who get into a heated road rage exchange. They are then hellbent on revenge on one another and it descends into absolute chaos. It was wacky, fun and had such a great mix of characters. I flew through this and thoroughly recommend - it is brilliant!

A new show to me but has been out for a some time now is Hacks. Deborah Vance is a legendary comedian with a historic long standing residency in Las Vegas. But her jokes and popularity are drying up. Ava is a struggling comedy writer struggling to find work after being cancelled over a tweet she sent. She is assigned to write new jokes and revive Deborah’s career. The show explores their very almost mentor like relationship. It is lighthearted, very funny and there are some episodes that I loved - that Vegas episode in Season 1 for example! I’m onto season 2 now and I’ll be sad to finish this. It is very clever.

And on Friday night I took a trip to the cinema for the first time in AGES to see Air - the story of the Michael Jordan Nike deal. WOW. I enjoyed this so much. I had heard great things but it exceeded by expectations. It is a great story of how Nike brokered their deal with Michael Jordan and how the team helped make that happen. Great actors with great storytelling. At the end, when text started to come up with facts, I thought to myself surely this isn’t the end? I can’t have been watching this for nearly two hours? But it was and that just goes to show how engrossed I was. One of the best films I’ve seen - especially in the cinema - in a long, long time.

LISTENING

I listened to a mix of different podcasts this week and started a new series that I’ve loved and been completely perplexed by.

That podcast is A Very British Cult. I’ve added the first episode to the above playlist. I feel like when we hear the word cult, we automatically think of the U.S but this is the story of a cult based in the UK. The podcast tells the story of Jeff who was part of a cult named operation Lighthouse and managed to escape. What started out as a book club on Facebook for self development spiralled into something much more darker. Much more sinister. Disguised as mentorship, Jeff was completely taken advantage of. It is a compelling story and one that had me flabbergasted.

I also listened to Brian Cox being interviewed on The Rest Is Politics - Leading. This was an interview about Brian’s love for Scotland, his political alignment, his childhood growing up in Dundee and of course, Succession. He came across very passionate for his country, acting and I found him very easy to listen to.

I then listened to the No Filter podcast episode titled Gwyneth Paltrow and The Rise of New Gurus. Man, this as such a goooood listen. It touched on Gwyneth Paltrow’s company GOOP and the wellness industry. The podcast explored the rise of ‘gurus’ that are online preaching their agenda. It touched on Andrew Tate and also the rebranding of Russell Brand and how he went from a comedian living life to the excess to now living a clean, vegan lifestyle but pushing various different political and social agendas on Rumble - a new platform he now exclusively charges members to access his content after being kicked off Youtube for violating its terms. It was a good deep dive on the topic and gave good food for thought.

The last episode is from The Intelligence from The Economist. This episode covered a few topics including The Good Friday Agreement. But, for me, I was listening for the story that sales have cooled on Picasso’s art. I recently read Life With Picasso by Françoise Gilot a couple of months ago which I spoke about in that weeks issue of the Low Down. I was in shock at how brutally awful Picasso was to people. How smug, pompous and vile he was - especially towards women. But now, cancel culture is creeping up on his art sales. With quotes he said such as “There are two types of women - goddesses and doormats” - it seems like finally his behaviour, albeit in my eyes probably a little too late, will have some sort of effect on his art and legacy. I really enjoyed this!

ANTICIPATING

I’ve decided that this year, I’m going to read the shortlist for the Women’s Prize For Fiction. I am so hoping Wandering Souls makes that list as it blew me away and I’m still talking about it. I have also already read I’m A Fan which I liked too! I already own some of the titles but the announcement is the 26th of April so I’m excited to see what makes the final list! I’m thinking of documenting this on not just Instagram but Tiktok too. Just my opinions and thoughts etc. Stay tuned for how that takes shape.

I have wanted to decorate my bedroom for a while now and have been going back and forth over what to do it like. My downstairs living room/kitchen/dining space is all very neutral with pops of warmth. And all other rooms are grey apart from my reading room which is green and colourful. So I’ve finally settled on doing a sort of cosy, cottage vibe. Think Soho House vibes meets The White Company with some wooden features, brass and floral/gingham prints. So excited to see the space take shape.

And on Friday I managed to get tickets to see SZA!!! I am a huge fan. To get to hear Drew Barrymore live is making me so excited. Another summer gig to add to the list. My summer is shaping up to be a right cracker and this is another thing to add to the list.

And that is it for this weeks You Should Check Out. I have some nice plans for the week ahead - a podcast recording, a nice weekday gig and starting to get my bedroom in order to decorate. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and as always, I’d love to hear from you! Comment below or you can follow me on Instagram. Thanks for reading x