MUSIC - JUNE
BIOGRAPHICAL/GEOGRAPHICAL INTERLUDE
My in-laws inherited some money and took us to Japan in July. It was hot. It was humid. The ages in our party ranged from 10 to 70-mumble. I was the only one with any non-Duolingo, non-Google Translate Japanese education (School C baby!). We did a fairly standard Greatest Hits route (Tokyo, Kyoto/Osaka/Nara, Hiroshima).
And... it was great.
BOOKS
(lotta travel / sharing rooms with snuffly kids = lotta audiobooks)
The Proof of My Innocence by Jonathan Coe (novel, audiobook, UK) - good
Playworld by Adam Ross (novel, audiobook, US) - Felt like a novel written by someone immersed in the college creative writing industrial machine who takes a long time between books. Oh wait...
Pounamu Pounamu by Witi Ihimaera (short stories, audiobook, NZ)
How to Hold a Cockroach by Matthew Maxwell (fiction?, audiobook, US) - just don't.
Careless People: a story of where I used to work by Sarah Wynn-Williams (non-fiction, audiobook, NZ)
Courting the Wild Twin by Martin Shaw (non-fiction, audiobook, UK)
Universality by Natasha Brown (novel, audiobook, UK) - on the Booker Longlist... didn't hit for me like Brown's debut, Assembly.
Flesh by David Szalay (novel, audiobook, UK/Hungary) - on the Booker Longlist... this one hit for me. V v v v v good.
The Forgotten Forest by Robert Vennell (non-fiction, audiobook, NZ)
The Wretched of the Earth by Franz Fanon (non-fiction, audiobook, France)
Pure Innocent Fun by Ira Madison III (non-fiction, audiobook, US) - contender for the most annoying book of the year.
A Beautiful Family by Jennifer Trevelyan (novel, audiobook, NZ) - not what I was expecting. Much more subdued than I presumed from the hype.
Slow Down: The Degrowth Manifesto by Kohei Saito (non-fiction, audiobook, Japan)
Well Met by Jen DeLuca (novel, audiobook, US) - trope-city.
The Shetland Way by Marianne Brown (non-fiction, audiobook, UK)
Perspectives by Laurent Binet (novel, audiobook, France) - a few aspects are hard to believe, but there should be more intellectual romps.
A Lack of Good Sons by Jake Arthur (poetry, physical book, NZ)
The Bookshop Detectives: Dead Girl Gone by Gareth Ward and Louise Ward (novel, audiobook, NZ)
Landfall 249 (literary journal, physical book, NZ)
Demolition of the Century by Duncan Sarkies (novel, physical book, NZ)
Star Gazers by Duncan Sarkies (novel, physical book, NZ) - check out my review for Landfall here.
MOVIES & TV
Shoresy Season 1 - Why can't I get the later seasons in NZ? Why!?
The Eternaut Season 1
Dept Q Season 1
The Bear Season 4
Welcome to Wrexham Season 4
Paddington in Peru
Gladiator 2
Sharko
Tenet*
(I'm forgetting what else I watched on the plane...)
Happy Gilmore 2
Unreal (WWE) Season 1
Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe Season 1
MUSIC - JULY
