We very much enjoyed Last Tango in Halifax, and were then amazed to see Sarah Lancashire star as Julia Child. Granted, it might be difficult for you in the UK to take in the American cooking icon.
It’s only in recent days that I discovered she’d played Julia. I remember her early part in “Coronation Street” - a soap set near me - very lightweight, slightly humourous - a sort of “dizzy blond” character.
Last Tango was excellent - such a good cast. And set in the same area as Happy Valley - mainly the borough of Calderdale. Halifax is less than an hour from home.
Yes-- all four Tango leads. We’re big Nicola Walker fans, especially after learning her Cambridge “mother” was Sue Perkins who reportedly lost her bicycle
Nicola Walker has played a lot of cops in her career. Outstanding in “The Unforgotten”. The only time we’ve not enjoyed her performances was in “Annika” but that was much more about the improbability of the script and scenarios, than her actual acting.
I just finished season 7 of Shetland and figured it was the end of Perez. Maybe we will get a new series based on Ann Cleeves’ Two Rivers books. And yes, I am anxiously awaiting Happy Valley. I should probably watch season 1 & 2 again as it has been a long time and the memory fades.
I’m sorry, I don’t understand. I’ve been listening to the books on Audible, and know there is a podcast, but what is there to “see”?
She sure has gone after a lot of bad guys. We were charmed that beneath her easy grimness, she’s fun – see at about 5:50:
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I’m Nobody! Who are you?
Are you – Nobody – too?
Then there’s a pair of us!
Don’t tell! they’d advertise – you know!
How dreary – to be – Somebody!
How public – like a Frog –
To tell one’s name – the livelong June –
To an admiring Bog!
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I just finished reading “After I do” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I read it in a day, I couldn’t put it down.
This book (novel) actually belongs to my girlfriend, one of her friends recommended it, so we got a used copy off of Abe Books. I was curious about it (based on the title), read the first few pages and got hooked.
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I need to catch up on my entries. For now, though:
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The Dorito Effect.
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I admit, when I got a smartphone in 2014 or so (yes, I held out that long), my reading of actual books fell off a cliff. I’m trying to fix that though. I recently started The Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. It’s an epic sci-fi book written in 1930’s England, that purports to be a message sent back to us, the first race of man, from our descendants 2 billion years in the future. It’s full of interesting ideas, some of which remain prescient and vital, and some of which are hopelessly ‘of their time’. What is noteworthy is the quality of the writing. Sci-fi authors are not usually known for their literary skills. The language deployed by Asimov, Bradbury, Clark, et al is usually practical and economical. One does not often look to descriptions of robotic servants or space battles to find nice turns of phrase. Here though, it’s clear that the ‘authors’ of the message (as well as Stapledon himself) wish to make an emotional, as well as rational appeal to the reader, and the language reflects that beautifully.
This book was, improbably, made into a film directed and scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson. Worth checking out.
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Do you mean you listened to audiobooks instead?
Don’t I wish. No, I meant that I usually end up scrolling on my phone here or reddit or other nonsense in those spaces where I might otherwise be reading books.
I’ve never really picked up the audiobook habit. I’m not generally an extended road-trip type (a thing I notice seems to breed audiobook fans, understandably) and, well… I always felt like audiobooks were ‘cheating’ somehow. Authors write. Readers read. The author’s job is to get JUST the right words, description, punctuation, etc. to convey tone of voice, word emphasis, etc. When something is read TO you, you aren’t getting the author’s words, you’re getting one actor/speaker’s INTERPRETATION of the author’s words.
That bugs me, even as I can acknowledge it’s distinction that’s mostly without real meaning. Lots of folks seem to do audiobooks or podcasts while cooking, but I find that nearly impossible. I can’t both listen attentively to something AND pay attention to a new recipe.
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I got started on trips, but by plane.
I know people who shun audio books, and read articles about how it engages you differently, including in terms of how the brain processes it, but it beats television sometimes, and I can listen in the garden. The narrator has a tremendous impact and get their own reviews! I wonder how authors feel about it.
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It would entirely depend on the level of royalties being paid. I have the same attitude towards Kindle.
For example, the first of my books is available at £15.23, yet the Kindle version is £3.99. I receive the same percentage of sale price (generally 7%). So, roughly speaking, I need to sell nearly four Kindles to earn the same as one actual book.
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I know that occasionally some authors read their own books. I think Neil Gaiman has done some of them.
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Yes, Michelle Obama reading Becoming was a delight. My other favorite was Carly Simon memoir, Boys in Trees, where she narrated and also sang in between chapters.
I listen to the majority of books on Audio now usually when I’m walking and when I’m really involved I carry it around the house listening while I’m doing chores, cooking or gardening. Narrator is really important, but I’ve only stopped listening once and got the book on kindle and I’ve listened to hundreds of books.
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Jo Nesbø’s Killing Moon, the latest Harry Hole novel.
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