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Looks like they’ve turned up at Larry David’s house

Really enjoying the new Waxahatchee album, Tigers Blood. I think I like it even more than the last album, which I played a lot.

Add me to the people who enjoyed One Day. I really enjoy these types of stories (see also Normal People from a couple of years ago). Despite being nothing like the main characters I found myself relating to them in one way or another.

The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. A dying man trying to come to terms with what’s happening and how he got there. I liked it but I’m not sure I really liked any of the characters.

I use The Storygraph; assume most of these apps are the same but I’d saw some recommendations for it and downloaded it. Let’s you track what you’re reading, gives recommendations etc.

I listened to Live and Let Die last year. Not a great book but made all the more…interesting…by Rory Kinnear trying to do a load of black Harlem accents.

I use audible when I’m driving; usually easier stories that you can follow while you’re concentrating on the road. I like it for that. I'm reading War and Peace this year, a chapter a day, and instead of taking the book on holiday I decided to get the audiobook with one of my audible credits. It’s absolutely awful as the narrator gives everyone terrible English accents. I get that it’d probably sound daft if he was putting on Russian accents for most of the characters but it put me right off it until I got home and started reading the book again.

My parents got my 2 year old daughter a load of large soft play blocks, ramps, mats etc for her birthday last year. So much so that we wouldn’t have had the space to lay it all out or store it properly. I was livid when they brought it in the house; took about 4 trips to the car. They were told to take it back and rein it in, which didn’t go down too well.

I listened to the audiobook of Matthew Perry’s book not long after it was released and thought it was very frank (in a good way) and honest. It was read by him so it made it all the more so. On audiobooks, I usually listen to these while driving, and started to make my way through the James Bond series last year. The stories themselves hold up quite well but Bond (Fleming?) comes across horribly sometimes. I guess it’s just of it’s time. They’re read by some pretty famous actors so have still been enjoyable enough. I’m about half way through the series just now.

I just finished this tonight and also loved it. I hadn’t a clue which direction is was going to go in after the end of the first episode and some of it is absolutely bonkers, but that’s all part of the charm.

1. The Wire 2. Deadwood 3. Twin Peaks 4. Peep Show 5. Lost 6. The Office (UK) 7. Spiral 8. The Simpsons 9. Friday Night Lights 10. Normal People

That album always brings back good memories of my uni days. I saw them twice live around that time at the abc in Glasgow and then a few years ago at their comeback, of sorts, at St. Luke’s. There was supposed to be a new album in the works but I haven’t heard anything about it for a while now.

I didn’t mind Osman too much on Pointless but his twitter feed was insufferable, self-satisfied drivel. I fully expect his books to be in the same vein.

It took me 2-3 chapters to get used to the language but it’s a great book once you do. It’s amazing how you get used to it.

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka Really interesting take on a whodunnit set against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war. The title character is dead and trying to find out who killed him. Thought this was great. It won the Booker Prize last year but I hadn’t really seen any publicity for it.

I find audiobooks of autobiographies quite good if it’s the person reading it. Bob Mortimer’s was great. It took me time to get used to them, but I tend to listen now if I’m driving. I’ve just bought a Hobbit/LOTR book set 2nd hand from eBay, as I had a notion for something a bit different from my usual reads. If and when I get round to them, I’ll let you know how it goes.

Even looking back, I’d say the majority of them hold up quite well. Obviously times moved on, but something like Super Mario World still looks and plays pretty well. I was playing some SNES games on Switch, and Donkey Kong Country, which I thought looked amazing at the time, has really aged poorly in comparison.

At the end of last season I’d probably have been content with re-signing Donnelly as a squad player but that was before we signed up Lyons/Polworth and kept a hold of McInroy. We’ve essentially just swapped Power for Magennis and went with it again. We’ve definitely improved other positions, on paper, but badly need at least one more option upfront.

It depends what you’re interested in. He’s written books that’re a lighter read than Brighton Rock. Give Our Man In Havana a go, or for something more intense, try The Power and The Glory. I’m enjoying the book I’m currently ready. It’s a bit of a whodunnit with a twist, and set against the Sri Lankan civil war.

Chernobyl Prayer is incredibly interesting but you’re right, it’s a depressing account. I dipped in and out of it when I read it. Took me a while to read. On Graham Greene, I’ve read 5 of his books this year and enjoyed them all in different ways. I’ve got another couple to read but taking a break from him and reading The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida just now.

I’ve watched the first 2 eps so far. What an incredible bunch of contestants.

Doctor Fischer of Geneva or The Bomb Party by Graham Greene Doctor Fischer is a multi-millionaire who toys with his group of ‘friends’ and shows them up as greedy sycophants who’d do anything to be richer still. Told from the point of view of estranged daughter’s husband who he’s started to invite to his infamous parties. Thought it was the weakest of the Greene books I’ve read so far but it’s interesting enough and only about 140 pages.

Fresh out of uni about 15 years ago, I responded to a job ad requesting graduates in a few different disciplines. A few minutes into the interview it became clear the job was door to door sales for an electricity company. I didn’t respond to them asking me back to shadow someone for the day. The thing I remember most was going to the interview and there were at least 20-30 other mugs waiting to be seen at the same time I was.

The Lottery - Shirley Jackson Short story set in a small American town which holds an annual lottery - you don’t find out what the lottery is until the end. Themes of blind tradition throughout; it’s a quick read but well worth your time. My Life - Anton Chekov Follows the life of a man in a provincial Russian town who decides to be a labourer despite being born into relative nobility. Pretty interesting themes that’re in part relatable, even growing up in small town/village Scotland.