Stuff I've been Reading April 19

I never did go back and talk about the March books. There were some great things in there,  not least a blank verse werewolf novel. I know, right. There was also a Zadie Smith. I seem to enjoy every other novel she writes, Swingtime was a good un, far more enjoyable than the Ulysseslite of N-W.

Anyway, April:
Educated- Tara Westover
Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
Moneyball - Michael Lewis
Normal People - Sally Rooney

I meant to join a bookgroup that was reading Educated. I didn't bother. But I read their book, which I believe is the opposite of people that are in bookgroups. Educated was scary, it was an autobiography of someone roughly my age, but it read like a cartoon.

Seven Deaths was ace, it had me on the edge of the proverbial seat, largely as I had no idea what was going on.

Talking of having no idea what was going on: Moneyball. It's one of those books you're supposed to have read, right? The fact that I know nothing about baseball (It's just rounders in uniform, right?), meant that I didn't understand about ten percent of it and didn't care about another twenty. Still found it quite interesting which probably says a lot about Michael Lewis.

And Normal People was brilliant. Entirely not what I would normally read, but brilliant. If I say too much more about it I'm going to sound like a literary critic and that was never the idea.

Beer Pilgrimage

Huddersfield. Now there's a place I've not been to before. And. Place were you can get a decent beer. We went up to visit the Magic Rock brewery. Turns out Magic Rock is great and that Hudsersfield has somewhat embraced the craft beer scene: Arcade, Grove and The Sportsman's Arms all had selections designed for the Magic Rock pilgrims.

We've joined the English Heritage, because that seems like a grown up thing to do. We broke both journeys at country estates: Brodsworth Hall with its weird grotto garden and Kirby Hall with its peacocks and missing roof. Well grown up.

We also broke the journey north with a trip to Stilton. I wouldn't bother.

City Walls

Ooh, a new city. Although it probably shouldn't be. Given how long I lived in the Northwest it's weird, maybe even embarrassing, that I never made it to Chester. Turns out it's alright. It has walls and ruins; a river and a clock. Everything you need for a city, right?

Talking of ruins, had a visit to Beeston Castle too. Now there's a ruin on a hill. The views are spectacular; makes the whole of Cheshire looks like a model trainset.

Pop (Goes the Weasel)

And a weekend of things that I've only heard about in the last six months but really should have known about for ages.

Mothers' day and three generations of selfindulgentnonsense headed down to the British Wildlife Centre. You heard of that? Well you should. It's ace. It's a zoo but all the animals are local. None of this elephant lion nonsense. Here the apex predators are badgers.

It meant I got to see those animals that, to date, I'd only seen from a passing car. I saw a badger doing a snuffle, a weasel looking like a tiny, teleporting meercat and an ADHD stoat. Plus some harvest mice, which are tiny.

Saturday was the Bermondsey Beer Mile. Now you've heard of that, right? Turns out Bermondsey has gentrified whilst I wasn't looking. Who'd have thought? Best beer of the mile - Brew by Numbers. Best discovery - smoked lager.

Stuff I've been Reading - March:

Stellig - David Almond
The World Made Straight - Ron Rash
Sharp Teeth - Toby Barlow
Help - Simon Amstell
Siege Mentality - Christopher Brookmyre
Swingtime - Zadie Smith

Nice Puns

I wasn't sure what to make of Nice at first. I mean I liked the way there were signs for things like "Nice helicopters", that made me smile, but getting into the city itself, it just seemed really resorty. And resorty in that seedy resorty way of, as soon as you are off the seafront then the whole place is a bit unpleasant. But then you find yourself in Place Massena and you realise that it will all be alright after all.

Had a day trip to Monaco. I thinks it's fair to say that Monaco is not Nice. And that works both ways. The setting is spectacular but the man-made additions are just ugly. For somewhere so dripping with wealth you kind of expect everything to be a bit more cared for.

Had a coffee at the Monte Carlo Casino. Sneered at the super yachts in the marina. Wandered Monaco-Vieux with its sub-Corniglia streets amd figured that the country probably isn't for me. Box ticked, back to the Nice streets.

Stuff I've Been Reading (Feb 19)

Books read:

Drunk Folk Tales - Beans on Toast
Straight out of Crawley - Romesh Ranganathan
The Portrait - Antoine Laurain
Fox8 - George Saunders
Carra - Jamie Carragher
Tom's midnight garden - Philippa Pearce

When I read the Polysyllabic Spree I was travelling, so my book choice was largely limited to what I could find in book swaps. Which made taking Nick Hornby's recommendations a bit less straightforward. The only book I remember reading as a result of the Polyphonic Spree was Stuart A Life Backwards. Having access to the Internet whilst reading this follow up is dangerous - I now have eight books on the go. Which is ridiculous.

It was a surprisingly autobiography-y month. Three of them, all from people roughly my age. Which is a bit weird. Not wholly sure why I read the Jamie Carragher one, it was recommended to me a decade or so ago but I have no idea by who. The only person it could have been has assured me it wasn't him. Hmmm.

I found the Beans on Toast book the most relatable. It felt like hearing your mate's anecdotes down the pub. Something which the Carra book just didn't quite pull off.

Everyone loves a non human narrator, right? And I'm fairly sure Fox8 was the first book I've read narrated by a fox. Which is obviously ace. Plus George Saunders. And it's only little so you may as well read it.

Not sure how I hadn't read Tom's Midnight Garden before. Apparently it was voted second best children's book of the last seventy years, after His Dark Materials. I really enjoyed it. Which I guess shouldn't be a surprise.

___________

At the start of the Nick Hornby book he talks about how books would never have the same cultural impact as songs, as (paraphrasing) they take too long to read, so (generally) by the time you've read the latest book it's not that new anymore. In a similar vein, I was chatting to Ollie from Hopsters about how beers were like music used to be, how you could get excited about trying something new. How a limited edition Tiny Rebel and Deya collaboration NEIPA was like finding a rare b-side back in the nineties, beforemusic became so easily accessible. With that in mind...

Beers supped:

Yeah yeah yeah - Magic Rock x Wylam
Skeletory - Northern Monk x Deya
Putty - Verdant
Tiny Rebel birthday collaboration beers
It's this way Tony and Juice Campbell - Brew York
Caracolillo - Watson's
Chasing mirrors through a haze - Wylam
Little Urchin and Wormburner - Time and Tide

There are some big names in there, right? I think Wormburner was my favourite.

Bonn Chic, Bonn Genre

First time out of the country in five months - which I think is the longest I've been in one country in a decade - so a good time to reignite that winter trip to Germany thing.

I went to Cologne a few years back. It was the first time I'd seen the padlocks-on-a-bridge thing. At the time I thought it was something different, something to remark upon. Now it's remarkable in a whole other way. There are so many padlocks - no more than the amount you're currently thinking. Double it. Still more.

The other things I remembered about Cologne: 1. everyone wears fancy dress as a practice for the crazy days and 2. they eat their sausages raw. Both of those things were very much in evidence.

Aside from that I eas disappointed by how little I saw before, there is a whole load more city than just the old town. There's a sculpture garden where they have massive fried eggs; there's a botanic gardens where they have purple lawns; there's a river walk where you get to see crows pecking eagles. What's not to like?

Bonn on the other hand just came across as Cologne light. It probably didn't help that everything was closed but so much was just a rubbish version of Cologne. Don't get me wrong, it was a perfectly pleasant city. It just wasn't Cologne.

I've been reading "Stuff I've been Reading" by Nick Hornby. Much like the Polysyllabic Spree before it, it's made me want to catalogue everything I've read. Hmmm...