How to curate one’s reading? I’ve been in the mood for memoirs exploring personal loss. Death of a loved one. Illness. Then, today, something flipped in me. What I need, I whispered, is thrills and puzzles. So I’ve begun five recent murder mysteries or thrillers. The winner of this year’s Gold Dagger. An Aussie debut. A fave author immersing me in Iceland. A spy thriller…
I read voraciously. As is the nature of such an activity, a few books are stunners, many are “good” or “quite wonderful” (I mean, I seek books I’ll enjoy, so this is no surprise), and a few are average or clunkers. Rarely do I not finish. Yesterday I tackled a memoir by a well-established author, one addressinga theme I’m partial to at the moment, namely grief…
A core joy in life is my review site Read Listen Watch. It consumes a huge chunk of my life: reading a book, watching a film/series, or listening to an album, every two days or so; writing a review; marketing the reviews on social media. Why do I do it? Well, I certainly see it as my gift to the world, an act of generosity. But to be honest, if I’m anything in this world, I’m a reader, a book…
I often crow to myself, hidden from others, that I retain a thirst for culture, at an age when most of my friends and acquaintances seem to shrink from immersion. But one cultural phenomenon leaves me cold: the podcast. It’s not that I don’t hanker to partake of this global phenomenon. Whenever anyone tells me of this stunning new podcast, or that beguiling one, I write it down on my…
When I began reviewing books, films, TV series, and rock albums in the spring of 2019, I had only a vague idea of how to review, how to organize, how to present. I just launched in without expertise and learned by doing. Nearly two years later, Read Listen Watch ticks along and it’s such a bounteous pleasure! For my own benefit, let me summarize what I do. Sourcing culture presents its own…
The wonderful author Susan Orlean, whose The Library Book I reviewed positively last year, has posted provocatively (at least in some circles) on “Confessions of a Kindle Convert.” It’s a post on Medium, so you might find it behind a paywall. Here is her concluding paragraph: I’m not a traitor to the cause of books. I would hate to have this be interpreted as 1) I don’t love…
Our Melbourne pandemic lockdown will continue through September, and then in a relaxed form through October, so I’m looking for a few hardy souls to help me tackle my cultural catch-up from 2019. Four books and three films that I should have read or watched, but for various reasons didn’t. We’re talking about award winners, we’re talking accolade-heavy, we’re…