Books and films so far this year...

See post below for an explanation of what I'm doing, but so far this year I have managed to consume...

Lisa Jewell, The Girls - this has been the most "chic lit" thing I've read. I used to really enjoy Lisa Jewell books years ago but hadn't read any for a while. It was good at the start but ended very abruptly, with some very improbable happenings to tie up various subplots.

Asne Seiersad, Bookseller of Kabul - This is a book drawn from the author's experience of living in Kabul after the fall of the Taliban. It's very sad with some initially sympathetic characters turning out to be not so sympathetic. It was like a small window into an Afghan family; any of the stories could have been their own book.

Philippa Gregory, The Virgin's Lover - a book about the scandalous love affair between Queen Elizabeth and Robert Dudley. The main character was Dudley's wife, Amy. Who is really fucking irritating and, abandoned by her Dudley, turns to the church to find a bloke to tell her what to do, which is to cling onto her husband. I was willing her to grow a spine...

Kazuo Ishiguoro, The Forgetful Giant - One of the disadvantages of doing a reading challenge is that you don't get to reread or really think about books. This book philosophised about the advantages and disadvantages of leaving the past behind and forgetfulness. I did really enjoy it but it was delibarately ambiguous and inconclusive. I think I'll reread it when I'm finished the challenge.

Anne de Courcy, The Fishing Fleet: Husband Hunting in the Raj - This was a history book about young women travelling to British India to marry. It was fascinating and well written, with plenty of anecdotes. However, I'm not entirely convinced the British in India were as straight laced as they'd have you believe, and I'd expected a bit more about the Indian Mutiny and losing the Raj. Very good, though.

Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography - A series of essays about geopolitical pressures and conflicts on Earth. Produced last year, I'd love to see an upate this year sometime. Assuming a Twitter inflicted Armageddon doesn't happen before the second edition is printed.

Terry Pratchett, the Shepherd's Crown - I loved Terry Pratchett all through my teens and early 20s, stopped reading for a few years, ordered this and then didn't read it at first. I wish I'd picked it up earlier as he never lost his flare for a moment. He introduces some fantastic new characters and I caught myself looking forward to the next Discworld novel to find out what happens next. Great as a book, bittersweet as a Pratchett fan.

Vicky Bhogal, Cooking with Mummyji  I saw this in a second hand shop and snapped it up as I love British Asian food and I'd meant to buy this when it came out, ages ago. I haven't cooked enough from it to review it as a receipe book but I enjoyed all the anecdotes. Interesting, for all the author makes great play of the matriarchal role in teaching cookery, a lot of the receipes are credited to her Dad.

And a film...

Trainspotting 2 - As mentioned, I don't get to the cinema very often, but everyone went to see this. It wasn't quite as sharp, funny or zeitgeisty as the original, but it was still excellent. The scene in the Orange Lodge was standout, and Begbie is more terrifying with age.

The culture project

I read about the 100 books in a year project recently and thought it'd be a good idea to try. I like reading but stuff going on have meant less time on this, and I'd like to rekindle my love of books. I'm a relatively fast reader, a skill the Boy, gratifyingly, seems to be picking up.

However, I know there are going to be dry reading months, and I've decided to make this 100 movies/books year. The reason is I love films almost as much as books but get only a small window at night after the Boy is in bed, or a rare date night, or a kids' film that we all want to go and see at the pictures (cinema or movies to you), to add to the total.

The rules are:

Mostly, any film or book counts to the total.

I will generally discount any kids DVD I wouldn't choose to watch without children (endless Thomas the Tank Engine and similar) or children's films I do find quite entertaining but can recite them backwards (anything featuring the Minions).

I started off this challenge trying to read literary books. This very quickly felt like the worthiest, most middle class project ever. Although I think I'd be failing the challenge if by the end I could say I'd read 100 romance novels, I'm aiming for a mix.

I'm not counting Game of Thrones because I love Game of Thrones and would watch it over and over again, forever. If I ever start watching any of the box sets everyone else raves about then I will probably count that. I will draw up the rules on box sets as I go along, if I have to.