Reading, Listening, Watching 6

What I've liked about these strange times is there's lots of time for reading or watching your favourite shows. It means I'm getting more reading done than normal, get to play games, and even watch our favourite TV shows and movies. Don't forget, you can always let me know what you've been reading, listening to, and watching - I'm always looking for recommendations.

Reading

Another post another book finished. I finished Artemis since I last wrote and moved onto a new book called Dark Matter. Artemis was different again and I enjoyed reading a story with a strong female main character. I'll be writing a review of Artemis in the coming months but for now I'll just say I'd recommend it. I've read Dark Matter before, a while back and I do remember the story but that's okay because it's good. The chapters are long but so far I'm about a quarter of the way through it. 

The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.

Blake Crouch, Dark Matter

With the first draft finished I've moved on to the editing stage of my novel and I've been reading articles that could help with that. There's plenty of information online for aspiring authors including articles about self-publishing (if that's the route you're choosing), how to grow your email list, and even articles that help with story structure and editing. 

Listening

Mostly I've been listening to the News or instrumental playlists. I've been concentrating on getting the first draft finished, which is now done, and music with words was distracting me so I switched it up for a while. I find Apple Music really good for that, they have curated playlists that last hours and it's useful when I don't want to spend time searching for music to play. 

Watching

The Hubby and I have been continuing with Private Practice and we're on Season 3. It's good to have something on the go that isn't quite so intense, something with a bit of light relief. We started Season 3 of Westworld recently too, and I have to say I'm a little disappointed. We watched Season 1 and were blown away, it was a great storyline and executed well, but since then the franchise seems to have gone downhill. Season 2 was disappointing, although still in the same world with the same characters. For Season 3 they seem to have gone for the 'let's confuse our viewers so much that they think it's awesome because they have no idea what's going on'. As far as I'm concerned if you have no idea what's going on how can you possibly enjoy it? Whatever happened to intrigue? Suspicion? It's all too focussed on action than the story and I don't enjoy those kinds of shows.

I've always loved a good story. I believed that stories helped us to ennoble ourselves, to fix what was broken in us, and to help us become the people we dreamed of being. Lies that told a deeper truth.

Ford, Westworld Season 1

Then there's 13 Reasons Why and again I have a similar feeling, although I can follow the storyline a little better with this because they can't really have action in it. There's a lot of skipping about which makes it hard to follow what's actually going on. I can understand they want to create wonder about the show, but sometimes this can be taken too far. I do like 13 Reasons Why, but I wonder if I'll enjoy this season the least because of the direction they've taken the show. Time will tell.

As well as the TV shows we've allocated Saturdays as our movie night, it's also the night we drink alcohol. We settle down with a good bourbon and coke after the kids have gone to bed and select a movie. Two weeks ago we watched Hot Fuzz, a movie featuring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost about a quiet British village. It's a funny, entertaining, action-filled movie that will make you laugh. Music & Lyrics featuring Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant is a typical rom com, it's an easy watch and because Hugh Grant's character is an old 80s star trying desperately for a come-back it is massively entertaining - particularly if you grew up in the 80s. Last Saturday we watched Robocop (the original) and laughed hysterically at the animations of robots. Then we watched The Running Man, again another funny one but only because of when it was made. Interestingly it is set in the year 2017. Full of action and violence it's not a movie I would usually choose but it's a classic (for us) and we couldn't resist.

Have you watched anything entertaining lately?