My arts highlights of 2013

Apologies for the lack of posts over the last two months - I have hardly had time to read, yet alone blog. I work in a theatre and the pantomime season is obviously the busiest time of the year and with every other spare moment spent in the usual festive activities of shopping for presents, card writing and gift wrapping, there has not been much time for anything else.

The end of a year is always a time of reflection and I was thinking of some of my most memorable moments of the year in the form of books, films and theatre. Here are some of my highlights and I would love to hear about yours!

Iron Man 3 (film)
I really enjoy the Marvel films and had loved Avengers Assemble, so was looking forward to seeing how the events in that film had affected Tony Stark. The trailers made it appear like a straight-forward action / comic book film, but Iron Man 3 was actually one of the most surprising and thought-provoking films of the year. With its twists and turns and mix of predictability with genuine revelations, I kept changing my mind through the entire film of whether I actually liked it or not! My full review at the time is here

Les Miserables (film)
I was really intrigued as to how good a musical with A list stars (albeit ones with a theatres background) would be and the answer was stunning! Although I did have some criticisms, overall this is a stunning achievement by Tom Hooper. There are some fantastic performances, notably from Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman and Samantha Barks and the first time I saw the film, it left me in floods of tears. The sign of a good film? I went back for a second showing! My original review is here

Peter and Alice (theatre)
£10 tickets to see a brand new play starring Dame Judi Dench? Definitely an offer which cannot be turned down! Peter and Alice told the story of children who inspired the authors behind Peter Pan and Alice In Wonderland and their tragic adult lives. It was moving, beautiful to watch and a fantastic opportunity to see Judi Dench playing opposite her Skyfall co-star Ben Whishaw. My full review is here

The Cripple of Inishmaan (theatre)
The second play I saw as part of the Michael Grandage season at the Noel Coward Theatre, starred Daniel Radcliffe as a young cripple boy called Billy. This play had an impressive and colourful ensemble cast who were all brilliant. The politically incorrect humour was hilarious and mixed with some very moving moments, I genuinely did not know what was going to happen in the second act. My full review is here

Frozen (film)
This was the first animated Disney film that I had seen at the cinema since I was a child. After my love of Tangled and the brilliant teaser trailer of a struggle between Olaf the snowman and Sven the Reindeer, I had to experience this at the cinema. And this is definitely in the top three films of the year for me as I loved every second. Featuring some brilliant songs, which stay in your head after just one listen, an unpredictable story, stunning scenery and two strong female leads, Frozen is a treat for all ages. Its funny, sad and exciting and I can't wait for the DVD release so I can watch it again and again!

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (film)
I am so glad that I listened to the lovely lady in my local Waterstones last year when she recommended The Hunger Games series to me. I would probably have never read them otherwise and missed out the amazing story of Katniss Everdeen. I missed out on seeing the first Hunger Games film at the cinema as I had not read any of the books then and had no interest in it, but I did enjoy watching it on DVD and thought it was a good adaptation. But Catching Fire is in a league of its own. Bold, brutal and at times beautiful to watch, I did not want to miss a single second of this film. It stays so true to the book and it is amazing to see the arena and all its surprises come to life on screen. Jennifer Lawrence is just amazing as Katniss, and with strong support from Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson,Lenny Kravitz, Josh Hutcherson and Jenna Malone, it is acted really well. Although I had been looking forward to this film, I did not expect to love it as much as I did. And I did not expect it to move me as much as it did. It made me cry in several points and the final scene of an extreme close-up of Katniss' face showing shock, then disbelief, grief, anger and then a look of pure revenge is just genius and really heartbreaking. Do not be fooled in to thinking that this films are just for teenage girls - the Hunger Games is brave film-making which makes you think and has real heart. I cannot wait for Mockingjay next year!

Other films I saw at the cinema this year included: Skyfall, Life of Pi, Great Expectations, Quartet, Hyde Park on Hudson, Lincoln, Hitchcock, To The Wonder, This Is 40, Oz The Great and Powerful, The Great Gatsby, Jurassic Park 3D Imax, Despicable Me 2, The World's End, Thor: The Dark World

I have read too many books this year to be able to pick out a couple of favourites so I have listed them all below. 2013 was the year I discovered Agatha Christie after visiting her holiday home in Devon. I love her writing and have plenty of her books to make my way through! I also read a lot of historical fiction as well as some 'different' books for me as part of my book club, receiving advance reading proofs from generous publishers and recommendations or gifts from family and friends:

The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton
The Cove - Ron Rash
Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
Citadel - Kate Mosse
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
One Hundred Names - Cecelia Ahern
The Red Queen - Philippa Gregory
The Girl You Left Behind - Jojo Moyes
A Study In Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Hound of the Baskervilles - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Valley of Fear - Arthur Conan Doyle
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Perfect - Rachel Joyce
The Sea Sisters - Lucy Clarke
And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
The Bellwether Revivals - Benjamin Wood
Dead Man's Folly - Agatha Christie
Longbourn - Jo Baker
Inferno - Dan Brown
The No 1 Ladies Detective Agency - Alexander McCall Smith
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Other Boleyn Girl - Philippa Gregory
Wolf Hall - Hilary Mantel
The Truth About Melody Browne - Lisa Jewell
Cat Among The Pigeons - Agatha Christie
Before I Go To Sleep - S.J. Watson
The Sacred River - Wendy Wallace
The Matchmaker - Stella Gibbons
Calling Me Home - Julie Kibler
The Silent Tide - Rachel Hore
Sense and Sensibility - Joanna Trollope
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon
The White Princess - Philippa Gregory
The World According To Bob - James Bowen
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch
4.50 From Paddington - Agatha Christie
The Invisible Kingdom - Rob Ryan
What Matters in Jane Austen - John Mullen
Bring Up The Bodies - Hilary Mantel
Black Roses - Jane Thynne
Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
Burning Bright - Tracy Chevalier
Girl Reading - Katie Ward
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
A Gift To Remember - Melissa Hill
The Mistletoe Bride and other Haunting Tales - Kate Mosse

I have received plenty of books for Christmas, so am making my way through those now as well as my book club read for January. I found some unread books at the back of one of my bookcases too, so I have plenty to keep me going through 2014!

Please let me know your highlights of 2013 and what you are looking forward to in 2014!

Happy New Year!

Black Roses Blog Tour

I am currently reading (and thoroughly enjoying!) Black Roses by Jane Thynne. It tells the story of a young actress called Clara Vine who travels to Berlin in 1933 in the hope of being cast in a feature film and becomes involved in a circle of Nazi wives including Magda Goebbels. She meets an undercover British intelligence agent called Leo Quinn and is recruited to spy on her new friends. Clara is soon caught in the battle between duty and love.


The publishers approached me to ask if I would like to host a day of Jane's Black Roses blog tour and the answer was a resounding YES! Below Jane explores the rise of the females spy, I'm sure you will agree it is fascinating stuff!

FEMALE SPIES

When I was at university, one thing everyone secretly hoped for was the discreet tap on the shoulder from an aged tutor - the legendary invitation to sherry that was supposed to signal a job offer from the British secret services. Stories abounded as to just who had received the call – a Bulgarian girl in my year who spoke seven languages was said to have been approached – but it never happened for me.  Nowadays, though, the covert sherry invitation is way out of date. Current recruitment for MI6 takes place via full page national newspaper advertisements, and the one thing they make abundantly clear is that the intelligence world is not an all-male preserve. The most recent advert bears a picture of a sexy, twenty-something woman sitting in a café with a cappuccino, with the caption, ‘As for the white, male stereotype, the truth is we don’t care what sex you are.’

Jane Thynne

In film and fiction too, the female agent is having a field day. Characters such as Carrie Mathison in Homeland, Eva Delecktorskaya in William Boyd’s Restless, and the CIA agent Maya in Zero Dark Thirty, are all part of a surge of interest in women spies, not to mention non-fiction accounts of SOE heroines like Christine Granville, Churchill’s favourite spy. As part of my research I asked certain people ‘who should know’ whether there was any quality that made women especially suited to espionage, and they told me that women’s superior powers of empathy are exceptionally useful when it comes to recruiting and communicating with agents in the field.

Yet none of this occurred to me when I wrote Black Roses! Set in 1930s Berlin, my heroine, Clara Vine, is an Anglo-German actress who is drawn into Nazi high society and comes to spy on them. The book came about because I was always fascinated by the Nazi wives, and how it would feel to be married to a man who gradually became a monster. The wives were close up to the action, they were privy to all the feuds and gossip, of which there were plenty in the Third Reich, and they had some pretty dramatic secrets of their own. It was stumbling across the explosive secret of Magda Goebbels, wife of Hitler’s Propaganda Minister, that inspired me to write the first in the Clara Vine series.   

And the idea of a woman like Clara spying on the private lives of the Third Reich wasn’t far-fetched. Pre-war, there were several English visitors who moved freely in German high society and agreed to spy on their hosts. They performed a very valuable service because British intelligence had been caught on the back foot by the Nazis’ seizure of power, being up until that time totally obsessed with the threat of Communism. The British establishment was divided, and while many senior figures like Winston Churchill realized the threat of the Nazi regime, others were intent on keeping Britain out of Hitler’s European wars. So the information which those visitors to Germany brought back about Hitler’s true intentions was invaluable.

As a novelist, I discovered that an actress/spy also proves the ideal protagonist, both because the metaphor of role-playing is an obvious one for a spy, but also because espionage involves those same qualities of close observation and heightened perception that writing does. It could be said that all writers, in a way, are spies, carrying their secrets close throughout the narrative, observing the way people speak, and act, and conceal their feelings, and above all trying very hard to weave a convincing tale.
Thanks so much to Jane for taking the time to write this feature and to Rik at Simon & Schuster for arranging this. Please check out the rest of Jane's blog tour below:

 

What Matters in Jane Austen?

I suppose you could say I'm a bit of a Jane Austen fan. I love all her novels especially the witty style of her writing and her colourful characters. I thought I knew all her work pretty well, but this amazing book explores and contrasts all Austen's writing in a brilliant way and I found out things I either did not know or had not noticed before.

For example:

Did you know that just one married woman in all of Jane Austen's novel refers to her husband by his first name? (Mary Musgrove in Persuasion if you were wondering)

Most of the scandal or inappropriate behaviour in Austen's novel occurs in a seaside location. (For example Lydia Bennet running off with Wickham in Brighton in Pride and Prejudice)

There are a number of key characters who actually never speak throughout the course of the novels - they are quoted by others or summarised by Austen rather than having any speech quoted to them.

There are many more fascinating points explored throughout twenty key questions with the Regency viewpoints of age, money and behaviour explained in detail. Income is discussed a great deal in by characters in Austen's novels especially when discussing appropriate suitors. I have usually found this a bit difficult to understand not knowing the value of money during that time, so this book sheds some light on what the average income and inheritance money would be. Therefore Mr Darcy was indeed very rich!

The book also explores how Austen commonly used details such as the weather, card games, character blunders and blushing as plot devices.

I really enjoyed reading this exploration of Austen's novels and it has made me want to read all of her work again with a new perspective (not that I need that much encouragement!) Janeites across the land will love this book! Buy it!  

4:50 From Paddington

Another fantastic story from the Queen of Crime. Elspeth McGillicuddy is on the 4.50 From Paddington, when a train runs alongside her carriage. Through her carriage window, she sees a man strangle a woman and immediately alerts the train staff. But no body is found on the other train and she only saw the back of the man and knows that he is tall with dark hair. She tells her friend Jane Marple who becomes determined to solve the case. Miss Marple employs the services of a young woman called Lucy Eylesbarrow who has created her own famous and in-demand role of a home help. Together they work hard to find the body and solve the mystery...

I loved this story, there are so many revelations and suspects and the character of Lucy Eylesbarrow is a fantastic one. Once again I had no idea who the murderer was or why. I love Agatha Christie's humour and way of describing characters and I have no idea how she thought of so many different crime stories, colourful characters and brilliant names! Recommended!

Rivers of London

Rivers of London is the first book in a hugely successful series of crime novels set throughout London town. So far, so familiar. In the first couple of pages, a decapitated corpse has been found in an iconic area of Covent Garden, with the key witness being a ghost. Yep - that pretty much grabs your attention and sets the scene for this supernatural rollercoaster ride across the city.

Ben Aaronovitch's writing is fantastically funny, told through the viewpoint of a young mixed-race, slightly rubbish policeman called Peter Grant. While his colleagues are chasing down criminals, he is more likely to be reading a plaque on a statue at the crime scene. It is this gift and desire to know more which enables him to be able to see ghosts and become an apprentice to Inspector Nightingale - the last wizard in England.

As more random acts of violence occur, Peter becomes intent on finding out the cause of ordinary Londoners suddenly erupting in anger and having there faces split open. Along the way he acquires a ghost-hunting dog and meets vampires and the spirits of the Thames.

What makes this book really effective is that it describes parts of London really accurately, which makes the 'magic' in the book a lot more realistic. The juxtaposition between traditional magic and modern technology is explored really well and the characters are well-written are likeable.

I don't often read crime fiction, but this instantly intrigued me and is unlike anything I have read before. I hope the rumours of a television series are true, as this would work really well on screen. I will definitely be interested in reading the other three books in the series so far.

Find out more about the books at www.the-folly.com

The World According To Bob

This is the follow-up story to last year's huge success A Street Cat Named Bob. The first book was one of my favourite books of the year as it features a cheeky ginger cat and a truly heart-warming story set on the mean streets of London.

In this update, James takes centre-stage rather than Bob as he describes how important his feline friend is throughout his daily life - from suffering from illness to stressful situations on the street. This is surely one clever cat as we read stories of him attacking a potential mugger and giving James time to recover from a spell in hospital.

Fans of the original book will enjoy this second visit to Bob's world just as much as the first as it is full of humour and warmth. There are also some shocking and poignant moments such as James finding a man overdosing on drugs in his flat stairwell and the behaviour he experiences from members of the public. The chapter describing the duo's first book signing is a lovely moment and the final chapter will bring tears to any pet owner's eyes.

I love reading about James and Bob's adventures and the money that they have raised for animal charities is phenomenal. Theirs is a story that has captured hearts all around the world and it is one which reminds you about the important things in life.

Follow @streetcatbob on twitter for more regular updates on the pair and their charity work.

The Liebster Award

So, I was surprised and delighted to be nominated for the Liebster award by All That Magic - you can read the blog post here. The Liebster Award is a way to help new blogs with less than 200 followers to gain new followers. By awarding the Liebster award, we can show our followers that there are other great blogs out there to explore.

 

The rules are:

• Link back the blogger that tagged you;
• Nominate 10 others and answer the questions of the one who tagged you;
• Ask 10 questions for the bloggers you nominate;
• Let your nominees know of their award.

These are the 10 questions which All About Magic have asked me:

1) What is the first book that you can remember “reading”?
On my own it was probably a Famous Five book! Five Go Smuggling seems to be one of my early independent reading experiences. I loved these Enid Blyton adventures as they reminded me of summer holidays on the beach with my family and as a dog-lover I really liked the character of Timmy! I also liked the fact that George was a tomboy! I keep meaning to dig out my collection to re-read them to see if they are a little controversial in today's politically correct world.

2) Do you have a book recommendation for Halloween?
I used to read a lot of horror in my teens, but the only scary books I read nowadays are the odd ghost stories. It may seem like an obvious choice, but you can't beat The Woman In Black. It genuinely gave me goosebumps while reading it, especially the final shocking page. I purposely read it in the dark on a winter's evening with heavy rain and a strong wind blowing outside which added to the atmosphere. It took me ages to build up the courage to watch the film (which I loved and felt was incredibly sad) and I am going to book tickets to see the play soon! The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore is also suitably chilling.

3) What is your opinion on memes like “Waiting on Wednesday”? Do you like them? Do you use them?
Although I run this blog and a twitter feed and my marketing job involves a lot of social media, I am still pretty much clueless about memes! I quite like a good hashtag, if it captures my imagination. I have recently discovered #ShakespeareSunday when favourite quotes are posted on twitter, so I may join in with that one this weekend!

4) What do you like most about blogging?
When I finish a book, I usually spend a lot of time thinking about it and blogging is a way for me to collect my thoughts, both as a record for me and also to share and chat about books with other people. I also run a bookgroup for this reason and it is fascinating to see how books are translated by people in varying ways and how different points are picked up by members.

5) How do you prefer to read? Where is your favourite place to read?
I do most of my reading at home - I like a nice, quiet, comfortable space to read so that I can give a book my full attention. This is usually curled up on my bed or in an armchair. I also like reading in the garden on a summer's evening to relax after a day at work. At weekends, I quite often go to a local coffee shop to indulge in a flat white or hot chocolate and read for a solid hour or so, but sometimes it can be a little too noisy. I also like finding a quiet spot in a park to lay on a blanket with some snacks. One of my favourite such spots is the Long Walk in Windsor, in the shadow of the castle - perfect for historical fiction!

6) What is your favourite genre?
I don't tend to think of it as my favourite, but I do tend to read an awful lot of historical fiction. There is so much British history I want to learn about, and I find that reading in depth about historical figures makes me want to research and find out the real story. It is interesting to read so many different theories on what could have happened. My favourite eras to read about are the Yorks and Lancasters and the Tudors.

7) What three adjectives would you choose to describe your favourite character?
My favourite character is Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I would describe her as feisty, headstrong and independent.

8) Do you think the name of the characters in novels are important?
YES! I hate it when a love interest in a book has a weedy or boring name and I also find it a little frustrating if the same name pops up in several books. I have also hated a character in a book and then met someone with the same name and been instantly reminded of them! Names can be iconic too - think of Fitzwilliam Darcy - a name which is instantly recognisable to people whether they have read the book or not.

9) Which place would you set up as a meeting point (fact of fictional), if you got the chance to meet your favourite character?
If I got the chance to meet Elizabeth Bennet, it would have to be in a grand Georgian house for a spot of afternoon tea followed by a stroll through the beautiful grounds. Basildon Park or Chatsworth House spring to mind!

10) Which book would you like to see turned into a movie?
Hmm this is a difficult one! I have hated a lot of films which have been adapted from books. For example PS I Love You by Celia Ahern is a beautiful book, but the film was absolutely awful! Then again, I preferred the film version of The Time Traveller's Wife to the book and I love the adaptations of the Harry Potter books, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and The Hunger Games. I would love to see The Night Circus by Erin Morgernstern to be made into a film, although I have a very specific idea of what it should look like on screen! I also think that The Light Between Oceans by M.L Steadman would be great as a film.

So now I need to choose 10 blogs with less than 200 followers to pass the Liebster Award on to. I have decided on:

An Armchair By The Sea
I used to work with Bekah's husband and she is obsessed with books!

The Bird's Nest
Not technically a book blog, but I know that Hannah loves books as much as me and she does write the odd review.

Shadepoint
A blog which reviews mystery fiction - I don't how many followers it has, but I like it!

The Tattoed Book
Written by a bookseller, I love the design (and content!) of this blog!

The Classics Circuit
The Perpetual Pageturner
Again I don't know how many followers, but its so pretty!

Entomology of a Bookworm

Bookish Habits

Ciska's Book Chest

I Live Literary

So these are my 10 questions, I would like the above bloggers to answer:

1) Do you belong to a book group? Which books have caused the liveliest conversations and what would you recommend for other groups?
2) Where do you stand on the digital book debate? Do you have an e-reader or do you prefer 'the real thing?'
3) Do you enjoy reading non-fiction?
4) If you went on Mastermind, which literary subject would you choose?
5) Have you ever lied about liking a book?
6) Which book have you read the most often?
7) Which 'classic' book is your favourite?
8) Do you ever read plays? Which would you recommend?
9) Why do you run a blog and what is your proudest blogging moment?
10) What is your favourite 'festive' book?

Looking forward to seeing everyone's answers!