As December has whooshed by and is drawing to a close, here's a round-up of books I've read and plays I've seen this year. (I would do music and films too, except that I don't think I have much to say there, unfortunately).
BooksI am ashamed of the small number of books I finished this year (and the number I
didn't finish). Here are some that I really liked:
Alice Munro - Runaway (masterful short stories that were my introduction to Munro - must read more of her soon).
Scarlett Thomas - The End of Mr. Y (a great discovery. One of my new favourite authors, along with Nicola Barker. Thomas's
Popco is calling out to me to be read soon).
Claire Tomalin - Jane Austen: a life (wrote about it
here and
here)
Sarah Bower - The Needle in the Blood (highly enjoyable. Brilliant review
here).
Heather O'Neill - Lullabies for Little Criminals (read because it was on the Orange Prize shortlist and I'd read good things on litblogs about it. Stark, unflinching, insightful, unforgettable).
Mikhail Bulgakov - The Master and Margarita (I'm sure everyone has already read this, but I'm glad I got round to it: I loved its playful, twisted humour and energy)
.
Toni Morrison - Beloved (another that everyone seemed to have already read. I wasn't convinced by it at first; but by the end I was assured of Morrison's genius)
.
Helen Garner - The Spare Room (moving snapshot of a woman and her dying friend. Really admired its brevity and maturity, although I did find myself wishing there was more to it).
Dodie Smith - I Capture the Castle (yet another that I'd wanted to read for years. Loved it. Was surprised to read that Smith wrote it when in her 50s and living in Hollywood - a world away from Cassandra Mortmain and her crumbling castle).
Colm Toibin - The Master (subtle, richly detailed novel/biography about the life of Henry James)
Sarah Hall - The Carhullan Army (short, gripping and often poetic in its descriptions. Set in a women-only refuge in near-future dystopic Britain).
Kate Atkinson - When Will There Be Good News? (the third of Atkinson's crime novels. I was glad that her inimitable prose style was still very much present. Wit, black humour, warmth and a smattering of contemporary and literary references made brutal incidents easier to stomach).
My reading pile for 2009 is stacked high. I got some great books for Christmas, including Nicola Barker's
Clear and my first
Virago Modern Classics 30th anniversary edition (
squee!).
Theatre and comedy
Saw quite a few plays this year, including:
Kneehigh's Rapunzel (at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and then Circomedia in Bristol) and
Brief Encounter (at the Cinema on the Haymarket)
Susan Glaspell - Chains of Dew (at the Orange Tree, Richmond)
Patrick Hamilton/Fidelis Morgan - Hangover Square (at the Finborough)
Chekhov's Ivanov (at Wyndham's Theatre)
Strindberg's Creditors (at Donmar Warehouse).
If I had to pick a favourite, it'd probably be
Creditors. I got a theatre token for Christmas, and have been wondering what to spend it on. I'd quite like to see
Spring Awakening,
Edward Gant's Amazing Feats of Loneliness and
A Doll's House in 2009.
This year was also quite comedy-heavy - I saw Sean Lock, the Boosh (twice), Dylan Moran and Eddie Izzard (the latter two were my favourite of the four). I also received Dylan Moran live,
Black Books and
Flight of the Conchords on DVD for Christmas. Yum.
Comments (1)
I really must start reading more ... Enjoy your theatre going/reading of books in 2009!