Another lockdown wrap-up

Another lockdown wrap-up

This is the second update/wrap-up of some of the things I’ve been doing while in the UK lockdown, which began on 23 March. For those of you not aware, some of the restrictions in the the UK were relaxed on 4 July – like travel, opening of restaurants and pubs, plus non-essential shops – except for Leicester/Leicestershire…which is where I live! This is due to the city being a bit of a ‘hotspot’ for cases of the virus. Finally, though, the area within the county that I live will exit lockdown in a week…I’m counting down the days!! Anyway, here’s a look at some of the books, films and TV shows I’ve been consuming lately.

Lockdown wrap-up

Lockdown wrap-up

Since it has been quite a while since my last blog post, I thought I would do a bit of a wrap-up of what I have been reading and watching recently. It is quite an extensive list, but we can largely put it down to the fact that I have more free time given that I am working from home due to the lockdown restrictions that the UK government has put in place. Let me know what you have been reading and watching during your extended time at home. Stay safe!

Catch and Kill ★★★★½

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators
Ronan Farrow

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Genre(s) | Nonfiction, True Crime
Goodreads Rating | 4.52
Humpo Show Rating | 4.50
Published: 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company

Catch and Kill is a story about much more than the Harvey Weinstein scandal. It is an account of how a major network, in multiple ways, put obstacles in the path of a journalist who wished to tell a controversial tale that had been thwarted many times for several other journalists.

Neither Here, Nor There: Travels in Europe ★★★★½

Neither Here, Nor There: Travels in Europe
Bill Bryson

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Genre(s) | Travel, Nonfiction, Humour, Autobiography
Goodreads Rating | 3.86
Humpo Show Rating | 4.50 
Published: 2015 (first published in 1992)
Publisher: Black Swan

Neither Here, Nor There is a wonderfully comic tale of Bill Bryson’s journey across Europe in the early 1990s when the continent was beginning to enter a new, modern era.

The Price of Time ★★★½

The Price of Time
Tim Tigner

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Genre(s) | Mystery, Thriller
Goodreads Rating | 3.9
Humpo Show Rating | 3.5 
Published: 2019
Publisher: Amazon

The Price of Time is an engrossing story of immortality, murder and mystery. When a group of scientists find a way to live forever, it brings just as many challenges as it does opportunities.

The Stranger ★★★★★

The Stranger
Channel: Netflix
Starring: Richard Armitage, Siobhan Finneran, Jennifer Saunders, Shaun Dooley, Paul Kaye, Dervla Kirwan, Kadiff Kirwan, Jacob Dudman, Ella-Rae Smith, Brandon Fellows, Misha Handley, Anthony Head, Hannah John-Karmen, Stephen Rea
Creator: Harlan Coben
IMDb Rating | 7.5
Humpo Show Rating | 9.5

The Stranger follows the lives of suburban families whose secrets and lies are made public by the appearance of a mysterious woman.

Uncle Vanya ★★★★☆

Uncle Vanya
Harold Pinter Theatre, London

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Director: Ian Rickson
Cast: Richard Armitage, Toby Jones, Aimee Lou Wood, Rosalind Eleazar, Ciaran Hinds, Dearbhla Molloy, Peter Wight and Anna Calder-Marshall

Uncle Vanya is a play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, first published in 1898, which explores the disruption and discontent of a small group of people in rural turn of the century Russia. Director Ian Rickson and Irish playwright Conor McPherson have brought this nineteenth century Russian play to London’s West End with a great deal of humour, melancholy and emotion.

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd ★★★★½

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
Agatha Christie

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Genre(s) | Mystery, Crime
Goodreads Rating | 4.24
Humpo Show Rating | 4.30
Published: 2013 (originally 1926)
Publisher: HarperCollins

The book is set in the fictional English village of King’s Abbot and opens with the suicide of Mrs. Ferrars, a wealthy widow. The same night, wealthy industrialist Roger Ackroyd, rumoured to have been Ferrars secret lover, is found murdered in his study. There’s no shortage of suspects, all the members of the household stand to gain from his death, but the police focus on Ralph Paton, Ackroy’d stepson and heir, as he has the most to gain from the death and the fact that he is nowhere to be seen. Retired sleuth Hercule Poirot, who has recently moved to the area, agrees to investigate the case – one which will uncover many secrets along the way.

The Goes Wrong Show ★★★★☆

The Goes Wrong Show
Channel: BBC
Starring: Henry Shields, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Bryony Corrigan, Nancy Zamit, Charlie Russell, Dave Hearn, Greg Tannahill, Chris Leask
Writers: Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shields
IMDb Rating |  8.0
Humpo Show Rating | 8.0

A wonderfully comical series of hand-crafted, half hours of theatrical catastrophe from The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society.

Artemis ★★☆☆☆

Artemis
Andy Weir

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Genre(s) | Science Fiction
Goodreads Rating | 3.67
Humpo Show Rating | 2.0
Published: 2018
Publisher: Del Rey

Jazz Bashara is employed as a porter on Artmeis – the first and only city on the moon – and has a sideline smuggling contraband. She has debts to pay off as well as the rent of her very basic sleeping quarters. But, when she is given the chance to earn enough money to live a life of luxury, it is too lucrative to turn down. But the job she is tasked with leads her down into a conspiracy worth trillions of dollars.

Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming ★★★★☆

Murder Trial: The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming
Channel: BBC
Creator: Matt Pinder
Humpo Show Rating | 8.5

The Disappearance of Margaret Fleming follows a major case that unfolded in 2019 and saw carers Edward Cairney and Avril Jones accused of murder.

1917 ★★★★½

1917
IMDb Rating | 8.6
Humpo Show Rating | 9.0
Starring: George MacKay, Dean-Charles Chapman, Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough 
Director: Sam Mendes 
Plot Summary: Two young British soldiers during the First World War are given an impossible mission: deliver a message deep in enemy territory that will stop 1,600 men, and one of the soldiers’ brothers, from walking straight into a deadly trap. (IMDb)

1917 is an epic, biographical tale of Lance Corporals Will Schofield (MacKay) and Tom Blake (Chapman), who traversed several miles of enemy territory to deliver an urgent message that would prevent British troops from walking into a trap set by Nazi Germany.

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Season 2) ★★★★☆

Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan (Season 2)
Channel: Amazon Prime
Starring: John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, John Hoogenakker, Noomi Rapace, Jordi Mollà, Francisco Denis, Cristina Umaña, Jovan Adepo
Creator: Carlton Cruse and Graham Roland
IMDb Rating | 7.8
Humpo Show Rating | 8.3

After tracking a potentially suspicious shipment of illegal arms in the Venezuelan jungle, CIA Officer Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) heads to South America to investigate. Jack’s actions threaten to uncover a far-reaching conspiracy, leading him and his fellow operatives on a mission spanning the globe.

Conan Doyle for the Defence ★★★★★

Conan Doyle for the Defence
Margalit Fox

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Genre(s) | Nonfiction, True Crime, History, Mystery, Biography
Goodreads Rating | 3.70
Humpo Show Rating | 4.75
Published: 2018
Publisher: Profile Books

A wealthy 82-year-old woman is found brutally murdered in her home with her diamond brooch missing. Oscar Slater, a German migrant, was arrested and convicted for her murder despite the fact the police had no credible evidence tying him to the murder. He would spend the next 18 years in HM Prison Peterhead in Scotland before being released following some help from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The Gentlemen ★★★★½

The Gentlemen
IMDb Rating | 8.2
Humpo Show Rating | 9.0
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam, Jeremy Strong, Michelle Dockery, Henry Golding, Colin Farrell, Eddie Marsan, 
Director: Guy Ritchie
Plot Summary: American expat has built a profitable marijuana empire in London and plans to sell his business and retire. This sparks a remarkable chain of events as various parties try and take over.

American businessman Mickey Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) has created a highly profitable marijuana empire in London, and he is looking to cash out his business. When word gets out, it triggers plots, schemes, bribery and blackmail in an attempt to steal his domain out from under him.

Maps ★★★★★

Maps
Aleksandra Mizielinska and Daniel Mizielinski

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Genre(s) | Nonfiction, Picture Book, Children’s
Goodreads Rating | 4.58
Humpo Show Rating | 4.75
Published: 2012
Publisher: Big Picture Press

This lavishly illustrated book of 52 maps and includes not only geographical features and political borders, but also places of interest, iconic personalities, native animals and plants, local peoples, cultural evens and many more fascinating facts associated with each region. Maps is a visual treat, a real feast for the eyes and can be enjoyed by everyone from 8-108!

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Illustrated Edition

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Illustrated Edition
J. K. Rowling
Illustrated by Jim Kay

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a wonderful read and one that was long overdue!

The Spy Who Loved Me ★★★☆☆

The Spy Who Loved Me
Ian Fleming

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Genre(s) | 3.25
Goodreads Rating | 3.39
Published: 2012
Publisher: Penguin Vintage Classics

Vivienne Michel is running away – from pain, from rejection, from humiliation. When she stumbles into a criminal plot, her life seems over, until a chance encounter with James Bond turns her world upside down.

Wicked: The Musical ★★★★★

Wicked: The Musical
Apollo Victoria Theatre, London

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Director: Joe Mantello
Cast: Laura Pick, Helen Woolf, Alistair Brammer, Kim Ismay, Andy Hockley, Natasha Ferguson, Simeon Truby, George Ure

Wicked tells the incredible untold story of an unlikely but profound friendship between two young women who first meet as sorcery students at Shiz University: the very popular Glinda and a misunderstood green girl named Elphaba. Following an encounter with The Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths. 

Magic Goes Wrong ★★★★☆

Magic Goes Wrong
Vaudeville Theatre, London

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Writers: Penn Jillette, Teller, Henry Shields, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Lewis
Director: Adam Meggido
Cast: Bryony Corrigan, Roxy Faridany, Dave Hearn, Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, Henry Shiels and Nancy Zamit

Mischief Theatre hits on the magic formula of its ‘Goes Wrong’ show once again, this time with the assistance and expertise of legendary magicians Penn & Teller, for its new creation; Magic Goes Wrong.