The Monthly Media Catchup: Everything I Read, Watched & Listened To | March 2020
Anything marked with a * is an affiliate links.
The world might be ending, but I’m still consuming as much “stuff”, if not more, during this very weird period. I imagine April’s MMC is going to be a mammoth one, as I seem to have just settled into being able to relax and watch films/TV and read for pleasure (and for uni - what is “a degree” again?) Whereas March was mostly spent, for the latter part, trying to navigate what’s going on through long walks and video calls, and for the former, actually being quite busy and doing things in the real world- what a concept!
Despite this, I have managed to read, watch and listen to a decent amount during March and I hope you find something you might like in this blog post to keep you entertained in your home for the coming weeks/months, so staying in becomes less of a challenge to your mental health and more of a challenge to yourself of ‘how much great stuff can I consume during this time?’
Books
All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki* | ★★★★
The first book I finished for uni this month was this novel. It’s books like these ones that make me thankful for my degree, as I never would have picked All Over Creation up otherwise. It follows a family in Idaho, of which the elderly parents are potato farmers, and their attempts to navigate the growing popularity of genetically modified food. It educated me a great deal on this topic but it’s also a brilliantly gripping story, exploring romantic relationships, race, motherhood, among other topics. Ruth Ozeki is definitely an author I want to read more of.
Women Against men by storm jameson* | ★★★★
As I mentioned in last month’s Monthly Media Catch Up, I’m writing my dissertation on the inter-war writer Storm Jameson, so I’ve been reading more of her work this month. This book is made up of three short novels. The final one, A Day Off (which I reviewed when I first read it last year) is my favourite and was the stimulus for my dissertation on the use of clothing in her literature. It’s a day novel that is so rich as it explores the thoughts of a working-class, Northern woman wandering around London. It’s symbolism is rich and the social commentary is so clever and discrete. The other books in the collection didn’t grip me as much but I still enjoyed them, as I do all of Jameson’s writing.
love in winter by storm Jameson* | ★★★
Another Jameson novel! This one is the sequel to Company Parade, that I discussed last month. It’s particularly concerned with the protagonist’s romantic relationships, which I found boring at times, but still generally enjoyed the novel because all of the characters are well-developed and complicated and, not to sound like a broken record, but her social commentary is so uniquely presented and enjoyable.
my friend anna By rachel deloache williams* | ★★★
This is the only book I read outside of uni this month! I’m glad I chose this one, as it provided an experience of total escapism. A true story written by a friend of Anna Delvey’s, who was convicted of fraud in 2019 after moving to NYC and pretending to be a German heiress to scam socialites (and non-socialites, like Rachel), out of lots of money. Hearing the story from Rachel’s perspective is fascinating, and I loved being sucked in to the New York lifestyle that is a million miles away from my life, and seeing how Anna manipulated it.
Whilst Anna is clearly the perpetrator in this situation and Rachel the victim, I did find that Rachel was too concerned with using this book to exonerate herself from any criticism (i.e. that she used Anna for her money) with constant passages about how hard it was on her, mentally and financially, that added nothing to the story apart from justifying herself. Of course, it’s understandable how difficult this situation would have been for her, but I would have enjoyed more self-awareness in the writing. Although, it was, at times, interesting for it to have been written in this way, as it really made it feel more like a fictional story with complicated, fallible characters.
tv
the bold type (Amazon Prime) | ★★★★★
I haven’t managed to watch anything new on TV this month, simply because I was, at first, busy and, later, too overwhelmed by the news to be absorbed into a new world on screen (I have a much worse attention span when it comes to watching as opposed to reading). So, I’ve been re-watching my favourite TV show, The Bold Type. I first encountered it last summer and it has since become my favourite show. Following the lives of three twenty-somethings working at a Cosmopolitan-esq magazine, it has that easy-to-watch aspirational quality, whilst also being very up-to-date when it comes to socio-political conversations about sex, race, gender, politics and so much more.
film
emma | ★★★★
My final trip to the cinema pre-quarantine was to watch this simply lovely film. I love how many period films based on classic literature with great costuming are being made at the moment, not least because it has made me realise that this niche is my favourite kind of film. Whilst it did not live up to my beloved Little Women, it had the same ‘figgy pudding film’ (i.e. twinkly and cozy) quality that I can easily get lost in. The casting was great (I’ll watch anything that involves Johnny Flynn) and the costumes were inspired!! I’m truly obsessed with the silhouettes of those dresses and I couldn’t care less if they are historically accurate or not.
Four Weddings and a Funeral | ★★★★
One goal of mine during lockdown is to watch all of the film and TV that I should have already watched. I’m not talking The Godfather and The Matrix (I have and will never watch either or any other films of that kind) but films I have never seen but will undoubtedly love. I started with this one that has been on my list for so long and I’m embarrassed to say it took me 21 years to watch. Watching this whilst doing a jigsaw was the best Sunday I’ve had in a while and it definitely lived up to what I expect from a 90s Richard Curtis film.
podcasts
Off Menu | ★★★★
I’d listened to a few episodes of this podcast in the past with guests I already liked but this month I’ve dived into the deep end and have become completely obsessed with it. Comedians James Acaster and Ed Gamble interview guests about their dream meals and whilst this is kind of interesting, it’s the humour that goes with it that makes the podcast so great and such a tonic at the moment. I recently listened to the episode with Catherine Cohen, who I hadn’t heard of beforehand but is absolutely hilarious. So I’d say start with that one, unless there’s another guest who you know of and particularly like.
honourable mentions:
articles
I thought I’d introduce a specific section in the MMC for articles, rather than clumping them together with podcast episodes. But I won’t be doing an individual review for each of them because I’m only mentioning the ones I enjoyed, as I can’t remember the ones I disliked (unless I really hated them, in which case, I might mention it.)
This will reveal that I read the Sunday Times Style in disproportionate amounts, as well as Man Repeller - sometimes The New Yorker, although, apparently, not during the beginning of a global pandemic. Here’s hoping I can get through the big pile of New Yorkers next to my bed during the middle of a global pandemic.
Anyhow, here are the articles I read during March, some of them are related to the C-word (how sad that this no longer means Christmas!), most of them aren’t:
Love is Blind’s Jessica and the gendered history of the ‘Hot Mess’ | The Sunday Times Style (Charlotte Edwards)
This meditation mania makes me anxious | The Times (Laura Freeman)
Who’s Still Swiping on the Dating Apps? | Man Repeller (Edith Young)
Should We Still Be Shopping? Leandra and Harling Discuss | Man Repeller (Leandra Medine and Harling Ross)
Verified Strangers | Vogue (Lena Dunham)
Bougie London Literary' Woman’s Lockdown Diary | Vice (Imogen West-Knights)
I’m 27 & Was Hospitalised with Coronavirus | Refinery29 (Jessica Morgan)
The death of Shukri Abdi: ‘She was failed when she was alive and she’s still being failed now’ | Gal-dem (Nimo Omer)
The Best Dressed of 2020 Awards Season, Illustrated | The Mancunion (Alex Bikard)
Social Distancing: This is Not a Snow Day | Medium (Asaf Bitton)
music
This month’s playlist is mostly feel-good songs, old favourites and those I have recently discovered. It includes what would have been Iceland’s Eurovision entry (I now hate it as I’ve listened to it, and learned the dance, 100 times too many), a bop from Dua Lipa’s new album and the best David Bowie song for dancing around your room when you feel like you’re going to implode due to over-exposure to your family/partner/child/self.
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