From the archive: March reads

Sometimes I check what blog posts I published a year ago (of course I keep organised records on these) and it strikes me that this is a rather good, if inward-looking idea for yet more blog posts! It’s also an opportunity for readers to catch up on any they might have missed.

On this day last year I reviewed Will Smith’s autobiography, which I had coincidentally been reading when his behaviour was making the headlines. That same month, I reviewed Kate Folk’s Out There and Gary Numan’s (R)Evolution, which turned out to be two of my top reads of 2022! I also asked ‘what is a thriller?’, visited Kew Gardens and my ‘film of the book’ post was 90s animation Thumbelina.

Two years ago, I celebrated my 500th blog post. I reviewed two classics, Pride and Prejudice and Little Women. One of my top new reads of the year was the English translation of Kotaro Isaka’s Bullet Train. I courted controversy with my poem ‘No Such Thing As A Free Donut’ and examined the classic film of a classic book, To Kill A Mockingbird.

Three years ago, I began my ‘favourite albums’ series with The Beatles’ Revolver. I talked about 10 writers from the past I’d love to have coffee with, reviewed Simon Reeve’s Caribbean TV series and compared the film of The Shining to the book. Wanting a comfort read as the pandemic got under way, I reviewed Nice Cup of Tea and A Sit Down.

Four years ago, I examined 11 series of Doctor Who. I reviewed another Austen, Sense and Sensibility, plus Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman and Lesley Kara’s The Rumour. My ‘film of the book’ post was War of the Worlds starring Tom Cruise.

Five years ago, there was nothing, as the blog didn’t exist yet. However, I know from my book spreadsheet that my reading that month included The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks, Lady Killers by Tori Telfer and Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen by P G Wodehouse.