Reading & Seeing 25

*Firstly, thank you for your kind words on my last post, they are much appreciated :)*

Ready Player One
Having seen Janet's review of this, I knew I needed to read it too. Set in the near future where the internet has essentially taken over real life in the form of the OASIS - a vast completely immersive simulation where people, through their avatars, work, go to school, form friendships, relationships and fight. With no one to inherit his fortune in the event of his death, creator of the OASIS, James Halliday (genius programmer and ultimate 80s pop culture enthusiast), sets the OASIS population the ultimate quest, to find the Easter Egg to end all hunts and not only claim Halliday's fortune but take control of the OASIS itself. It's littered with immensely pleasing references to video games, 80s films, tv shows and music. Ready Player One ticked a lot of boxes for me (science fiction, strong female characters, pop culture references, excellent ending) and is probably one of my favourite books of the year so far. It's a pretty geeky read but in a v.good way.

Yes Please
My sister had warned me that Amy Poehler's autobiography wasn't up to the standard of Tina Fey's, "she talks waaaaay too much about her children!" But I disagree, it's a good balance between work and home life and, more importantly, Poehler has some excellent stories to tell. I particularly liked some of the flash backs to her childhood and hearing about all the things she got up to in the early days of improvising. It's v.amusing in places and you most definitely get a sense of her as a person - her voice comes through so clearly, and to be honest, she sounds like the type of lady I'd want as a friend.

The Astronaut Wives Club
Way back in Oct 2011 Mitch watched a series called From the Earth to the Moon. A 10 or 12 episode drama about Nasa's early space programs. What was particularly great about it was each episode focused on one aspect of the operation - the engineers, those in the control room, the astronauts themselves - and one was about the astronaut's wives. It really stuck with me so, as you can probably guess, I really liked this book. It's a real account of what it was like to be an astronaut's wife told by the wives themselves. Unsurprisingly, the perfect American family which Nasa encouraged them to project was far from the truth in a lot of cases. A lot of fuss is made of the first American astronauts, and rightly so, they had to work hard, train and risk their lives going into space, but so did their wives just in a very different way. Incidentally, a tv series has just been made off the back of this book. The trailer looked pretty horrendous but I might give it a try.

The First Bad Man
Although I've heard of Miranda July this was actually my first experience of her work (film or writing) and cor, this, or at least the first half of it, was one of the most uncomfortable things I've read, to the point where I almost gave up on it. Almost. A teeny tiny part of me wanted to make sure that the central character made it out alright. I shan't say much more than that for two reasons: 1. you may want to read it and 2. I'm not sure how I'd begin to describe this book. It's a weird one. I can't say I liked it but it certainly got a reaction out of me which I guess is a sign of a good writer. However, I won't be reading this ever again. Hasn't put me off July though, might try her short stories...

Constellations
A two person play about a couple's relationship but rather than experiencing it in a linear timeline, you watch it unfold through different outcomes of the same scenarios across a number of parallel universes. For example, in one universe, their first date doesn't go so well so they don't get together, yet in another universe they have the same conversation but the tone is different and they hit it off. I'm probably making this sound way more complicated than it is. It's so cleverly written and the two leads were incredible! I think it's finished for now but if it comes round again, as it very well might because we saw it on its second or possibly third run, I'd definitely recommend it.

Les Miserables
The musical that everyone kinda losses their shit over, and now I know why. I liked the film but seeing this on stage was a-mazing! So much more epic and emotional, and the actors voices were stunning! I guess you can't really beat a live performance.