I hope you all had a good Christmas! This will be my last post of 2021. Here are the books I read in December…
Mayflies by Andrew O’Hagan
Evocative story about a group of young Scots who descend upon Manchester for one weekend in July 1986 for the Tenth Event concert to commemorate the tenth anniversary since the Sex Pistols played the Free Trade Hall thus inspiring Factory into being. The latter half of the novel catches up with those young men now middle aged and one of their number facing up to their mortality. I believe it’s curently being adapted for the screen.
Rating 3/5
Becoming Richard Pryor by Scott Saul
An interesting biography that focuses solely on Pryor’s life from his birth up until the mid to late 70s, basically before reaching what was conversely both his highest peak of fame and the moment he began to lose his touch. Worth it just to read about his eventful childhood and colourful family.
Rating 3/5
Harlem Heroes by Pat Mills
Blaxploitation meets Rollerball in this vintage 2000AD series. Quite fun as a sci-fi concept, but a reminder to me that I was never a fan of sports-based comic strip stories.
Rating 3/5
Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh by Amy Raphael
At last! An updated version of Raphael’s invaluable study of Leigh and his work by way of transcribed interviews with the man himself.
Rating 5/5
I’m currently in the middle of two more books, Peggy Seeger’s autobiography and the latest Rebus novel from Ian Rankin, but these are the books I have completed this month and so, the total number of books I have read in 2021 is 56.
Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2022
The Penny University 