Gary’s (valkyrdeath) 2026 Reading Record Part 2

Into July and time to start a new thread I think. A bit of catching up to do again.

Currently reading:
Hoax: Truth and Lies in the Age of Enlightenment by Madeleine Pelling
Bestiary: The Selected Stories of Julio Cortazar by Julio Cortazar
The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Playing Gay in the Golden Age of British TV by Stephen Bourne

Books read:
52. Sixty Years in Winter by Ingrid Chabbert art by Aimee de Jongh
53. Stony Jack and the Lost Jewels of Cheapside by Victoria Shepherd
54. Flashfire by Richard Stark
55. The Black Tides of Heaven by Neon Yang

52. Sixty Years in Winter by Ingrid Chabbert art by Aimee de Jongh
A graphic novel about a woman who decides on her 60th birthday to leave her husband and family behind and drives off in an old Volkswagen minibus, and the aftermath of that decision. She makes new friends and falls in love with one of the women she meets, but also feels guilt and regret about leaving her family, especially when they won’t leave her alone. Her (adult) children are especially angry, though their behaviour often seems more self-serving than caring. It was quite well done, though the very ending might have been a little rushed.

53. Stony Jack and the Lost Jewels of Cheapside by Victoria Shepherd
An interesting and well written book about the discovery of the Cheapside Horde in 1912, a large collection of Elizabethan and Jacobean jewellery of unknown origin. It follows what happened to it and the people who discovered it along with the background of archaeology and the often illicit antiques trade of the time. Shepherd is very good at writing about all the people involved and giving context to the events. She follows it up to the present day and recent discoveries of the collection’s probably origin. There’s a lot of information that’s having to be extrapolated from what little is known, but I think she was fairly clear throughout on these points and what the evidence is. It’s perhaps a little longer than it needed to be, but it was a good read for the most part. It was also interesting to see Mortimer Wheeler turn up later in the book, who I’d previously encountered as a classic British eccentric in a couple of episodes of an archaeological based panel show from the 50s called Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? in the BBC archive.

Film 51: The Housemaid (2025) dir. Paul Feig
Based on a novel by Freida McFadden, this seems to be the current generation of Gone Girl style nonsense. Plot holes, a “twist” that you can see coming minutes into the film that reveals as if it should be a shock, characters doing ridiculous things that make no sense just the serve the ridiculous plot. It’s terrible, but I expect it’s one of those that’s inexplicably popular.

Film 52: By Candlelight (1933) dir. James Whale
A bit of pre-code 30s comic silliness, based on an Austrian play that had previously been adapted to the English stage by P. G. Wodehouse. A Prince’s butler is mistaken for his employer by a woman, and the Prince decides to play along and pose as the butler so as not to ruin the romance. It’s nothing deep and not the best of the 30s comedies, but there’s plenty of fun moments along the way. An enjoyable watch.

Film 53: St. Trinian’s (2007) dir. Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson
And speaking of comic silliness, here’s a more modern version, updating the classic St. Trinian’s comics by Ronald Searle to a 2000s era when it was made. I’m not especially familiar with the comics and despite loving Alistair Sim films I somehow never got round to watching any of the old film versions, but this one was a lot of fun, despite having to put up with Russell Brand being in it.

Film 54: Lady in the Lake (1946) dir. Robert Montgomery
An unusual film noir, Lady in the Lake is shot in first person. It’s directed by and starring Robert Montgomery as Phillip Marlowe in an adaptation of one of Raymond Chandler’s books. There’s an introduction at the start where he talks directly to the camera which was apparently forced on them by the studio, and I think one brief return to that in the middle, but otherwise the only time you actually see the lead character is in the very occasional reflection in a mirror. It’s very cleverly arranged with moments like that, and the character reaching in and interacting with things. It’s not completely successful, and conversations basically have to resort to being one someone just talking directly to camera. It reminded me of the conversations in 90s FMV games. The fight scenes are fun though. While I wouldn’t want to see a lot of films like this, it’s an interesting experiment and it adds some interest to what would otherwise be a fairly average crime story.