Simon Maltman Blogs

  Here are some of my favourite books, music and screen from this year. Yes 2020 has been rather rubbish- but at least we had these...  Books The Last Crossing- Brian McGilloway Blacktop Wasteland- SA Cosby  Dead Girl Blues- Lawrence Block  Our Little Cruelties- Liz Nugent  Sing Backwards and Weep- Mark Lanegan Screen The Boys The Walking Dead  The Comey Rule  Borat 2 The Mandolorian  Cobra Kai  Music  Mark Lanegan- Straight Songs of  Sorrow  Paul McCartney- 3 Therapy?- Live Best of Nick Cave- Live- Alexandra Palace  See my books here -  Books  

Here are just a few of my favourite books, TV, music and movies from this year.     What were your faves from 2019? Books What You Did- Claire McGowan A  compelling family mystery with plenty of dark secrets and twists The Chain- Adrian McKinty The behemoth that relaunched McKinty's career charting a terrifying child kidnapping network  An Eye for a Eye- Paul Heatley A funny and dark novella set in a seedy underworld in North England     (As usual I also read a load of books that weren't out this year. I read Misery for the first time- def my best read of the year! I also really enjoyed Mr Mercedes by King. I delved deeper into Lawrence Block's Scudder books- they have quickly become one of my top crime series) Movies Once Upon a Time in Hollywood My film of the year- he absolutely nailed it- nostalgic, atmospheric, thrilling and great fun The Irishman Perhaps best watched in a few sittings due to i...

-There are so many to choose from- you could do a top 100 with Nick Cave alone! -Here are my faves- what are yours? 5. Mack the Knife Bobby Darin "Oh, the shark, babe, has such teeth dear."  You can trace versions of the song back to 1928, but the most well known versions would be from Bobby Darin or Frank Sinatra. It's a dark tale and it is really an unusual song to have been such a hit over the years. Check out the gravelly and stripped down Mark Lanegan cut from his Imitations album. 4. San Quentin Johnny Cash "I think I understand a little bit how you feel about some things, It's none of my business how you feel about some other things, And I don't give a damn about how you feel about some other things." So said Cash when introducing his new song to the world and to the inmates within San Quentin. This is my pick over the likes of Folsom Prison Blues , mostly because of this recording. You can hear the tension and the electric...