A Few 2019 Picks

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 its length but a brilliant movie with an even better cast

 Joker

 It delivered in all of the ways I'd hoped- a thought provoking creation of a monster

 TV

 Peaky Blinders

 It can be taken for granted- top acting and story, with classy filming

 The Boys

 This took me by surprise- really novel, cool story and great fun

 Stranger Things 

 Another high point in the series- what's not to love?
Music

 Beneath the Eyrie- Pixies

 The best album since they got back together- a perfect gothic blend of the old and new

 Ghosteen- Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

 The path of the last two albums leads to more beautiful ambient tunes, incredible lyrics with a surprisingly lighter touch

 Somebody's Knocking- Mark Lanegan

 Also something of a culmination of his previous few albums. Sleazy, synthy alt-rock

...

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