Screen Talk #1: Currently Watching

As mentioned in my post a few weeks ago, I am making a few changes to the blog – one of which is involving films and television. Screen Talk will be my space to chat about these topics, ranging from reviews, to recommendations and everything in between. However, books will still be the major focus of the blog.

Today I want to discuss the television shows I am currently watching.

Arrow

I started watching Arrow on Netflix after a recommendation from a friend. After marathoning the first season in a weekend when I was unwell, I’ve slowed down a bit since and am currently only halfway through season two. However, I really love the show – I’m just trying to finish some others first. I’m enjoying learning more about DC heroes, and will be picking up The Flash when I start season three of Arrow, as recommended. Felicity may well be my favourite, but I also have a soft spot for Diggle. And it doesn’t hurt that Oliver is an archer superhero, I kind of have a thing for archery…

The Borgias

Oh, the Borgia family, you do fascinate me. With their scheming, nepotism, backstabbing and hints other unsavoury practices, they make damn good television. I watched the first few episodes of this series years ago, and somehow never got back round to it. Lately I’ve picked it up again, and have just finished season one. Since it got cancelled after series three, I know I only have twenty or so episodes to go and I’m trying to catch up on this one first. The costumes are beautiful, as is the soundtrack – that opening theme!

Community

One of my absolute favourite shows, I started watching it a couple of years ago. It somehow makes me want to go to community college, but I don’t think I’ll find one like Greendale. When it got cancelled I was heartbroken, and then ecstatic when Yahoo picked it up for season six. I got one of my friends here at university into it, and we’ve been watching it together – him for the first time, and the millionth time for me! However, we’re both watching season six for the first time. As we tend to marathon episodes, we’ve waited for the series to finish (for good :() before carrying on. Although by the time I post this, I may have finished…

Game of Thrones

It may be taking a completely different path to the books at this point, since it’s pretty much overtaking them now, but I’m still watching. I’m just too invested in all these characters to give up now. The show also reminds me that I really need to re-read the books at some point. I’m not worried about it spoiling the books because they have pretty much confirmed that things will be different. I can’t wait for more Arya, Brienne and Tyrion, but it’s hard to believe that season five is nearly over already. And I even got to sit on the Iron Throne recently.

Orphan Black

THIS SERIES. SO GOOD. I was pretty slow watching season one, and then I suddenly hit season two and marathoned it like crazy. I’ve just lately caught up completely with season three after getting behind by about six weeks. It is somehow very complicated yet easily understandable, and season three has brought in even more characters and mystery. It’s just so tense and exciting pretty much ALL the time, and Tatiana Maslany is absolutely fantastic. She pulls off every clone perfectly, they all seem so individul. If you haven’t given Orphan Black a watch yet, I urge you to do so as soon as possible!

I also recently finished Outlander, The 100, Plebs and The Casual Vacancy, plus I have a million shows currently on hiatus.

What shows are you currently watching?

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Prose & Pixels #7: If You Enjoyed Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood…

Prose & Pixels is a feature that combines two of my loves: books and video games. Here I’ll discuss all sorts of things to do with the two, whether it’s recommendations, influences or just a good old chat.

Whoa, whoa, it’s one of these posts again! Yes, it’s been a while. But I feel it’s been that way with most of my features to be honest… Anyway, I recently FINALLY finished Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (the best so far, in my opinion), and thought it would be fun to share some book recommendations based on the game. Each book cover links to the Goodreads page.

If you want to read about… the Borgias.

If you want to read about… assassins.

If you want to read about… the Renaissance.

And of course, the Assassin’s Creed books set in Italy.

Have you played Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood? What did you think? Do you have any recommendations to add?

Thoughts #12: Neglected Non-Fiction

There is one thing I’ve noticed a definite lack of in the blogosphere.

Non-fiction.

Personally, I love many genres of non-fiction: autobiographies, memories, history and archaeology books, books on nature, science, linguistics… But it feels that many bloggers don’t have a particular interest, or at least don’t share it. So why is it not a common feature amongst the blogs?

• It can be quite difficult to review (apparently I’ve reviewed only six non-fiction books since starting the blog), which means that whilst my fellow bloggers may enjoy non-fiction, it’s difficult to feature on the blog.
• How do you review something that is fact? You can’t criticise so many of the different areas you would look at for a work of fiction. It seriously reduces the amount you can really say about the book.
• Some people read to escape to other worlds, so non-fiction just doesn’t work for them.
• I know that when I was at university, I avoided reading any history or archaeology books that were NOT relevant to my course, because I had so much to take in anyway, and didn’t want to end up remembering stuff about Henry VIII when my course was in ancient history! So perhaps, for that same reason, many fellow bloggers who are still studying prefer to avoid non-fiction.

I thought perhaps I’d share some of my favourite non-fiction books, in various categories, and hopefully you can share yours with me!

History & archaeology

This is perhaps, along with travel, one of my more read areas of non-fiction – as my degree was in ancient history and archaeology. I’ll read about almost any period of history up until the twentieth century. Mary Beard is one of my favourite classicists so anything by her is good. I also have a particular interest in the Borgia family (so much scheming!), and Louis XIV after studying him for History A Level when I was 18. I think books like this can often have a reputation for being stuffy, written by scholars who know everything about these ancient worlds and nothing about the present day one. And whilst that may be the case with some books of this type, there are so many wonderfully written and accessible history books. You could start with books that accompany a TV series of the same subject, as they’re often written for people who are learning along with the show.

Travel

If you’ve not yet read anything by either Bill Bryson or Josie Dew, then step on it! The two write very witty travel accounts – Bryson travelling alone by car (normally), and Dew alone by bicycle. They both capture the spirit of the countries they visit, and somehow poke fun at various elements of culture without being offensive in any way. Words cannot describe how excited I was last year when I realised there was a Bill Bryson book I hadn’t read yet – and so I got to experience that first read through joy!

Biography & memoir

When it comes to biographies and memoirs, to me they either have to be witty and perhaps a bit self-deprecating, or of truly fascinating lives. Some memoirs I’ve read just don’t have either – even after the ‘big break through’. Or perhaps it was just how they were written. Once again, Bill Bryson makes the list with his autobiography, as does Caitlin Moran with her hilarious anecdotes of her younger self. And I recently read Johnny Cash’s autobiography and absolutely LOVED it. He is one of my very favourite musicians and had such an interesting life – plus the way it was told was just wonderful. He rambles from tale to tale, nothing is in chronological order – but it works. It’s as if you were sat there, having drinks with him and listening to him talk about his life.

What about you – do you enjoy reading non-fiction? What are your favourite genres of non-fiction? If you don’t enjoy it, tell me why! Why do you think it’s not often featured on book blogs?

Turning Off The TV #5: The Borgias

Welcome to my regular Thursday feature, Turning off the TV! In this feature I recommend books similar to TV shows or films you may have enjoyed, both series and specific episodes.

The TV series this week is: The Borgias.

Conspiring with his ruthless sons Cesare and Juan and poisonously seductive daughter Lucrezia, the charismatic Rodrigo Borgia will let nothing and no one stand in the way of his relentless quest for wealth and power. Mercilessly cruel and defiantly decadent, intimidation and murder are his weapons of choice in his scandalous ascension to the papacy in Renaissance-era Italy.

To me, the Borgia family is endlessly fascinating. Although there are so many rumours about them – it is often said that Cesare and Lucrezia had an incestuous relationship, that Lucrezia was skilled with poisons, etc – in reality none of this is actually known for sure. It could be that one of the most infamous families in Italian history were nothing like they seem. Despite this, it’s fascinating to read about them and try and put the pieces together, plus Renaissance history is a beautiful period to study.

Are you looking for fiction?

Jean Plaidy has written a two-book series on Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Rodrigo Borgia/Pope Alexander VI. The volumes are entitled Madonna of the Seven Hills and Light of Lucrezia – if you’re a fan of historical fiction then you’ve probably heard of Jean Plaidy before. I’ve read some of her books, and she writes brilliantly. Or perhaps if you’re after some more recent fiction (Plaidy’s series was first published in 1958), you could try out Sara Poole’s Poisoner Mysteries. It is about a young woman who becomes the official ‘poisoner’ of Pope Alexander VI, and also the lover of Cesare Borgia. Obviously this one is a much more fictionalised account! And then finally, the author of The Godfather has also written a novel about the Borgias – The Family by Mario Puzo. If it’s anything like The Godfather, then he will have captured the poisonous and scheming image of them perfectly.

Or perhaps non-fiction?

Machiavelli’s The Prince is like an instruction manual on how to run a country or kingdom, and was in fact inspired in part by Cesare Borgia. Niccolo Machiavelli actually makes an appearance in the TV series. Christopher Hibbert’s The Borgias is a wonderful historical account for those who are interested in reading about the family, but don’t want to go into too much detail or read about lots of background information – unlike G.J. Meyer’s The Borgias: A Hidden History, which has an incredibly thorough history of the family, even pre-Alexander VI. I would definitely advise reading this one in chunks, not the whole thing at once as I attempted to do…

Are you a fan of The Borgias? Do you have any other recommendations to add to the list?