Posts Tagged Reading
Archive
October 8, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
What’s The Worst Music Bio You’ve Read?
I’ve never been as disappointed by a music bio/auto-bio as I was when reading the Bernard Purdie one; it’s hard to know what the book was even trying to be – it’s written in third person but claims to be an autobiography, there’s no attempt to even ‘get’ Purdie’s voice, there’s no real attempt to hide […]Archive
September 29, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
The Not-So-Great Gatsby
I’ve never liked The Great Gatsby, never been able to see the fuss. I first read it at school – I understood it enough to pass the test, to write the essay, answer the exam-questions and I took it seriously enough to watch the 1974 film adaptation (the one with Mia Farrow and Robert Redford). […]Archive
September 12, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Reading In Stolen Moments
To have time to read is, I swear, the ultimate luxury. But at the same time, it’s nourishment for the soul. And I consider it a necessity. To be brain-fried to a level where you cannot sit with one book for FOMO regarding all of the other books you’ve bought or have on loan might […]Archive
September 7, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
My Favourite Author That I’ve Never Read
I couldn’t know I was doing this at the time, but the day before we went into lockdown I armed myself with a bunch of books by George Saunders. I did this because he’s one of my favourite writers that I’ve never read. You read that correctly. I often write about Authors I Admire but […]Archive
September 4, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Poem: King Collection
The first book by Stephen King that I read was Pet Semetary – with its typo in the title. And maybe I didn’t even know that was wrong when I read it – everything seemed so right, I’d found my new home. The second book by Stephen King for me was It. The cover as […]Archive
August 31, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Some Lockdown Reading
I’m a big reader, always with several books on the go. My mixture of genres (always a graphic novel on the go, always a volume of poetry, usually one or two non-fiction and a novel or book of short-stories too) and the mix of library books, things to review, things borrowed from friends and new/ish […]Archive
August 19, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 271: My Talk at the 2020 Manawatu Writers Festival
Hi and welcome to episode 271 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T and Yeastie Boys and thanks to you readers and listeners. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it […]Archive
August 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast # 270: Tarns Hood
Hi and welcome to episode 270 of Sweetman Podcast. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library. It’s on most of the podcast platforms besides the ones […]Archive
August 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of Stephen King. Again.
I’m having quite the Stephen King renaissance. And I’m doing so without having read very much of his work for a while… But I’m planning to. I’ve been planning to for a while. And I’m on the verge of just diving right back in. Okay, rewind – I wrote about King a while back as […]Archive
August 5, 2021 by Simon Sweetman
In Praise of ‘Masterclass’
When I first saw the ads I wondered if it was real – some sort of deep-fake scam. You signed up and had access to classes with famous filmmakers, writers, musicians…yeah right! But then it started to make more sense, seemed legit. Why not? A friend visited one day, told me she’d recently signed up […]Archive
August 1, 2021 by Simon Sweetman