Books of 2019

There seems to be a theme in the books I've read this year. You can glean as you go through the history book club topics but given the chance to read something independently I've been leaning toward the economic and political. I just find it interesting to be honest. Not that I can do much about the current state of things.

1. Battlecry of Freedom: The American Civil War James M McPherson (1990) 862p
2. The Joy of Tax: How a fair tax system can create a better society Richard Murphy (2015) 283p
3. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner (2007) 230p
4. The Production of Money: How to break the Power of Bankers Ann Pettifor (2016) 160p
5. The Long Walk (The Bachman Books) Stephen King (1979) 238p
6. The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World Catherine Nixey (2017) 247p
7. Believe Me J P Delaney (2019) 385p
8. Black Edge: Inside Information, Dirty Money, and the Quest to Bring Down the Most Wanted Man on Wall Street Sheelah Kolhatkar (2017) 306p
9. Red Plenty: Inside the Fifties' Soviet Dream Francis Spufford (2010) 365p
10. Vikings: A History Neil Oliver (2012) 352p
11. Viking Britain: A History Thomas Williams (2017) 347p
12. Norse Mythology Neil Gaiman (2017) 281p
13. The Vikings Magnus Magnusson (2016) 307p
14. Red Notice: How I Became Putin's No.1 Enemy Bill Browder (2015) 470p
15. The Spider Network: The Wild Story of a Maths Genius and One of the Greatest Scams in Financial History David Enrich (2017) 449p 
16. Perilous Question: The Drama of the Great Reform Bill 1832 Antonia Fraser (2013) 278p
17. The Odyssey Homer (Translated by Emily Wilson) (2018) 525p
18. Spain: The Centre of the World 1519-1682 Robert Goodwin (2015) 490p
19. Conquistadors: The Spanish Explorers and the Discovery of the New World Michael Wood (2010) 289p
20. Space Race: The Battle to Rule the Heavens Deborah Cadbury (2006) 345p 
21. National Populism: The Revolt Against Liberal Democracy Roger Eatwell & Matthew Goodwin (2018) 292p
22. Talking to my Daughter: A Brief History of Capitalism Yanis Varoufakis (2019) 199p
23. The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History Boris Johnson (2015) 356p
24. The Shortest History of Germany James Hawes (2018) 227p
25. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari (2014) 466p
26. Revolutionary Russia, 1891 – 1991 Orlando Figes (2014) 422p
27. The Undercover Economist Tim Harford (2006) 255p 

November 2019

A bit of a cloud has been hanging over me the past couple of months. I feel like it's dispersing but I can never tell when I'm on an upswing until I get out there and find out. Lately I just go to work and go home and can't really bring myself to do much, apart from watch movies. Christmas party was the other day and I danced a lot, it felt good. I'm optimistic.

Note: Films in red are ones I saw at Leeds International Film Festival

November

1/11 TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS (Episode 2) The King (2019)
2/11 Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Yuval Noah Harari (2014) 466p TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS (Episode 3 and 4) The Wine Show (1) Strictly Come Dancing (1)
3/11 Maleficent (2014) TALES FROM THE BORDERLANDS (Episode 5) King Kong (1933)
4/11 His Dark Materials (1)
6/11 The Affair: Finale (1) The Apprentice (1) Legion: Season 2 (1)
7/11 Riverdale (1) Ready Player One (2018) Legion (1) Sicario (2015)
9/11 Strictly Come Dancing (1)
10/11 All About Eve (LIFF - 1950) Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK (1) Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories – Season 2 (2) Election (1999)
11/11 Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) Revolutionary Russia, 1891 – 1991 Orlando Figes (2014) 422p
12/11 Little Monsters (LIFF - 2019)
13/11 Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) The Limehouse Golem (2016)
14/11 Marriage Story (LIFF - 2019)
16/11 Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK (1) The Apprentice (1) Earthquake Bird (2019) Riverdale (1) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (5) It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Strictly Come Dancing (1) They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
17/11 Vivarium (LIFF - 2019) The Crown: Season 3 (7) I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here (1)
18/11 Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1)
19/11 The Crown (3) Patriot Games (1992) Fighting with my Family (2019) Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) Leader’s Debate (1) Brittany Runs a Marathon (2019)
20/11 Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) Baywatch (2017)
21/11 Last Christmas (2019) Jojo Rabbit (LIFF - 2019)
22/11 Le Mans’ 66 (2019)
23/11 Frozen II (2019) Ru Paul’s Drag Race UK: Finale (1) Question Time: Leaders Questions (1) Strictly Come Dancing (1) Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) The White Crow (2018)
24/11 Kramer vs Kramer (1970) The Palm Beach Story (1942) The Piano Teacher (2001) Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories (1) Three Days of Condor (1975)
25/11 It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (1) Barbarella (1965)
26/11 Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
27/11 Support the Girls (2018)
28/11 The Apprentice (1) Dial M for Murder (1954) Margot at the Wedding (2007) A Ghost Story (2017) Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator (2019) Rock of Ages (2012)
30/11 The Meaning of Life (1983) Sword of Trust (2019) Strictly Come Dancing (1) The Report (2019)