#HappyFat by Sofie Hagen spoiler free mini review

Happy Fat: Taking Up Space in a World That Wants to Shrink You by Sofie Hagen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Happy Fat is a stunning book about body image, self worth, societal oppression and above all, about fat. About being fat; what it's like to be fat; the problems, issues and discrimination that fat people endure on a daily basis. It's about learning to love the fat. To tell yourself if you are fat that it's okay to be that way. It's about becoming a better friend to the fat people in your life. It's about changing the world we live in, controlled by corporations intent on selling dieting products to a fat world by encouraging active Fatphobia among society. Fatphobia is real and just another form of discrimination, only encouraged by how fat is portrayed in the media when actually in this day and age we should be striving for an inclusive society where everyone is catered for and accepted for being who they are.

Easier said than done, perhaps, but Sofie Hagen does a superb job of explaining how we can start to change our own perspectives around fat and how to improve the world around us. Of course, being Sofie Hagen, this is done in an extremely likeable and often hilarious fashion.

Not only is the writing style excellent, but it's well researched. This isn't just one persons view on being fat and the problems that the world imposes on this, but everything is referenced and looked in to. The science speaks for itself when discussing specialised diets designed to fail. The popular belief that fat automatically equals unwell, dismissed by credible sources through Sofie's entertaining, charming and truthful dialogue.

Sofie is honest, drawing on her own life experiences throughout the story. I related heavily to this from my own experiences with body image issues and being overweight and was able to pinpoint exact events that Sofie talked about that I had experienced. I'm not sure I'm in the frame of mind to grab what's left of my stomach and be genuinely okay with it, but reading this felt like a good step in the right direction.

Peppered throughout are interviews with fellow fat people; fat activists and more, and with Sofie's detailed and well thought out questioning, these provide a variety of insights into different peoples perspectives on fatness in modern society.

I really recommend this book to anybody who may have been or is fat, or have had body image issues but I'd also recommend to anybody interested in another perspective on the fat situation in the world at the moment. The tone of voice is so well informed, likeable and funny that you could do a lot worse when expanding your horizons.

Finally, the physical book is really pretty, from the bright hardback cover to the pretty illustrations throughout. Go and buy this book, now. Thanks.



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#LesMiserables at the Birmingham Hippodrome

I thought everything about Birmingham's run of Les Miserables was fantastic. The live orchestra were exceptional. The lighting effects, especially those showing moving in the sewers were exquisite. I thought the casting was really well done, especially Killian Donnelly with his very Hugh Jackman vibe as Jean Valjean and Katie Hall as Fantine, both I thought were fabulous.

It feels genuinely exciting throughout and the precise choreography really absorbs you into the story. The singing rather importantly was also exceptional - I'm always annoyed when singers in musicals go too operatic, including too much vibrato on every note. There was a touch of the "I need to make this my own so will sing completely out of time" every now and then, but not enough to annoy me too much.

It was really a performance of superb quality, even the merch whilst not cheap (though not overpriced either) feels really well made.

The Hippodrome need comfier seats. They just do. It is too expensive to allow customers to be that hot and cramped for that amount of time.

In all, an excellent production of one of my favourite musicals, and with it coming back in 2020 I can genuinely recommend without feeling guilty. Brilliant.

#TheVinylDetective Written In The Dead Wax by Andrew Cartmel mini spoiler free review

The Vinyl Detective by Andrew Cartmel tells the story of an obsessive vinyl collector, who spends his days trawling charity shops hoping to find that ignorantly donated gem that he'll be able to turnover on ebay for a quick profit, whilst of course adding to his ever expanding collection the whole time.

Things suddenly change when, called upon by a mysterious and beautiful woman working for an unknown party, our detective is tasked with hunting down a particularity obscure jazz record. Of course, after some hunting and rather exciting and dangerous encounters, it becomes apparent they're not the only ones after the precious disk. But what's so special about this one?

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot of The Vinyl Detective from start to finish. The cast of characters all have some depth to make justify your investment, and the story has enough romance, action and mystery to keep you readily turning those pages. The author clearly knows his stuff, and there are numerous references to the geeky vinyl aficionados, from knowing about the different types of cartridge used on players, different amplifiers and even record cleaning techniques.

I'm not a record novice, but I'm also not a connoisseur. Falling squarely between the two I knew enough to get by, but I doubt somebody with little or no interest in music would get nearly as much from this as I would, despite the well written prose and clearly well thought out story.

What I found was that it was easy to empathise with the lead and I enjoyed reading his internal dialogue. His actual conversations with the extended cast are also fun to read, and in addition to some expected plot twists and turns there's even a good level of action. There's a decent amount of levity too, such as the inclusion of our lead's very particular two cats, and his pot smoking best friend.

Ben Aaronovitch nudged Andrew Cartmel into creating this series, and I can see why. It was a few similarities with the ease of accessibility and detective and murder-mystery themes that Rivers Of London has. It also very much put me in mind of the author Ray Celestin (The Axeman's Jazz).

Witty, well written and genuinely interesting, I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series and can readily recommend The Vinyl Detective to mystery fans, music fans and fans of authors like Aaronovitch or Celestin. A great read.

#RaisingFire by James Bennett mini spoiler free review

Raising Fire is the second in a series of books by James Bennett about the modern relationship between the creatures from fairy tales and fantasy, known as the remnants and humans. A pact known as the lore is currently in place which sees one human disguised remnant from every type of mythical creature left to go about their business on the earth, whilst the rest are subdued into an eternal slumber by a magical harp. Whilst this stands, the humans agree to leave remnants to themselves, thus sustaining some semblance of peace.

Only now, the lore is threatened. Our main character, Ben Garston, the Red, heartbroken and Jack Daniels loving dragon seems to be the only remnant intent on maintaining the pact and peace on Earth as we know it. Through a variety of encounters with different cults and creatures; vampires and unicorns, it seems everyone is after the sacred harp with the power to wake all remnants from their slumber and break this historical agreement.

Full of descriptive action and a fantastic cast of creatures, the book suffers from a confusing introduction, trying to fill everyone in on events up until now in a relatively short space of time. There are lots of similes and metaphors showered throughout the story, but some are often over explained and the amount of speculation that Ben does throughout makes up a lot of the writing. I did sometimes think that the story could've been told in half the page length.

Nevertheless, the plot is a solid one, the twists by characters you don't necessarily see coming and the second half of the book really comes in to it's own and had me gripped until the conclusion, leading nicely into the third instalment. Ben's relationships with the other characters is well written. I especially enjoyed the episodes between him and the recently awoken, and very pissed of White Dragon. Their relationship reminds me a lot of that between the The Master and The Doctor in Doctor Who.

Apart from my slight annoyance at the occasionally over descriptive writing which at times feels a bit pandering - I don't need your metaphors and similes explained at every turn - the plot and characters make up for this and it is an enjoying modern take on the fantasy genre. Recommended for fans of Ben Aaronovitch, Doctor Who, Harry Potter etc. Now the premise of this universe has been set up, I have extremely high hopes for any subsequent books in this series and I'm looking forward to reading the next, Burning Ashes. 

#HarryPotter and the Cursed Child Parts 1 and 2, London Palace Theatre

#KeepTheSecrets 

That is the hashtag to be found on all the pin badges and posters around the Palace Theatre in London - home to the stage only sequel to the multi million copy selling Potter series of books. And whilst I won't spoil any of the incredible production values and techniques used throughout the production I would like to share how much I thoroughly enjoyed the performance of both parts of the play. 

At first, separating the play into two parts seemed purely an extra money making venture on Rowlings part, but having seen both in an afternoon I feel any less would've made the story feel cramped and no where near as satisfying. Being able to take their time with some of the frankly unbelievable special stage effects is only a good thing and I found myself completely immersed from start to finish.

The play is an expensive one, at £75 a ticket PER PART and for this the Palace theatre doesn't exactly deliver on luxury. The seats are cramped, the refreshments expensive and by the end of the second part I think I'd sweated off about a stone in weight from the heat inside the building.

I understand however how much capital must have gone into the creation of this production. In addition to the spectacular special effects, the sets are all exquisite, the choreography superb and the Imogen Heap soundtrack incredibly atmospheric. 

The cast have been really well thought out, each suited to the role for which they were tasked. I've only the smallest of gripes about the odd one; Potter did tend to get a bit whiny/shouty and young Albus Severus could be quite quiet at times. Scorpius really stole the show, and his nervous, tortured and funny personality really shone through his incredible voice work and animated performance. He must have been absolutely shattered by the end of the evening. 

I was glad to have read the script well beforehand, as it kind of gave me a rough idea of what was to come but I'd forgotten enough to enjoy some excellent surprises in the plot. I'm definitely what you'd call a Potterhead, but I really think that this is a play that could be enjoyed by someone completely new to the wizarding world. 

To finish, I was pleasantly surprised by the availability and value of the merch on offer at the show; prices were kind of what I'd expect to pay at a gig really and the quality of the clothing I bought at least seems to be good. Splitting the available merch so that it's different for each part is a bit of a con to accio more of your money from your wallet, but it's really just good business sense. 

In all, I had a fantastic time seeing the Cursed Child, parts one and two and can legitimately recommend it not only to fans of Rowling's writing, but theatre fans in general. 

#DeadFunny - Horror stories by comedians

A surprisingly intelligent blend of genres. How often when viewing a horror film to be find ourselves laughing at the absurdity of it? Dead Funny is a collection arranged by comedians and all around clever people Robin Ince and Johnny Mains, of short horror stories written by a selection of some of the finest comedians around.

I love a good collection of short stories. In an ever quickening pace of modern life the ability to pick up a book and finish an entire story quickly appeals to me. However as with all compilations there will be some that appeal and some that do not.

Whilst some really had me chuckling some were just severely eerie and dark. Some of the names I'd heard before, and some I hadn't. Some gruesome and some just completely absurd! Some particular highlights of mine were the stories by Ince himself; Phil Jupitus, Stewart Lee and Sara Pascoe, though I don't think I'd say there was a single story I disliked. Each sets out to do different things and regardless of the outcome none can be criticised for being unoriginal. This collection is an absolute must for horror and comedy fans, and fans of excellent writing in general.

#AlwaysLookOnTheBrightSideOfLife a Sortabiography by Eric Idle, mini review

Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, labelled as a "sortabiography" by actor, comedian, director, musician, writer and ex-Python Eric Idle, is a brilliantly witty insight into the life of one of the UKs greatest comedic minds and a genuine in my opinion national treasure.

The book talks about Idle's rise to fame with the Python posse, from joining small comedy troupes whilst at university, into the beginnings of Python and meeting the rest of the gang. Then it goes on to talk about Idles own projects; moving Pyhton to the stage, more film and acting work and so on. All with a brilliant sense of humour and feeling of genuine love and nostalgia for the work he's been involved with, the book is always a pleasure to read through.

It's not all happy-go-lucky and Idle doesn't shy away from the troupes struggles with alcohol and substance abuse; the passing of other close celebrity friends and even his own divorce.

I especially liked the inclusion during the meteoric rise to stardom that Python brought with it, the relationships between Idle and the celebrity elite, including so many rock n roll stars such as certain Beatles and even Bowie!

The hardback copy is a beautifully presented book with a centre section containing some excellent photography of Idle with many of his celebrity friends and the rest of the pythons from different sets and scenarios and at different stages of the career.

For anyone with an interest in UK comedy or Monty Python, this book is a must read. Truly excellent.

#TheFurthestStation by Ben Aaronovitch mini review

Firstly, as a novella this book is expensive. Less than a cm thick and still on Amazon for £8, does the quality of the story really warrant that? In short... no, not really.

Not to say it's bad, but the length and style of story don't itself well to Aaronovitch's normally heavily descriptive writing style. And as such it's probably only one for the fans. Saying that, I actually can't imagine anyone wanting to start a series a book at entry number 5 and a half, set between the writings of Foxglove Summer and The Hanging Tree.

Despite the failings though, I did enjoy this little mystery novella and the premise of the story was one that kept me reading. Ghosts have been set loose on the metropolitan train line harassing the commuters of London town. In search of something, Peter in his typically geeky 21st century wizard way sets up a series of experiments to try and lure the spectres out, only to learn of a magical abduction...

The ideas are great; an elderly couple inadvertently adopt a new river spirit in the form of a nursery aged boy; Peter's cousin Abigail is back on the investigative front, along with Peter's friend from the transport department Sergeant Jaget Kumar and there's good variety in the ghosts that occur along the trains. 

The usual humour and style of writing we've come to know and love is back - just in a slightly more stripped down style. I really enjoyed the conclusion of the story too, which felt like watching an episode of a good detective TV show where everything is wrapped up nicely. I just feel that for the calibre of ideas, an entire novel wouldn't have gone amiss.

Definitely worth reading for fans of the series, though definitely not a starting point for newcomers.