Reading
- I grew up in a household where books were devoured and every jumble sale saw one box replaced by another, so I feel guilty that I now read for pleasure very rarely. When I do, my taste is eclectic and my old habit returns immediately. A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini ticked all the boxes: great yarn, deeply moving and a powerful perspective on the reality for women in Afghanistan.
Music
Driving is generally my music time and my CD collection comprises old favourites from Annie Lennox, Paolo Nutini (These Streets and Sunny Side Up) and Neil Diamond’s Home Before Dark (Pretty Amazing Grace is one of my all-time favourite tracks).You’ll also find Nina Simone, Eddi Reader and KD Lang. I don’t often get to gigs. The most recent was Jools Holland at the SECC which, inevitably, was full almost exclusively of 50- somethings.
TV
I don’t watch much TV and tend to view at the end of the day to wind down. I avoid Question Time and the like, finding them more frustrating than enlightening, but do try to catch the news. I enjoy a good detective show - Ken Stott as Rebus, Morse, Frost or an Agatha Christie - so thank God for repeats of the oldies on Sky! And there’s always CSI or Criminal Minds, which tend to keep me up too late.
Film
It’s a novelty to go to the cinema for anything other than Pixar films, but when I do, I love it. I tend to go for escapism (James Bond), humour (In Bruges, The Boat that Rocked) or some reality. Recently, I saw The King’s Speech - everything it’s cracked up to be. My husband is a history buff so he loved that aspect. The story was sensitively told and the acting outstanding.
