Today I am delighted to be part of the blog tour for Stella Newman's 'A Pear Shaped Christmas'. The novella is out now and available from Amazon here.
Stella is author of Pear Shaped, and Leftovers, and her new book, The Dish is released next year.
Today Stella is talking to us about the distractions of Christmas.
The Distractions of Christmas by Stella Newman
I love my family, I love booze, I love eating too much and I love presents (both giving and receiving) – so theoretically Christmas should be my favourite time of the year. But for whatever reason, it isn’t - and I find myself getting terribly bored and stir-crazy about halfway through Boxing Day. Maybe this is normal? I don’t know, but either way, this year I’ve prepared a list of distractions for myself - TV shows, books and a play – to get me through to the other side! If you find yourself bored or at a loose end, you might enjoy some of these too.
TV
There’s been so much allegedly brilliant TV this year, which I’ve thought has only been so-so, or downright irritating: The Missing, season 2 of The Fall (so sloooooooow). Instead, I’ll be spending my hours in front of the box / computer screen, watching the following:
Transparent - on Amazon Prime. A bold and brilliant comedy drama about a family in America, reacting to the revelation that their father is transgender.
Rewatching House of Cards, seasons 1 & 2 on Netflix. This is quality TV: Robin Wright, playing evil personified, directed by David Fincher – what’s not to love?
Enlightened. Another American comedy-drama. I know precious little about this, but have bought the boxset on the basis that it stars Laura Dern as a 40 year old who returns home to live with her mother after a mini nervous breakdown.
Books
I’m going to reread Karen Joy Fowler’s brilliant We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. I’ve read around forty books this year, and this one was the one I enjoyed most. It’s original and funny and sad, and anyone who’s part of a family should read it.
Also, I’ll happily browse the two most exciting cookbooks of the year – Justin Gellatly’s Bread, Cake, Doughnut, Pudding and Dan Doherty’s Duck and Waffle: Recipes and Stories. I might not get round to actually making anything from either but I’d still get immense pleasure from just looking at the pictures and dreaming of all those lovely treats.
Theatre
King Charles III
If I hadn’t already seen it, and if I could be bothered to get out of my pyjamas during the days after Christmas Day, I would go to see King Charles III at Wyndham’s Theatre from now through till January. It’s about what might happen once Prince Charles secedes to the throne, and it’s funny, sad and brilliantly written, with an amazing performance by Tim Piggott Smith. Buy tickets via the Almeida’s website – they’re much cheaper, and try to sit in row Q. Good legroom, a good view, and a bargain, (in theatre land terms, at least) at £20.
A massive thank you to Stella for taking time to tell us about her distractions. Do you find yourself feeling the same? Would love to hear how you distract yourself too.
Have a great Christmas!
Jill
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