This week – 28th June 2025

Books

I finished reading The Secret Servant by Gavin Lyall. A cold war thriller from 1980 which is a lot of fun, if a little bit silly. My review is here.

It did make me think I might have to create an Alan Partridge scale. A character in the book was in the SAS: add one point. Women swoon at the main character on sight: add one point. Grumbling about trade unions: add one point. Main character shows great expertise at completing prosaic driving tasks (in this case reversing out of a parking space): add one point.

I also finished reading Barbara Vine's (aka Ruth Rendell) A Dark Adapted Eye. I have to say it was one of the best things I've read all year. If you're expecting a classic murder mystery you'll be dissapointed. Instead you get a complex portrait of an extended family and their closet full of secrets. Anyway, my review is here.

Internet stuff

So there has been very little culture this week so I thought I'd throw in some links I came across this week:

Bus racing

Contender for funniest video of the year

A very cool party

Mind-melting videos of sculptures

New Unknown Mortal Orchestra video with creepy Gallo inspired video