Self-isolating? Now’s the time to self-improve
JOIN EMMA WATSON’S BOOK CLUB
IF YOU can’t meet up with your regular book club or you’ve always fancied joining one, then why not try one of the many online groups? There are lots with famous faces attached, such as the ones by Reese Witherspoon and Oprah Winfrey. Author Emma Gannon has also just launched The Hyphen-Book Club on Instagram.
BRUSH UP ON THE PAST
DAN Snow’s History Hit ‘explores the deep history behind today’s headlines’ and shows how an understanding of the past is vital to understanding what’s happening now. Recent episodes include one on the history of influenza. The History Hour, produced by the BBC World Service, deepens your knowledge of the 20th century by providing ‘an hour of historical reporting told by the people who were there’ on, for example, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
IF YOU have older relatives, now is the time to call them and ask them to tell you what they know about your family history. And then sign up for a free trial at ancestry.co.uk, which will help you trace the roots of your family tree.
OPEN YOUR EARS TO CLASSICAL
BBC Radio 3’s weekly Composer Of The Week with Donald Macleod is an excellent guide to composers and their music. The Open Ears Project is fascinating – a podcast in which contributors talk about the piece of music that means the most to them. Host Clemency Burton-Hill also has a book called Year Of Wonder, available on
Audible as an audiobook, in which she chooses one piece of music for every day of the year.
BECOME A FILM BUFF
WORK your way through the 100 greatest films ever made. There are several well-respected lists available. Every decade, the film magazine Sight And Sound asks a selection of critics and directors to vote for their favourites. The top three movies in the most recent poll are Vertigo, Citizen Kane and
Tokyo Story. Use the list at the British Film Institute for links and interviews about the films (bfi.org. uk). Did you know that early reviews dismissed Vertigo as ‘far-fetched nonsense’ and ‘pure dross’?
... FINALLY, CHANNEL YOUR INNER MORSE AND GET TO WORK ON A CROSSWORD
CRYPTIC crossword puzzles provide a fun mental workout. If you’ve ever looked at one and been baffled by it, here’s the good news – there is a trick to them; you just need to learn a few rules. There’s a very basic guide here – solving-cryptics. com – or read Alan Connor’s excellent book about the history of crosswords Two Girls, One On Each Knee.