MUSIC

Turnstile: I’m not sure I can remember the last time I was at a big gig where it felt like the whole room was moving but my word this was frantic. Moderately stressed for the bloke who almost immediately stacked it in the pit and bounced his head off my knee, but he seemed mostly fine. I had a big yell and a dance with my pals and it was very cathartic and joyful.

Limp Bizkit: Was I expecting to spend part of my last Saturday in November yelling “I’m like a chainsaw, I’ll skin your ass raw” on a karaoke bus full of mainly strangers? No, but sometimes you do these things for friends. Happy 30th, Alice.

BOOKS

Inshallah United by Nooruddean Choudry: I have always disliked Manchester United. When I was 7 or 8 and first getting into football, they were the overwhelming dominant force and it was boring. Even though they’re far from the team they once were, I still can’t help but root for them to lose. It says a lot about Inshallah United that I found myself actively enjoying stories of Man United winning. I immediately told my dad (a slightly gentler United-hater) to listen to the audiobook too, and we both zoomed through it in a couple of days. There’s a lovely blend of humour and football and music and being from an immigrant family, and it brought me to tears at a few points.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman: At the start of November, Dungeon Crawler Carl was a book series I’d heard some murmurings about, and that I thought had a bad cover. At the end of November, I am now half way through the fifth audiobook. Turns out I really like it. It’s very silly, the audiobook performance is fantastic, and it moves along at such a frantic pace. It’s the ideal background to packing (and also running, and walking around Tesco). I’ll probably be through all seven by the end of the year.