Books, Films and Art to Catch Up On

You might be feeling impatient with the lockdown, having caught up on the films that you have been wanting to watch. Good news for us, there’s never a shortage of content for us to consume, if you only knew which ones. We would like to help save you some time and shortlist some of our recommendations of books, podcasts and films for you to spend your days on!

Based on the amount of time you have and what you are feeling for, take your pick and spend your time fruitfully.

A story for a short break from work

For those who love your reading, reading a novel might be hard while you’re working. But that’s what short stories are for! Take a 10-15 minutes break for your work to harp on love, light and hope with Raymond Carver, and feel more refreshed going back to your work. For those who have read this title before, you can embark on another similar title on the subject of running by Haruki Murakami, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running.

Some imagery to bring you some calm

If you haven’t watched One Planet on Netflix, you should and if you already have, just click on your favourite episode again and revel in the beautiful imagery the film brings. Think glaciers to grassland, places that you might not have access to now, with the clear narration of Sir David Attenborough bringing you through the beautiful things in life. There are few things more relaxing than this, and in this period of isolation, this brings us to focus again on wonderful nature, and the things that make our lives worth living.

Some comedy and a little smile with art

If you have a small break and wants to look at something that makes you smile – follow Nathan W Pyle’s Strange Planets on Instagram here. He observes humans’ day to day lives and regurgitates them onto aliens living on a ‘strange planet’ and often teases the laughter out of us because of how surprisingly true it is. Just have a look and you’ll get what we mean.

Be quietly awed and let time just gently flow

Reading is always the allowing of time to gently flow from hour to hour. At your next reading time, pick up Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, a breathtakingly honest book that touches on tough subjects like slavery and colonialism. Our favourite quote from the book,

“We believe the one who has power. He is the one who gets to write the story. So when you study history, you must ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there you get a clearer, yet still imperfect, picture.”

Clarify your truth – you might not be having the greatest time now but know that in some sense you still have much in abundance. Appreciate your present and take control of your time.

Morning meditation with beauty

Nowness creates great content that will soothe your heart and soul when you see it. Their #MorningMeditation content is specially catered to doing that, and though it might not be morning when you see it, it will still be able to instil a sense of wellbeing at any point of time if you let it. You can access their content easily on their Instagram, or just head over to their website to have your fill of goodness. They also have content on a vast range of topics that you can take your time to slowly explore.

May the Force be with you. Otherwise, celebrate your favourite directors or studios!

May the Fourth is coming up and Star Wars buffs will be busy spending their days watching their favourite scenes again. But not everyone is a Star Wars fan, so it’s also a great time to start exploring new films by categories! For a start, May 1^st is Wes Anderson’s birthday, and if you’re a fan, it’s high time to celebrate and douse yourself in his signature aesthetic look and enjoy some of his films. Some great films that you can watch on Wes Anderson day:

• Isle of Dogs – named one of his best and most intricate works, a touching animation about dogs.
• The Grand Budapest Hotel
• The Royal Tenenbaums

Fantastic news that we’ve received just in the recent months is that Studio Ghibli is finally on Netflix, and what better time is there to binge on these touching and beautifully made animated films?

Here’s the first list of items as a start for you to choose to spend your time effectively. There’s always good content out there to spend your time on, sometimes you just need to find something that fits the bill to make a difference to your day. How are you choosing to spend your time today?