Matthew Beckett Reviews

It's been a while since I wrote a blog post so I have decided to do a summary of all the books that I read in 2022.  I managed to get through 24 books last year, which is the most by a lot since becoming a father just over four years ago. This is because I have actually been making time to read, primarily before bed (which has helped my sleep too) as there are less opportunities during the day with two children and a house to look after. In 2021 I decided to change my reading system to mix things up a bit, but also get through some of the books that have been sitting on my shelf for a few years, so I continued that system in 2022 and will do so again this year. The system is as follows, read a new book (acquired in the last twelve months), next an older book, then re-read a book that I have enjoyed in the past (I started re-reading the Harry Potter series in 2021 so I was continuing not just starting on the fourth book!). I then repeated this throughout the year and it made choosin...

It's album review time and this week I am doing the incredible debut album by American singer songwriter Alec Benjamin called These Two Windows released at the end of May this year. The album title is clever as it references the content of the songs on the album which give us a look into his heart and mind. This wasn't a hugely successful debut unfortunately, peaking at number 52 in the UK and number 75 in the US however I have a strong feeling we will continue hearing more of him. I have enjoyed Alec's music for a few years now but I would say the first single from this album is what grabbed me and made me really become a fan, every song since has just added to that so hearing the full album is wonderful. I love that Alec's voice is soft and he sings calmly, never needing a blaring chorus to build the song as he manages to bring across the message of every song amazingly well in his own way while creating catchy songs that stick with you, his style definitely makes him...

This week it is book review time and it's something different now that I've finished the Throne Of Glass series, I am reviewing the Science fiction thriller Zoo written by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge published in 2012.  First thing to say is that this will contain spoilers, so if you have not read the book and plan to I suggest reading it first. The book follows Jackson Oz, a scientist who has devoted himself to collecting data on the increasing number of mammal attacks on humans and trying to convince other scientists to listen. On a trip to Botswana he survives an attack by a large group of lions during which over a hundred people are killed throughout the country in other attacks, he saves Ecologist Chloe Tousignant who was studying a change in bird behaviour. They return to New York and find that his chimpanzee has killed and partially eaten his girlfriend. Five years later Jackson and Chloe are married with a three year old son called Eli. His theory gets accepted...

It's album review time and this week I have decided to do British singer songwriter Becky Hill's debut compilation album called Get To Know released September last year, the collection contains several of her single releases and features plus some of her own unreleased songs. The album itself has been moderately successful so far peaking at number 20 however it has spent 32 weeks in the top 40, out of the 41 weeks in the top 100 (since release), of them 23 weeks have been spent in the top 30. The album contains seven top 40 singles, with five going top 20 three of which went top 10 with one number 1, that being Gecko (Overdrive) with Dutch DJ Oliver Heldens in 2014. I have loved Becky since I first saw her first performance on The Voice UK, she has such an incredible voice and presence, I was gutted when she was knocked out in the semi-final she definitely should have won. You can imagine how happy I was when two years later she had a massive hit that makes her the only contest...

This week's film review is the 2005 supernatural horror crime drama film The Exorcism Of Emily Rose directed by Scott Derrickson. The film stars Laura Linney, Tom Wilkinson, Campbell Scott, Jennifer Carpenter, J. R. Bourne, Mary Beth Hurt, Henry Czerny and Shohreh Aghdashloo. Before I go further I will say that there will be spoilers, so if you intend to watch the film and don't like spoilers wait to see the film first. Erin Bruner (Laura Linney), an ambitious lawyer seeking to become a senior partner in her law firm, takes the case of Father Richard Moore (Tom Wilkinson), a Catholic diocesan priest charged with negligent homicide following an attempted exorcism of 19-year-old student Emily Rose (Jennifer Carpenter). The archdiocese what Moore to plead guilty but he refuses pleading not guilty, during the trial witness statements are visualised via flashbacks. Prosecutor Ethan Thomas (Campbell Scott) interrogates several doctors and neurologists t...

It's album review time and this week's choice is the fifth and most recent album by British musical theatre group Collabro called Love Like This which was released at the end of last year, it is unsurprisingly a collection of well known love songs. The group consists of Michael Auger, Jamie Lambert, Matthew Pagan and Thomas J. Redgrave. Collabro are a really popular in the UK with this album being their lowest charting at number 22 (possibly owed to a winter release compared to all the other albums being released in summer) their other four albums all went top 20 with three going top 10 and their debut album topped the charts. I have actually been a fan of Collabro from the beginning, although I don't watch Britain's Got Talent which they won in 2014, I saw a YouTube clip of one of their performances and have like them since before they were famous. Their albums always consist of them covering songs in their own style, the songs are a mix of popular chart songs and song...