TV: United 93 (Paul Greengrass 2006)

We found this on the TV after we'd unsuccessfully visited three picture theatres looking for current movies ("Sorry, It's booked out but Harry Brown / The Prince of Persia starts at the same time" "No thanks"). Given that we know the outcome from the first moments, it's amazingly gripping, an exercise in imaginative empathy.

Welcome Song for Baby: A Lullaby for Newborns (Richard Van Camp 2008)

This was given to the parents of every child born in British Columbia in 2008. Richard Van Camp read it to us and passed it around at the Sydney Writers' Festival.

Race of a Lifetime (Mark Halperin and John Heilemann 2010)

Confusingly, this is renamed from the US Game Change, but then I suppose the US title is meaningless to many (most?) non-US readers.

Why I Am Not a Farmer (Brendan Ryan 2000)

This slim volume was published ten years ago, yet miraculously there are still multiple copies on the bottom shelf of Gleebook's Australian poetry section.

The sonnet according to 'M' (Jordie Albiston 2009)

Winner of this year's Kenneth Slessor Prize. I bought Gleebooks' last copy on the night of the awards.

DVD: Ghost Town (David Koepp 2008)

The reviews made this sound eminently missable. In fact it's got a number of out-loud laugh moments. Ricky Gervais, Téa Leoni, Greg Kinnear are all funny. It's romantic, it's a comedy. It's the best movie in this genre since Truly Madly Deeply.

Urban Elegies (David Brooks 2007)

I'm going to a workshop with David Brooks next Monday. The least I can do is read a book by him!

Heat 22: The Persistent Rabbit (Ed. Ivor Indyk 2010)

No Jennifer Maiden in this issue, but it looks meaty.

The Blue Star (Fletcher Pratt 1952)

I'm told this is one of the great works of fantasy from the 50s. Possibly I should have read it 40 years ago or not at all. We'll see.

TV: Breaking Bad (Vince Gilligan 2008–)

I confess to hating the first episode of this, but I'm transfixed now, part way throught he second series, not so much a tragedy as a train wreck.

Le Concert (Radu Mihaileanu 2009)

This abounds in stereotypes, implausibilities, plot clunks and inconsistencies, hamfisted humour, political incorrectness and stuff that's clearly lost in translation. Then in the last 20 minutes or so it gives us a brilliant, heartwrenching, exhilarating musical sequence that must surely be a total classic. (Incidentally, the English title ought surely to be The Concerto.)

DVD: Capitalism: A Love Story (Michael Moore 2009)

I thought the smart-aleckiness had taken over in MM's movies with Farenheit 911, but apart from a few bathetic moments, he's back on form with this. I especially loved the history lesson about Franklin D Roosevelt and his proposed second bill of rights. [I wonder if the film boosted sales of Jeff Sparrow's excellent Communism: A Love Story?]