The next installment in the adventures of Uhtred, and this time we’re heading back north to try and capture the original castle. As always, I swing wildly during these books, sometimes thinking they’re quite boring and I might just give up but then getting sucked in to the next part and relaly enjoying the more human moments. This story is pretty tense and more entertaining than I was expecting so I definitely stuck with it to the end and will move on to the next one soon!

I think I'm still quite early in the game but the premise is wonderful - you run a small mobile bookshop in various locations around a cosy seaside village. Each day, you choose which books to fill your shelves with and then run through the day helping the customers. Some of them browse and buy on their own, some of them don't find anything they want, and others require a helping hand.

Probably not one of the best war films I've seen, but I do like all the train action (minus the incessant screeching of the whistle). It probably doesn't get off to a good start for me because I'm not a big fan of paintings, so the whole endeavour seems a little bit pointless to me. So much anger, death and destruction for a bit of paint on canvas. But I get the concept - stop the Nazis being greedy, etc - and that makes it a bit of an adventure worth a watch if there's nothing else on.

I love how easy this game is to play. Your sole aim is to connect small houses to bigger buildings, using the limited amounts of road tiles that you're allowed. As time passes in the game, you're given rewards such as roundabouts, motorways and traffic lights to help ease the traffic routes, but the aim of the game is to be efficient and make sure the little cars are getting from the little buildings to their little destinations. It's simple, effective, and addictive.

A great movie, this one, with a stellar cast. Two headstrong women going up against each other, whilst also facing into the ideas of aging in Hollywood/Broadway, and the next generation coming up to step into the acting shoes. Lots of interesting themes covered but more than anything, this is two great performances - Bette Davis as Margo is everything and owns the screen, but Anne Baxter's Eve is fascinating, starting timid, growing in confidence and devilry, until eventually the tables are turned on her. Excellent film, well worth watching.

This film is perfect. Pretty much every single sentence, every scene, every moment is spot on - funny where it can be, heartbreaking in the right moments, but warming overall. Tim Key really has this character done well, lonely and chatty and nonsensical but with his heart in the right place. And the two musicians play it perfectly - I love, as well, that Carey's character doesn't come back or there's no big dramatic gesture at the end. This is real life, even in its slightly fantastical state. I could watch this over and over, I loved it. Five stars aren't enough.

It is astonishing to me that Sultans of Swing can be on a debut album. It's such an iconic, accomplished piece of music - the riff that gets right inside your head in the best possible way. Incredible. The rest of the album is good to, I mean, it's exactly what you'd expect from Dire Straits - fab guitars and sultry vocals for some great songs. But the Sultans steals the show, for sure.

I'm becoming something of a Tom Grennan fan - he has good tunes and have seen a couple of festival performances that are very energetic and inspiring (and shirtless). It's all in the music though, this is great pop with excellent beats and a voice that can equally do belting power as well as the softer lilting ballads. This album thankfully has more of the former, as we like a bit of positive energy at the moment, and as a whole it's a really good listen.

Having watched the BBC series telling the story of the Brink’s-Mat robbery in great detail, a small obsession with this true crime has been growing. This is the first book I’ve read on the subject, and as this was by the same author who made the show, it’s pretty similar in content. A few extra details here and there, but generally speaking it details the facts behind the drama, which was pretty faithful considering there’s a lot we don’t know even now. A good read!

Wow, what a ride this is! It starts out pretty slow, and the first hour is a lot of set up and remembering and getting up to speed. I do think it does quite a good job of reminding you what's going on and what's happened across the whole series, which some (cough, Marvel) don't do so well at all. Lots of flashbacks, actual glimpses of previous films, it doesn't make you feel like an idiot for not remembering thirty years of movies.

I don’t mind it when a writer diverts from the normal expectation of their writings, and this one is quite a change of pace from the thriller writer. Rather than agents and detectives saving the world, we’re following three very different characters as they navigate the terrifying and tragic world of WWII London. It’s quite slow paced, and I feel like it could have been a lot shorter, but the underlying story is interesting and these are three characters I’d really like to have spent more time with.

I probably read this too close to the previous Liane Moriarty book but it’s when it became available to me and I didn’t want to miss the opportunity. At first I was a bit confused because there were a lot of characters - triplets and their extended friends and family - but gradually it all pieced itself together. As always, this was just a fascinating character study, three very different girls and how they ended up at a disaster of a birthday dinner. It’s not my favourite of the Moriarty books I’ve read so far but it is still of exceptional quality and worth every minute.

I’ve loved the Taylor Jenkins Reid books I’ve read so far so am working through the back catalogue. I wasn’t sure about this one at first, it took a while to hook me in, but gradually I got into it and wanted to know what happened next. I wasn’t entirely sold on the twist, I don’t know if it even needed to be there, but I suppose there had to be a reason she picked this particular journalist, etc etc. But the story of golden era Hollywood stars falling in and out of love was captivating and enough in its own right.

This was a really interesting memoir, detailing the life and times of a tennis player who doesn’t reach the heady heights of the superstar names you know and love, but puts in a real graft every day nevertheless. It’s always fascinating, if slightly uncomfortable, to think about that huge divide between the top players that can afford the help and support they need, versus the rather larger rest of the field who need to manage everything themselves, doing it on rather less prize money. This is a good, honest, revealing memoir, that is perhaps not surprising but does at least raise the subject once again.

The pattern of this striped cardigan caught my eye and I couldn't stop thinking about it. Although it says it's designed for men, it looks pretty unisex to me. So I set about knitting it and am pretty happy with the result. The only issue with the final result is that one of the shoulders sticks up a bit like it should have shoulder pads in it. The other one …

When the sun comes out, lots of people migrate towards the coast. The beaches are crammed with families swimming and building sandcastles, and the coastlines are full of tourists enjoying the weather and the views. Recently, I was one of those people! However, so many humans travelling in the same direction makes traffic a bit of a bore, and therefore makes public transport more enticing. I'm not a big fan …

I'm not really sure how this happened but I know it's worth commemorating - four film adaptations of War of the Worlds in a row! The first two were definitely planned but then whilst researching what other War of the Worlds movies were out there, I discovered I had a copy of Jeff Wayne's musical concert, and then of course had to go back to the 1950s and see how …

This album can be summed up for me really easily. I love the hits - Where's Your Head At and Do Your Thing are legendary at this point - but I don't suppose I really need a whole album of it. The good bits are good but it's not really a genre of music I'm going to spend a lot of time listening to, and can be satisfied just enjoying the songs that I know and love by themselves.

Craig David does what he does well and no one can really imitate him, so you konw what you're getting with this album. There are some good collaborations on here, and the songs are all very listenable and flow by easily. There's nothing outstanding though, and on the flip side, I really wasn't a big fan of rolling out the old assembly songs (stealing from assembly bangers at this point, huh), so in the end it's mixed results.

This was a different film to what I was expecting, and I went into it thinking it wasn't going to be particularly good. The start was very slow and the twenty minute rule almost came into effect, but it had just enough intrigue to keep watching and in the end I'm glad that I didn't switch off.

Loved this. Moriarty has such a talent for casting characters and making them so intricate and believable and with all these human touches that even if you don’t relate to them directly, you can completely understand them. And the premise of this book is hugely intriguing - has this woman really predicted the age and cause of death for all these people on the plane? How all the threads go spreading apart and then come back together towards the end is masterful. A really, really great read.

I think this is the last book in the Maid series and I’m sort of glad about that. It feels like there’s not much further to go with this character, plus in this book we get a lot of family history and understand what happened with her grandmother to explain how they ended up in the poor but happy conditions they are in now. Meanwhile there’s a sale and a mystery around a Fabergé egg, but really it’s the backstory that I thought most interesting. A happy ending overall, though, phew!

I'm surprised it's taken me this long to listen to this album but after randomly watching some old concert footage of the band and finding out I was singing along to every word, I remembered how much I liked them! This is a great album, the first four songs grab you and let you know you're in for a fast-paced upbeat time, and the album doesn't let up. I loved it, and should definitely be listening to this more!

I do enjoy Jade Bird's style, a husky rock voice and some punchy powerful not-quite-pop. This album is more of the same and is a joy to listen to as you go through it. I don't think there are any stand out bangers on there, and it's not going to live long in my memory outside of listening to it. But it will definitely go on the rotation of good, solid albums to listen to occasionally.

This was a really good entry in the DCI Ryan series - quickly picking up after the cliffhanger at the end and putting one of our beloved characters in harm’s way. I do think he should have opened up to Ryan earlier, but it all worked out in the end! And in their personal lives, Ryan doesn’t have too much to deal with this time, except supporting his friends and family. I like the burgeoning family for Phillips and MacKenzie and how that is coming together as well. Plus there’s a crime to investigate and it’s an interesting family drama this time. Really good!

I loved this. There are lots of books that describe television shows but when you get an official history of one, that’s where the real gems are. And this one is really well done - the author completed hours of interviews with the cast and crew, and has pieced the story of the show together in an engaging and fascinating way. From the two initial pilots, to a doomed romance between cast members, to the pay rows that dominated later seasons, and of course the final events that led to the end of the series overall. Everyone speaks openly, honestly, and humourously about the highs and lows of this show and it’s just a real treat. Of all the things, though, I can’t get my head round the fact they only had one set of stairs and would have to redress the set every time the cast turned the corner. Madness!

What a treat this old-school War of the Worlds adaptation, so you have to adjust your expectations accordingly. The effects are surprisingly good, although it did, at times, feel like I was watching an episode of Thunderbirds. The models and the flames and the sirens and the little emergency vehicles, it was good!

After seeing I was on a bit of War of the Worlds kick, my dad mentioned this musical and it turns out I had a copy of it already, picked up in a musicals bundle on Apple. I was a bit nervous about it because the title is so long and what to expect from a musical adaptation of this tricky story? But it was really a pleasant surprise.

I'm really grateful that before going into this film, I'd seen that it was being panned by critics and the general public. I'd hoped it would be really good but that tempered my expectation which is good because it was terrible. In so many ways. First of all, the way the story is told through apps and screens is creative but also stifling and means occasionally they have to push the limits of believability to try and make it work. And sometimes when it's bodycams or similar, it becomes quite dizzying in a bad way.

Oliver! the musical has had many outings since its inception in the 1960s, and the most recent is a West End Revival that burst onto the scene last year. I saw a performance on one of the variety shows and immediately bought tickets to see it. Taking up residence at the Gielgud theatre, the show is currently booking through to March 2026 and is so far having a very successful …

Hall & Oates popped up on one of our Live Aid viewings and led to a discussion about how they've massively fallen out now, which is a shame. I only really knew You Make My Dreams going into this but actually found it a really good album. The cover of You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling is a bit out of place, but then I learned that they wrote Everytime You Go Away rather than Paul Young. Lots of knowledge in this one album! Good early 80s pop.

This is a great album from Amy, a step up from the previous one I listened to which was a bit middle of the road for my tastes. This one feels as though it has a bit more oomph, and whilst it is still grown up singer/songwriter pop, it has great production and vocals that don't get boring. It's short and sweet, so there's no time to get bored. The only downside is there's no song that really grabs you and stands out from the rest.

This is a servicable thriller, but if I’m honest, it didn’t grab me as much as I’d hoped. I could understand the family’s desperation to find their missing daughter but as everything started to unravel and the secrets began being revealed, it all felt a bit unrealistic and hard to swallow - even if you try to suspend your disbelief. And the characters weren’t really that nice, to each other and just generally. Completely readable but not one I’m going to be thinking about for too long afterwards.

We would never have watched this if it wasn’t for the second series of Light & Magic, which talked in detail about some of the CG efforts that went into making it look good. Roll on a few weeks, and we saw there was an Ice Cube remake on Prime, so figured it was worth watching this one first before muddying the water with the remake.

This was a surprisingly refreshing read - Tom Felton tells it like it is and isn’t afraid to dig into the past and be honest about what he finds there. Felton has gained a bit of controversy recently around the Harry Potter author, but I think it’s always going to be complicated given what an impact these films had and how much of the childhood of these kids they took up. There are lots of Potter stories contained in here, fun moments and serious thoughts about the wider cast. There’s also talk of mental health and overcoming difficult moments, just keep going. It’s only the beginnings of a life, so a short autobiography, but definitely worth a read.

This was a lot of fun. I thought it was going to be a generic comedy, but it was quirkier than that. Weird and mostly unlikable characters, but plenty of fun and jokes and good tunes. In reality though, it was Nick Jonas who stole the show, with just one line that I'm still laughing about now. Cute ending, fun film, and Nick Jonas, what more could you ask for?

I loved the first Grace book so was keen to read the second. It took me a while to get back into it, but I was soon back on board. A great mystery to unravel, whilst Grace continues to deal with the disappearance of his wife and trying to move on. He has a new relationship on the cards, and still dabbles in the supernatural world as well, reconciling that with his more factual day job. A really good read and keen to move on to the next!

After watching the brilliant series of Rivals, I wanted to read the book but of course had to start at the beginning of the series. It’s great. It’s of its time so you have to place yourself in the mindset for it. But the characters are great, the writing draws you in and makes you care about them, even though most of them are pretty awful! I can’t say that the world of show jumping particularly interests me but even with that I was hooked by the storylines and who was doing well, who would win, what rivalry would be next. It was brilliant and I can’t wait to read the next one.

I was vaguely aware of the film adaptation of this and thought it was worth a quick look at the source material… only to find it completely captivating. The claustrophobia and the not knowing are absolutely key to the book and it’s so well done, it holds your attention, it makes you turn the pages, you need to know! There were a few pretentious moments using long words that I had to look up, but then I thought that added to the slightly other-world feeling. The fact that you don’t know what’s going on but get hints of it also increases the horror of the situation. Great book.

I had a bit of trepidation going into this book, how could there be another story to tell in the world of Atticus Pund? But in Anthony Horowitz we should always trust - this time he’s investigating the continuation novel, and it has meta moments as Horowitz has done his fair share of work in that area. There are a lot of new characters and plenty to unravel as we work through both books. The only bit I wasn’t too sure of was the detective sharing his findings by way of a chapter - that felt a tiny bit contrived. But still, loved it. I don’t know if there will be more in this series as this one felt like a proper ending, but either way, I really enjoyed it.

Continuing the nostalgia surrounding Live Aid at the moment, and after watching When Harvey Met Bob, it seemed inevitable that I would be listening to a Boomtown Rats album. I have only ever known the Mondays song and until watching his performance at Wembley, I don't think I'd ever seen Geldof actually sing. So this was a revelation. I loved it though, it's quirky and weird and I can see why they didn't become mega-famous outside of the charity work, but I really enjoyed it. The Wind Chill Factor song got stuck in my head for days as well.

I mostly know Trisha Yearwood from the How Do I Live controversy, and then hosting lots of country music events that we're lucky enough to see highlights of. I've not been so interested in listening to her music previously, thinking it might be a bit too traditional country, but this one seemed like a good place to start. It was brilliant! Right from the start it has a great balance of new and old country, not too pop but not too 'slide guitar' either. Actually it's really good all the way to the last couple of tracks, where it drifts away slightly. But otherwise it's good guests, great songs, a lot of fun.

This is the second part of a two-part round up of not-so-recent television I've been watching. There was a sizeable reduction in what I was able to get to over summer due to the great events such as Glasto and Wimbledon, but I'm back in front of the little grey box again and there'll be more to discuss soon. Meanwhile, these shows caught my eye over the past few months. …

As usual, I took some time off work this year over the Wimbledon fortnight to watch as much tennis as I possibly could. This time, I decided to shift the days a bit and focus more on the second week rather than the first... so typical that this was a year in which most of the top seeds went out super early and so I was left watching rather random …

Recently, the BBC re-aired the 90s series Showstoppers - a musical extravaganza hosted by Gary Wilmott. I remember having this recorded from its original airing and rewatched it over and over. I know the first episode pretty much word for word... for a musicals fan, it’s a must-watch. The show came about because the BBC Concert Orchestra were basically at a loose end and producers suggested a one off show …

I’ve been reading through the Saxon stories by the same author but thought I would dip back into Sharpe’s world - I’d got a bit bored of him in India but this one was definitely a change from that dusty and dangerous land. This was more like Hornblower, with Sharpe all at sea, making friends and enemies, and ending up in another significant battle alongside none other than Lord Nelson! A really good read with lots of good characters, and a nice change of pace from the previous three books.

I really couldn’t see where this series could take our lead character after two very eventful stories but there was a lot more adventure in store for Rhiannon. I thought the way it started by catching up with the journalist and then wound back through what had happened up to that point was good, but I was a bit annoyed we didn’t revisit the characters from the cruise ship at any point. I mean, it makes sense if you’re changing your identity but still, a shame. Lots of new characters to enjoy, lots of returning names and faces to remember, and an ending that opens up plenty of potential for the next book.

This collection of short stories around our central hero Jack Reacher are a bit hit and miss for me. The first couple are really good - the one with the handbag, and the one with Reacher and Joe as boys getting up to mischief on a new military base. But as they wear on they get a bit predictable, and shorter. There’s one towards the end that is pretty much Reacher discovering trouble in a bar, beating up the bad guys and then leaving town. I mean, we know that by now, we really don’t need to read it again. So mixed reviews, but the first few are definitely worth a read.

Excellent tunes on here, Chuck Berry doing what he does and doing it well. Obviously I listened to this album for the joy that is Johnny B. Goode but there are quite a few other classics on here. The downside to these 50s rock and roll albums is that the songs tend to sound very similar to each other, particularly those guitar riff intros. But the upside is that they tell good stories like country music songs do. Love it.

Never really know what you're going to get with Justin Bieber and if I'm honest, this one was a little bit lacking for me. The production is excellent, each track is well done and with good vocals, but it al blends a little bit into the background. There are no major bangers on it, so you just go from one track to the next without huge impact. The extra chatty bits aren't as annoying as I usually find them, but they don't seem to add anything and certainly the one about how much soul Justin has was a bit icky.