I’ve been following the progress of the England Coast Path for a while now, since my obsession with long distance paths started. I love these trails, even though I have not, as yet, walked very much of any of them. There have been various coastal paths around the country, with the South West Coast Path being the most prominent, but now work has been pretty much completed on joining the dots and unveiling the new King Charles III Coast Path. The man himself opened the path today, although I’m guessing he didn’t walk very much of the almost 2,700 miles.

The second book in the Matilda Darke series, and I’d forgotten how dark this series is (no pun intended). This time, a couple who were having an affair are brutally murdered and it’s up to Matilda to figure out what happened whilst at the same time still dealing with the fallout from her previous cases and mistakes and a collection of colleagues who either support her fully or are getting in her way. A good read, interesting crime thriller, I’ll continue the series.

I’m a big fan of the TV show Death in Paradise (well, I used to love it, now I just watch it, it’s definitely not got quite the same buzz about it after so many character changes). This book is pretty much cashing in on the success of the show, but does tell the story of a real life situation where a UK police officer goes to the glorious sunny islands of the Caribbean and stays there a couple of years. It’s interesting and the stories are well told, so worth a read, but obviously nothing to do with the TV show at all.

I love Simon Brett’s writing and found this first in a new series book enjoyable… but maybe not as good as I was hoping. The main character wasn’t very gripping, and reminded me in places of Molly the Maid without the oddities that made Molly interesting. The mystery was good, although it feels a bit of a stretch that someone who declutters and deals with these challenging situations would also then solve a murder or two. Odd, not my favourite, but maybe I’ll give the second book a go just to see if it comes into its own.

I’ve heard of this film through its cultural impact, and noticed there was talk of a remake with Jenna Ortega, but I didn’t really know a lot about it. It’s painfully 90s - the apartment, the outfits, the very early computers, but as a story, it’s aged pretty well. It was good, and I enjoyed watching it, but it felt a little bit lacking and the pacing was drawn out. I don’t know if it’s just because it falls a little bit between genres - it’s not scary enough to be a horror, not quite thrilling enough to be a thriller, but with too much gore to just be a drama. It doesn’t quite hit the best of all worlds, but is an interesting and entertaining enough watch.

The lovely Pink was guest hosting the Kelly Clarkson Show recently so popped back into my attention and just asked for an album to be listened to. This is one of the older ones but it has some classic Pink songs on it - Trouble and God is a DJ kicking off the album in very familiar style. I like this era of Pink, it’s just before she got hugely famous and with absolute belting tunes, but still with some great songs to bop around to. Great stuff.

I’m not a massive fan of Harry Styles but am happy to admit that he’s a talented guy and has come out with some catchy songs in the past. He’s been away for a while so I was intrigued with what this new album would be like - unfortunately, it wasn’t my cup of tea at all. I found it really quite dull, well produced and with good vocals but just 100% background music and instantly forgotten once it was done.

Oh this was wonderful. I mean, it’s a heartbreaking thing to have happened but this book is gorgeous. Richard lost the love of his life, Joan Washington, in 2021 and this book is diary excerpts from their final year together. From the challenges of dealing with their current situation, dipping back through their forty years together and how their careers ebbed and flow, together and apart. It’s beautifully written, exceptionally candid, and just gently funny and moving in equal measure. An absolute must-read.

Back up to strength, I think, in this long-running DCI Ryan series. The underlying mystery is interesting - dead bodies and red running water - and of course there’s insight into our team, the characters we’ve grown to love. Rather than any major plot points this time, the team are mostly dealing with things that have happened in previous books, and these are the bits I like best. The gang learning, growing, falling out and making up, and solving crime along the way.

I love KJT and she’s always been such a private person this book was a great opportunity to get inside the mentality and ride that heptathlon rollercoaster with her. It’s a great read, from the early athletics days to participating in an Olympics so quickly, and that drive to keep pushing and achieve goals. We go through the various Olympics and that horror show that was Tokyo, and it’s really fascinating to read about how you can come back from that. Plus there’s insight into family life and everything that is sacrificed to get that elusive Olympic medal.

When I reviewed the first series of Hijack, I said “I’m assuming it’s not the kind of show that will get a second series…” and left it there. Well, I was wrong, the show helmed by Idris Elba returned to Apple TV for a second outing and it was really good.

I’ve had this in my to read pile for a long time and finally got round to it - it’s a good financial thriller, you have to have a bit of a head for finance to enjoy it I think. Even though the technology being discussed (virtual reality) has moved on a lot from when this was written, you can easily look past how dated it is because there’s always a technology on the horizon that could have the same impact. I think one of the big reveals was really obvious from the start, although I hadn’t connected all of the dots. So it was a serviceable thriller but maybe not perfect.

Immediately after finishing Tomb Raider II, it was only a couple of taps on the controller to just ‘see what TR3 is like’. Which of course ended up in playing it in earnest, trying to figure out all the puzzles and collecting all the secrets. Immediately it’s not that far removed from its predecessor but there are differences as you go along. The main difference is naturally in the locations that Lara finds herself in, and this game is a bit hit and miss. I really, really loved the subways of London and the Nevada desert was fantastic. But the jungle is really hard to navigate, and the underwater propulsion levels were so irritating.

I mostly know Neil Sedaka as that grinning face in front of a piano on the cover of some of my dad’s records, but of course I know some of the classic songs. This album has Stupid Cupid on it which is the main one I knew. Sedaka is very talented, and I like his style of rock and roll. It’s fair to say that his voice doesn’t reach the rich depths of other artists of the same time, but that just makes it more approachable and relatable. A good, fun, short, fifties album.

I’ve been in a bit of a huff with Gorillaz recently, because they don’t seem to be that bothered about pretending to be a virtual band anymore and it feels like they’re letting go of what made them different in the first place. But nevertheless, I was curious about this new album and the many, many guest artists on it. The album has a lot of Indian influence right from the start, and has a really intense and melancholy vibe about it. It’s an odd one, but it holds together really well and the variety of sounds is just right.

This was another enjoyable read in the Ryan series, but I have to admit it was less good than some of the previous ones. There’s a mystery of the week to investigate, but the big hook is Melanie Yates finding out what happened to her sister. Unfortunately, it was a bit disappointing that it’s yet another top brass copper who is the villain - but at least this time we knew that straight away and followed quite a lot of his thought process as we went along. The beach hut ending seemed unlikely, but go with it and we set things up nicely for the next book in the series.

One thing that comes across in all Ruth’s novels is an incredible talent for creating vivid, warm and wonderful characters, rooted in Wales of course. This story takes three best friends from their early connections all the way through some significant life events that split them up and draw them back together again. There are serious issues being discussed but there’s a humour and joy to it all, even through the rollercoaster of life. A wonderful book.

This is a really good autobiography, fresh and engaging, incredibly honest but with stories and insights about the author that were surprising. I had no idea Page had gone to RADA, but then also gone on to hate it and basically just survive it - using that training as an experience to grow stronger as a person, if not better as an actress. There are stories from various sets and productions, and quite a lot about having a family - I could probably have done with less about breastfeeding, but equally appreciate the candour which will probably speak to people having similar experiences. Overall a great read, and must be time to watch Gavin & Stacey again!

Pluribus was an absolute treat of a TV show at the end of last year, and the kind of show it is - well crafted and entirely mysterious - lends itself very well to an accompanying podcast. This official show is hosted by Chris McCaleb, an editor on the TV show itself and has a roundtable discussion focusing on each episode of the show and featuring actors, crew, writers, editors, directors and anyone else who can weigh in on what it takes to make a series like this.

I absolutely loved the first book in this Roy Grace series, and whilst the intervening few novels have been very good, none has quite grabbed me like that first one did. This, however, was right up there. There’s ongoing character and relationship development with the team that is always enjoyable, but the wider mystery was also really, really fascinating. The sad story of a teenage girl who needs a transplant, alongside the black market of organ selling, and quite a lot of dodgy characters in between. A cracking read.

No Scrubs has been a fixture on the 1999 Top of the Pops replays, and I suddenly realised I had only done new TLC music and not any of the classic stuff. This album is so good. There are a couple of interludey bits I could live without, but it’s not as annoying as some other albums are. And the tunes make up for it - obviously No Scrubs and Unpretty are stone cold classics, but the rest of it is great R&B with their intriguing blend of vocals and such a feeling of redemption (the band having gone through some stuff before this album that meant they may not have come. back!) Love it.

I missed Hilary Duff’s music career first time round, but have recently been watching her in the TV show Younger, so when I saw that she was releasing new music I was intrigued. I really liked this album - it’s a slightly odd one, because it is really bubblegum pop sounding, but with the perspective of a 30-something mum of 4. There are some influences in there, one track sounds very TayTay, another reminded me of CHVRCHES, but it all has it’s own spin on it so it doesn’t sound derivative. I liked it!

Obviously, I’m not going to be able to resist a title like that, what with my obsession with time travel. I did enjoy the book but I have to admit I felt a bit led astray because it’s not really about time hopping at all - it’s more of a magical fantasy land that you can visit depending on what you wish for. That aside, it’s a nice, heartwarming book about not taking for granted what you have, not wishing away your life, but also paying each other more attention and drinking plenty of delicious coffee. A cosy book without being saccharine, it’s a pleasant read, if not quite what I expected.

I really enjoyed this book, it felt like one of the better ones in the series and I think that’s because the characters that we’ve now grown to love have their own things to deal with alongside the major plotline. Elizabeth is gradually coming out of her shell, Joyce has a wedding to plan whilst having a fractious relationship with her daughter, Ron’s extended family are in trouble, and Ibrahim is mildly oblivious of crime happening right under his nose. And then there’s the interesting plot about missing bitcoin on top of all that. Really easy to read and enjoyable plotting, I liked it!

I’ll admit to buying this book because I enjoyed the wordplay of the title, but also figured the concept sounding engaging enough so it was worth a read. I think potentially the title is misleading, because it’s not really all about Sue, there are a group of friends and all of them need this connection and this bike ride to get their lives turned around. It was super easy to read and with some nicely drawn characters, some emotional and moving moments, and ultimately an uplifting book to zip through.

Way back towards the beginning of my knitting journey, I mentioned that I was making a jumper but then put it aside to focus on other things. I did finish that jumper, and I don’t know why I didn’t write about it at the time because it was hilarious. I was proud of it, a finished product, hooray! But it was enormous. I’ve not really invested too much time in gauging my work so far, which is a lesson I’ve learned now. But back then, I just had some chunky wool and a pattern and I wanted to crack on.

Over recent years, I’ve not given the Winter Olympics the attention it deserves. I wrote about it in 2014 and you can tell in that post I’m in two minds about the whole concept. Well, that all changed this past fortnight, with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy. The coverage in the UK was with TNT Sports, on Discovery+, but they included it in the £3.99 price plan which is an absolute bargain. If that was too much, though, there were elements available on the BBC - although from what I’ve heard they continued the tradition of mostly watching curling non-stop.

Reef popped up on the 1999 episodes of Top of the Pops that are replaying on the BBC, and I realised I hadn’t done this classic album from the band. I was a bit nervous, because that voice is absolutely iconic but could get a bit much over 12 tracks? It was fine. We kick things off with the iconic song, and then the rest of the album lives up to the hype with great pop rock but also slower moments and a nice mix of beats.

I did have a short inner debate about whether this album should count for this adventure, it being a soundtrack to the new movie of the same name. However, I figured if it’s a body of work in itself and makes sense even if you didn’t know it was connected to the film, then that’s ok. Plus I reviewed Purple Rain and that’s a similar idea. So the album itself, the first couple of tracks had me concerned, but once things really kicked into gear, I enjoyed it. It’s definitely a mood of its own - full of dramatic and discordant strings - but if you’re in that mood then it really works. Charli continues to push the boundaries and I like it.

I’ve had this book to read in my list for a while, and given that the show is making an unexpected return with a fourth series, I thought it was worth prioritising it before it becomes outdated. This has interviews with all the cast and crew so has that official air, and covers how the show came to be and why it had such an incredible impact. It does lean a little too much to the US view, obviously written by a US journalist that makes sense but sometimes it felt like they thought the UK was some unknown mysterious place. Regardless, it’s a great review of the wonderful series and naturally just makes me want to watch it all over again.

I really enjoyed this Doctor Who story. It got me thinking about how these stories tend to be either set on Earth and the aliens are causing mischief, or it’s set in space and the humans are the problem. This was the latter, and it was really interesting to follow the greed and naivety of the various tribes as they dealt with the prospect of an incoming comet. It’s fun to revisit the early Amy Pond days, when her biggest issue was that dress hanging on the back of the door. Good times.

Before Christmas, I suddenly realised I had booked tickets to see a performance of the UK tour of Fiddler on the Roof. I couldn’t remember what had driven me to do this, because whilst I love the songs in the show, the film always felt like it dragged and it’s not one I remember massively fondly. It’s a tough story as well, hard to watch, harrowing in places… a bit incongruous with the festive season we were building up to. Also, I like to hibernate in December.

Finally I’ve made it to the end of this series and I think this last book was a triumph. There’s one big final battle, with quite a lot of chess playing to get there, and our heroes face into their final fight with great class and honour. I like that they’re all really starting to feel their age now - even if they’re not old to modern eyes, they are in that historical sense. It’s been a rollercoaster following this journey with Uhtred but I’ve learnt a lot and enjoyed the majority of it along the way, so another great body of work from Cornwell.

This week again, I just looked at the long list of older albums and picked something from the top. I remember loving this album when it came out but looking through the track list, I could only really remember the main singles. Movies is a brilliant track, and Smooth Criminal is obviously a stand out, but the rest of the album stands up. I like this kind of rock that is hard but not too headache-inducing. It was a joy to revisit this.

On the one hand, I feel much fonder towards the Jonas boys after enjoying their Christmas movie but on the other hand, I wasn’t sure I could take this entirely seriously for the same reason. But I gave it a go and it’s a good album. The first half is very slow, and although it does pick up the pace, it doesn’t go all out, like Sucker for example. The Greatest (with the brothers) is probably the highlight, but the whole thing is just a nice listen. It manages the balance of being loved up and soppy without being overly saccharine and that makes it a hit in my book.

I’ve recently really enjoyed the trilogy by Alice Roberts looking at what we can learn from burials - but I wasn’t sure if I was going to like this book, focusing in on religion. But it was of course absolutely fascinating, following how this religion took off. I particularly liked the moments were Alice kept reminding us, and herself, that Christianity isn’t an it, it isn’t the thing, the thing is the powerful people and the beliefs that took hold and why they spread the way they did. Fascinating.

Elizabeth Day is one of those writers who creates incredible characters and they are the reason you keep on reading. In this book you have a cast of people who feel like they’re outsiders, but gradually come together to make a change as best they can. I didn’t realise this was a sequel to a previous book which presumably covers the events described within, so you certainly don’t need to have read that to enjoy this one. It was really captivating and I wanted to know how it was all going to work out!

If I think about it too much, I get a bit stressed at the weird order I’m playing these Tomb Raider games in, but I couldn’t hold off playing Tomb Raider II any longer. This is the first TR game I ever played, and therefore holds massive nostalgia for me. But even with that, I do think it’s an incredible game - such great levels and locations, perfect puzzle play, and a good story to hang it all on.

If I hadn’t just watched Domhnall Gleeson in The Paper, I think the new Taylor Swift music video would have passed me by. But I spotted Gleeson standing next to Swift in a promo shot from the video, and was instantly intrigued. The six minute video was released on Apple Music and Spotify only, so my searching endlessly on YouTube wasn’t a good start, but once I found it, I was entranced.

I really wasn’t expecting The Paper to be any good. A spin off sequel from the US version of The Office, it felt like another one of those projects that nobody asked for and wasn’t needed. Well I couldn’t have been more wrong. I was tempted in to watching it by the fact that Tim Key’s in it, and he’s brilliant, but there’s so much else to love as well.

This is a fantastic sequel to Riders, and obviously the basis for the very popular TV show. I listened to the audiobook which was read by Georgia Tennant, who was fantastic, as always. Usually when I’m reading a book of a TV show I’ve seen, I picture those characters, but actually for this, they’re so well described, they took on their own form in my mind so that I sometimes forgot who they were played by in the show. Except David Tennant, obviously. But yes, what an incredible book. A few moments and mentions that are ‘of its time’ but nothing too egregious, so lots to enjoy.

Wow, what a voice Eddie Cochran had. I was only vaguely aware of him from a brief mention on Peter Kay’s Car Share, but this album makes me think I really should have known better! For such a young guy, the voice is incredible, no doubt causing a lot of understandable comparisons to Elvis. It’s a short album stuffed with short rock and roll songs, just like a lot of the albums in the 50s - and it’s a really great listen! Such a shame his career was cut short!

Albums like this are why I have to listen to each weekly choice at least twice. First listen through, I thought it was utter nonsense. But then second listen through, I realised that the songs are great, it’s just the interludes that I’m not a fan of. I’m usually pretty down on interludes anyway, and these were really odd and definitely distracting. Which is a shame, because the songs in between really are great, excellent pop, interesting lyrics, good beats. A difficult one to judge really!

At first I quite enjoyed reading this, it’s well written and the characters are well drawn. You really get a sense of how protective and secretive this street is, and how being all alone in the new house might make you a bit paranoid. But it was so drawn out, I kept reading because I wanted to know what the big secret was, but it really took a long time coming. And then in the end, it turned everyone into unlikeable people so I felt a bit disappointed.

Continuing my efforts to find the humanity in politics, this documentary was an incredible insight into the efforts of Jacinda Ardern, someone I was vaguely familiar with but knew far too little about. It’s an excellent documentary, engaging and moving right from the start, eye-opening, and refreshing. The amount of stuff that Ardern and her team and also family had to go through, it’s just amazing that she remained as grounded and hopeful as she did. I found this infuriating and depressing in places, but then there’s an optimism that shines through and makes you remember there are good people out there.

I’ll be straight about this, I’ve had a crush on Robson Green for as long as I can remember, so I really like his BBC series where he takes friends, family, and fellow actors around his favourite parts of the North. Robson Green’s Weekend Escapes features the man himself taking these guests somewhere to rest, relax and recharge, and unwind with an activity that can be sporty, creative, or nature-based.

I love CHVRCHES but somehow I’ve only kept up with current albums and not gone into the small but important back catalogue. I can’t quite believe they’ve been around since 2012, but what a debut album to kick things off with. Fantastic dance and great vocals, interesting ideas, clever lyrics, a lot to love. It’s fun when sometimes the male voices pop up as well, when we’re so used to hearing the band fronted by Lauren. The Mother We Share is a classic but the rest of the album lives up to the promise as well.

The start of this year is littered with albums from ex-boy and girl band members, this one being a former One Direction star. I’ve not been particularly bothered by Louis’ work to date and this album follows the same lines - it’s good, it’s fine, it’s standard modern pop music, but it didn’t reach out and grab me enormously. Entirely listenable but pretty forgettable too.

This was a really good read but I found it quite hard going, just in terms of the content. We’re following a human trafficking organisation this time, and we get some pretty brutal insights into that world, particularly as we follow the point of view of one of the victims who desperately tries to escape and stay alive. Aside from that, though, it has moments of humour that we come to expect from our intrepid heroes, but also the ups and downs of relationships as these familiar faces navigate life and work.

The penultimate story in this series and if I’m being honest, I found this to be one of the more forgettable books. The characters we know are all present and correct, and I’m starting to feel a sense of hope that everyone I care about might actually make it to the end. But in terms of what actually happened here, I don’t know that it stood up to some of its predecessors. Some oaths, some battles, honour and dishonour. The section in London was interesting as we haven’t visited that part of the country in this time, but I’m quite looking forward to getting to the end of this series now.