Having accidentally read the second book in this series before the first, I was keen to see where it all began. It only took a few minutes for the characters to come flooding back, although the situation was quite different in this first outing. Naturally, they are coming together, getting to know each other, having their first adventure, and it’s fascinating to see how it began.

Love this. I’ve always had a soft spot for Chrissie Hynde, probably starting when she appeared on Friends. Really good album, bouncy and foot-tapping rock with fabulous vocals.

Just beautiful, with that lovely Nordic sweeping feel to things. You can just picture the music over a beautiful fjord or Icelandic landscape scene. Great as background music or for weekend relaxation.

I pick and choose my way through Desert Island Discs, but the wonderful thing about it is the timeless nature of all the interviews. The BBC have made the full archive available indefinitely, so you can listen to anyone at any time. I subscribe to the podcast, but often don’t get around to listening until well after the interviews have been aired. I just recently listened to Dame Judi Dench’s show, and fell even more in love with her than I already was. Rather than joyously recounting stories for each of the brilliant songs on the list, Dame Judi gradually comes to the realisation that all her songs are actually quite depressing. It’s really fun to hear, as each track passes by, Judi’s reaction that she maybe should have taken a look at the eight songs as a whole.

It feels like a short album, just nine songs, but every single one is perfect. The BFF relationship with Paul McCartney boggles my mind a bit, but Thriller makes up for everyone and everything. Could be one of the best songs ever, I reckon.

It felt like an incredibly long wait, but finally, a couple of weeks ago, I got to see the new Star Wars film. Actually, it emerged onto my chosen digital media platform about four months after it graced the cinema screens, so whilst it felt like the anticipation went on forever, that window is thankfully getting smaller. I managed to avoid all but the most obvious spoilers - and for the most part they were things that only made sense after you’d seen the film anyway. (There are no spoilers in this post, btw.)

Really good album, even better on the second time around. Bit over the top in terms of adult content in places, it does feel like she’s still trying to shed the Disney image. But otherwise good, catchy, upbeat and modern songs.

I didn’t actually watch the TV show that is associated with this book, but I do like Lucy Worsley so dipped into this on a cold, rainy day. That’s fitting for the genre, as this non-fiction piece charts how the great British public became hooked on murder mysteries, found detective stories impossible to put down and eventually turned to the TV to fill our whodunit needs.

It feels like forever we’ve been waiting for this to be released in iTunes. After vaguely pondering the idea of going to the cinema to see it to avoid spoilers, we somehow managed to avoid anything remotely like a spoiler. I saw a couple of things here and there but until you’ve seen the film they don’t really mean anything. So, thankfully, went into this fresh and oh so excited.

Brilliant rock tunes, catchy, sing-a-long greatness with some heart-wrenching moments in there too – I can totally see why it was made into a musical. The structure of the album confuses me though, with some songs back to back on a single track.

Better on the second listen, the first couple of songs are great, but the rest doesn’t feel quite so strong. I like that they experiment and don’t just go for middle of the road tunes, but they don’t all work – oof, Ratchet Behaviour.

I knew I wanted to watch this one, it’s Tom Hanks after all, but I had forgotten the trailer and didn’t really know what it was about. None of that mattered because the story grabs you with a simple start, and draws you along as things get more and more complex until the dramatic conclusion.

I enjoyed this story, although it felt like a pretty unusual and somewhat unrealistic situation to start with. Fragile traumatised girl goes to stay with random stranger in the countryside to keep safe? Does that happen? I don’t know but anyway, it set up what was an interesting and almost always threatening story.

Totally forgot about this album, I love it so much, every song is a classic for me. Shania is my original pop country princess – only trouble is I have to be careful where I listen as it’s impossible not to sing along!

Great start to this album, it sounds just as you hope a Pet Shop Boys album is going to be. The middle didn’t thrill me so much, it all seemed to get a bit maudlin and overly familiar. Overall listenable, but not one to add to their classic collection.

This is the second book in a trilogy, chronicling the move out to Spain of former Genesis musician Chris Stewart. It was nice to catch up with Chris and El Valero again, find out more about how things are ticking along in Spain. It was also fun to read about how the success of the first book made things slightly different at home.

This is more the Gwen I know and love. Gloriously irritating, who else could get away with chanting random fruit spellings at you? An eclectic mix of R&B and electric pop with oddities and intricacies to make each listen add something new.

Enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. I like a couple of their songs but wasn’t sure my enjoyment would stretch to a full album. Good, interesting melodies with some fun rhythms – perhaps not groundbreaking but certainly fun to listen to.

I wasn’t expecting to like this one, it’s been rushed to on-demand release and the reviews are awful. I’m not sure we would have watched it if it didn’t have Anna Kendrick in it, but we gave it a go. And actually, I thought it was great! A sweet story of early relationships, figuring out how to be a grown-up which is something I’m still doing! It was quite inspiring - find what you’re good at and do it, or keep looking until you find it.

Whenever I mention one of those counter-top grill type machines, I always say “It’s so good I put my name on it,” because, you know, George Foreman. I don’t really know who George Foreman is but that’s the kind of advertising that really sticks because it’s a catchy line and it was a new idea. I realised, watching quite a lot of TV over the past few sickly days, that you couldn’t get away with this any more. Celebrities are endorsing products left, right and centre, and whilst they might not have actually branded their names right into the goods themselves, they’ve all but sold out in every other way.

I quite enjoy the BBC’s seasons, where they focus in on one particular subject across a majority of their platforms. But the latest one, called Sitcom Season, has me scratching my head. I love a good sitcom, new or old, but part of these plans involve bringing back a whole host of classic comedies and revitalising them for the new generation. For example: “Porridge, the classic prison sitcom, returns nearly 40 years after Norman Stanley Fletcher served his time. The legendary Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who created the 1970s series, will write the one-off special episode, which sees Fletch’s grandson, also known as Fletch, imprisoned for a series of cyber-crimes.”

This is such a lovely film. Simple, heartfelt and heavily character based, it really rolls along nicely. It’s surprising, really, that Robert de Niro’s character doesn’t have much to say other than ‘yes m’am, no m’am’ but he can make such a difference to everyone’s lives.

I haven’t really used iTunes for its intended purpose in a long time. It’s very handy for adding id3 tags to things and it’s a nice way of perusing the store for all its many digital wonders, but in terms of syncing devices and storing my stuff, the iCloud has been far more useful. One of the problems with this strategy, however, is that it meant I couldn’t get my hands on any audiobooks that I’d bought from the iTunes store. Up until now, they have been locked away on the desktop, with no means of getting them onto a phone or other device without using a cable. Whereas with most items, you can look through the iTunes store and see whether you already own it thanks to that little “cloud with an arrow” symbol, audiobooks had no such luxury.

I remember not being particularly enthralled by the third and final book of this series, but it was nowhere near as bad as this mess of a film. The love triangle that I have struggled with up till now just completely disintegrated, I couldn’t see a shred of chemistry between any of the main leads - it was down to Effy and Haymitch to provide the compassion I was looking for!

Zootopia looks like one of those films that is going to be almost unbearably cute. A world of animals of all shapes and sizes, all getting along? Hello! More than anything though, the films many trailers have opened my eyes to the world of sloths - who knew these creatures were so adorable? The way his face lights up at the joke… so… slowly. It’s amazing.

Some really brilliant songs at the start of this album, but it tails off to real downbeat ending. Whereas the ladies are kick-ass at the beginning, they are all loved up and slightly pathetic by the end. And I could barely get through the self-indulgent thank you track at the end.

A good album, listenable and so very Gwen Stefani, but I must admit none of it particularly stood out for me. There’s some great echoes of Madonna, Taylor and maybe even some Selena Gomez which makes it funky and fun but I couldn’t pick a song to recommend.

A unique take on a love story, this book travels through the alphabet, giving snapshots of a relationship in one or two sentences. Each is associated to a word from the dictionary, but really, it’s not the words that matter. It’s the glimpses of another life, in a totally random order, that are the real fascination.

This book chronicles the dark tale of one of the early settlers into the Sydney penal colony - a young thief from London with his wife and child banished to the other side of the world to start a new life. The book spans an entire lifetime, and dips into how flawed a character we are dealing with, but it’s that honesty that makes it fascinating.

Apple have increasingly upped the comedy in their ads, as well as bringing more and more celebrities on board to cameo. Their latest effort also raises the amount of cuteness and awesome to almost unacceptable levels. Potentially, the best ad ever.

A very quick and easy non-fiction read that guides you through the basic staple ideas of what makes a conversation function and how, no matter how good you think you are at making small talk, you can still adapt and do better. I liked the book for really being approachable and not judgemental, plus it was aimed at everyone - not discounting improvements for even great leaders or historical figures.

This is the second book I have read about conditions inside North Korea, reported by defectors who had the good fortune to escape, and it continues to make me wonder how it is possible there can be a country like this on Earth that no one is doing anything about.

Love this, it really tells of the time it was released. Some of the songs sound very similar, but the standout singles are incredible. Roll With It, Wonderwall and Don’t Look Back in Anger are three brilliant songs and to have them consecutively makes some of the best ten minutes of music ever!

A good album, some songs are far better than others, but none are the weakest link. Brilliant stories for some of them – Choctaw County Affair and Church Bells being two specific examples. Storyteller is an apt name for this album.

A super quick read, this is aimed at graduates and students as they embark on the world after leaving education. Fox is keen to reiterate he’s not giving advice but rather telling the brief story of his life to illustrate that things will probably work out okay, as long as you work hard.

Really enjoyed this book, although it’s dark underbelly was a little bit disturbing in places. I had guessed the bad guy almost from the start but that didn’t take away from the story at all. Here we have a traditional crime tale - a group of young friends commit a misdeed, and then are hunted down in the future in an act of revenge.

I liked the first half of this, whereby a prisoner of war spends his days watching the birdlife just outside the camp rather than dealing with the atrocities of life inside with the Nazis. It was interesting to see the relationship develop between him and the Kommandant.

Was scared of listening to this one, because, you know, Björk. But I actually loved it. Great instruments, a real ear for the sound of things, and some fun lyrics too. Violently happy, after all.

If things had worked out differently, I don’t think I would have ended up watching any of the Fast and Furious films. I like pretty people driving gorgeous cars as much as the next person, probably more so, but I wasn’t convinced they could make one feature length film out of such a thing, let alone seven. Yet, those seven movies later, I’m an emotional wreck. Paul Walker’s death was meaningless to me at the time, but is now steeped in so much poignancy it physically hurts to think about. The iconic stunts in their unbelievable and ridiculous nature still manage to take my breath away. And hearing any suped up car makes me do a double take of joy rather than disgust. I have genuinely never been so affected, so bruised by films, to the point where I have absolutely needed to take a break from the big screen. I’ve only just worked up the strength to post the Film Watch review and that’s over a week later.

If I thought the last film was ridiculous, this one took things to a whole new level. Preposterous stunts, crazy ideas, cars literally jumping across skyscrapers, and all the while the knowledge that one way or another, we’re in for a tear-jerking ending. Of all the crazy moments, the two standouts were the running up the bus scene, and the Rock busting open his own plaster cast. The rest was great but crazy and so you had to just relax and go along for the ride.

Upsettingly long title, and the song of the same name is in sentence case when the rest is in title case, grr! Otherwise, great start and finish to the album, but the middle gets a bit wishy-washy. Instrumentals that are nice but go on too long.

This was a super quick read that I picked up in one of the Kindle sales. It’s so interesting to read how someone really feels in domestic service, because from a distance it sounds like an awful job. And Margaret does admit to being bitter about the experience, but she also highlights the good parts as well - as few as they may be.

I found this one to be much harder work than previous Nicci French books, and that’s not because the idea wasn’t good but it just felt very drawn out. For a start, the original crime happened over twenty years ago, so we’re already quite removed from the drama. The extended family introduced at the start of the book boggled my mind a little bit, and made it hard to place what exactly was going on.

A modern retelling of the classic Jane Austen book Emma, this tale is a well known one. Emma Woodhouse likes to meddle in other people’s relationships, but it doesn’t always work out how she might have hoped. I liked seeing these characters brought into the modern age, but a lot of the story felt shoe-horned in. They didn’t quite ring true as characters - I mean, sure there are posher people living in stately homes these days, but if you’re trying to update a story, it might do better to be completely different rather than on the cusp of the modern age.

Loved this, it was infused with African influences which made it intriguing, tribal, wide-ranging and just a little bit jaunty in places. Clearly, You Can Call Me Al is the classic here, but I enjoyed pretty much all of it.

After listening to James Bay I was hoping this would be more lovely indy stuff but it wasn’t really. It was a bit too keyboard-heavy, slightly too experimental for my tastes. Solid work but I won’t seek it out again.

It was nearly seven years ago I wrote up some thoughts about Hawkeye, the super-accurate camera tracking system that allows line calls in tennis to be queried and corrected. At the time, I spoke of its benefits and pondered whether we would ever get to a stage where there are no linesmen at all, instead umpires would rely on Hawkeye to make all the decisions. This hasn’t happened, but more and more I’m starting to think it should. With the introduction of BT Sport came a wealth of WTA tennis into our lives. So much tennis has made me an armchair expert, and it’s come to the point where I really do wish it was down to Hawkeye to make the calls.

I found myself with a spare hour or so whilst in Bath recently, and suddenly remembered something I’d spotted online – an audio walking tour of the city. Rather than having to wait at a tour stop and join with a random group of people to be ferried around the famous streets, this was a solo adventure. The site offers two tours, for free, and the one I opted for was the Jane Austen Walking Tour.

This is just a lovely story from start to finish, detailing how a woman is mugged and loses her bag with so many precious memories in it. However, the bag is found in the street by a bookseller who proceeds to try and find her. The way these two twist in and out of each other’s lives without contact is incredibly moving, and I love the simplicity of the writing that draws you in to each moment.

This film was ridiculous, over the top, full of unbelievable stunts and generally just very silly. But I still loved it. The stuff with the tank was about as crazy as it gets, particularly people flying through the air like Superman, but it was fun and never taking itself too seriously, which is what made it acceptable.