I might be admitting some ignorance here but I didn't know Pellew was a real person, I assumed he was just a character in the Hornblower stories. Finding this book was a revelation, and reading it was fascinating. I've found history books, and biography books in particular, difficult to get on with. They have to really grab my attention to keep me reading.

Just like many people, I've been curious how James Corden would get on in the wild world of late night US talk shows. You'll have noticed my obsession with Jimmy Fallon, I'm sure, and the concept of these daily evening entertainment extravaganzas fascinates me. By all accounts, he did okay and there's at least something to work with. From the clips I've seen, it's a good start but I just …

I, like many, was skeptical of this live action Paddington movie, bringing to life that bear of so many years ago. I love bears and I love Paddington and early trailers had me worried about this CGI creation that couldn't possibly do justice to the bear I know and love.

This is a middle-of-the-road, good-natured nice film, reminiscent of the Marigold Hotel but not quite as good. It had similar themes running through it - underestimating various characters, businesses not doing well and then being turned around, the rivalry of characters old and new.

We had very different expectations going into this - Mr C assumed it was just a tame ballet tale, and I was under the impression it was a pretty twisted horror story. The truth is it was somewhere in between. It took an absolute age to get going, with that slow burn build that eventually pays off but takes some serious patience to get there. I did vaguely consider switching it off part way through, but we stuck with it.

It took a while to get back up to speed with what was happening in this one. All I could really remember was the destruction of the forcefield with the arrow, and the very end of the previous movie. But you quickly fall right back into the story, and the battle between the districts and the Capitol.

This turned out to be an interesting little crime thriller, far different to what I had thought when I first started reading. The snippy short paragraphs, the hands off approach and the incredibly distant switching between protagonists and perspectives didn't appeal initially, and took a while to get used to. I thought halfway through that I'd just read to the end to see how it all played out but that I wasn't particularly enjoying the process.

There was so much hype around Interstellar that it was impossible to ignore, but I was caught up in it anyway. Christopher Nolan at the helm of another epic premise, McConaughey on board and people heading off into space. Fab.

The second film in a row that has a weird naming situation. According to the people's encyclopedia, this was called Laggies by the screenwriter, but the director wasn't too sure as no one had ever heard of the term (apparently it means adult slackers). In the UK, it was released as Say When.

A short tale of a postman in Montreal who gets caught up in a twist of fate, after intercepting the post that he should be delivering straight away. He becomes obsessed with one particular set of correspondence which all takes place in haiku and the fallout is incredible.

I remember trying to read this when I was a lot younger, too young to really be interested in the goings on of a Yorkshire vet, newly qualified in the late 1930s. But now, it was a brilliant read. Tales of James Herriot, settling into a life far removed from his city days studying, with a variety of interesting characters providing each day with a new challenge.

I wouldn't normally attempt one of these sprawling sci-fi fictions because I tend to get overwhelmed by the scope of them. So many new words to learn in such a short space of time. This was part of my Big Read list, though, so I dived in and gave it a go.

This film is confusing as a concept, before you even take a look into the details of plot and characters. Initially called I'll Follow You Down, it was released in 2013. But we saw it called Continuum (which I thought was a TV show), released on iTunes in 2015. There was no film called Continuum on IMDB, and it took me ages to track down what was actually going on.

In the spirit of completing at least a couple of paragraphs, I'll expand. Benedict did a great job with a complex character, and along with the smart script managed to make a really difficult and ultimately unlikeable personality sympathetic and even warm. Keira found her perfect accent at last, the ideal role for her. The scenes when she visited at the end were really hard to bear.

I'll be honest, we were expecting this to be a little bit BBC, and it had an element of that in spotting some of the famous faces (Russell Tovey alert). But actually, it was probably the best Lottery funded film we've seen. A really strong story, great characters, and such heart.

The setup for this one does feel a little contrived - you'll do things in tribute to your family, of course, but sit on a chair for seven days for a religion you don't really follow? Not sure.

I love the concept of these celebratory books, one short story for each Doctor. Unfortunately, there are a lot of references in these early ones that I don't get, due to my limited knowledge of the early Doctor Who episodes. I had to research all about the Scottish companion once I was finished reading.

Since writing about my desire to chronicle the connected life I've done a lot of playing around with gadgets but not so much reporting of my findings. One of the health and fitness gadgets I've been less keen on trying is the Fitbit fitness band, partly because it just doesn't appeal to me and partly because of their refusal to embrace Apple's HealthKit concept. (For those who missed it, HealthKit …

Was quite looking forward to this one, but now having seen it, I'm not convinced it was worth the wait. Brad Pitt was good, but I couldn't sympathise with the character all that much - he didn't seem a particularly nice guy, and granted you have to have a certain attitude to be able to withstand the horrors that these people went through, but it felt above and beyond that.

Life is, predictably, very busy at the moment and instead of flailing around as I make my way through a day, I've had to start thinking in the morning: "This is what I have to achieve today, how will I fit it in?" That means a bit of forward planning, which in turn means that Hugh Grant was right all along with his system, highlighted in About a Boy. I …

I love a good live-changing memoir and this one follows two adventurous souls who give up cushy city jobs for a run-down vineyard in France. The challenge sounds crazy and along the way it seems the problems will be insurmountable, from industrial accidents to mouse infestations to finding a buyer for the wine you have so you can make room to produce more.

A year in the life of professional tennis tournaments, through the eyes of a journalist who follows the players around the globe. Taking in 2012, from the early beginnings in Australia, through the bigger and smaller tournaments, Andy Murray's loss at Wimbledon and subsequent victory at the Olympics, as well as all the political shenanigans going on in the background.

There was so much hype around this film, and it looked so good in trailers and early reviews, that we were pretty keen to watch it. From the very opening scenes, you can tell it was a finely crafted piece of art, with some exquisite shots and intense acting, high emotions and beautiful imagery.

This was such a bizarre mixed up film that it had me thinking about it hours, even days after watching. The concept is pure genius, a chicken and egg scenario that winds itself up into some incredible knots. I loved watching it all unfold, and enjoyed the 40 minutes of storytelling at the beginning - an incredibly brave way to kick off a film.

I'm not totally sure this would have been our kind of film if it hadn't had Steve Carell in it, but I do love him so had to see what it was all about. It's silly and childish, one of those films where you just can't see how things can keep happening like that, and half the time you're cringing behind a pillow.

If you're a fan of the TV show, you'll be a fan of this book. The panel show heads through hundreds of different facts, dispels the myths from the legends and rips up what you think you know, replacing it with new information - or at least some question marks. From history to science, technology and culture, there's a little bit of everything.

Perhaps I am spoiled by the more modern fast-paced thriller, but this one took such a long time to get going. Perhaps, also, the reason people like it is the meticulous attention to detail, but that just wasn't for me. We had the precise movements of the assassin on the hunt for French president Charles de Gaulle, what he did each day, where he went. At one point, I thought I needed to get out a map and trace his exact movements.

I so wanted Newsstand to be the answer. The concept is perfect: digital copies of magazines delivered to my device without me having to a) leave the house/rely on the postal service or b) find space for physical paper. Unfortunately, it's just not that simple. I started my digital magazine explorations with Zinio, and then moved on to Newsstand when Apple kicked off their version of digital newspaper and magazines. …

Major changes to the makeup of the grid set the tone for a promising 2015 Formula One season. Two World Champions have opted to switch teams in order to reinvigorate their careers following lacklustre results last year. Fernando Alonso returns to a team he almost destroyed back in 2007, while Sebastian Vettel makes a clean break from the team and personnel that have been responsible for his F1 success to …

It took me a few false starts to really get going with this one, it's such an odd start to a book. I often skip prefaces and introductions because they are usually big spoilers for the book ahead - written as though you know exactly what's coming. For The Princess Bride, that's the whole point!

I've seen this before, as well as about half an hour of the sequel. I got really annoyed at part 2, and that probably put me in a bad frame of mind rewatching this one. But it was Valentine's weekend, and this seemed to be the right kind of film to be watching.

People have talked about this one for a while, and we've always pondered watching it but never really got round to it. Now we have, I'm glad we did but I can't say it was one of my favourites. I'm impressed with Jason Segel more and more - the piano, the full-frontal, the writing, all good stuff. Russell Brand was also surprisingly funny, although perhaps not having to do a huge amount of acting!

Our ambitious adventure to work through alllll the Bond films begins here, with the first. It was a surprise to me, how good it was. Of its time, naturally, with a slow pace, a couple of questionable effects and some really dodgy audio. But aging aside, it held up. I thought Connery was good, although he's not my Bond at all.

We love a film that is in the cinema and also available to rent online simultaneously, as it gets rid of the hideous windowing that we're always waiting for. So, settled down for this one after what seemed like a reasonable trailer, and I think it exceeded expectations.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this memoir of life as a child in Southern Africa, but I really enjoyed it. The stories felt a bit disjointed at first but either they started to flow better as the book went on, or I just got in the groove with the writing style. It's such a different world to the one I know, it's absolutely fascinating.

It sort of felt like Walter Mitty, with the main character going on a journey for one reason, but really finding out a lot about himself along the way. It even had some slightly odd dream sequences, but in Hector they didn't quite work as well as they did in Mitty. Whilst all of it was great fun, bright and colourful, meaningful, with inspirational quotes, it didn't quite hang together for me.

The thing about Sliding Doors is, I couldn't remember anything about it except that I watched it when I was still living at home and really, really disliked the ending. To the point that I argued with my mother about it for a very long time, and probably still would have done if she'd brought it up. Except I couldn't remember what it was that happened or why I didn't like it.

It's an odd one, getting off to a really slow start. For about twenty minutes, it really is just two Irish chaps wandering around Bruges and bickering. Yet it's intensely captivating, and gradually as you find out more and more about why they're there and what they have to do next, you get sucked right in. It was a little bit gory in places, but somehow not hugely violent. A bit sweary, but not over the top.

A difficult read, this one. The story follows Sage, a reclusive baker who has family issues to deal with. Aside from her own problems, she's also faced with learning the horrific history of an elderly friend who claims to be a Nazi officer that presided over Auschwitz. The way the story weaves around, through different points of view and alongside a fiction inside the fiction, is great and it gradually builds up the horror and the history of the Holocaust.

You know EXACTLY what you're going to get with this film. It veers more towards a drama-com, than a rom-com, but it's Hugh Grant being generally a miserable person before meeting people that turn his attitude and his life around in spectacular fashion. And as long as you're okay with that, it was brilliant.

Browsing through the BBC iPlayer, I saw that the final episode of Miranda that aired over Christmas was about to time out. It reminded me that three of my fondly admired sitcoms came to their conclusion this festive period, and surprisingly, all three went out in style. It may be that LOST burned me and that I hold a grudge for too long, but it feels like most TV shows …

I've seen this before, but so long ago that I couldn't remember anything about it bar the concept of Tom Hanks being trapped at the airport. For some reason, I had the feeling it was a really sad piece, and whilst it does have its moments, it's ultimately a touching story with a satisfying ending, no tears required.

Box of Lies with Channing Tatum

The history My experiences with Harry Potter have been something of a rollercoaster. I enjoyed the books during their first run, but wasn't hugely passionate about them - happy to wait for the paperback version, rather than stand in line at midnight for the final book's release. I somehow ended up owning just six of the seven physical books, so was super keen to own them as ebooks so I …

Love Denzel, so was keen to watch this one, even though it seems just like a Liam Neeson 'man with specialist skills' situation. He was, as most always, exceptional, showing some real cold and calculating skills alongside a heartwarming desire to do right by the people he cares about. Chloe Moretz, too, had some great scenes - particularly the stark difference between her at the start of the film and then at the end when everything was changed. Like night and day!

This book starts with a small child falling off a balcony and being rushed to hospital, so you get the tone right from the beginning. The story then dips back in time and follows a family through the drama of heading towards that horrific incident.

The book is in two distinct halves - one of which I thought was brilliant, the other left me cold. The first half sees Piot start out as a young academic, researching diseases and epidemics. Reading how he travelled to Africa, saw first-hand the issues and dealt with working out where Ebola came from and how it spread was endlessly fascinating. How he combined the horrors of witnessing first hand devastation with trying to raise a young family is beyond me.