I used to like Hard-Fi when this album was first out, so it’s slightly distressing to know it’s celebrating its 20th anniversary this month. Ouch. But it’s great to revisit this music, that quirky early millennium sound that is quite hard to describe but is just guitars and angst and just enough experimentation but not too much. I don’t really rate the cover of Seven Nation Army towards the end of the album but the rest of it is great, nostalgic without sounding too dated.

So, firstly, I’m always annoyed by artists that mess around with the titles to their albums and make them so quirky they are likely to break my website. We can work around this one though with the name Period rather than just the punctuation mark itself. That made me wary of the album and I’ve a hit and miss relationship with Kesha’s music so wasn’t sure what to expect. But, drum roll please, I loved it. It’s so good, great pop, grabs you right from the start and doesn’t let up. There’s a good mix of styles, excellent vocals, although a slight tendancy to over-use the vocoder, really worth a listen.

A few of the John Lange/Michael Crichton books I’ve read recently have been a bit hard to get into because there have been a lot of characters and threads that need to pull together before you get an idea of what’s going on. This one is a bit more linear, focusing on the investigation into a potential terrorist threat, and you get the jigsaw puzzle pieces at the same time as the detectives, before learning what is going down. It’s great, and this one really felt like it had that technological element that made Crichton so successful later down the line. I loved it.

This is an incredible piece of work. The July bombings have been across media and culture recently, with a couple of television series based around these three weeks and the anniversary to commemorate. But this book is highly detailed, incredibly researched with great access to people who were involved and on the scene during this turbulent time. It’s insightful but non-judgemental, laying out the facts and the actions and letting you be the judge. Really good and highly recommended.

I’m really not sure about this Reacher book, it just entirely flowed past me without really making any impact. It has all the traditional Reacher elements, although this was one of the prequels during his military career, rather than his more modern day wanderings. There was a plot to uncover, some people to trust and some to investigate, a handy woman or two to flirt with, and all winding up to a big showdown and a satisfying ending. What’s next?

I vaguely remember seeing talk of this movie when it came out a couple of years ago but mostly forgot about it, until it popped up on iPlayer. I wasn’t expecting much but I do love a survival movie so gave it a go. There are a lot of problems with it - the girls make many stupid decisions and mistakes so you struggle for sympathy, and there are elements that are unbelievable of course. But if you put all that aside, it’s not too bad - very stressful, good tension building, a few surprises, and some good survival stuff in there. It seems odd to me that she comes down and is just allowed to go home no questions asked but hey, it’s a movie!

I’ve listened to one Clash album before, and said that the songs sound quite similar so ultimately you buckle in for the ride and go from start to finish. It’s all good stuff, kicking off with the absolute classic London Calling and racing through eighteen more tracks to hit the end. There’s no real downers, and plenty of good rhythms and punk rock bangers to get stuck into. Love it!

I got a sneak peak at this album when Lorde rocked up for a surprise set at Glastonbury and performed the whole thing from start to finish. Not sure if that’s what the crowd would have been in the mood for, but I loved it, so I knew going into this week that I was on to a winner. It’s just great music, good vibes, interesting themes, deep in places but all handled excellently. For me, a real classic, and a Glastonbury set worth revisiting.

I wasn’t expecting to like the first book in this series by Bob Mortimer, so that was a pleasant surprise and the fact there was a follow up even more so. It felt like the story was pretty much done but it did flow through into this sequel well enough. I don’t think it was quite as strong as the original, but there are more characters to hear from and get to know, and another conspiracy, loosely following the first, to unravel. Fun but not quite 100% like the original satsuma.

I’ve seen this many times before but not for a long time and in the intervening years, I grew negative opinions of it without any real reason why. I thought The Mask character was too zany, too gross, not worth watching. However, this film popped up in conversation on the second series of Light & Magic, so I had to face my demons and give it a watch. Actually, it was a lot better than I remember.

I loved this. I can’t remember where I saw the recommendation but a rom-com set around the Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race? Yes please! The romance part of this was pretty standard - a deal to help each other out, studying skills for love skills, but then obviously they fall in love with each other instead. But the twists and turns around the boat race itself, the various team rivalries, and of course the big question of whether to cheat or not - all add up to a really fun sporting read.

The final episode of series fifteen of Doctor Who was already a pretty good one, wrapping up the season nicely, but then we had a couple of surprises that tipped the whole thing sideways and raised many, many questions!

This is a really good album, I’m not usually a big fan of ten minute songs but nothing on here annoyed me and I really enjoyed it. There are some classics on there, but, let’s be real, we need to talk about Invisible Touch. It is an absolute banger, and kicks off the album in style. BUT man that song gets stuck in my head like nothing I’ve ever experienced, to the point that now I’m slightly regretting listening to this album! It’s good, it’s too good I guess!

So excited for a new Haim album, and this one was absolutely brilliant. The last one was a bit less stellar, so I’m really glad this is back to their incredible standards. It’s the first one in a long time not produced by Ariel and you can feel a slight difference, but for the most part it is Haim’s excellent sound - great instrumental work, excellent production and summer-time vocals that are just crying out for a festival. Loved it.

This was an interesting Michael Crichton pulp fiction thriller, again it took a while to get into because there were quite a lot of characters to keep track of. But the mistaken identity part of it was captivating, the way our hero went along with things thinking they were just slightly weird but actually were a part of this much bigger plot. A lot of fun.

We’ve been waiting for this film for a long time and finally discovered it available for a watch. It’s not an area of history I know a lot about - although Tony Robinson’s Forgotten Wars series gave me some good background. This was a great documentary, well pieced together and focusing on the civilians on the ground, showing how culture and specifically music helped them keep going and stay sane.

This one reminded me of the motel people-hunting book because we had Reacher getting caught up in some kind of big mystery (a woman jumps in front of a bus… or does she?) whilst also following an unrelated young character trying to achieve something. Eventually, the two storylines coincide and we find out what’s going on. It was an interesting ending, with Reacher having to fight his way out of a prison - if you’ve ever wanted to see that, now’s the time!

The final story of the Bridgerton siblings and this was an interesting one - at first it seemed the normal unrequited love and then realising your attention should have been on someone else the whole time. But then it took a turn - blackmail, annulments, kidnapping, hostage taking, all very dramatic. It was good though, it always comes back to the main Bridgerton family and what great characters they are. I’ve really enjoyed the full series!

I’m completely fascinated by the furore surrounding the new production of Evita in the West End. The choice by producers to take the iconic Don’t Cry For Me Argentina song out to the balcony is causing all sorts of angst. Star Rachel Zegler heads out to the balcony and belts out the song to passers-by, with the ticket-buying audience inside settling for a live stream of the big moment. Hardly surprising that the people inside are a bit miffed at this, having paid a significant sum only to have a key moment of the show completed remotely. For those outside on the street - and they are starting to gather in their hordes, waiting for hours to see the spectacle - it’s a real treat. There’s no real consensus on this one.

I’ve recently read the Anthony Horowitz Bond novels and enjoyed them, then realised I had this one sitting on my to-read bookshelf ready to go. It was good, travelling around the globe and using the author’s experience to portray conflict in specific countries quite well. It was a slightly tamed down version of Bond, which is understandable given how difficult he is as a character, and some of the additional characters didn’t seem to be given much room to grow, but overall a really good Bond outing.

This movie could definitely have used a ‘previously on’ segment, because although I could remember flashes of the first Favor, I couldn’t quite remember how it ended to know where our characters were picking up from. But once it got going, this was a pretty good film. Stylish and twisty, Blake doing her best psychopath and scrappy Anna investigating everything - sometimes more by luck than judgement. Just a bit of fun, really, and interesting that they’ve set it up for the sequel (still think Dante might come back!).

As a birthday treat, my parents and I visited the Bombay Sapphire site in Hampshire for one of their Gin Distillery Experiences. It was a gorgeous day, and although I was driving, I was very in the mood to get my hands on some gin and see how the famous blue bottle came to be. The tour lasted about 90 minutes, starting with the most important thing - a drink. For drivers, there was a non-alcoholic option available, but otherwise it was a guide to making the perfect gin and tonic. There are only four steps to it - ice, gin, tonic, garnish - but it turns out the way I make my drinks is wrong at every single stage. Whoops!

Lighthouse Family have always been a sort of easy-listening run-of-the-mill joke in my mind, particularly because at least three of their big hits sound exactly the same. So I was expecting this album to be pleasant and not much more. You know what? I loved it! Great tunes, great easy listening, High is an absolute tune, and I could listen to this over and over. It’s never going to win any awarsd for groundbreaking music but it surprised me in the best possible way.

I’ve enjoyed the last few albums from Miley so I was going into this one with high hopes but in the end, I didn’t really like it. There are a couple of okay songs on there, but most of it is over-produced - feeling like someone let Miley into a new recording studio and she could press ALL the buttons. Miley’s voice is so effortless and she’s got so much talent but this one just didn’t do it for me.

This one definitely wasn’t one of my favourite Reacher books, which is a shame because it feels like there had been some really good ones in the series over the last few releases. But this one just didn’t quite feel right - the descriptions were very dry, the premise was odd, I’m still not entirely sure what the big bad plot was, or who was telling the truth. And occasionally Reacher was acting a bit out of character - I don’t believe he would have gone along with the plot to pretend to be dead, it was exceptionally flawed. Some are blaming this on the new author, but even the original Reacher books had ups and downs, so we just chalk this up to experience and move on to the next!

This is a summertime Sarah Morgan book, I usually read the Christmas ones so it was a refreshing change of pace. Of course it’s more of the same good romantic comedy work from Morgan, although this one does have a series edge to it. Plenty of discussion around grief and coping, and the difficulties around blended families. I found it enjoyable, the characters entirely believable and likable even when they’re acting up, and it was a really well told story. Top work! I should read more than just Christmas books from Sarah Morgan in future!

The penultimate book in the Bridgerton series and this time we’re focusing on Hyacinth, the youngest of the siblings. It’s actually quite a good adventure, I love how much time we get to spend with Lady Danbury, who is of course, the absolute hero of this series. But there’s a love story with a backdrop of questionable parentage and family dynamics, plus a big mystery and treasure hunt surrounding the whereabouts of some diamonds. Lots going on and lots to enjoy!

So, the dust has settled and I finally have a moment to put fingers to keyboard and jot down some thoughts from this year’s WWDC announcements. I’ve been quite lacking in keeping up with any news so was blind going into the Keynote, and they crammed quite a lot in without there being anything too major.

You always have to be a bit skeptical when a famous name writes their first novel, but I thought this was a really good one. Judy makes no bones about the fact that Anton du Beke basically talked her into it but you can’t fault the tennis story coming from someone who knows what they’re talking about! It’s all a bit predictable, but the characters are a joy and the journey is a lot of fun to go on - just like the actual Wimbledon tournament. Definitely worth a read if you’re a tennis fan. I see that Judy’s second book is a murder mystery… so we’ll see if that holds up as well!

This is the first book where Andrew Child gets involved in the writing, and you can almost immediately feel a bit of a refresh, a new lease of life. However, Jack Reacher is barely in touch with what’s going on as a cyber attack hits a city. Of course there’s more going on behind it, and he gets dragged into the bigger plot, but it’s fun to see him barely understand the technology being discussed. There’s potentially a bit more talking than action which takes away from it a little bit but ultimately it’s the same old Reacher saving the day in impressive style.

The first question is, of course, did I know Proud was a Heather Small song rather than an M People track? If I did, I’d forgotten the fact, so it was a surprise to me that this album even existed. It’s good, although a little bit lengthy. Obviously Proud is a legendary song at this point, and the album finishes on a high with the Tom Jones duet. In the middle things get a bit drawn out, but none of it is bad and you can’t really fault vocals like these.

I loved this. You never really know what to expect with a Pulp album but I feel like this was just a grown up, slightly more existential version of what they used to do in the Britpop era. The music is great, the vocals excellent - I could honestly listen to Jarvis Cocker do that sort of singy-talky thing he does all day. The genres vary without being jarring, and there’s lots of great instrument work in there… I really enjoyed it!

It took me far too long to get into this, there were too many characters initially and we were chopping between them too quickly. But once the pieces were gathered together and the heist story started emerging, then it was really fun, particularly the twist where the safe was empty! The banana obsessed Mrs Shaw was a suspicious character from the beginning but still quite a lot of fun to see how it all played out.

This was a serviceable thriller - the setup wasn’t as convincing as I hoped it would be, just someone turning up in the area is enough to kick start an entire investigation again? Not sure about that. But the characters are believable and the writing is engaging, you definitely want to keep turning the pages and find out what happens next. I sort of guessed where we were going about halfway through and so the second half dragged a little bit but it was still an entertaining read.

The girls are back for another term at boarding school - I hadn’t really clocked that these books only cover one term each… so much happens, it seems impossible that these three books are pretty much covering one school year! It seems so long ago that the twins were the new girls being a pain about everything. At this point, the focus is less on the twins and more on everyone else - Carlotta the circus girl, Prudence the sneak, Bobby the tennis star. Lots of tennis in this one, good stuff! The girls get a chance to mess up but then learn and grow from it. What more do you need from a classic Enid Blyton story?

I really liked this one. Again, just like in the previous Slitheen book, the Daleks seem more scary on the page than they do on the screen. But as always, the humans don’t always do the right thing, and the scenes where the Doctor is battling to stop them terrorising a Dalek for the sake of their humanity, even though they are his sworn enemy, very well done. And the battle rages on, with some interesting temporary companions, and a good ending. I enjoyed this one.

An interesting Doctor novel this one, with another temporary companion in the form of June. They end up running around Ancient Athens and confronting the Slitheen, who are more aggressive than they appear on TV - on screen they’re more ridiculous, but here they want to do some real damage. It’s a good book, plenty of action, lots of twists and turns, and a strong ending.

There’s a bit of a fog in my memory of how I got from enjoying the sports film Friday Night Lights, giving it s score of five out of five, and writing about it favourably, to buying and watching the entire box set of the television series of the same name. The TV show has excellent reviews and I think part of it might have been the participation of Connie Britton who will forever be Rayna James in my eyes but is no less awesome for that… but what could I possibly like about a series focusing on a small US town with an obsession for American Football?

I really didn’t know very much about Dear Evan Hansen when the show rolled into town on its current UK tour. The song You Will Be Found is obviously the biggest hit and pops up on various musical reviews and occasional variety shows, but outside of that I could only have told you that the main character has a cast on his arm, and Ben Platt was in the film.

This was an okay album, but it messes with the mind a little bit. They sound very much like Michael Jackson, both in actual voice and in production - which makes sense as they are related and he mentored them. And then you think this one REALLY sounds like MJ, only to realise he is duetting with them. Very confusing. But otherwise, it’s just some reasonable R&B/pop music that slides along nicely without really making a huge impact.

This was a surprise - it was very good! I’ve found the Jonas brothers together and apart to be a bit hit and miss, but this one was a hit. It’s an intriguing start, kind of mystical and playful and what’s going to happen. Then the pop kicks in and it’s just a joy for the remaining tracks. Not too much falsetto which they are sometimes guilty of, and lots of good guests (although I hadn’t heard of any of them before). A really, solid, pop album.

The Reacher series has its ups and downs but I found this book really enjoyable, one of the high points. Reacher gets involved with an elderly couple who have succumbed to the pressure of loan sharks and are really struggling. He helps them and starts unwinding the mystery and the bigger organised crime problems behind it all, and obviously intervenes at the end to save the day. His straight forward compassion is on display here and it warms you to a character who can sometimes be a bit too black and white, right and wrong. But in this case, it really works.

I don’t often read plays but whenever I do, I always think I should read more of them. You can picture the play happening on stage as you read through the script and this one is a great one. I actually haven’t seen the play performed anywhere but I knew of the story and that it cause quite the furore when it was first written because of its feminist angle. Such a great feminist role model, our Nora, and a surprising story with twists and turns and ultimately an incredibly forward-thinking ending. Loved it, and now need to seek it out on stage.

This audiobook was read by Nicholas Briggs who is the voice of the Judoon in the TV show so it’s really well done and entirely engaging. Plus add to that a great story about a failing travel terminal, private detectives running around trying to figure out what’s going on, and a good mystery to be uncovered. The Doctor is without a companion again but it’s a lot of fun following him on the journey with his Judoon friend, and the plucky young detective adds another fun layer. I enjoyed this one!

This was an interesting story, although it had its ups and downs. I think the way everything kicks off with the book seemed a bit odd, people very quick to judge when there was very little to support such claims. But once everything started unravelling and Laura get in stuck in to help her neighbour and, indeed, open her eyes to real life, it was fun. The ending with even more twists and turns sort of annoyed me in a way but it all shook out and settled down so no real complaints.

This started out as two separate stories that eventually converge. On the one hand, Reacher is digging into his family history, which is always interesting because it’s a fascinating family and one that still holds plenty of secrets. On the other hand a young couple are being kept at a motel, initially by coercion and eventually by force, and it takes a while before we realise why and what kind of danger they are in. Reacher to the rescue, hooray! We learn some secrets, do some heroic stuff, and as always, leave town at the end. Not a bad read in the Reacher canon!

Since Sky took the broadcast rights for WTA and refuse to put any decent replays up, I’ve not been watching as much tennis as I used to. It’s a shame, but it also means when I do get to subscribe to Discovery for a month to watch the French Open, it’s a real treat. Watching the players running around the orange clay courts whilst listening to Radio Roland Garros, what a fab way to spend two weeks.