This was an interesting one. An artist / support worker finds himself caught up in family drama, surrounded by death and searching for the truth. The story winds its way along, with a mix of fast-paced drama and then slow tick-tock waiting. It keeps you interested but I’m not sure I’m totally convinced.

The prologue to this Indian Ocean adventure had me intrigued, but then the idolisation of Moby Dick in the early chapters had the opposite effect. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book, having only read it recently, but I do like these endurance/adventure stories and this seemed like a good one. Ben and James set out to row the Indian Ocean, a huge task, and along the way face nature head on in a battle to survive.

I didn’t expect much from this film. The trailer looked interesting, but I thought it was kinda arty and probably without a gripping story. I wasn’t sure it was going to by my kind of film at all. Boy, I was wrong.

It’s a while ago that I read the first book in the 87th Precinct series, and I liked it so much that I snapped up quite a few of the rest of the series. It’s taken me this long to get round to reading the second, but I liked it just as much as the first. There’s a way McBain has of describing things that really make them take on a life of their own - I remember that from the first, it felt as though the city was just as much a character as the main protagonists.

I’ve heard Kurt Vonnegut’s name mentioned occasionally but didn’t really know what his books were about, or his style of writing. I quite enjoyed the book, I liked the back and forth nature, and obviously time travel appeals to me a lot. I liked the science fiction element played against the war scenes, although it was hard to reconcile both worlds.

I was curious to read this to see what David Walliams’ writing was like, and really, any excuse for an easy-to-digest kids book is fine by me. I was suitably impressed. There are some great characters, really vivd and brought-to-life right off the page - Winnie and her respective reactions to chocolate and coffee, Gabz and her tomboy grace, even Mr Grey is absolutely as you think he should be.

As it turns out, this was a terrible film. The premise didn’t make any sense, the story was full of holes and really just there as a tenuous thread to string far too many car chase scenes together. At one point, I didn’t know which car had the good guys and which had the bad guys, and at that point, it all became meaningless.

You could tell it was a labour of love for JGL, written and directed by him, and starring him too. It wasn’t the best film ever, but I did quite like the composition. The use of Mac noises against real life activities, the rather marvellous accents, the juxtaposition of church against the rest of his life.

What a great concept for this book - four strangers meet on a train and share their experiences of love and life, but mostly love. They each have a very different story to be told, but each rooted in finding love and holding on to it. On the journey from Edinburgh to London, they recount their tales.

My knowledge of Peter Pan comes mostly from general things, like Captain Hook and the ticking crocodile, or else from the movie Hook, which is more of a sequel than an adaptation. I think I tried to read this a couple of times as a kid, but couldn’t get much past the first chapter.

It took a while for the characters to really come to life, but about halfway through, it seemed to kick into gear. I thought Octavia as Minny was fantastic, and Bryce as Hilly portrayed the terrible attitude perfectly. Emma was also great, but the film was stolen by the maids more than anyone.

CNET published an exclusive story about Nike’s plans to shut down their FuelBand hardware section, including layoffs and a focus on software instead. This was rebuffed, sort of, by a spokesperson, although their quote was more about continued support of the existing bands, rather than expanding the line. We will continue to improve the Nike+ FuelBand App, launch new METALUXE colors, and we will sell and support the Nike+ FuelBand SE for the foreseeable future.

If you’ve been following my adventures online for any sort of time, you might already know that I haven’t been big on the emotions. My Film Watch reviews, in particular, have shown that I’ve avoided getting swept up in romantic comedies, and those that are considered tearjerkers left me cold. Because everything is a Friends reference, I was kinda like Chandler. You may also have noted the past tense in that first paragraph.

I love the concept of this, how recipe books are so inexact and open to interpretation that they can sometimes be of no use whatsoever. The book is made up of what I assume is a collection of columns, a handful of stories and anecdotes about trials and tribulations in the kitchen at the hands of various recipe books.

The Verge posted a hands on video of the new CarPlay interface from Apple - Siri in your car, basically. It looks good. Well, no, it looks rubbish. But compared to what my current car does (which is nothing) and what other cars look like (which is awful), it’s not a bad step up.

Somehow, I managed to get to this point in my life without seeing this film. Mr C was pretty aghast when he found this out, and nagged me to see it. Mostly, so I would start getting some of the references we have seen in other things. Eventually, with a glass of wine in hand, I succumbed.

If I hadn’t recently had something of a heart-thawing, this probably would have dropped off our radar before we got to watch it. I’m always interested in what Judy does, and Steve Coogan is great, but it’s one of those that we might never have got round to.

Really enjoyed this, although it got a little bit macabre towards the end. I didn’t know what to expect as the story unfolded, and it was fascinating to see the twists and turns it took along the way. I thought the court case was particularly interesting, as it was explained exactly how the events unfolded and how the result was obtained.

I seem to be going through a period of consuming media about segregation and racism, but none of them have so far hit home quite like this one. I wanted to read the book before seeing the film, and I’m glad I did. The differing perspectives add so much to the narrative, and to the conflict - between both the employer and employee, and within the help themselves.

It did feel a bit short, not that anything was missing, but just that there’s scope for the characters and the story to be developed into a full-length novel. However, I equally appreciate the novella for not taking up too much of my time, and for giving me an interesting read with something to think about after putting it down.

It was a completely different film to the one I expected to see. Quirky and very unbalanced, more violence than I’d anticipated, and a likeable yet unrealistic family setup. There was no reason to root for this family, as they all seemed to be pretty terrible people, and it was probably the strength of the acting rather than the script that kept you hoping they’d get a reasonably happy ending.

Time is my enemy at the moment. Life is a repetition of work, study, Sidepodcast, sleep. It is always better to be busy than bored, but frazzled is the word I’m choosing to use at the moment. With that in mind, here are a few things I’ve been using to try and make life a bit easier. News The Yahoo News Digest app intrigues me greatly, because I always think I’m interested in the news but when I settle down to read or watch, I find I’m not. The great design of this app, plus the fact that it is a limited selection of must-read news, makes it more appealing to people like me. I like the idea of checking off the stories, and having the days that you have read marked off on a calendar.

I do so love these History in an Hour books, everything you need to know about a particular topic in bitesize form. Their self-proclaimed aim is to distill a topic or period from history down into the must-know facts, so that if you enjoy it, you can then go on to read more from other sources.

I really loved the concept of these short stories - building up to the fiftieth anniversary, a short story for each iteration of the Doctor, written by a different children’s author. The collector in me had to wait for the set to be finished before I even embarked, and I was a bit disappointed that the first was written by Colfer - having not particularly enjoyed the first of the Artemis Fowl series.

We only ever got halfway through the trailer for this one, knowing that it looked like a good film with a pretty stellar cast, and not wanting to spoil the rest of the film. I didn’t realise it was based on a true story until it started, and it was kinda hard to believe it was… because all the way through the film, it was like watching a different version of Forrest Gump. Which I’m reliably informed isn’t a true story.

I’ve seen a few reviews for this book saying it’s unlike Lynda La Plante’s usual work, more like a Catherine Cookson, and thus it has had a mixed response. I’ve not read any of her work before, so I wasn’t anticipating anything but I still wasn’t completely convinced by what I read.

I was half dreading reading this, for no good reason as I didn’t know anything about it except it was on my Reading List. As it turns out, it was quite an enjoyable read, although as with a handful of the books I’m reading at the moment, it was full of angst and ultimately quite depressing.

I somehow managed to watch the documentary with Victoria Coren before I saw the film, but it barely spoiled anything and I was still eager to watch. I have Film Watched Mary Poppins and although I wouldn’t say I massively love it anymore, it does still hold a special place in my heart. Mr C, meanwhile, has never seen it, although is aware of some of the larger concepts, like Supercali… etc.

Ah, how I love this book. I’m a fan of Roald Dahl’s anyway, but this is one that I really enjoy. The story is simple and charming enough, and it’s always nice to know that the Sophie character is based on a real life little girl, but the joy in this book for me is the language.

This was a really good read. Where vampires are all the rage at the moment, this was in a class of its own. It had the subtlety of Dracula, but equally the action, characterisation and even gore that you want of a modern book. I thought Oskar was a great protagonist, wide-eyed and innocent yet vengeful and conflicted.

What I found interesting was how similar it was to the first book, kids are in severe poverty, chosen for games, go through the games, and yet not at all boring. There’s an underlying current of threat throughout this film that adds to the sheer torment of the games, and helps steer the story to its conclusion.

I hadn’t heard of this one, so probably wouldn’t have picked it up if it hadn’t been in my reading list. I’m glad I did, because it’s interesting to see what dystopian teen fiction was like before the recent glut of Hunger Games style madness. Whilst it’s a good book, very readable and with some interesting characters, I wasn’t left feeling very happy at the end.

Having enjoyed the TV show The Paradise, I bought the book that started it all but it took me a long time to get round to reading it. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed it, although I thought it was a story of two halves that didn’t quite seem to connect. The first part is all about the struggle that is had outside the department store, by the independent shop owners and Denise herself when she is dismissed. The second part is all love story, with barely a reference to the economy at all.

As a Sandra Bullock fan, I should have wanted to watch her Oscar-winning performance in this true story of lives being changed. However, knowing that it was likely an emotional one put me off because I built up that wall of never crying at anything ever.

It was surprisingly good, very watchable, stacked full of twists and turns and culminating in a good, exciting ending. I thought it got off to a slow start, and I was a bit disappointed that Arnie and Sylv didn’t get to have more crackling dialogue together.

It wasn’t long ago I was waxing lyrical about how great Jimmy Fallon’s skit with Paul Rudd was - the pair of them taking on a lip sync battle with amusing results. Now, the Tonight Show host is back again with another classic. This time, he’s roped in Billy Joel for a spot of crooning. I love the use of the looping app in this, and how great they both are. I didn’t actually know Fallon could sing, but he holds his own against one of the greats.

We’ve recently invested some time and energy in using Flipboard to share posts, pictures and shows from Sidepodcast, which meant having to learn to use the crazy thing. Primarily an app, Flipboard allows you to browse through content from Twitter, sites and various web locations in a gorgeous looking magazine style. There’s absolutely no doubting that it’s a good way to peruse content. I found it quite hard to get my head around though. From the app, you have to find the content via some kind of stream that is already in there - ie, a Twitter account or someone else’s magazine. I couldn’t see there was an easy way to add content without navigating through many circles of hell.

A very serviceable thriller from Jeffrey Archer, but not a particularly memorable or classic work, I think. The story follows the journey of a CIA assassin, who finds himself on the wrong side of the company he works for just months before his retirement. It took a long time to get going, but I stuck with it, and was glad I did because it was an interesting story.

It actually worked, I quite enjoyed this film. We’ve been working through some less challenging movies due to sheer exhaustion, and this was absolutely what we needed - just a handful of people twisting and turning through tricky relationships.

I’ve loved this film for a long time, although when we rewatched it this time, there was a whole section (up in the cabin) that I didn’t remember at all. Interestingly, there were things I thought happened that didn’t, and things I didn’t think happened that did.

Love this film. I’ve seen it maybe a couple of times before, although I couldn’t remember all the specifics about it. Mr C hadn’t seen it before, and as we were in the mood for something that wouldn’t take too much attention, a classic teen rom-com was ideal!

I was sad to hear that We Will Rock You will be closing, after 12 years as a mainstay of the West End theatre scene in London. Long time readers will know I was completely obsessed with this musical when it first came out, seeing it no less than five times in just a couple of years. I’m not a huge fan of the so-called “jukebox” musicals, but this one worked for me right from the start.

It’s a good job I wasn’t particularly looking forward to this one as an action thriller, because in all honesty, about 90% of it went over my head. When they weren’t speaking technobabble, they were talking corporate espionage, and I couldn’t really keep up.

I was on the back foot with this book from the start, as it is a very openly political tale about the benefits of socialism weighed against the disadvantages of capitalism. I’m not particularly interested in politics, and whilst I liked some of the descriptions of the economics of the two systems, I drifted off when there was talk of elections and money-grabbing corporations.

I read with interest this post about Maria Sharapova’s views on men playing three set matches. I’ve heard the arguments that women should play five-setters, to earn the equal prize money they were given a while back, but I hadn’t heard the flip side to that. At first, I couldn’t really see any reason for change, but actually reading her quotes, it makes a lot of sense. Sharapova’s main points were that it would make the matches more exciting, because every point really is crucial, and that it would ease the strain on men’s bodies, as some of these matches are now reaching the five hour and beyond mark.

I’ve heard of Paul Potts but didn’t really know the facts behind his rise to fame. I’ve not seen Britain’s Got Talent, having given up on the reality shows after the first few (credible) years. Mostly, this film intrigued me because of James Cordon, could he carry a whole ninety minute story?

As with all the Marvel films, the dialogue was fun, there were a few laughs throughout, and the best part was seeing the characters interact with each other and try to deal with a world in which they don’t really fit. Darcy was fab, and I loved bonus Chris O’Dowd (underused). Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be enough story to go with it. Christopher Eccleston made a good bad guy, but it didn’t really feel like the world was in jeopardy, even in the big showdown.

There was a lot of consternation doing the rounds this week when it emerged the BBC have plans to switch BBC Three from a TV channel to online only distribution. I can’t say that it’s a hugely surprising move, particularly as they have made a big push recently with putting the episodes of comedies up on the iPlayer before they appear on TV. The big pink Premiere logo appears on the show, and you can watch it online long before it reaches the schedules.

If you’re not a fan of Kindle-shaped reading products, never fear! The iBooks edition of the Pocket F1 Handbook: Guide to the 2014 Grand Prix Season has arrived. The book contains all the driver and team profiles, rules and regulations updates, and circuit information that you’re going to need for the upcoming Formula One season, and has the iBooks bonus of easier navigation and better-looking tables. So, if you own an Apple device, be it phone, tablet or desktop, there’s no excuse not to get your hands on a copy of the Pocket F1 Handbook. You can download a handy sample to preview the book before you buy, but snap it up soon. There are only nine days left to the start of the 2014 season, so you can swot up on all you need to know before the action gets underway in Australia next week.

I probably wouldn’t have read this if I hadn’t quite enjoyed Goodnight Mister Tom, but I’m glad that I did pick it up. It follows a similar pattern, chronicling the trials and tribulations of a boy as he learns the world around him is a little bit different than he first imagined.