I recently wrote about my clampdown on spending when it comes to streaming services, but I haven’t been lacking in the television department. Most of these were available on ’terrestrial’ streamers, and a great variety there has been too! Paradise I just managed to squeeze this in before my Disney+ plan lapsed, and it was really good. The twist at the end of the first episode is up there with that big LOST reveal, and it obviously speaks to the bunker fan in me. Some of the episodes in the middle felt like they lost their way a little bit but the penultimate episode featuring the build up to the big evacuation was incredible. Definitely worth a watch.

This is my first Miss Marple and actually, aside from knowing the name as a cultural reference point, I don’t really know much about her and her mystery-solving. I was surprised that she’s not really front and centre in this story, but more of a side character, and even though she does get heavily involved in solving the mystery, she’s really not in the book that much. It’s an interesting plot though, another of those Christie books with far too many suspects and layers of twisting intrigue to wade through. I enjoyed it, and am interested to read more Marple and see if she actually gets to take centre stage at any point!

I’m always in awe of people who can write comedy songs. It seems like some kind of magic trick to me to be able to write a song anyway, to then add a layer of comedy on top is a great skill. Victoria Wood is the legend at it, but there have been many more since that also come up with hilarious works. Flo & Joan, two dead-pan sisters, have carved quite a path in the comedy singing track, and this one is brilliant.

I’m a big fan of Anthony Horowitz’s own writing, particularly some of his more meta works, and I’ve been fond of James Bond in the past too, so combining these two things seemed like a great idea. It actually is a really good book but it surprised me and took some getting used to. Horowitz has really leaned in to the Bond fiction genre, that quiet, calculating, slowly making progress through the plot style and it’s very affecting. It’s an interesting story with consequences that gradually get higher and higher, the boat and everything that happens there was very visceral. A good book!

As I mentioned in my previous post about streaming services, it was the furore around Adolescence that made me sign back up to Netflix. I was managing to ignore the babble about most shows on the network, but this one just couldn’t be let go. As soon as I started watching it, I could see why there was such a fuss - it is absolute television gold.

I, like many, adore the Jurassic Park films - particularly the original, and with slightly less gusto the new series. I’ve never played a Jurassic Park game though, and it felt like it was about time I rectified that. I love a park building style simulation, so this seemed to tick all the boxes, and was in a Playstation sale. Win-win!

Something slightly odd has happened with the two Tomb Raider remastered bundles, in that I am deliberately playing through all the games in the second bundle (Last Revelation, Chronicles, Angel of Darkness), whilst the first one still remains mostly unplayed and unreviewed. I’ll get back to it, of course, but it’s quite unlike me not to have to start at the beginning of something. Anyway, having left Lara buried in a tomb in Egypt, I was interested to see what this game had in store, as it’s format is quite different to any other in the Tomb Raider canon.

I’ve been aware of the Skate City games as they’ve been around a while and are something of a classic. But skateboarding isn’t necessarily something I’m that bothered about. I did enjoy watching it in the Olympics but it’s never shouted at me as a good gaming experience, as much as Tony Hawk might want it to. However, an Apple Arcade game is always a good opportunity to try something you might not otherwise, as there are no downsides!

I don’t remember specifically why I downloaded this game but it’s one of those that often appears in the top lists of free games, and it’s also one of those tycoon style hotel games, which do appeal to me. It’s ad supported which would usually be a turn off but for some reason the forced ads never showed for me, only those ones that you can opt into to get helpful rewards, which made playing it more pleasant than it otherwise would have been.

I’ve been trying to keep an eye on what comes out on Apple Arcade each month and there’s a good variety of games, some of which grab me and some of which really don’t. This one looked cute, and seeing as it’s free if you’re an Arcade subscriber, there’s no harm in giving it a go. I don’t really know much about sticker collections and that kind of thing but dived right in.

As is becoming tradition with these classic album selections, this one was prompted by an appearance from the artist on 1997’s Top of the Pops. I can hear that these songs are slightly softer than traditional Bon Jovi rock, but it’s not that far removed in this solo album. It’s good, a couple of banging songs to start with, and then it gets a bit drawn out in the middle. It’s an hour long, and felt quite long towards the end, but there’s nothing specifically bad about it and the songs are easy to lsiten to and get into your soul just a little bit.

I loved this. I’m a big fan of synth pop anyway, and it’s nice to have it firmly in modern music and not just consigned to be an 80s thing. This is synth pop done really well, not going too grungey or chaotic. It’s reminiscent of Charli XCX in places, but where Charli tends to push it too far for my tastes, IDER have it spot on. There are great harmonies between the two voices and the topics cover quite a range of feminism and tricky subjects, but it’s all very listenable and one for the favourites pile.

I was fully expecting this to be a twenty minute rule movie, becuase, you know it’s Netflix, but the service was pushing it quite hard and figured it was a good idea to watch it while I still have an active subscription. Oh man, I loved it. It got off to a slow start and I was still convinced it was being switched off but once we got to the twenty minutes, the challenge was in place, I had to see what happened.

One of my goals for this year is to spend less on streaming services. I’ve mentioned it a few times in posts over the last 12 months or so but it has became a real focus for 2025. I totted up how much I’d spent on streaming services in 2024 and whilst it wasn’t a completely extortionate number, it was more than I was comfortable with considering there are only so many hours in the day for watching television… even at x2 speed.

This is such a good book, following Ed Stafford’s journey from one end of the famous river to the other through miles of challenging territory: jungles, locals, wildlife and just endless dangers. The story is well told, a good focus on the challenges whilst also remembering the good times, being open about the mental health side of it and honest about the author’s own mistakes and downfalls. It gets, perhaps, a little repetitive in the final third, which is probably quite representative of the walk itself, and of course it ends very abruptly as the river does, so also a very fair book. A good adventure read, and quite eye-opening about an area of the world I don’t know very much about.

This was probably one of the weaker Reacher stories in the series. The characters weren’t entirely memorable, and the story about an old sniper coming back and making it personal felt a bit far-fetched, even in Reacher’s world. I didn’t like the character of Casey Nice, but I did think it interesting seeing Reacher work with someone who wasn’t entirely kick-ass, who was still learning and growing and had anxiety and stuff. Interesting in places, but I think we’ll just move swiftly on from this one.

I wasn’t so keen on this story. There were definitely some interesting ideas at the heart of it - particularly how fickle or unsubstantiated cults can be, and of course a big focus on the differences and similarities between machines and people. Where does humanity start and end? But I don’t believe Donna would be the way she was portrayed in this, maybe a little to start with but with such coherent arguments and such a big heart, her attitude felt very out of character. Oh well, onto the next.

This was a good story in the Saxon series, which so far has been a bit of a rollercoaster for me. Sometimes good, sometimes bad, this one veered towards the good, thankfully. There were lots of oathes being sworn this way and that, political allegiences being made and broken. It’s always good when Uhtred is reunited with old friends, and this time we were facing off a scary new enemy - I like that she was a powerful woman, although the witchy element wasn’t ideal. Still, a good read.

I previously sheepishly confessed to purchasing a Le Creuset casserole pan and I’m sure you can imagine it gets far less use than it should do. However, I was so impressed with it at the time that I also purchased a deep frying pan by the same maker and it was also excellent… that one definitely gets used on an almost daily basis.

This wasn’t a particularly good movie, but I quite like that it leaned into its flaws and just got on with it - there’s no pretending not to be ripping off the Agatha Christie style murder mystery, particularly when gathering everyone at the end of the piece to reveal whodunit. But it does have its own spin and fun moments, particularly as during that ‘big reveal’ they didn’t actually know who had done it!

I’ve let my work/life balance get very out of alignment recently, and have quite a lot of catching up to do here on mrschristine.com. However, while I get my act together, I thought it was worth sharing five things that have been keeping me going over the last couple of months where otherwise I may have run screaming for the hills.

Trying to give the garden a bit more attention this year, and the first thing to have popped up is the rhubarb. Yum!

Dannii popped up on a recent 1997 Top of the Pops episode, singing All I Wanna Do and I remembered loving that song, so time to listen to the album. It’s mostly good, 90s dance pop, with Dannii’s great vocals. The song about being underwater is weird… it’s a bit of a downer in the middle of an upbeat album, and I’m not sure what it’s trying to prove, but if you stripped that one out, it would be a fun and very listenable album.

Somehow I’ve never actually listened to any Chesney Hawkes yet, I wonder if it’s a bit cheeky to start with a new album rather than his absolute classics, but here we are. I quite enjoyed it. It’s sensible, heartfelt, grown up pop without being too cheesy - it reminded me a bit of Keith Urban, although obviously less country. The track 13 is something of an outlier, not fun, not too pop, and completely engrossing and heartbreaking in equal measure. Overall, a great album from someone with a lengthy rollercoaster of a career.

It’s just a lovely, warm, funny story about the people fighting to make a dream come true against immense odds - sending those plucky explorers to the moon. There is the fake moon landing stuff but you never really at any point think that’s what happened, even at the end with the cat providing the proof we all needed. It’s a great take on a silly conspiracy, poking a bit of fun but mostly providing a warm and moving story to while away a couple of hours.

This movie is so bad. It did make me laugh in places, definitely moments of humour, but the premise is awful, pretty much all the characters are horrible - to each other and just generally - and you know it’s all going to come crumbling down so the anticipation for that is uncomfortable at best. Josh was such a lovely character and I only wanted what was best for him, so the rest of it was just cringe from start to finish.

A really good entry in Jack Reacher’s canon - finally our protagonist reaches his destination of Virginia but… maybe he shouldn’t have bothered. Arriving at his old military stomping ground causes more problems than it solves, but he does sort of get the girl for a bit anyway, and he solves another puzzle and another fit up job. It was very interesting to see Reacher as a reluctant father figure, albeit briefly, and how he reacts to charges that he doesn’t actually know whether they are true or not. Ultimately, the book ends as they always do and just how Reacher likes it, with the future stretching ahead unknown.

This movie, whilst a different genre and story arc, reminded me a lot of Back in Action - it’s entirely generic and uninspired, but quite fun to watch with a nice little cast of characters. The heist is absolute nonsense, and a lot of the plane detail was inaccurate at best. The plot didn’t always make sense, but if you put the problems to one side, it’s a fun, mindless watch. I loved Magnus and his optimism, and could watch him cracking into a safe all day. Not exactly a stellar piece of cinema but not the worst either!

The critics have not spared a kind word for this movie, but it had to be watched to see what all the (negative) fuss was about. They’re not wrong, it’s awful. But what’s weird about it is all the elements are there. A mis-matched buddy comedy with two great actors (sadly no chemistry), a family torn apart and trying to find each other again, moving moments between man and machine, the big bad villains, and a message about society along the way.

This may have been my favourite of the Saxon Stories so far, with our hero very firmly in the driving seat, full of confidence, and trying to do the right thing even when the odds are against him. There’s plenty of fighting and sailing boats and politics here and there, but of course the bit I found most interesting was the kidnapping, love affair and rescue attempts. So good, interesting and moving. I’m in two minds about whether this series is really grabbing me or not, but this book has turned the tides towards the positive for now.

Sometimes you just need a mindless action movie where the stakes are high but it’s also kinda tame. This is exactly that movie. It’s not at all original, the reluctant ex-spies are forced back into action to protect their family. But it had it’s moments, and it was a great cast, including lovely Andrew Scott. There were plot holes galore but twists and turns along the way, and in the end, a lot of fun.

Every year, I get obsessed with the blossom that blooms as the temperatures finally start to warm up. This batch, appearing on a hedge I walk past regularly, was there for a couple of days only, and then all completely disappeared. Weird.

I really enjoyed this Poirot story, it felt like a pre-cursor or a practice run for the Orient Express that we know is coming in Agatha Christie’s future. A collection of people ride on a train, someone is murdered, and there’s a bigger plot afoot. I like that this wasn’t all about Poirot though, it’s a while before he even turns up, and he’s not the one finding every single clue - although of course he is the one to piece it all together.

There’s so much media around the sinking of the Titanic, an event that continues to captivate so many people - including me. But why does it? This book tries to answer that question, alongside chronicling the sinking in one chapter but more importantly the stories of the survivors in subsequent chapters. Some people warrant an entire chapter to themselves, their subsequent stories are so full and intriguing. Other chapters cover a few survivors and what they did with their lives after making it back to dry land, and it’s just so fascinating to see the shadow of this tragedy looming over them and the different ways of dealing with it. Along the way, the tables are turned on us, though, and pondering why this particular ship continues to garner so much attention.

I loved this, obviously the main standout track is Bitch which is a belter to sing along to. But the rest of the album lives up to the promise. It feels quite a lot like Alanis Morrisette, all rock and angst and guitars, and although Meredith doesn’t quite live up to the greatness of Alanis, it’s not too far off. It’s a shame she didn’t really have too much more success after this album, as I would have liked to hear more.

At this point, Mumford & Sons are indelibly linked with Ted Lasso in my mind, and that’s a good association, a pleasant memory. So I went into this album hoping for some good tunes, but unfortunately I didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted. It’s slow and depressing and potentially what I thought Mumford always was - dull folk music. Maybe I’ll just rewatch Ted Lasso instead.

I love Paddington as a bit of a palatte cleansar between more serious books. This one was interesting, particularly with the stranger turning up to the gardens and asking our favourite bear a lot of intriguing questions - and getting even more fascinating (and unhelpful) answers. It surprised me when the visitor had a mobile phone as you always consider Paddington being a sort of old school but timeless character, and suddenly I had to think of him in the modern world. Alongside these adventures, Paddington learns about self-playing painos, and gets a parking ticket!

As a quick salve from some of the more meaty reads I’ve had recently, I listened to a quick audiobook of the next New Series Adventure story in the Doctor Who universe. This one was narrated by Russell Tovey who has a great voice and a did a fantastic job with the different characters. I was particularly impressed with his voicing of Sebastian who was an odious character and really done well. It’s an interesting story, a sort of Hunger Games hunt style with a bit of cloning in there for good measure. Very Doctor Who, although I’m disappointed Donna didn’t seem to get too involved in the outcome. Still a fun read.

Alongside powering through the Reacher series, I’ve decided to muscle through the Saxon Stories as well. This is the third in the series and it’s really getting interesting as these characters grow and develop, cross paths and diverge again, and keep popping up in each other’s lives. For an era where it seems like death is literally just around the corner, it’s impressive for the few survivors to keep cropping up again and again. This also had the intrigue of Uhtred falling from grace from a Lord to a slave and back again, with everything that entails in between. The machinations of loyalty and fighting for the right side are complex, but the characters are easy to follow and have respect for. I’ll be reading on!

At first I enjoyed this book - classic Reacher getting picked up as a hitchhiker in a seemingly innocent vehicle that actually ends up with him getting embroiled in a big plot. This one was fascinating, the drivers clearly hiding something and Reacher gradually finding out what it is. I also liked the cat and mouse chase with the detectives not that far behind. But once things started to be revealed, I sort of lost the plot a bit - quite a few different agencies and a lot of different levels of undercover, and I didn’t really care to follow it that much. Ultimately it was an ok read but I’m just happy to move on to the next. Will Reacher ever manage to get to Virginia?

So good. I’m disappointed in myself for not having gotten into Taylor Jenkins Reid’s books sooner but now that I have, I’m all in. This one reminded me at first of Apples Never Fall which I read last month, but only because it’s a large family with a lot of siblings. There the similarities ended and this one tells its own story of woe and hardship, overcoming the odds, and a wide array of characters eventually coming together at a party where everything comes to a head. I really liked that this told a lot of story but you could tell there was still a lot more to happen in these lives, and yet I wasn’t disappointed by the ending either. It wrapped up so well. I did enjoy the bonus crossover mentions of characters, Carrie Soto obviously popping up but also a Daisy Jones mention as well. Can’t wait to read the next one!

I don’t remember why this one popped into the subconscious but it felt like a good opportunity to listen to some 2000s music rather than being totally stuck in the 90s. The highlight of the album is In the Morning, naturally, and the rest of it is okay, listenable but I think it’s pretty forgettable. I do like their sound so it’s not all bad, but will maybe just stick to listening to the singles.

Gracie Abrams has been appearing on various TV clips recently, and she popped up on the Selena album so I dug through the list and found I’d missed this album. I’m not totally sure it was worth prioritising this week, as it’s pretty derivative. It starts okay, but the end tails off quite drastically. The Taytay song is good but ultimately think this one is pretty skippable, which is a shame because I had high hopes.

This Reacher prequel takes us back to the events directly preceding the first book in the series. For some readers, this must have been quite the journey back in time, but for me it was only a few months ago that I was reading that first book so it was relatively fresh in my mind. Reacher, still in the military, is sent undercover to keep an eye on a murder investigation but of course he ends up getting directly involved and disobeying orders to do the right thing. We find out the circumstances behind Reacher’s exit from the army, and it made me quite sad in the end. But that happened so that the series we know and love could exist so on we go!

This is the first Bridgerton I’ve read that hasn’t been made into the TV phenomenon yet, although I’m sure it’s coming. This series is great at bringing a modern perspective to Regency England, and even though the pomp and circumstance is all there, you get to remember that the characters you see in period pieces are humans too with the same thoughts and feelings as modern generations. This one took me a bit longer to get on board with because it’s so blatantly the story of Cinderella adapted to the Bridgerton world, but as always you get sucked into the romance and the glamour of it all and so ultimately I really enjoyed it.

This video popped up recently on the BBC Archives, featuring a short look back in the day over whether people would buy films if they could, rather than renting them. We know the answer to that now, my bulging Apple library is a testament to it, but back then it was DVDs, rentals, and Netflix in it’s original rental-by-mail format was still a few years in the future. It’s so interesting to hear the different viewpoints. Of course the rental guy is going to think that it’s a stupid idea and he’s not going to go out of business anytime soon. And of course the people gunning for the change are saying it’s the way of the future.