I had never heard of The Alarm but they popped up as a question on the Popmaster TV show (‘you are… ten guns out!’). That led to them being the album pick of the week and I wasn’t sure what to expect but I was so surprised. I LOVED it. It’s just great rock, for the 80s it sounds pretty modern, and it’s stacked full of good songs with great riffs. I could listen to this one over and over - always amazing to get a find like this from a band you’ve never heard of.

It’s weird to me that Benny Blanco is credited as a joint artist on this album, as they’ve been working together for ages and presumably it’s only that they are engaged that he has top billing. It’s not a bad thing though for people to get more credit, so I’m in two minds about it. As an album, this is pretty good, it’s very mellow and sounds like Billie Eilish in a lot of places, although there’s a track that Charli XCX would be jealous of in the middle there. Good listen, and even the talky bits weren’t too annoying.

I watched the TV adaptation of this relatively recently, and so it was fresh in my mind the story - Susan starting out in Greece, coming back to London to investigate the cold case of a murder in a hotel alongside the disappearance of a young woman. It’s more of what made the first book great - story within a story, meta references, great characterisation, and ultimately two good murder mysteries, one inside the other. I love Anthony Horowitz’s writing when he gets super detailed and twisty meta like this, so this was another success for me.

This movie popped up as a question on Only Connect - films that had coined terms now in common use. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that Bucket List only came into being in 2007, it feels like such an obvious and natural term to use but of course someone had to come up with it in the first place. As a film, this is a nice and gentle watch, seeing two crochety old guys getting up to mischief and learning lessons along the way, it’s lovely. Not perfect, it’s a slow start and you sort of feel like ‘well sure, if we all had the money to do that’ but it’s charming and you can’t fault Morgan Freeman’s endearing performance in this.

There were some elements of this that I thought might make it a good film - great cast, stylish and fun action sequences, but I just couldn’t deal with it. The first problem was bullets going round corners, you need a real good reason for that to be a thing, and I’m not sure they had one. Secondly, the film-making was so jittery and intense that the car chase sequence was completely nauseating so I don’t think I could have watched much further even if I’d wanted to.

We needed something to watch where you leave your brain at the door, and this popped up as a low cost option. The first movie was okay, cringe and annoying in places but mostly funny, but I have to admit to not having high hopes for the sequel. It was adorable though, very funny and Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand absolutely stealing the show. It’s still cringe and I actually think De Niro’s character is getting worse and less sympathetic, but still, a fun watch.

It took me a while to adjust to this film, partly because I hadn’t quite realised it was a slasher thriller (given the cover, that’s completely my bad) and also because it was billed as a version of And Then There Were None and it’s very very loose. But I did like the way it dipped about in time and backtracked and started pulling everything together. I’m not sure if the dissassociative identity thing is supposed to be a twist but it was pretty well signposted throughout. It was a very interesting thriller though and the end, oof, I didn’t see that coming.

Finished off the trilogy of novelisations with this final book that covers Marty and Doc’s exploits in 1885. It’s very true to the movie, with quotable lines throughout, and only a couple of additional insights. Of the three books it’s probably the one that adds the least, but it’s always fun to be in the Hill Valley universe and I’m glad to have read it.

A prequel to the Ryan series, this was a slightly weird story because we all knew where it was heading and that was nowhere good. It’s weird to know the answer of a mystery book before you really get into it, but equally that shone a light on aspects you may not notice otherwise. This time you’re more attuned to the clues and whether they are being noticed or missed, and that’s an interesting take. Poor Ryan really gets put through the ringer in this one and it’s actually a timely reminder of what he’s been through for when we return to the main series in the next book.

As with the last Danielle Steele book I read, it takes a while to adjust to the style here - arms length storytelling, describing what happens as time passes rather than getting stuck into specific scenes. But the characters are interesting and the story is great, and it feels very soap-like, I just want to know what happens next. This one was a pretty emotional story, too, about a young girl injured in an accident that has to learn how to find herself again, and not only that, realising that who she was before may not be the ideal version of herself as well. A good read.

This probably wasn’t one of my favourite Jack Reacher stories, although I do like that he was feeling the effects of the previous book. Turns out he’s not superhuman after all and can feel pain! But it felt like he was getting involved with something that really didn’t need to be undertaken. He was suspicious of being dropped off, suspicious of a doctor not really doing his job, and sure it all led to a big bad plot (a REALLY bad plot as it happens), it didn’t feel like enough to grab him. But still, it’s always fun spending time with Reacher, particularly as he gets more and more out of touch with the modern world - phones and the internet and the like.

Gina G has quite naturally appeared on our TOTP 90s rewatches, with that absolute classic Ooh Aah taking centre stage around Eurovision time. But I was quite surprised that she kept on coming back, I’d assumed she was a one hit wonder, but there she was time and again with another single. So I figured it was worth listening to the album, and guess what? I loved it! It’s 90s and it’s cheesy but it’s really a lot of fun. Some of it is super catchy, Fresh is living rent free in my head at the moment. One of the songs sounds a bit too similar to Ooh Aah, and then you get the repeat for the last track, but otherwise, I surprisingly really enjoyed it!

I really liked this album. Lady Gaga can be a bit hit and miss for me but this was a big hit. It’s back to good old pop, great to listen to and some real bops along the way. The last song with Bruno Mars, though, that’s not so good and a pretty grim way to end the album. But if you exclude that one, this is a great piece of work.

I really enjoyed this book, a super sweet and simple story about a Londoner struggling to keep up with the pace of city life, splitting from her boyfriend and finding her feet in an unusual place - a retirement village. It reads well and the characters are great, and although there’s the cliche hook of yet another dating app, there’s a lot more to it than that. It reads well and was a joy to return to and spend time with these characters. There’s plenty more that could be told as well! The only problem I had was not really feeling the title fit the story.

The second of the Saxon stories features our intrepid hero getting into more scrapes. I’m always surprised by how young our main character is, he gets up to all sorts. This time there are solo raids and a duel, and then some far bigger battles to attend to as well. A little bit of romance here and there (so sad at times!) but the heart of these stories is about torn allegiances, about not really knowing your identity and trying to find where you fit in the world - ideas that are as relevant now as they were back then in the dark ages.

I saw the TV adaptation of this a while ago, and thought it was an interesting concept so eventually got round to reading the original book. It’s good, great characterisation and the style of it - although it’s a book that dips back and forward in time, there are clear delineations and it serves towards the story rather than being an irritating distraction. Gradually you get to know these people, the layers of the onion are peeled back, and we get to know who they are, what happened, and where they go from here. A good read.

This was an interesting book detailing the perils and pitfalls of living in a dwelling not really designed to support human life, alongside the joy and calm that comes from being that much closer to nature. The housing crisis is dissected in detail here and it’s completely relatable and understandable how Davies ends up living in a shed… albeit not something I would have been able to do. Lots of bureaucratic and political problems are highlighted here but it all boils down to humans treating each other kindly and being able to have some basic human rights. Without that, what are we?

The previous two films were non-starters, so it was a relief to find this one entirely cosy and lovely and watchable. It’s pretty predictable, every plot ’twist’ was sign-posted about a year in advance, and it’s not in any way challenging. But oh, these ladies are absolute legends, excellent friends (tough love!) and living their best lives. It’s just nice to spend some time in their company.

I can’t really put my finger on why I didn’t like this movie, it just didn’t grab me at all. It wasn’t particularly funny, they weren’t particularly nice, and although there was some chemistry between the leads, the banter didn’t quite work for me at all. So I left it.

I liked the first Moana more than I expected to, although it was not without its problem. It popped up on TV one day when I was under the weather and it was quite a soothing re-watch. This sequel is not a patch on the first! So boring, and the couple of songs I heard weren’t great. Couldn’t get past the twenty minute rule at all.

Of course Anastacia was an absolute icon in the late 90s/early 00s, but I hadn’t realised just how many of these songs I recognised from back then. It’s great, boppy pop, sometimes angry, sometimes happy, definitely sing-a-longs. I’m Outta Love will always remind me of Peter Kay’s Car Share, but that’s even more of an honour to be included in that show. A fab album!

I love a couple of the Rizzle Kicks early singles (Skip to the Good Bit is a banger) but haven’t really thought about them too much since they’ve been gone - it was a pleasant surprise to see them back. The album was fine, good enough, certainly a bit more grown up than previous works. There were no real stand out songs on there, but considering what a risk it must be to come back together after so much time and water under the bridge, I think this is a great job.

I had never particularly heard of this movie before but was browsing for 90s night movies, and this came up in a list of those films that are released simultaneously with another of almost the same plot (Dante’s Peak in this case). So figured it was worth a watch and… it was a revelation! It’s proper disaster movie stuff, and there are some slightly implausible moments, but it’s also really good and draws to a moving conclusion where humanity comes together to fight for survival. Good stuff.

I’ve seen this film loads of times but not for many years, so it was weird to watch it again - somehow entirely familiar and yet also surprisingly new in lots of ways. If I saw it new now I wouldn’t care for it, I’m sure, but because it has that nostalgia factor, it was an enjoyable watch. It’s an interesting film and role for Phoebe Cates, as a grown up with an imaginary friend, but she does a great job - even though I can’t believe she’d stay with that hideous husband. And Rik Mayall is there doing what he does best, a bit of chaos and anarchy to brighten the day.

I’m amazed it’s taken so long to watch this film, given how stacked with people it is, and given how it clearly influenced elements of the Fast & Furious franchise. But finally got round to it and am glad of it - leave your IQ at the door, it’s just lots of people pick-pocketing super fast cars. It doesn’t all make sense but it’s a lot of fun. The only problem with it is that there are so many famous names in it that quite a few of them feel criminally under-used. But still, very entertaining.

Poirot investigates several interconnected mysteries that lead to the uncovering of a powerful group called the Big Four. I loved this, particularly the setup - Poirot about to leave, Hastings returning, things going drastically wrong almost instantly. There were a few mysteries to solve and the over-arching bigger plot which ends with the slightly unbelievable twin brother of Poirot. Surely Hastings wouldn’t actually fall for this? But a lot of fun to read and a satisfying ending.

This was an incredible read, so well written. Even though it’s an unfathomable period of time to me, you’re really drawn into this life of a runaway girl pretending to be a boy in order to survive. It’s good and interesting, and the characters are all brilliant, but I have to admit I found the first half better than the second - once she did team up with her errant brother, it felt like things were only ever going to go downhill. Still excellently written and, although a depressing ending, not entirely without hope.

Reacher finds himself seemingly involved in a random bus accident that leaves him stranded in a town, and he gets involved in protecting an elderly witness to a crime. Of course there’s much more to it than that, and I enjoyed the process of trying to figure out who’s doing what and why. Reacher’s occasional phone calls to the mysterious Major Turner are fascinating as well. The ending is a surprise, partly as we don’t know what’s happened to Reacher (although there are many more books in the series!) but also because it wasn’t as successful as he hoped and you just know he’s going to blame himself in future.

I’m loving the new series of Mythic Quest, which is in its second half now, and features all our favourite characters in new and hilarious circumstances. Rachel Meyee tying herself up in knots in front of Congress in last week’s episode? Perfection. And actually, Rachel taking centre stage in that episode reminded me of this article from last year that has stuck with me ever since I read it. It talks of the decision to show Rachel’s grey hair on screen in all its glory, alongside the character of Poppy showing silvery strands in her hair too. It’s excellent, obviously, for a bit of grey haired representation, particularly as Ashly Burch looks amazing.

When it says it’s just mowing, it really is. You’re a little cartoon person sitting on a little cartoon lawnmower, and you swipe around the screen to make it go in the direction you want. When faced with a neighbourhood of overgrown gardens, your challenge is to mow them and move on. Mow and move on. That’s it! So simple and even though it sounds boring, it’s surprisingly satisfying!

I’m not sure if this game would have particularly jumped out at me as a must-play but it was released on the Mac in February and I want to support such endeavours, so gave it a go. I didn’t know anything about it going in and thought it was going to be a bit more hardcore than it initially was - the cover makes it look quite aggressive, but maybe I just didn’t get that far.

This is a really good album, I was surprised how many of the songs I actually knew - the obvious ones such as Filthy/Gorgeous and Take Your Mama, but there are a handful of others that were singles in the early 2000s so I did know them very well. It’s a great album throughout though, eclectic and adventurous but with good groundings in pop to keep you bopping away. Excellent work.

It’s quite surprising to me that Inhaler are on their third album already, it feels like only two minutes since the fantastic debut. The second one was medium good and I think this is more of the same - totally listenable guitar band good stuff but not entirely memorable, and not one that’s going to live with me for a long time. It is nice to hear this kind of music though, there are so few new bands of this kind emerging, good to give them a bit of support!

I watched the TV adaptation of this book first, without knowing anything about it, and quite enjoyed it. But I remember reading a review that was quite annoyed the show was very different to the original - and how right they were! In the book, our protagonist is unashamedly a serial killer, it doesn’t just happen by accident, she goes searching for trouble and quite often finds it. It reads so well, even though this is a killer, you almost relate, can almost understand the point of view. It’s really good and I can’t wait to read the sequel.

More adventures with the cute bumbling bear - this time Paddington tries his hand at driving tests and life drawing, causes chaos at a stately home and a pantomime and even manages to lock Mr Curry in a sauna. I quite enjoyed the first story about the hammock, mostly because it really showed what a terrible neighbour Curry is, and also because hammocks are terrible pieces of furniture, and I could picture every scrape Paddington got into trying to navigate the thing. Fun!

The first two Bridget Jones movies have been a bit meh for me, but it’s something of a cultural icon and so important to keep up with the series, particularly as a new final chapter is coming out soon. This film was a revelation. By all accounts, it shouldn’t have appealed, particularly with a focus on pregnancy and building a family, but ooh it was funny.

I sort of thought this book was not going to be for me, a period of history I don’t know very much about and can be kinda dull in places. It just brings images of swords and mud and women being ill-used, so yea. But of course I forgot how engaging Bernard Cornwell’s writing can be. Even though this is a distant age, with incomprehensible place names and hints of language we don’t really use anymore, it’s completely accessible and an interesting story. Now I’m going to have to read more in this series!

This book in the Pargeter series was a bit different from the ones before, with our intrepid heroine actually leaning in and learning more about what her late husband did - getting a bit too involved, to the point that she apologises to the memory of him afterwards. But it was fun and interesting as a reader to see her open up a bit to this seedy underworld, where previously we have only had hints and tips about what has gone on. It’s still a good deed, a moral victory, being undertaken here, but it involves underhanded methods and that’s always more fun, especially with this great cast of characters!

I was looking for a reliable Jason Statham action flick - we all know he only really does one character and sometimes that’s exactly what you need. This probably would have been that character, but honestly it was so dull, I just couldn’t get through it. The first bit with the swimming pool kill was interesting, and I thought it was going somewhere with Harry’s death but oof, nope.

There are definitely daffodils around, but an early morning walk involved crunching on the frozen grass and spotting this puddle of ice under a bleak winter sun. Still totally worth it.

I don’t know why but somewhere along the line I assumed I didn’t like Chappell Roan’s music. I know the recent song that slows down at the end annoys me, but she’s been around a while so it’s not just that. I put off listening to this album for so long, that it has ended up being a ‘classic’ choice rather than a new one, and my hand was forced. But I loved it! Such a great selection of songs, poppy and trashy and bombastic, and really enjoyable. I can live without the chorus to HOT TO GO, spelling songs aren’t my favourite, but Pink Pony Club is fab and the rest of the album lives up to it and then some.

I’ve enjoyed both previous albums from Sam, although the last one I did think was starting to veer a bit too angry. Thankfully that vibe is pretty much gone from this third outing, and it’s some really good songs. I don’t know that they’re going to be all that memorable outside of listening to the album, but it’s a pleasurable experience to listen - with the exception of the last song, maybe. Album went one song too long, but otherwise, great work.

I’ve watched the TV adaptation of this, and after absolutely loving the Hawthorne series by Horowitz, I figured it was worth a go. It’s good! It’s a bit different to the TV show in that it’s in distinct parts - pretty much all the book within a book first, and then the investigation afterwards, rather than dipping back and forth throughout. I liked that, it made it easier to understand and follow, and even though I knew the answer to the mystery, it was still excellent to follow the process.

After the slight disappointment of the last Reacher read, I moved on to the next one and enjoyed it much better. Although, it has to be said that at this point in the series, we have reached peack boilerplate Reacher adventure. There’s a formula and we’re sticking to it. Reacher inadvertently gets involved in a plot, he starts investigating and keeps going even though both good and bad sides don’t want him to, he meets a woman usually in law enforcement and they sleep together with no commitments necessary, and then in the end Reacher singlehandedly takes down the bad guys and saves the day. We know what we’re getting and this one, despite the quite unbelievable action sequences around the subways, was a good entry in the series.

I think knowing a bit of the background to this book is helpful as it turns out le Carre was annoyed that his previous book, which was intended to be a satire poking fun at the spy industry, was actually really well received and the main character considered something of a hero. So he had to double down in this one and really made the spies look incompetent and out of touch. It was interesting to see how they went about their business whilst clinging on to their previous victories and not wanting to move with the times. George Smiley was there but was hardly a main character, just dipping in and out to move things along occasionally. A fascinating read knowing the background, I’m not sure how I would have felt about it not knowing that in advance.

Good little thriller this one, starting off with a woman trying to escape an unhappy household and very quickly escalating into a mystery of who did what and when, and what on earth happened. It used flashbacks well, filling in the gaps of the story neatly, and when the threads came together at the end I was surprised, I hadn’t seen it coming! And the final piece at the end was a sting in the tail that I also wasn’t expected but actually seemed quite fitting. A good read, well written and I powered through it very quickly.

I don’t usually review books I’ve not finished, because most of the time it’s just that the book is good but not for me, and that’s not the author’s fault. I wanted to log this one though, just because I enjoyed the first book so much and made mention of wanting to read the rest of the series. I tried, but this book felt so different. There was barely any reference to the time travel aspects, other than a couple of mentions of ‘what would they call this medical thing back then’. And most of the time was spent with Claire and Jamie catching up on their days whilst lying in bed. It ended up being a bit dull. So just to log that I won’t be reading the rest of the series after all, but the good news is it’s super successful anyway and won’t miss me!

Another adventure for the reluctant hero Jack Reacher, and if I’m honest, I didn’t enjoy this one as much as some of the previous ones. I liked the premise at the start, these two towns called Hope and Despair and one of them is much friendlier than the other. Reacher getting kicked out of a cafe isn’t a new phenomenon, but then this went on to him investigating just out of nosiness rather than any particular thing happening, and it didn’t quite work for me. Bits of it were good, but ultimately glad to move on from this one.

A recent interview with Tim Rice has brought up the idea of captioning musicals for audiences to gain a better understanding, using surtitles (not a word I had come across before) as newer generations are so used to subtitling their content anyway. It’s very frustrating at times, especially if you’re the words man… Time and time again, the lyrics couldn’t be heard when it was choral. If you’ve got great singers like Tommy Körberg or Elaine Paige singing the songs solo, you do hear the words, but the choral stuff can often be quite important and you just don’t hear it.

Okay, I’ve sat with this for two weeks and I can’t take it any more. I, like many people, trawl through the Superbowl adverts looking at who has sold out this year, and I was astounded to see Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal resurrecting their When Harry Met Sally characters to sell mayonnaise. It’s awful. I wouldn’t have minded if it had just been that once, but I’ve seen it whilst watching other programmes, when they cut to adverts it pops up. Eugh.