I just don’t have strong feelings about this album in either direction. It was good and while I was listening to it, I was happy, but the minute I turned it off it was instantly forgettable. Blossoms do what they do well, but they’ve not really reached the heady heights of Charlemagne. Still, nothing specific to complain about!

I love these live musical events, and am glad to have the opportunity to see them and review them here… but I have to admit this one wasn’t a favourite. As I said above, I have mixed feelings about Annie the musical anyway - it’s a bit dreary but some of the songs are real classics. The good stuff in here was great - Taraji as Miss Hannigan was exceptional, the pipes on our new young Annie amazed, and it flowed really well. But the camerawork was wonky, Nicole Scherzinger seemed out of place and how could anyone look at anything other than Warbucks’ bald head? Medium good but worth a watch anyway.

I found this book completely engaging, it’s so well written and all the characters are really well drawn. Even though some of the situations are illegal, there’s no black and white, no good and evil, and quite literally there are two sides to every story. It raises such interesting questions about identity and family, and what being married really means. So interesting once the two girls meet and one knows and one doesn’t… keeping secrets without actually lying. So much to unpick, it’s really good.

Le Carre books vex me because they are so good, I know they’re good, they’re really well written and engaging but for whatever reason I just find them very hard to follow. It’s all the double crossing and back and forth and who’s side are they on anyway. But somehow I still love it. This one was great, because you knew (or thought you knew) that what was happening wasn’t real as it went along… but then there was a whole other layer under that. And the end, wow, it all happened so quickly and left me reeling a bit!

I didn’t fully enjoy the two perspectives this story was told from, there were so many secretaries and characters that whenever we switched to Sir Eustace, it took me a while to get back into it again. But underneath, it’s a good little story. I find it hard to believe Ms Beddingfield would just jump on a boat like that with the last of her savings, but we’re lucky she did because we get quite the adventure. I liked it when odd little moments popped up, collecting the animals and the size of the giraffe, and then they played a greater part later on. A good story, well told of course!

Earlier in the year, I wrote about the first cardigan I had knitted. I’m very proud of it and still wear it, but do have to admit it doesn’t fit at all well and the colour continues to annoy me. I knew as soon as I’d finished the first one that I wanted to knit it again and do better, and that’s exactly what I’ve done. I’ve had the pieces of this finished for a while but it’s taken me far too long to get round to sewing it all up together - finally have achieved it and wahey, cardigan take two!

At the very start of the show, Claudia introduced the contestants about to come out, telling the live audience that they were bound to be super nervous and needed big cheers as they descended the stairs. Well, when they came out, not a single one of them looked nervous! They were all dancing and jigging about and looked like they were having a great time. Long may it continue!

It still surprises me when I realise I’ve got however far in this album adventure and there are big artists that I haven’t covered. The Big O is one of those, so quickly had to rectify the situation. It’s a great album, how could it not be with that amazing voice? I was surprised to hear Bye Bye Love, as I’ve only just heard The Everly Brothers version a couple of weeks ago. But they’re quite different. Overall a great listen, especially for a debut.

I quite liked the last Snow Patrol album except for that one song that continues to haunt me about not having any more love. This album, thankfully, had no haunting songs like that on it and was actually a little more upbeat. It was nice to listen to, some good songs, that great voice, and very pleasant. But the flip side is, none of it is going to be memorable or live with me in the same way. Is that good or bad? I don’t know!

This is 100% the wrong time of year to be sharing this link, but it’s something to bookmark for when the weather clears up again. We’re heading into autumn and the garden is starting to wind down a little… I mean, I can’t say it ever really got going for me this year but let’s go with it.

It’s been a while since I last did a roundup of TV I have watched recently, partly that’s because a lot of sporting events got in the way of my series watching, and partly it’s because there haven’t been that many things that have really, truly, grabbed me. If it’s good enough for a separate post, I’ll do that, but here are those that don’t quite spark more than a paragraph.

I’ve had this book in my to read list for a while and I’m not sure why it suddenly jumped out at me but I’m glad I finally got to it. The book tells of a journey from the New York publishing world, diving headfirst into Silicon Valley startup culture and all that it entails. It’s really well written and engaging, particularly as having obfuscate names and places can be annoying but is done very well here - you generally do know which company is being talked about at any one time.

I really enjoyed Michael Palin’s book about Great Uncle Harry, piecing together the history of a family member where not too much is known about him. I wasn’t sure a book about a ship would capture my attention just as much, but I should have trusted to Palin’s natural storytelling ability - this was great. We hear about the arctic explorer’s first successful adventure and then the next not-so-good journey, which ended with the ship vanishing completely… only to be found in 2014. I won’t say anything else for fear of spoiling it, but just to add that the way Palin ties things in to his own adventures and modern researches really adds to the story and makes it a fascinating read.

A month ago, I was feeling quite grumpy about Strictly Come Dancing. There was all the bad news, and the new contestants weren’t hugely grabbing me, and whatever, maybe I could just give it a miss this year. Guess how long it was into the launch show before I was giddy and clapping and bouncing around the room? About ten minutes, if I’m being modest, five minutes if I’m being truthful. How can you hate on the Vengabus and the 90s tunes that followed?

Delta Goodrem popped up on the Radio 2 in the Park schedules and reminded me that I knew several of her songs. So headed straight for the album and yes, I did know three of the songs - the main singles - but I didn’t know any of the rest. It’s all good though, nice pop piano music from a very strong vocalist. Watching the set this year made me feel like she grew into her personality and confidence a lot more, but this debut album is a great place to start.

Sabrina Carpenter is a bit of a mystery to me - it baffles me that she is on her sixth album but has somehow absolutely burst into the consciousness of music fans. She’s not just popular, there are so many of these tracks in the top charts, it’s very impressive! And I liked the album, it reminded me of Olivia Rodrigo but with far less angst so you can enjoy it a bit more. Just some really good pop with great vocals and a nice mix of genres.

It took me a while to get into this but about halfway through, I suddenly realised I didn’t want to stop reading and desperately wanted to know how it was all going to resolve. The time period was so atmospheric, that pre-war period where the threat is imminent, but for all these people, caught up in their own world on the ship, it’s somewhat remote. It’s a time of morals and class and etiquette and so fascinating to watch those pushing up against them.

Hmm, I’m a big John Grisham fan but I’m not sure this one hit the mark for me. For a start, everyone involved was kind of dubious so it was hard to know who to root for. A sexual assault being at the heart of the issue was a problem - it was obviously serious enough for the protagonist to not want it going public, but at the same time we were supposed to be hoping he got away with it all. At the same time, obviously don’t want corporate espionage to go unnoticed as well. It was well written and easy to devour but ultimately I was just left unmoved by all the characters.

Obviously, I had to read this, coming from one of the founders of Mischief Theatre, but as I’ve said many times, football isn’t my favourite sport - all recent evidence and excessive blogging to the contrary. This is different though, yes, it’s a bit about football, but what it’s really about is throwing yourself into a project that is all about passion regardless of results. It’s brilliant, honest and open and funny - right from the start, when everyone bought lots of kit and then the grant came through that could only be used on kit. It’s just a really fun, albeit stressful, ride and therefore a highly recommended read.

I know it doesn’t seem like it because I’ve spent quite a lot of time talking about Wrexham AFC, but I’m not a big football fan. It’s not a sport that particularly grabs me and although I can admire the set pieces that deliver incredible goals, they are so few and far between that it’s not always an entertaining ninety minutes for me.

I was a bit dubious about this - it’s always hard going into a Star Wars piece where you don’t know any of the characters yet (although Yoda gets a couple of mentions!) but I should have trusted the process, you’re quite quickly in the zone and cheering on the various Jedi. I like how this starts, with a collision in hyperspace that causes massive chaos and destruction and more importantly, some big questions around why it happened. That’s the problem with using a science that you don’t fully understand! And then the deeper nefarious plot is gradually revealed, and it seems to be setting some seeds for further stories in this new Star Wars timeline. A very enjoyable read.

Matt Baker is a beloved household name at this point, I knew him from Blue Peter and very much enjoyed his commentary on the gymnastics. I’ve not really been much of a One Show watcher but you can’t avoid seeing him around and about if you ever scroll through the BBC channels. This book is a memoir of sorts, but structured around a year on the farm that he loves so much - it dives back into history and his career up to now and how that informs or has been informed by his love of nature. It’s a good read and made me curious about the farm programme he’s made for Channel 4, it may be worth a watch!

I’ve not seen this musical before but I knew a lot of the songs going into it, they are musical classics after all. It was an interesting watch, although I thought ultimately it was quite light on plot. But it’s fun to be behind the scenes of the theatre, and so much brilliant tap dancing it was a joy to behold. Bonnie Langford is fab, and I was very impressed with Clare Halse. Not one I’d particularly seek out again but I’m glad to have ticked it off the musicals list.

This is such a great album, super short and sweet but full of great harmonies and old school pop rock songs. I knew more of them than I was expecting, and it’s just a fun album to bop along to. Bye Bye Love is the standout track, obviously, but Wake Up Little Susie tells a fun story (hopefully she’s not that little!) and I really got into Rip It Up, especially on the second listen.

I loved the first album by Amy Shark, so was expecting great things from this second release. It’s good, not quite living up to the heights of the first, but a good follow up. It’s similar in vibe and format to the first, and feels a bit like more of the same, which is no bad thing when the same was so good to start with. I would say the only disappointment is there are no standout songs, but it’s going to make some excellent easy listening in future.

This is such a 90s action thriller, fun and very, very watchable but oh man, it is NOT a good film. It’s typical Arnie, lots of muscles and fight scenes, although he only did one pun which was a bit disappointing. The technology parts of it were so obviously nonsense - having a fight with a plane in mid-air, the bizarre new weapons, and not-technology-but-still-weird fight with alligators. So much to not recommend it, but it was somehow still a lot of fun to watch.

I’m really growing to love Mrs Pargeter more and more with every book that flies by. This one was great, her history with her husband getting something of a spotlight shone on it, and a question mark over the loyalty of his old friends and associates - who up to now have been nothing but obliging. I love that she goes to a health spa but is not at all interested in changing anything about herself, and spends her time investigating the mystery instead. Meanwhile, her friend is going crazy trying to lose weight and the juxtaposition of the two is a lot of fun. A good mystery, as well, and a fascinating twisting journey to the conclusion.

The latest in the DCI Ryan books and there were two distinct parts to this - one was the big bad crime, a slightly terrifying terrorist attack on those famous northern bridges. That was edge-of-your-seat stuff at times, and I quite enjoyed it. And then there was the death of the big bad boss, and that was hugely intriguing, as it was obvious that the one saying they did it wasn’t the actual culprit. So, overall, I really liked this book, and keen to move on to the next one!

I haven’t written about anything I’ve knitted for several months but I’ve still been working on various things in the background. The main problem is that I haven’t managed to actually finish a project in ages. Step forward the Mastadon hashtag #finishorfrogalong in which people own up to their own stash of unfinished projects and encourage each other to do the same. The idea being that you either finish it or you ditch it because that’s the only way to move forward!

I really loved the film of this but it’s taken me a while to get round to reading the book - I’m not sure it quite lived up to my enjoyment of the movie version, but it was still great. I listened to the audiobook, read by Russell Tovey, who I love, and that really helped. I guess sometimes the character is just a bit annoying, but I don’t know why I’m so judgemental of him when there are plenty of annoying protagonists in my reading history! Anyway, what I do like about it is there’s a lot of soul-searching along the way but ultimately, the ending isn’t riding off into the sunset happy, just a grown up, this is going to work kind of happy instead.

Every now and again, I read a book about people climbing Mount Everest - the last one quite recently. There are always mixed emotions reading these stories because it’s incredible, what people can do and the sheer adventure of it. There’s such a huge history from the early treks to try and reach the top to the current era where the volume of expeditions means Everest is at risk of being over-touristed.

Last year (in fact so long ago that I’d forgotten I’d ordered this and it was a surprise present in the post), I bought The Researcher’s First Murder by John Finnemore. This was one of those purchases that was really to support the creator more than for my pleasure, because a) I love JF and b) this thing is far too smart for me, but wahey, it has arrived and it’s beautiful!

I had previously gone to see this musical when it was in the theatre, but I left at the interval. The first half hadn’t massively grabbed me but it was more about me - I was not in the right headspace to watch what happened to these doomed characters. We know how this story ends and it’s not a happy history. So I was quite glad to see this recording of the live show, so I could watch the second half in the safety of my own space.

This is a hard one to review and score really, because the good stuff is great but it’s sort of filtered through a concept album lens with skits and stuff and that side of it just wasn’t my cup of tea. It is a bit weird that this is Wyclef’s first solo album but effectively has all the Fugees on there anyway. Lauryn Hill pops up a good few times! But even though I found it a bit hard to listen to the whole thing, there’s some real genius in there that I love, so bring on the next Wyclef.

Loved this! Was not expecting it at all, since when did Post Malone do country music?? I remember having mixed feelings over his previous work and changing my mind across the years, but I would never have predicted this album and certainly not that it would be so brilliant. Great tunes, incredible guest stars all the way through, and just a joy to listen to. Put it on again!

Another good Lincoln Rhyme thriller! I really thought that at this point it would be boring, or formulaic - certainly there have been books in the series that have followed similar paths to previous ones. But this one was intriguing, the plot easy enough to follow but fiendish to unravel, and of course it’s always fun when there’s a legitimate nemesis to deal with. I thought it was interesting how much Ron Pulaski’s character was developed in this book, he really might be gearing up to take over from Rhyme when he retires! Very entertaining.

I love this recent article on the BBC about a guy called Rob Johnson who has been getting niche and forgotten songs put on the streaming services - just by asking them to upload them! No matter how many tracks a streaming service claims to have, there’s always going to be something missing, and this is all about a mission to try and right that wrong. Most of the time it’s not a malicious or contractual act on the record companies part, they’ve just got a lot going on and it’s easy to miss something along the way.

I enjoyed the previous two Mrs Pargeter books I read, so was looking forward to diving into this one and it didn’t disappoint. This time Mrs P is on holiday and there’s a huge mystery to unravel… and it was really fascinating to be along for the ride. In this book, Pargeter breaks the law for the first time which was a nice juxtaposition to the ongoing tidbits we get to hear about her deceased husband and what he got up to in his life. Anyway, humour is littered throughout, as you’d expect with Simon Brett, and it’s just a nice cosy read.

I like a bit of Batman as much as the next person, but there’s no arguing the fact that the character did go through a bit of over-exposure a few years ago. With the huge Christopher Nolan trilogy, and then endless news about who was going to play the character next, it felt like you couldn’t blink without seeing those bat ears sticking up somewhere. So I wasn’t looking for another Batman vehicle, but the new animated series Batman: Caped Crusader on Prime was surprisingly good.

From the off, you have to suspend your disbelief - this is one of those unfortunate locations in the world where a higher than average number of murders take place. We’re on to our second in this hotel already and I believe there’s more to come in this series. However, it’s so good to be back in the world of Molly the Maid, and how she has evolved from the first book. This time, she’s guiding others and getting involved in ways she would never have before. We also get a good insight into things that happened in Molly’s childhood which also inform how she is now, more layers peeling off this character. Really good!

I probably don’t make the most of my Apple News subscription, but I do enjoy the magazines that are included as part of the price. The TV guides alone are worth the price, but there is a lot of choice on there - history, gardening, interior design, cars, sports, gossip, fashion, you name it, it’s in there. And just recently, some new knitting magazines have been added which is a great update for me!

It’s difficult to review a memoir like this that didn’t really work for me - it’s personal to the author and in this case, clearly took some bravery to piece together. But it felt very scatty and quite surface level. There are some huge topics included, and some pretty difficult events to hear about, but there’s not a lot about the effect of them or anything beyond the facts of what happened. The chapters jump around in time too, which isn’t always a negative thing but only help to make this quite difficult to follow and get invested in. The title, however, is genius and worth an extra point just for that.

The last few Netflix originals we’ve watched have not been good, so expectations were low going into this one. It was surprisingly good - not an original story, clearly, but Marky Mark and Halle Berry pull it off quite well. They have good chemistry having been friends in real life for a long, long time, and that shines off the screen. The twists were good, not too predictable, but I have to admit I didn’t really follow the underlying plot - the suitcases seemed to be really important is all I could tell. But it was entertaining and the stunts were good.

The trailer for this didn’t look too bad, but I just couldn’t deal with the full length thing. It was silly, the premise didn’t make sense and wasn’t explained, it felt like Awkwafina was desperately trying to make it work but the desperation was clear. And she and John Cena felt like they were in different movies. We didn’t even get to Simu Liu being in it (assuming he’s more than just a billboard) so that tells you everything you need to know!

I have massively underestimated ONJ’s music career - I basically knew Physical, and Grease, and that was it. But she has a vast number of albums and is hugely successful. So… let’s dive in! If I’m being honest, I wasn’t that bothered by the songs in this album. It started off quite slowly, the second half was better, although the final song about dolphins was a bit weird. But throughout it all, Olivia’s vocals are just perfect and there’s definitely something about her voice that just makes you want to listen to more.

I loved this. It was hard to know what to expect from The Script, after the sad and unexpected death of Mark Sheehan but the band has continued on in fine form. I read somewhere that Danny had talked of the album as being deliberately uncomplicated, aimed at being some easy tunes you can belt out at the live shows, and that’s exactly what it is. Good tunes from start to finish, super easy and fun to listen to - the only downside is that it’s so short, over before you know it!

Towards the end of this film, I said ‘I don’t want it to be over,’ which I don’t think I’ve said about any film before and shows how much I loved it. It did get off to a slow start, but quite quickly ramped up with a failed heist and all the ramifications of that. The joy of the thing is obviously the banter between Matt Damon and Casey Affleck, and the latter’s character is adorable at every turn, with Damon taking the turn as grumpy old man. It’s a fun watch and I already want to watch it again.

This week I finally got around to watching Ripley on Netflix, the recent adaptation of The Talented Mr Ripley written by Patricia Highsmith. I didn’t know a lot about the story, I’ve not seen the 90s film starring Matt Damon and not read the book even though it is in my digital library waiting to be opened. So I went into this with no expectations other than the love I’m assuming everyone has for Andrew Scott.

With the joy of the Olympics still fresh in our minds, former sprinter and gold medal winner Michael Johnson has announced a new athletics competition that he’s launching to keep the momentum of the sport going through the four year gaps between Olympic sessions. He’s calling it the Grand Slam Track, and the initial format imitates that of the tennis tours - with four big meets during the year to see the best face off against each other.