It seems to be something of a tradition for me to post a picture of emerging tree blossoms as the spring starts to unfold. 2021 - Tonight, on a very special Blossom 2018 - The golden hour

Loved this so much. Kate Bush is so talented, I can’t believe this was her debut album. This did have the problem I talk about a lot where classic songs are just so beloved that the rest of the album can’t live up to it - but in this case, the rest of the album was still absolutely brilliant, even with that. I maybe tailed off a bit of enthusiasm for the last two tracks but otherwise this is legendary.

I don’t know John Squire, so I was only really interested in one half of this partnership, and this was exactly what I expected it to be - reliving the glory days of the 90s with guitar music and whining vocals. It’s enjoyable because that kind of music is good, but there’s really nothing at all memorable about it. Worth a listen but probably not going on the repeat list.

I don’t remember a lot about the first film, other than enjoying it more than I’d exepcted. As part of 90s night, I was surprised to realise this sequel snuck into the chosen decade so we gave it a go. It’s more of the same surreal comedy as you’d expect, and although hit and miss throughout, there were many laugh out loud moments. And I hadn’t realised just how closely you need to watch, even paintings in the background could be a gag, or background actors doing something that you might otherwise miss. Good, funny, restores a bit of faith in films, even if nowhere near perfect.

Going into this, I was expecting the absolute worst of bawdy comedies so actually I was pleasantly surprised that this was watchable and had a few funny moments. But don’t get me wrong, it’s not a good movie at all. There’s a nugget of a good premise under there but of course it’s swallowed up in cheap gags, painful stereotypes and the inevitable laxative-related pranks. Still, I can see why Ryan Reynolds has gone on to bigger and better things, you can almost see little Deadpool seeds starting to be planted. Terrible but ticked off the list now.

It’s been well documented on this site that I’m not a huge poetry lover but I do like something accessible such as this novel - a story in the form of a diary, where the protagonist intends to write a poem a day but gets distracted many times along the way by the trials and tribulations of life. It’s witty and full of wordplay, and reminded me of a grown up Adrian Mole at times. Very good.

This is a nice gentle romance where two people going through some difficult times find comfort in each other - from a distance to start with, and then over a hedge. There are miscommunications and misunderstandings along the way, and if I’m honest some of it felt a bit contrived and over-dramatic, but equally, it was still compelling to find out if they would break the impasse and realise they were right for each other all along.

I recently finished watching the new streaming show The Artful Dodger on Disney+, a show that takes that fabled character from Oliver Twist and shows what he may have gotten up to in later years. We meet Dodger, going by his real name Jack Dawkins, in Australia setting up a new life for himself as a successful surgeon but his rogueish tendancies keep coming back to the fore.

I love, love, loved this album. I’m a big Erasure fan anyway, although not everything they do hits exactly the right spot. This album, though, is basically perfect. Some real bangers on there, particularly tracks 4 to 6, but all of it is great and makes you want to sing along, belting out the words I Love to Hate Youuuuuuu.

This was a pretty good pop album, I quite like that it’s more dancy than other pop records and it’s very listenable. On My Love stands out as the best track on the album, although that may be because it just reminds me of Strictly when Zara was doing the rounds promoting it. Solid album but potentially not one that will live long in the memory.

Recently spotted that there was a remake of this and as the original was made in the 90s, it fitted perfectly into one of our 90s nights. I didn’t know anything about it, and was pleasantly surprised. Overall, I enjoyed the film and it was an entertaining couple of hours, but if I drill down into it, there’s a lot I didn’t really like.

Loved this! It was so different to what I was expecting - I thought it would be a mildly amusing comedy about a sporting underdog overcoming the odds, and there was that but it was also so much more. It was completely oddball from start to finish but also absolutely adorable and a great way to learn a bit more about American Samoa. A sporting story I had no idea about and definitely want to know more about Jaiyah and her journey. Plus you can’t help but love ‘Who’s on the Plane?’, I think we could have a film length version of that next.

I saw Alan Davies on the Channel 4 program with Bill Bailey, where they walk around and open up a bit about themselves and Alan mentioned that joining a writing group had allowed him to go on to write a book about his childhood and being abused by his father - I suddenly remembered I owned this book! So I read it and boy is it a moving and difficult read but so brave and honest and like holding someone’s hand as they discover things about themselves and their past and about how hard it is to unravel memories. A must read.

The third book in the Ryan series, and I’ll be honest that this one didn’t grab me quite as much as the other two, but was still a very good read. This time Ryan is on the outskirts more than ever and the investigation, such as it is, is left to other members of the team. There’s quite a lot of introspection and injury throughout this one but it does feel like we’ve cracked open the case significantly so I’m curious what will happen in the next book.

I loved this. It took me a minute to get into it, but you’re soon grabbed by the premise and the countdown of days and the small revelations as and when they come. You know the sad times are coming but they’re still brutal when they happen but thankfully there are lighter moments too that keep you reading to what is ultimately a pretty happy ending. A quick read, not easy but gentle, definitely worth a look.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but actually I really enjoyed it. It’s one of those where there’s no huge drama, you just follow some teens living their life and having their own angst until a satisfactory if not entirely happy ending. It was good, the backdrop of the theme park made for some great shots, and there was plenty of dark humour to be enjoyed. I thought Kristen Wiig was underused, it was a joy when she showed up each time. Could watch this over and again.

Spring days offset by flooding rain. Totally normal.

I only recognised one song off this album and if I’m being perfectly honest, the rest of it didn’t quite gel for me. It feels like the band weren’t really sure what kind of album they were going for and dipped into a new genre each track completely at random. Maybe roll a dice and it came up country, roll a dice and it came up baroque? Who knows? Listenable but not one I’d seek out again.

I knew that this was an album inspired by J-Lo’s rekindled romance with Ben Affleck but oof, that’s pretty much all it is. The songs are okay, although there are no absolute bangers on there, but it’s all just very much in love and over-sharing just a bit too much. It’s not as bad as some of the saccharine loved up albums that I’ve listened to in the past, but it’s not far off.

I saw this on my bookshelf as I was browsing through and realised I probably wouldn’t need to read it as have just watched the TV adaptation on Netflix. But once I started, for some reason, I couldn’t stop, even though the book and the series follow very closely together. Some names, locations, it being set in the UK have changed but otherwise it was a very faithful adaptation that I have now read as well!

This film was so high up on many of the ‘best of 90s’ lists I’ve been looking at to try and keep our 90s evenings going. I thought I must have been missing out on something but now, having watched it, I guess I’m just missing something. It wasn’t good? It wasn’t funny, except in a couple of rare places. The good thing about it is following a bunch of flawed people, just trying to navigate their way. But it felt drawn out and dull, and the switches of narrator jarring rather than effective.

I loved this, what a great rom-com! Two gorgeous people fussing and fighting and gallavanting around Australia gradually falling in love, it’s great. Funny in all the right places, and with nudity and crude jokes that don’t feel grubby, plus I love the fact that nothing is thrown away. The coffee has an impact a few times, the cookie theft comes back in a surprisingly emotional way, it’s all there for a reason. All the Shakespeare stuff went over my head, but doesn’t matter, I loved it.

I listened to the audiobook of this and although the subject matter wasn’t really of huge interest to me, the way it was read and the way the story unfolded and then totally twisted back on itself made me want to keep listening. It was a tense and moody story, not so much thriller but the kind the gets under your skin until you reach the satisfactory ending.

Ah lovely Alicia Keys, I was reminded that I had her autobiography when she popped up on the Superbowl Half Time show, and I quickly read through it. It’s exactly what you would expect from Alicia, down to earth and with that New York grittiness that you’d expect but also old soul romance and a bit of an earth mother vibe as well. It’s so easy to forget how young she was when that first album came out and reading everything that went on behind the scenes before and after is so enlightening. A great read.

I listened to the audiobook of this and I’m so glad I did because the narrator had the best accent that really brought the story to life. It’s a great tale, too, one that is empowering but real, inspiring but totally human. A journey of figuring out that as a woman, you should apologise less and take up more space - or at least the same amount of space as other people who don’t apologise all the time. A great, real story, with a happy ending. Loved it.

Donna Summer is a stone cold legend and there’s no debate about that, but I have to be honest and say a 16 minute track is too much. I love to love you too, Donna, but not that much. Still, it’s inarguably great dance music and goes down very well.

Had to listen to this as Usher is everywhere right now for doing the Superbowl Half Time Show. From what I’ve seen, the show went pretty well but if I’m honest, the album didn’t feel particularly special. It’s good music, exactly what you’d expect from Usher, and there are some good guest vocalists on there, but I don’t know that it’s moving the needle at all. A good listen but not groundbreaking.

I watched and enjoyed the film adaptation of this story a long while back but hadn’t got around to reading the source material. I’m aware quite a lot of the claims in this ’true story’ have been debunked but if you go in with that knowledge and read it as a semi-fictional account, then it still really works. It’s quite the adventure and told well, although I have to admit by the second half I was a bit over hearing all the numerical details of how to beat the cheque system. But a good read, anyway.

I, like many people, have been waiting for this to be available on streaming for SO LONG and so it was super exciting for it finally to be released on Netflix this week. I remembered loving it but couldn’t remember much of the story or even if it was actually any good. Turns out, it isn’t the best but it’s very watchable and the nostalgia factor is high.

During our second 90s evening (it’s becoming a thing!) I noticed something during the Gladiators episode that was so smoothly done, it hadn’t even registered in my mind. The men’s and women’s events were swapped in order throughout the show and for each episode. For example, who was introduced first, sometimes the men, sometimes the women. Who took to the Eliminator first at the end of the episode? This time it was the men, the other time it was the women.

Just a word of appreciation for the third series of The Morning Show, which I recently finished watching - a little bit later than it’s first release, but better late than never. There’s something about this show that is just endlessly fascinating, even though most of the people in it have a bit of a screw loose and aren’t at all relatable. Sometimes even within an episode, I wonder why I’m watching it, but when the series was over, I missed it. There was a gap in my day that I had previously filled with TV show execs battling it out for supremacy within their own network and with other companies.

I was intrigued by the first book in this series so interested to read another, and this one was just as interesting. I can’t quite put my finger on what’s so good about these, but it’s inarguable. It’s sort of standard, a police procedural where there are murders and investigations and troubled detectives and even a suspension as things start getting tricky. But it’s also more than that, there’s something about it that stands out above the rest - maybe the excellent characters, maybe it’s the picturesque and iconic locations, I don’t know. But I’ll definitely be reading more.

At first, I thought the premise of this book was a bit too far-fetched, but actually as I read through it started to make sense. People process grief in different ways, and writing what you know and as a cathartic process to help with your feelings is absolutely normal. I thought the book part of it was going to play a larger role, in reality it was the photos that blew the whole thing wide open, and then the twist at the end made me uncomfortable in a way that seemed to be fully intended. Interesting, not perfect, but worth a look.

I’ve had this book on my to read list for such a long time, and finally got round to it - now I’m annoyed I didn’t read it sooner. I loved it, whipped through it quickly, the plot is intriguing, the twists and turns are fun to follow and unexpected. I wasn’t so convinced by the supernatural parts of it, but that’s kind of the point isn’t it? And you can’t really argue with a ‘we have to try everything’ attitude when it comes to saving a life. Now I’m very interested in watching the TV show, but need to decide whether to read more in the series first!

Keith Urban can pretty much be relied upon to deliver a good relatively modern pop country album. It’s not massively groundbreaking but very enjoyable, and he rocks a good guitar. The one unique selling point he has is his points of reference are different, being Australian, so it’s not all whiskeys and catfish dinners. Can’t go wrong with a bit of bonus Carrie, either!

This new band popped up on the Graham Norton show a couple of weeks ago, and although I hadn’t seen them myself, I got a couple of recommendations to check them out. So I popped on the album and got listening. There’s no doubting the creativity and musical talent here, and it’s so good to hear something a little bit different. But just occasionally it leans into being too clever for its own good. There’s only so many times I can put up with a song completely changing midway through. Mostly enjoyed it though, and will definitely keep an eye on this lot in future.

An interesting book that details why it’s so hard and ultimately fruitless to have conversations about race when there is such a systematic inequality and so many opportunities for distractions and turning the conversation in another direction. It does take a minute to get your head around an entire book talking about race given the title, and there doesn’t really seem to be an overarching point to the book - other than continuing the important conversation and raising awareness of the ongoing issues.

If I’m honest, this was so close to being another casualty of the twenty minute rule, but it had just enough funny moments to keep me watching until the end. It’s crude and not clever and incredibly cheap, but the occasional moment kept things interesting - the magic eye bit was fun, and it was good to finally know what Jay & Silent Bob are. I don’t know that I’m keen to seek out more Kevin Smith movies, but I do sort of get where this one is coming from.

Continuing the 90s nights for as long as Gladiators is airing meant scouring for a good film we’ve not watched already… which is harder than it sounds as we’ve done a lot of good 90s movies. This one was highly reviewed and has two amazing main stars, so seemed to fit the bill perfectly. I feel like I’m definitely missing something, because George and Jennifer are great and Steven Soderbergh is a director I can get on board with… but even though there was a bank robbery and a prison breakout in the first twenty minutes, it was SO boring!

I didn’t have huge hopes for this film, if I’m honest, because you know Marvel is not having the best track record recently. It’s not getting good reviews. To fully enjoy it, you have to have done quite a lot of homework, previous movies and several of the TV shows. And, of course, it’s helmed by three awesome women, so completely understandable that a vocal section of the audience don’t like it. Thankfully, I have done that homework and I love awesome women, and that resulted in a very enjoyable watching experience. I loved the camaraderie between the three, how they learned to work together and use their quirks to the fullest. A high point in some recent Marvel mediocrity.

Another good read from Robert Thorogood, this Marlow Murder club are really starting to gel together and somehow have found themselves caught up in yet another murder. This time they are given permission to do some investigating, even though they do tend to push it a bit far, but at least that gives them some proper authority to ask seemingly random questions that of course have greater meaning later on. I did not guess the killer and was surprised, so that’s always the sign of a good whodunit.

This is a super romantic story, with such a great premise at the heart of it and then plenty of twists and turns along the way. I like that it dips back and forth in time in a slightly less obnoxious way than some books do, and the way the story unfolds is just exactly the right information you need at exactly the right time. What a lovely story, and I could just picture the film adaptation that could be made of this.

I make no secret of my love for the 90s, and often enjoy a bit of culture from that time. However, a certain confluence of events occurred yesterday that meant I somehow went back in time and was living my best 90s life all evening. First, after hearing that Carl Weathers had died, we wanted to pay tribute to him by watching a movie he’d appeared in. Having already completed Predator and the Rocky series, it was left to Happy Gilmore to complete the gap. Happy Gilmore was released in 1996 so kick-started the time travel evening.

So. This is a concept album which already puts it on the back foot a bit. There’s a bit too much talking in there to really make it an enjoyable thing. But on the other hand, it’s Johnny Cash and you just listen when he talks and doubly listen when he sings so it still somehow works. It’s not going to be my favourite Cash album by a long shot, but I do respect the effort.

I didn’t have any expectations going into this album, really, having only seen Tate McRae perform on one TV show at some point. It was pretty good, serviceable pop music, but not really standing out from a lot of other pop artists out there. Actually, it really felt like if you merged Camila Cabello and Olivia Rodrigo together, you would end up with Tate. Good, but not memorable.

Watched this in tribute to Carl Weathers, although the guy falls out of a window and dies in this movie, so maybe it’s not the fondest farewell! I’ve not seen it before and was expecting plenty of Adam Sandler zaniness, but actually it wasn’t as out there as I’d feared. It’s not particularly good, but it has funny moments and has that strong 90s vibe with good songs over training montages and plenty of David vs Goliath moments throughout.

This is a good, well-written legal thriller following the traumatic story of a young mother who is accused of hurting her child, alongside the difficult life of our single mother lawyer. In some ways, it was a bit frustrating - of course the guy was too good to be true - but I didn’t guess what his back story was so the twists and turns were enough to keep me turning those pages.

I read through this so quickly, it was absolutely fascinating. Our heroine finds herself getting a flash of what life will be in five years, after that inevitable job interview question, and the rest of the book is all about how and whether we get there. It’s moving and frustrating and crushing and beautiful in many different ways, and so well written that it just sweeps you along. A lovely read.

I’ve raced through these Camel Club books, especially the last few. This one is the final of a five part story, and I liked it better than the previous one, but not quite as much as the first few. This time it felt like a rebirth for our hero but at the same time it was really frustrating how much he was still keeping everyone at arm’s length, despite how many times they’ve come through for him in the past. There was a mystery upon mystery in this one and it all came to an explosive ending that was very satisfying.

This was a recommended audiobook on Apple Books which I picked up without knowing anything about it other than the small preview clip had me hooked. And it was that way the whole way through. The book is split into very manageable chapters, flipping back and forward in time and from a couple of different points of view. There was a moment in the middle where it felt a little bit drawn out but for the most part I was really keen to find out what happened next. I guessed that the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t who they said they were, but did not guess who or why! And that final twist was like a punch to the stomach!