I was nervous about the genre of this one, hard rock just sounds scary. I know of Evanesence from that moment when they had a couple of huge songs, but I didn’t know they were still going. The album was good in and of itself but I don’t know that I will remember it or seek it out again. I quite liked it while I was listening, it felt very much Evanesence doing what they do best, you would instantly know it was them. And I did think there probably aren’t as many bands making music like this anymore, so that’s a plus. But yea, it wasn’t memorable for me.

Jacqueline Wilson is unquestionably a genius - she can write book after book that is compelling for young and old, brilliantly and perfectly capturing the emotions, confusion and fragility of being a kid in the big, bad world. This one was great because it had that extra twist of Mandy’s saviour new friend also being a bit of a rogue, then what do you do? It ended on a bit of a cliffhanger really, but that just leaves your own imagination to do the rest of the work.

It was a creative idea, and I loved the way Tom Holland handled it - in fact, I was trying to think of anyone else who might have been able to pull this off in the same way, it requires a certain set of skills. Hard-core enough to make the stand, vulnerable enough to fight his thoughts, charming enough to make it cute, etc, etc. And it wasn’t the perfect story, obviously very inspired by other things but supremely interesting and entertaining. Top notch!

A medium level spring clean uncovered this little gem in a dusty box tucked away in a random corner. I got super excited when I first saw the edge of it, because I thought it was the original part one book by George Gipe. Sadly that one is still missing in action. And I never did have a copy of part three.

It took me a while to ease back into the world of Adrian Mole, this one seemed to start so far away from where we left off, although if I’m honest I’d totally forgotten Jo Jo existed. Anyway, it’s weird seeing Adrian as a father - and disappointing at how remote he is particularly at first. As always, the comedy and the warmth come from the characters we already know - Adrian’s parents, the Braithwaites, Pandora a particular highlight! Interested to see what happens next!

Our new rule of trying to watch everything that is early released due to the current circumstances has thrown up lots of movies that we wouldn’t normally watch. Sometimes that’s been a brilliant surprise. Sometimes, it is Tom & Jerry. I’m being a bit harsh, because it was actually a watchable movie, with a decent story that shows how even enemies can work together for the greater good. The problem with it is, the humans were much better than the cartoons, I preferred all the action that didn’t include Tom & Jerry, which isn’t great for a movie based around them.

I’ve been loving the new Star content that was released on Disney+ in the UK recently, and one of the first things I checked out was Cougar Town. Featuring the lovely Courtney Cox and a lot of people that used to be in Scrubs, the show revolves around a really tight-knit group of family and friends as they navigate divorce, new relationships, new parenthood, empty nests, and lots of other things.

This album popped out of nowhere - we were talking about The King of Wishful Thinking and realised these guys had a couple of albums to visit. I actually really enjoyed it, it has that crossover 80s/90s feel, and was a lot more soulful than I was expecting, although still very much rooted in the pop genre.

First impressions of this album were that it’s good, if a little bit too Southern country for my tastes. But the second listen through had it growing on me, there were a few moments with great individual riffs and the songs started to individualise. I don’t know if it would still continue to grow on me or not, but I do know that What Would Dolly Do is an exceptional tune. The concept alone is fantastic, the lyrics back it up and it’s all set to a fab tune. So maybe the whole album didn’t work for me, but that song definitely did.

A great book, really, one you can dip in and out of and find answers you’ve been searching for or just look at questions that you’ve never even thought of asking. Some of them were a bit obvious - the diet and health ones are more of the same: eat less, move more, etc, etc. But some of the stuff on sleep was really interesting, and it surprised me how many areas we really don’t know very much about.