It feels like the output of both TV and films has slowed somewhat, presumably relating to the strikes that are ongoing. Although any situation that forces a strike is not great, it is a bit of a relief to have a minute to think about what we’re watching and actually catch up a bit. I’ve been looking through the next few months of movie releases and there are quite a few that speak to me!

I must have read this before, because I’ve mentioned it before on this site, but I didn’t remember it when I started reading again. I listened to the audiobook, read by Scott Brick, and immediately you are drawn into the story as you join Norman on his journey to a mysterious situation in the middle of the ocean. It starts out as a standard sci-fi story but turns into something more psychological and philosophical as it unfolds. Interesting and well told, a good story!

We need to talk about Silo… and there will be spoilers. To set thing up, I was looking forward to this obviously, as it’s about a post-apocalyptic world where a hardy group of survivors live in a sealed bunker, make do and mend, because the outside world is so dangerous. I hadn’t read the books, although I have now somehow managed to snap up all three of the books for future perusal.

It’s Wimbledon time! Lush green grass courts, strawberries and cream, and one eye always watching the weather to see how much play is going to get completed each day. I can’t wait! Here are five things I’m looking forward to ahead of the 2023 tournament: Being on it. Have watched qualifying and kept an eye on that draw, as well as being ready with the draw and the order of play for Monday. Let’s do this! The battle for the top prize. Can Świątek do it? Is this Jabeur’s time? Will Sabalenka conquer her demons to get a Wimbledon win? I’m not sure this counts as looking forward to, but the Venus Williams versus Elina Svitolina first round match is must watch for me. I can’t believe the only non-Brit wildcards have to face off in the first round, and I want both of these to do well, dammit. Such a wide field, and so open, we could have a complete surprise on our hands like last year, or it could be one of the players who is on everyone’s predictions list. Dark horse and underdog story, anyone? Thanks to Break Point, I actually know a bit more about the men’s draw as well, I’m usually fully focused on the ladies but this time I might spare a minute to browse the men’s results too. There’s always a rumbling of political aspects within sport at the moment, but I’m hoping this will be a great fortnight of quality tennis to enjoy. Ready? Play!

This is exactly what you think it will be - Rick Astley, with his booming voice, doing the best he can with Stock, Aitken & Waterman goods. It’s fine pop for what it is, but it’s no wonder Never Gonna Give You Up is hte only one that really properly stands the test of time. What really annoys me is that Together Forever is basically the exact same song, with just the smallest of tweaks and a different title. Properly phoning it in SAW, do better!

I don’t know if in my head I was confusing Tom Grennan with someone else, or just not knowing him at all, but I wasn’t expecting great things from this. His appearance at Glastonbury (having nothing to do with being topless, obviously) caught my attention and I realised these were good songs, catchy, and some of them I did actually know and like. And that pretty much sums up the album, great songs, some of which I know, many of which I didn’t but the kind that grab you and immediately get you on board. Good times!

I read the first book in the Eddie Flynn series a while back, so it took a minute to remember how it all worked - it’s a fun thriller, although a slightly odd combination of former con artist practicing law whilst trying to manage many threats against himself and his family and not lose his mind along the way. It’s pretty stressful, but a good book with interesting twists along the way.

I’ve been meaning to write this post all week and I admit it feels a bit late to be talking about Glastonbury Festival a full week on from when it ended. But then again, I still watch old sets from past Glasto festivals, so potentially it’s a timeless thing and it doesn’t matter how long it takes me to get these thoughts down.

I listened to the audiobook of this, a hard to describe book - sort of self help, sort of travel guide, sort of memoir. It documents a year in the life of the author who ups and moves to Denmark thanks to her partner getting a job at Lego. Denmark is apparently a very happy country, so we spend the year trying to dig into lifestyles and traditions and find out why. Occasionally I got a bit frustrated by the endless surveys and reports that were referenced, but the anecdotes and real life stuff more than made up for it. A fun read.

Blue Man has gone missing! I say it every time, but Will Robie was my first Baldacci and so the one I connect to the most, and it feels like every time we go on an adventure with him it gets more and more personal. This time he’s dealing with feelings of the heart, as well as trying to find out what’s happened to his boss and potentially even close friend. It’s a good mystery and the stakes get really high, plus there’s an element of bunker towards the end too. Great stuff.

This was well written but of course all very predictable - newly single, making a new life for yourself in France, getting involved with village life, making new and old friends, and ultimately doing a lot of baking. It was a nice group of characters to go on the journey with, though, and I enjoyed the story, whipping through it nice and quickly.

I feel like this one took a long time to get to the actual adventure part - the gang were apart to start with and had to get together, then find a farmhouse to live in, then meet all the residents, then do some touring, and finally, get to the good stuff. It did have the bonus of horrid other children that our gang took against which is always fun, and the mystery plot about an old castle was fun.

I’d sort of forgotten about Natasha Bedingfield, but this debut album has three absolute belters on there and the rest stand up to comparison as well. It’s pop but you can really feel the times moving away from over-produced group stuff to singer/songwriters holding their own, and this album has good songs with strong messages, and the very catchy Unwritten to stick in your mind long after listening.

This is such a good album, and quite a surprise. It’s not your usual McFly sound and actually, it’s more like they are pinching sounds from all over the rock world - it’s not original, but it’s a lot of fun, a kind of unashamed honouring of all the most famous rock sounds you know and love. They’re good tunes, done well, and it’s a step in a new (or at least different) direction for the band.

Mixed feelings about this book, it’s well written and the story weaves its way around some complex relationships very well. I like the passage of time, and how the characters come into and out of each other’s lives. But on the other hand, the main two characters are really not very likeable, and there doesn’t seem to be a lot given in the way of motivation or remorse for their actions. There are lots of other elements hinted at too but potentially not given the space they deserve - Matt’s early relationship with Alex and Kate’s eating disorder both feel like they could have taken up more space. But it’s Ruth Jones and I love her, so happy to have read this one and keen to move on to her next.

So annoyed at this film. I thought it was doing okay - you know, the regular kind of stupid that you expect from this franchise. It was laughable but fully entertaining and bizarre in all the right ways. I LOVED how much fun Jason Mamoa was having in this role, he was head and shoulders above everyone else, the best thing in it. But it was the end that really ruined the whole thing.

If you’re looking for a TV show that follows a brilliantly flawed independent woman investigating mysterious circumstances against all the odds in the deserts on the west coast of the US, then you’re in luck, there are two! Poker Face and High Desert both follow that premise and whilst they do have plenty of differences, the similarities are hard to ignore! Both were brilliant though, and I highly recommend them.

When it’s hot and stuffy on land, one option is to get out on the water and feel the breeze as you sail along. With this in mind, I joined family on board the SS Shieldhall for the first of their summer sailings. Steamship Shieldhall is the largest working steamship in the UK, staffed fully by volunteers who keep it running as a charity. The journey was from Southampton Docks in to Portsmouth Harbour and back again, a smooth journey that was pretty relaxing. You get the run of the ship, even an opportunity to go down into the engine room (although it was SO HOT, it really undid a lot of the cooling work from the rest of the journey), and up on the bridge to see the captain at work.

This book had a fantastic balance between Hornblower’s personal life and at sea life, with the start of the book seeing him leg through a canal tunnel and become a father for the second time, and then quite quickly avoiding humiliating disaster as part of the funeral procession for Nelson. What I really enjoyed was the difficult decisions Hornblower was presented with - whether to go after the gold despite a potentially fatal injury to the expert, whether to stop to pick up a man overboard in the middle of a significant chase. A cracking read.

One of the interesting things about this series of books is that although it is our main five that are the famous ones, they do actually spend a lot of time being helped out by random children they meet along the way. This time, there’s a shepherd’s daughter who plays a pivotal role in preceedings, as the gang investigate strange goings on underground beneath a farmhouse in Wales.

From hats and scarves, I wanted to move on and try knitting an actual item of clothing, so I started on a jumper from my beginner’s knitting book. However, I realised that summer was quickly approaching and it might be more fun and useful to try something like a tank top or vest. So, I opted for this super easy, but with a few elements I would need to learn, Classic Vest pattern.

It’s so interesting to listen to this in the context of 60s music, that iconic sixties sound is there but this is so much further on than other artists. There are some good classics on here, Ruby Tuesday being a standout, but the whole thing is a comfortable and fun listen. The Rolling Stones versus Beatles battle begins!

I loved Niall’s first solo album but had sort of forgotten about it until this one popped up - so mixed expectations going in, but thankfully, it’s all good! I really enjoyed the album, some nice pop sounds, more mature than the One Direction stuff, but not so middle-of-the-road that you want to switch off. Another one that will get plenty of listens in the future.

On the home stretch of reading through this series of kids books and this time there’s a different theme to the book. Of course the five are having an adventure during the school holidays but at least this time they aren’t in any trouble, they are investigating to try and clear some names. I quite liked this one, it was an interesting mystery and the stakes were quite high, but it all ended neatly.

Another successful two weeks of Roland Garros is complete, with our attention turning swiftly to the grass court season. However, there was plenty to enjoy on the clay courts of Paris, here are just a few notes I made as the fortnight unfolded: As always, loving Radio Roland Garros. They seemed to get a lot of heat about the balance between ball-by-ball commentary and general chatter, but I think they’ve got it right. I did learn why Hawkeye isn’t available at this tournament (the accuracy hasn’t fallen into the acceptable limits due to the constraints of the ’living’ surface) which makes the umpires popping out of their chairs understandable, if no less irritating. I always forget how much the crowd are almost an extra opponent for some of the players. Norrie had to take on the crowds two games in a row, facing popular French players across the net. It was also slightly baffling when good players would get booed - sometimes for not shaking hands, sometimes for arguing with the officials, sometimes even just for having the temerity to win! There seemed to be a lot of upsets on the women’s side, but it was fun to watch Muchova’s progress - her style of play is really engaging and a couple of her matches were really intense and a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately she didn’t quite make it to the big trophy, but what a great tournament. I’ve also loved the return of Svitolina, who seems to have got back into the swing of things really quickly after maternity leave. I was worried the draw was a bit one-sided with Swiatek, Rybakina and Jabeur all in the top half, but it turned out the bottom half of the draw was much more interesting! And so we roll on to the lush green grass courts and it always looks so ‘right’ to see players taking to the grass. It’s a short season, so we have to make the most of it but hands up who can’t wait for Wimbledon?

I haven’t read any Bill Bryson in a long time, and it was fun to dip my toes back in the water. This book follows the adventures of Bill and a friend as they walk some of the Appalachian Trail - a hiking trail in the US that stretches almost 2,200 miles through 14 states on the east side. Naturally the pair are woefully under-prepared and make plenty of mistakes along the way, but I enjoyed how the book is not just about walking but also about various topical things along the way: industry in various places, the point of hiking trails, how leisure time has changed. It’s a good read even if the results of the actual hiking are disappointing.

I’m glad this has been recorded for posterity, I think all musicals should get this honour, but I have to be honest, this performance didn’t fully do it for me. The crowd were more intrusive and annoying, as much as they were just showing their love for the show. And I think some of the people I saw were actually better. Fun seeing Hannah in action though!

There are only two good things about this album - one is that general sixties vibe, I do love that sound. The other is that it was a lot of fun researching the background to this: the TV show, the controversy of the band not playing their own instruments, them trying to wrestle back control and then not doing very well after that. This album though? Not good, even the singing is lacking and that’s the one thing they’re trusted to do!

I loved the previous album so had high expectations for this one. It’s not as good, let’s put that straight out there, but it’s not at all bad. The first half is a bit slow but it picks up and really starts getting good in the second half. And on my second listen through, I was starting to feel like this could be a real grower… so got to listen a few more times, I reckon.

This was a very quick and easy read, the first part in a trilogy of mysteries surrounding Emma Holden. In this one her boyfriend disappears just before their wedding, and she is being stalked by someone but who? It was fast-paced and held my interest but I’m not sure any of the characters particularly grabbed me and I don’t think I’ll pick up the rest of the trilogy.

I’m surprised at the great reviews this film is getting. Sure, it has the great action sequences we know and love from this series, and there are some incredible locations and great lighting so that it is properly delicious to look at. But there’s no substance to it. It’s hugely long, almost three hours, and there’s barely any story in there to justify the length. A lot of the time you’re just waiting for the next fight to come along to move things on. There are barely any women in it, the only awesome one disappeared halfway through and returned only for a cliffhanger post-credits sequence.

My experience of Stephen King novels is that they are either a big hit or a big miss. But when a book grabs you, wow it doesn’t let go. And this one absolutely did, it was SO well written, I just wanted to inhale every word. I love how much character is put into even scenes that don’t really have a big part to play - the intro has so much brilliant detail even though the characters don’t really come into it ever again. This is the start of a trilogy and I’m super keen to get started on the next one.

It’s the Monday of WWDC week which means Apple Keynote day, and it is always a lot of fun to see where they think technology is going next. This time, it’s all about the mixed reality headset, something which has been discussed for a while and leaked more seriously by tech journalists recently. So it wasn’t a surprise when Tim Cook announced the Vision Pro headset, but it was a surprise to see how space age looking their set of goggles were, and also quite shocking to see the price. (Starting at $3,499!)

This was a great book about a group of strangers thrown together in unusual circumstances and just sharing their lives as the wider story unfolds. The fundamental story is a little bit unreal, although stranger things have happened I suppose, but if you go with it, it’s quite an emotional and moving piece. I do wonder if people would be so understanding as they were, particularly towards the end, but equally, people can have much bigger hearts than expected.

I always think at this point I started to lose touch with Backstreet Boys, having been a proper fan-girl for the first few albums. But actually, listening to this now, I did know quite a few of the songs, and really quite liked it. It’s a change in direction for the band, obviously dropping one member for a bit, and moving away from the Max Martin production team. I love Any Other Way and Panic, potentially more than the actual singles, but I do admit it’s not as strong as what has come before.

This album came out of the blue for me, wasn’t expecting it, and was surprised to see its been more than a decade since the last one from the Matchbox. It was good! I really enjoyed diving back into that modern pop rock guitar sound that is pretty iconic to this band. The only downside is that it’s just more of what they do, this could easily be an album they released in their heyday, but on the flip side, to keep that consistency across a lengthy career and gap is impressive.

This was such a lovely read, a book originally written in German and translated into English, it follows the fortunes of three sisters who grow up in the glassblowing capital of Lauscha, only to find themselves orphaned and struggling for a future. It took a little while to get going, but once the sisters started picking themselves up and taking action, in their various different ways, it was absolutely fascinating.

I’ve just wrapped up watching A Small Light, the series that chronicles the life of Miep Gies, the secretary and incredibly brave woman that helped hide Anne Frank and family during the Second World War. The series is incredible, beautifully made and well told, but also difficult to watch - eight episodes that chronicle the build up to the war, the hideous slide into occupation and oppression, and the terrible aftermath.

I feel like it’s been a slow start to the year, vegetable gardening wise. I somehow managed to start things off too soon, before all danger of frost had gone, but then also the things that I did time right have been so slow to start coming through. However, we are starting to see some greenery and things are looking more promising as the sun comes out.

This is such a brilliant film, great fun with a cast of incredible actresses just bumbling their way to the Superbowl. It’s emotional from the start and only gets more and more so as layers are revealed. You wouldn’t expect Tom Brady to be much of an actor, but he gets away with it, and you can tell he means it when he does his little speech.

I love a bit of reggae and this is a good album from the 90s to just enjoy that kind of music. Of course the Elvis cover is a standout and potentially their most famous song, but actually I realised I know and love Higher Ground more… even though I didn’t know I knew it, if that even makes sense. Overall, a good, very listenable album.

I had a realisation while listening to this that Lewis Capaldi is basically a male version of Adele - sweeping songs, huge vocals, a lot of passion and drama and angst and the talent to get it out there and share it with the world. A good album, although by the end I was a bit exhausted by it all!

This is pretty much exactly what you think it’s going to be - bright and colourful and a huge cast of voice actors and their best efforts at bringing to life these well-known characters. It’s not brilliant, but it’s entertaining and there’s enough nostalgia to pull at some emotions, so it gets by.

Doctor Who filmed a lot in Cardiff, so it’s fun to read a story actually set in Wales. This one is about monsters taking form from the nightmares of children, which is so fitting for Doctor Who, I’m surprised it hasn’t been turned into an official episode. Anyway, this one was narrated by Anthony Head, who is, of course, brilliant, so it was a fun experience.

Another emotional read this one, with a family trying to reunite amongst difficult circumstances. It was very well written, really keeping me engaged even though the story itself was quite drawn out. Still the characters were good and I liked the subplots alongside the main event, all in a glorious French setting.

This was a fun one, who’d have thought that taking the troublesome Paddington Bear to France would end up in lots of misadventures? The stories start before the trip, with Paddington trying to figure out what to bring with him on his travels, through getting lost in France and finally somehow ending up taking part in the Tour de France. Because of course!

I listened to the audiobook of this, which had a handful of narrators, when the point of view changed between characters, the narrator did too, but I could have done without that, if I’m honest, the main reader was fine. Regardless, the story took a while to get going and I wasn’t sure I was going to like it but somehow it kept me gripped and I desperately wanted to know what was going to happen next. An emotional one but a good one.

I was expecting good things from this book, and of course it delivered. It’s a memoir of sorts but with Jarvis Cocker, it was never going to be a straightforward story delivered from A to Z. Instead, we’re trawling through a loft and getting stories and insights into a life from the things found there. A fascinating way to find out about someone’s life… and it’s a fascinating life. Great stuff.

I recently finished watching the mini series Daisy Jones & The Six on Amazon Prime and what a journey that was! The show documents the rise and fall of a new band in the 1970s who gain popularity very quickly but find that drugs, rock and roll, and the intricacies of managing relationships on the road can be a downfall just as fast.

This is so much fun but no one could argue it was a good album - even Ant & Dec wouldn’t take that view at this point. Let’s Get Ready to Rhumble is a great bop with terrible lyrics and the rest of the album carries on from there in similar style. I don’t mind the upbeat terrible lyrical rapping, but have to admit the ballads and love songs are really quite cringy. Ant & Dec trying to do that 90s love whispering, ugh. But still, what an amazing time capsule and piece of pop culture history.