I can’t remember why this album was next on the to-listen list, but whilst listening during the week, we then also watched the episode where Mavis Staples pops up on Carpool Karaoke and they sing I’ll Take You There. Amazing. That song is the standout of the album, but overall it’s a good soul/gospel album with some incredible vocals and some heartfelt themes.

There are some epic albums coming up this year but the early part of the year is always a bit of a slow one - I don’t think I would have picked this album at any other time. But I’m glad I did, it’s got some good songs on there. It’s short, sharp and to the point, mixing genres a little although strongly indie and guitar driven. A nice listen.

It’s no secret how much I love Kellyoke - the moment on Kelly Clarkson’s talk show where she covers a popular song, usually doing a much better job than the original! Another thing I love is behind the scenes info about music, tv and production, which makes this set of videos absolutely perfect. Called the Kellyoke Afterparty, this series of three videos features music director Jason Halbert and guitarist Jaco Caraco sharing a drink and some gossip after the live show.

This was a pretty quick read, it didn’t go to the thriller levels I was expecting it to but it was still a pageturner of what is happening and why. Midway through I felt like it was going a bit slowly for what was quite an obvious plot direction, but then there was a twist and the second half was really fascinating. A good story, well told, with an ending that was both shocking and sad, with just the right amount of hope to finish on.

I used to listen to the NPR Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast a lot and have loved Linda Holme’s opinionated but approachable criticisms of TV and film. I bought this first book of hers a long time ago but have only just got round to reading it - I wish I’d read it earlier! It’s a wonderful gentle rom-com drama story, the action is limited but the dialogue is wonderful and the relationships really well crafted. Friendships and lovers are investigated in detail, what works, what doesn’t, what people in smaller towns gossip about, and ultimately what you think about yourself. Gorgeous work.

I absolutely loved this, roared through it in double quick time. The consequences of decisions and ripples of changes are one of the best things about time travel stories that I love, and whilst this isn’t a time travel novel, it features those elements in the best possible way. It’s intriguing and heartwarming and leaves you feeling just a bit more positive about the world than before you read it. Which is perfect.

One of the easiest switches in the battle to reduce plastic is from shower gel and shampoo bottles to soap bars. Soap has, obviously, been around forever, but there’s been a real revolution recently in making it as eco-friendly as possible, as accessible as possible, whilst not being the skin-drying-boring-smelling compromise that some bars are.

I snapped this up the moment it came out, listened to the audiobook in almost one sitting. I loved that the action basically got going straight away, just the samllest of recaps and then straight into what turned out to be a deadly party. Our trio of friends work through the clues to solve the mystery, whilst also dealing with their own stuff - I like them thinking they can possibly hide stuff from each other… surely they know how good at detecting they are? But a great cosy mystery, another good read from Mr Thorogood.

The third series of For All Mankind started streaming on Apple last June. For something that I proclaim to be one of my favourite shows, it’s shameful that it’s taken me over six months to get round to watching it. But you know what it’s like, there’s always something shiny and new to try and more TV that its possible to watch, plus it’s always nice to have an old faithful waiting in the wings for when all else fails.

This was an interesting concept for a book but as I was reading, I could never decide if I was enjoying it or not. The hook for the book is following the history of London by means of the oldest house in the capital, and what historical events it has seen. I guess I might have wanted it to be a bit more domestic in places, whilst fully appreciating there’s only so much evidence out there. Even so it was interesting to think about what this house has lived through - plague, fire, various monarchs and religions, protests, rebellions, two wars, and plenty of rebuilding. Overall a decent read.

We’re halfway through January now so those who were going to set resolutions have no doubt done so by now. If anyone is still looking for something to get more active and get out there, the Walk 1000 Miles initiative by Country Walking magazine caught my eye. It’s a challenge to do exactly what it says on the tin, although really the goal isn’t necessarily the target but really to get outside and get more steps in than you have before.

I was nervous going into this album because a) hard rock and b) two hours long! But in the end, neither of those things were too much of a problem. It only occasionally gets too much into the hard rock category, otherwise it’s just regular rock with the ups and downs that are required in an epic double album like this. It is long and I would never particularly search out an album at this length but I was never bored during it or wishing it would end, so that’s a great sign. I don’t know how much of this is going to stay with me (1979 maybe), but I’m glad to have given it a listen.

This is a great album. It took me a minute to adjust to it because I was stupidly expecting something more like Halsey. But this is more dance, and I really like it. Grapefruit is such an important song. However, it’s not all perfect, I don’t enjoy the one that samples Popcorn because how annoying is that? There’s never a reason to put Popcorn in any music. But otherwise, a good listen, great beats, fab vocals.

I don’t think I can adequately describe how much I loved this. My knowledge of philosophy has only ever been ‘I think therefore I am’ and the trolley problem, and that’s even having watched and adored every series of The Good Place. But I remember listening to the podcast that accompanied the show and whenever creator Mike Shur was on, it was always fascinating. This book is basically an extension of those epiosdes.

I’ll be honest that I don’t watch a lot of stuff on YouTube, other than the memes and clips from talk shows that gain a lot of popularity. There are a couple of channels I keep an eye on (Pitch Meetings and Tom Scott have been mentioned here previously), but I never mind a new creator to add to the list - particularly when they have fascinating videos that teach you a thing or two. Step up, the Map Men!

This is a really nice, gentle book of family drama and rediscovering yourself. Martha finds herself always saying yes to people and drowning in a sea of helping others, but through a mixture of new friends and revealing old family secrets, she starts to come back to life and find her way. The book does fall into the trope of dipping back and forth in time to reveal a little bit more of the story each time, but it works very well, and I enjoyed a relatively peaceful read.

I don’t remember being particularly fond of the Mr Men & Little Miss books as a child or at any point in my lifetime, but they were certainly around. I potentially had an affinity with Mr Bump and was suitably horrified by Mr Tickle. I didn’t know they were still being created and books were still being released with new characters all the time, it must be quite the universe at this point.

Apple have released a comprehensive round up of their 2022 entertainment and services - inevitably happy about how successful they have been - with wisdom from VP of the sector, Eddy Cue. There are lots of facts and figures, as you might imagine, but I do like the summary from Mr Cue:

Overall this is a good read - the story of survivors after an all-too-believable escalation of nuclear war leaves them stranded in a hotel in Switzerland. It’s page turning, and it’s an intriguing cast of characters, but I do wonder if the book couldn’t quite decide what it was going to be. It’s part apocalypse thriller, part crime and mystery story, and part social commentary, and I don’t know how well those elements blend together. But I do like how it ended, which is always hard to do in a survival story like this.

The Guardian published an interesting post last week about audiobook narration and the impact artificial intelligence could have on it. The post talks to an author who was working with Apple on a secret project that allows AI voices to provide the narration on an audiobook - and evaluates whether it’s any good or not.

I was so busy watching Sam Ryder do his thing on New Year’s Eve for the BBC that I totally missed what was happening in other corners of the world - in particular Miley Cyrus pulling out all the stops and performing with a variety of guests for NBC. Dolly Parton was one of the featured friends, and the pair cruised through Wrecking Ball and Jolene and a few other hits. But it was I Will Always Love You that really made me sit up and take notice.

The first track of this album almost immediately put me off as it was just a lot of screaming. But then once that was out the way, it was better… some pretty standard 90s hard rock. I don’t know that it’s an album that will live with me or I will particularly remember in future but it was fine to listen to and was an energetic start to the year!

The way artists release music is continually changing and evolving and so I keep adapting the ‘rules’ of this album adventure to try and keep up. I don’t think in the past I would have even considered listening to EPs, but these two were branded as the first and second half of a singular album, so I’m saying it counts. In terms of the music, it’s just good solid nice country pop music - nothing hugely groundbreaking and not the big focus on storytelling like some of the other country singers, but enjoyable songs that are nice to listen to.

It’s a great film, combining humour and action in the best way and with Arnie doing exactly what he does best - marching around with either his muscles or his guns and somehow managing to keep hold of a beautiful wife along the way. It doesn’t feel like a James Cameron movie, too quirky for that really, there’s a car chase with a horse for goodness’ sake. And the end twenty minutes or so are just about as far-fetched as its possible to get. But it’s so likeable that you can’t help going with it and hoping for that happy ending.

While we’re talking about books, one of the new year resolutions I haven’t specifically talked about is the one about not buying any more books to take up space on my digital bookshelf. I don’t want to talk numbers because I’m embarrassed, but I’ve built up quite a collection of books for an excessive TBR (to be read) list, and it’s going to take some time to get through them. Instead, I’ll make good use of wish lists and revisit when I actually have made good use of what I’ve already purchased.

These live-action remakes are really asking for trouble when they are trying to re-invent such stone-cold classics, and this one sadly doesn’t live up to its predecessor. At best, this movie is okay, but it veers into irritating territory and Will Smith as the genie is a choice that I just can’t get on board with. The songs are the only thing that make this worthwhile and they are obviously straight from the original… except for the new musical moments which are then just jarring against the brilliance of the old ones. Overall, just meh.

I’ve seen Celia in plenty of film and TV over the years but didn’t know a lot about her life so this was an interesting read. It starts with a turbulent childhood, including a real struggle with eating disorders because of the body pressures on being a dancer, and then through a lengthy and varied career on stage and screen. Every moment is told with humour but there are the occasional reality checks and moments where Celia realises something about herself. It’s fun to hear about the moments behind the scenes of much-loved creations, the Exotic Hotel, working with Victoria Wood, and of course some of Britain’s best-loved TV. Not all of it is great but all of it is a lesson. A good read, this one.

I read a lot last year, in all sorts of formats. Along with the poetry and comics that I was trying out for the first time, there were the regularly scheduled books, audiobooks, reference books, shorts and a great mix of genres through them all. I’ve noticed a few more physical books creeping into my life, mostly as gifts but occasionally because that just is the best format for reading something in. Digital is still my go-to though, if only because having a book on hand to dip into at any given moment is a big driver behind how I’ve managed to read so much.

I’ve written about previously stumbling on Richard Hammond’s Workshop, the Discovery+ programme that follows Mr Hammond trying to get his new classic car restoration business off the ground. A second series just finished in December, and I enjoyed the second just as much as the first, although found it just as frustrating. Hammond still likes to throw money at a problem before actually sitting and thinking about the consequences but you can’t fault his enthusiasm. And to be fair, by the end of the series, business was picking up, so something must be working.

Thanks to a Halloween binge and the inevitable Christmas slush-fest of films, we just about managed to watch 100+ movies last year. That’s always the aim, but it was a close run thing. There just haven’t been many that really grab attention, aside from the regularly scheduled Marvel and Star Wars releases. But it’s always worth keeping an eye on what else is coming up and these are the movies that are due to be released over the next three months that I’ll give a second glance.

I have not been very good at following global news over the last couple of years, mostly because the news tends to focus on all those things that are, you know, the end of the world. I find it hard. But I’m maybe starting to lift my head out of the sand a little bit and do want to keep up with events where I can, so have been approaching news outlets that focus on more than just the obvious topics.

To kick off the new year, my first challenge is a health and fitness related one - to stick to a Les Mills challenge schedule. I was in two minds about this because, you know, the new year resolution to keep fit and change your life and be the absolute epitome of health is such a cliché and I am fully aware of that. But when I sat down and thought about it, the timing is perfect.

I feel like I must have read this as a kid, it has that sort of friendly familiarity you get from books of your childhood. But I really couldn’t remember any of it - that it starts in the current time, all that happens as Carrie remembers her past, being evacuated to the countryside and getting caught up in the middle of a family row, and the devastating end that has traumatised her for so long. There’s ultimately a nice ending though and it’s all so realistic and well drawn that you can’t help feeling as if you’re there.

Wahey, we have reached a new year and there’s a fresh 365 days awaiting us. Last year was a bit of a rollercoaster on many levels, and although this is just another night turning into another day, it’s nice to have that clean slate feel of a New Year. I usually take this space to talk about what my aims and goals are for the year but for 2022 I mixed it up with a whole heap of 30 day challenges instead of twelve months concentrating on one thing. In my round up post, I already discussed how brilliant this was - not every task was a success but I learned something from them all and really enjoyed having a structure to the year. Some of those habits have stuck, as well, which is even better.

There are some good nuggets of self help in here, great wisdom and advice for living your best life. It’s written very well in terms of approachability and friendliness, Laura’s great, chatty, lovely personality shines through. I just feel like it’s a bit of a muddle of thoughts thrown down on the page, which have been tried to be wrangled into different chapters and themes but are still quite messy. Topics jump around, particularly in the first chapter/introduction style, and I sometimes think they haven’t all been explored to their full depth. But, if you can live with that, it’s a great book with lots in there to think about, and some examples from Laura’s own life to make it relatable and worth reading.

I can be a snob when it comes to reality TV, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. Oh, of course I was on the bandwagon when things like Big Brother, The Apprentice and I’m A Celebrity first appeared, but have long since given them up (or they themselves have given up). I love a Bake Off or a Strictly, as you well know, but the jungles and islands and Chelseas and Essexes of this world pass me by.

The festive holidays have previously been a time when stand up comedians release some of their recent content for the public to buy. It used to be DVDs that could be given as gifts, but of course, more recently that has been a show popping up on streaming services to be enjoyed from the sofa. The pandemic put a bit of a hold on stand up comedians doing what they do best but it feels like the humour train is rolling back into action.

As a way of clearing the palate from Christmas reads, I opted for a rom-com book set firmly in the sunshine. This one features our main character going on her honeymoon alone and getting tangled up with various romantic threads including a famous film star, and the inevitable reappearance of her almost-husband. This was easy to read, funny and friendly with good characters and interesting twists and turns along the way. I quite liked that Lila was a romance fiction author so there were elements of book within books and plot within plots. And it was a happy ending, so hooray for the final book of the year.

There was no Christmas Day edition of Top of the Pops this year, which was both completely understandable and also a real shock. The show has been drifting further and further from the TV schedules and therefore the public consciousness that it was inevitable it would one day drop off the festive TV guides. But it was still a shame to see it was missing. However, BBC Four is still dedicated to showing old episodes of the music show and the 1998 Christmas Day special has been available for a while. It’s a great show, stacked with 90s pop hits and some surprises along the way, all capably helmed by Jamie Theakston, Kate Thornton and Jayne Middlemiss. SO NINETIES!

Lovely Bill Turnball wrote this in 2010, giving some insight into his hobby of beekeeping, with a few stories from his life along the way - his time on Strictly Come Dancing, a visit to New Orleans after the hurricane, and time spent in Northern Ireland. But the point of the book is to give an insight into what it is to be a beekeeper, good or bad. What it takes, whether you should do it, and what an important role it can be. A lovely book.

Yay for another Emma Roberts holiday movie! This one was quite similar to Holidate but with a focus in on one specific time of year - New Year! It took a minute to get going, I thought, with us all having to get through the trick of them looking like they were talking about and to each other but actually not, etc, etc. But once they properly met and the evening began, it was fantastic!

Yesterday, I wrote a very short post about photos of the moon that didn’t have a lot of point to it other than ‘wahey, photos of the moon!’ I realised that previously, I might have just tweeted something like that, but I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Twitter is going through some stuff right now.

I like Simon Brett’s work and hadn’t indulged in the Charles Paris series before. I want to listen to some of the dramatisations but thought I should check out the original novels first. I listened to the audiobook of this, read by the author, and annoyingly it’s the second in the series as the first one isn’t available. But it was good. A murder takes place during the Edinburgh festival, and Paris, an actor/detective, starts investigating. It’s an interesting mystery, with a handful of good characters, and I’m interested to read more.

I’ve been looking forward to this and although I feel like it’s a bit of a weird time to watch a mystery movie set in the heat of summer on a Greek Island (not so festive!), I had to watch it soon after being released because of spoilers. I’m glad I had to make the effort though because it was as brilliant as expected.

The main aim of the Artemis I mission this year was to test out the Orion ship and the SLS rocket in an unmanned capacity, to make sure it would be fit for future missions with humans on board. It succeeded in its testing, but along the way, it also managed to take lots of fantastic pictures - particularly of the moon. I love a moon photo and there are a good few to peruse on the Artemis I collection on Nasa’s image gallery.

I quite enjoyed the other books in this series featuring Van Lifers travelling around in their little vans and having cosy encounters with their movable bookshops and bakeries. This one was similar but featuring a new set of characters as Flora left her life behind and started over in a Christmas shop campervan in Lapland. It’s a nice rom-com with funny moments and plenty of fun characters to follow around.

I wanted to watch this after suddenly hearing about the meme that Kermit is responsible for 9/11 (in the alternate universe without him the towers are still standing) but unfortunately, I didn’t get that far. It was all just a bit scrappy, the various muppets were all over the place and I only got about half the references anyway. If there was a story, it was taking its time to get going… plus Whoopi and David were watching from a summer meadow which wasn’t very Christmassy.

My seventh year of listening to albums has drawn to a close and it’s that agonising time where I need to decide on a top five. Each year I listen to 100 albums, one new and one old each week for fifty weeks, and they each get two listens to make sure I really get a feel for the sound. Then, at the end of the year, I pull together my top five from the new albums. It’s always a hideous choice and this year’s shortlist of ten albums made it really difficult to decide on the final five. But I’ve done it, so here goes!

There’s no getting away from the fact that this is a slightly oddball movie - the fact that the brother immediately starts hitting on SJP’s character is supremely uncomfortable, but then Elliot wasn’t exactly subtle once the sister showed up. It was never quite clear what the focus was or where it was going, or what the main aim was, but perhaps that’s because the main point of the whole thing was that families are weird.

Mm, couldn’t get past the twenty minute rule on this one. We flicked between lots of different characters without really getting a good sense of who they are and how they relate to each other, somehow there was a lot of scenes but the story didn’t progress at all, and more than anything, the main guy just didn’t seem sympathetic at all so I didn’t care what was going to happen upon his homecoming. Pass.