On the surface this is better than the previous film. The graphics were better, naturally, and it has a coherent story that is at least one thing rather than two very different things trying to work together. It lacks from Bernard’s absence, and it really is weird that the in-laws were happy to believe elves were Canadians just because they kept saying ’eh’ a lot.

I didn’t know any of the songs on this album and I still really loved it. It just has that nice Fleetwood Mac vibe throughout, rising and falling in energy but never flinching away from what makes the band great - noodly guitars and excellent vocals. Even though it’s a really long album that would normally annoy me, in this instance I was quite happy listening from start to finish and didn’t necessarily want it to end. Nothing massively stood out for me, but I liked the whole thing as a package.

This is an ok pop album - I was worried Olly was going down a bit of an early easy-listening vibe recently but this brings it back a bit. The songs are fine musically, but I have to admit I didn’t really take to the lyrics. They’re just a bit… judgemental, a bit mean, a bit arrogant even? Marry Me is very demanding. I Hate You When You’re Drunk comes across really rude. I don’t know, I’m reading too much into it, I’m sure, but I just didn’t like it.

The underlying story of this is fine - a bit of a rom-com, a bit of our heroine saving the local theatre from closure, a bit of Christmas fun and games. But I don’t know that the characters held up their end of the bargain. The sister, Cleo, was hideous to her sister and took any opportunity to criticise, whilst our main character Sam(antha) was an odd creature, pretty judgmental herself and very buttoned-up. I did like the relationship with her and Jimmy though, it progressed nicely. This was a freebie, I think, so nothing wasted, but not a favourite.

Okay, what is this film? It’s like two very different movies shoe-horned together, one is good, one is not good, and where they crossover, it’s worse. The rom-com, family drama with a heartwarming Christmas gifts scene and a kid trying to find his place in a difficult teenage world, is actually really good - entertaining and funny and worth watching.

I really liked this book, it kicks off with a chance glance through a bus window and then whizzes forward in time to when things start to get very complicated. It’s proper drama from start to finish, stepping forward in time each year to revisit the characters and where they’re at in their lives. It was well written and engaging, I wanted to know what was going to happen next and loved it. But I guess it wasn’t too Christmassy, only really that first bit. Not a real complaint though.

We’ve reached the quarter finals and it’s Musicals week, one of the best on the Strictly calendar - hooray! Kym & Graziano are back in action so it’s a full house… although there are only six couples remaining at this point, so it’s a slimmed down show that will see who gets through to the semi-finals. The opening montage of various musicals was fantastic - Johannes as a Pink Lady is everything I never knew I needed. Love that Oti was back as choreographer, too. Anyway, on with the shows!

I really like the first album from the Sugababes, but this is arguably their first in the format that is most-associated with the Sugababes name. It’s stacked full of tunes - kicking off with Freak Like Me and piling in a good few other singles. I know Shape gets a lot of stick but I quite like it, the only problem with it is it’s one of those songs that doesn’t fit well in the album - not in its middle-of-the-listing position - but equally, I don’t know where it would fit. A good pop album though, and kicking off the Sugababes real rise to fame.

This is a great album from Stormzy, a credible follow up to the heavy headed previous release. It takes quite a while to get going, Fire + Water is a slow start to any record, but once it ramps up, it has that soulful vocal warmth. I did find it, as a whole, a bit depressing, there’s a lot of pleading and please this, please that, which I get… there’s a lot to beg to be better in this world (and seriously, please do just leave Meghan alone) but it just left me feeling a bit blue.

I whipped through this book in super quick time, my first Christmas book of the festive season. It starts off with our heroine running out on her wedding and very quickly falling into the arms of her saviour, who of course comes with his own baggage. At first, I thought this was going to be a bit dull, the pair fell in love very quickly and usually what we’re looking for in Christmas cheesy rom-coms is the will-they-won’t-they. But it started taking twists and turns I wasn’t expecting and kept me reading until the end. Not bad, but I suppose not really that Christmassy once the initial stage is over.

This is a brilliant Christmas film. Fully British and cute and funny, odd-ball people doing odd-ball things and learning and growing and getting all festive at the same time. It wasn’t until afterwards that we put two and two together in terms of Jim O’Hanlon being of Trying fame too - how much we love Trying makes perfect sense with how much we loved this film.

Thirty days of guitar completed and I’m a pro now! Just kidding, I can play some of the easier chords and attempt to play some of the other easy ones and pick the occasional note from a string. There’s a long, long way to go. One of the things I was really worried about with this challenge was that I knew how much playing guitar can take a toll on the fingertips - and playing every day might not be the wisest idea. I think I survived, although having taken two days off at the end of the challenge, my fingers are still tingly!

I very quickly read through this after hopping back on the Jessica Daniel bandwagon. It didn’t pick up immediately after the cliffhanger of the previous book - some time has passed and our characters are still dealing with the fallout of the situation. This book continues the recent tradition of Jessica trying to understand her role as a more hands-off detective, rather than kicking down doors, but also layers in an element of whether she even wants to stay in the profession. Add to that a couple of interlinked crimes to solve and an ill-advised fling with a colleague, and you’ve got a great read.

Although Will Robie was my first Baldacci series, I think John Puller has grown on me more. This book really leans in to his difficult family dynamic, with a brother in prison… although not for long! The stakes are high again, and as we delve into the world of espionage and treason, it’s so hard to know who to trust and who is telling the truth. The tension ramps up really well in this book and culminates in the Pentagon, and it’s just a really action-packed journey. Baldacci always writes well, short, sharp sentences that bring you right into the heart of the adventure. What’s next??

Ooh this was a bad one. It was entertaining enough to get to the end but there wasn’t really a lot redeeming about it. There was no chemistry between the two leads and the plot was entirely implausible - from the music industry side to the home-town that seemingly has its own micro-climate. Also, it seems like no one knew Freddie Prinze Jr had Latino heritage so that’s a surprise to us all. I don’t recommend watching this but, have to admit, the PA woman was wonderful.

I was a bit nervous going into this book because having seen Bob Mortimer on Would I Lie To You, I wasn’t sure how full of fanciful stories this was going to be, with little reality. But actually the author upfront says it’s 90% true and the areas where there are some fibs are highlighted. And that being the case, it’s a really great memoir. I loved how it was structured, jumping back and forth in time between Bob discovering his heart problem and then the recovery from open heart surgery, to working through the details of his early life, his time as a solicitor, and meeting Jim Moir and becoming Vic and Bob.

As a vehicle for Bill Murray’s best darkly comic grumpiness, this is perfect. As a movie that’s supposed to be a take on A Christmas Carol, it’s really not great. Firstly it makes no sense why the woman would have fallen for Bill, stayed with him, and actively wanted to get back together with him before even his redemption journey started. I call it a redemption journey but he really doesn’t seem to be learning any lessons, remaining pretty miserable and dour the whole way through until suddenly BANG he’s all better with a big speech on TV.

It’s been a while since I read a Jessica Daniel book and it took me a minute to get back into the world again. If I’m honest, I could only remember the huge elements of the series so far, not all of the details, but as always with a book like this, anything important was given a timely reminder where it impacted on the current story. It felt a little bit like this book was missing a huge central crime, there were a few ongoing cases of course, but that’s because it was more about what was going on behind the scenes.

Back from Blackpool and in the ballroom we know and love, this is a regular dancing week before we hit another theme next week - Musicals week! Sadly Kym couldn’t perform today due to testing positive for Covid, so she technically gets a free pass to next week and at this stage in the competition, I really think that’s a huge advantage! Nevertheless, we still had six glorious couples dancing (oof it’s getting empty at the bottom of those stairs, isn’t it?) and this is how I thought they got on in week ten.

This week, the final episode of Andor streamed on Disney+ bringing to a close a 12 episode season that is one of the best Star Wars creations since Rogue One (not counting Baby Yoda, obviously). Whilst I have my obsession with the Mandalorian firmly in mind, I have to admit that the quality of this series of Andor really shone through from start to finish. Okay, not quite the start, I did already mention that the first couple of episodes were slow, slow, slow. But since then it has only gone from strength to strength.

I had honestly not even heard of Alan Jackson until he was honoured at one of the country award shows this year, and figured if he was such a classic country artist, it was worth giving him a listen. I was a bit nervous because, you know, it’s proper old school country and that isn’t always my cup of tea - I’m more of a modern country girl. But, actually, it was really good. It was old school but it wasn’t bad, very listenable and just a nice, solid album.

I really liked this album. I don’t know if I was expecting great things particularly but it came as a nice surprise. It’s that kind of grown up pop that is really easy to listen to, but without being boring. It has some strong melodies that don’t stick in your head particularly but are wonderful to listen to - and nice themes, good lyrics, plenty to like!

There’s nothing new about this movie at all - it is that same old Christmas story told over and over. High powered city girl ends up in the cosy Christmas village and falls in love, fixes everything, etc, etc. It had so many elements of other films with the most obvious comparison to Overboard, but it held its own and wasn’t entirely predictable. It’s probably the best new Christmas film we’ve had for a while (sorry Hudgens).

This is the one that we were aiming for, the reason we rushed through the previous two entries in the franchise. It was good! I would say not as good as the first one, but a lot better than the second. It’s a different thing, because they’re not travelling, the family are stuck at home and everything that goes wrong has to happen there. That gave it Home Alone vibes, particularly when he was bumbling around the loft hurting himself.

Well, this was okay, still fun, but nowhere near as good as the first one. There were some amusing moments but a lot of the chaos seemed a lot more predictable and signposted which took the edge off a bit. And I feel like some of the stories didn’t quite make sense - I’m still not clear on what the thieves plan actually was with the whole kidnapping thing - and how come so many girls found Rusty attractive?

I’m so annoyed we have ended up waiting so long to watch it. This movie is SO GOOD. It was so funny, just utterly hilarious and crucially, without being distasteful - even when dealing with a dead aunt or some genuine terrorism right at the end. It’s fun because none of the characters change or grow, they just endure and somehow still manage to achieve their goal despite everything not quite going in their favour.

As a kid, I tried to read this book so many times, but I never got past the first few pages. I have that image of Roger zig-zagging across the field embedded in my mind, but I had no idea what happened next. This time, I listened to an audiobook version of it and managed to get all the way through - hooray! It didn’t really grab me hugely, reminded me very much of Enid Blyton, although this came first, obviously. I did like how imaginative these kids are, and how they really threw themselves into this island life they created. But the war with the uncle seemed odd to me. Never mind, finally achieved the end of the book, job done!

This was the first novel written by TV bigwig Jed Mercurio, and it’s very different from the other one I read (Ascent). It follows the early days of our protagonist’s career in a hospital, with the very many challenges faced by young doctors - all the pressure from the scheduling, the lack of funding, the difficult patients, and worse than all of these, the colleagues. The main focus of the story is whether our hero should turn whistleblower or not after a number of things go wrong and are covered up. It’s a very difficult read but very well written and the stress and tension just leap off the page.

For the first time in three years, Strictly was back in the Blackpool ballroom with everything that comes with that - echoey vocals, additional dancers, fish and chips, rollercoasters, and everyone talking about how important the seaside town is to the world of ballroom dancing. Even though we’re all a bit cynical about just how much everyone bangs on about Blackpool, it’s still quite exciting to see how much they all love it and how much it means to them.

It was August when I last wrote about Nasa’s Artemis mission and the ongoing delays of launching. Those delays kept on coming but wahey, the rocket finally lifted off this week and the Artemis Orion craft is finally on its way to the moon. Apparently it will be tomorrow when the ship reaches its closest proximity to the moon, 80 miles, before heading into orbit.

Two things happened that made Bread this week’s album. My dad suggested them as a band I hadn’t experienced yet, and then Everything I Own was featured on a TV show and I realised how much I love that song without knowing who the artist was. As soon as I saw it was Bread, the two things clicked into place and thus, time for a 1970s soft-rock album. It was really good, that song stood out, and I was a bit annoyed at the concept of the song Diary - don’t read people’s diaries - but very 70s in the best way, a nice gentle album to get you through the week.

I was really looking forward to this and maybe I should have tempered my expectations a little because, although it’s good, it was a bit of a disappointment. It was like an easy listening album, and only a couple of times I thought the album was going to pick up and start going somewhere, but it never did. There was no huge hit or anything to grab at you, like Twisted or Girlfriend, but it’s still a nice album to listen to and you can’t fault the talent on display.

Traditionally, I don’t let Christmas start until 1st December but this released on Apple TV+ on Friday and it just had to be watched, so this year, Christmas comes early! It was so good, a lot better than I was expecting. I thought it would just be Ryan and Will reliving the story of A Christmas Carol and putting their silly brand of humour in it. But it was a musical with really good songs, it was a twist on the traditional tale, and it was full of heart and humour and a surprising ending. This is definitely one that will be rewatched many years in the future.

The last episode of the latest true crime dramatisation A Friend of the Family aired this week, and I think it brought to a conclusion an incredible series that has really been well constructed from start to finish. The series tells the true life tale of the Broberg family - something that has already been covered in a documentary and a podcast, apparently, I have not consumed either of them, this was all new to me. The first episode opened with an on-camera appearance from Jan Broberg, the protagonist of our story, who was kidnapped twice by the same man. I thought this was a bit odd, it’s always useful to know how much contact and influence the real victims have in any retelling, but this was like a seal of approval.

Obviously I was going to read this as a massive Friends fan, and it was a very interesting memoir. I listened to the audiobook so Matthew Perry was telling his own story and what a difficult time he’s had. It’s unflinchingly honest, this book, so that Perry doesn’t always come across as the hero, sometimes not even a particularly nice person (what is his beef with Keanu, please?) but it’s an important story to share. Addiction is horrible and hard and can affect anyone, no matter how much money or privilege you have. He talks about his early upbringing, with understanding of the events that shaped some of his later problems, but without making excuses. His time on Friends is discussed, particularly the process of getting the role in the first place, how close the group became, and how they supported him through some of the tougher times. And, as the book title suggests, there’s a lot of women coming and going in Perry’s life… including Julia Roberts! Ultimately it’s a difficult read and I maybe wished for more tales from the set, but well-written, well-read and a fresh take on the struggles of addiction.

I had planned to do a quick update halfway through my 30 days of guitar challenge, I’m a couple of days late but let’s do it anyway. It’s really just to note down a few of the things I’ve found over the first half of the month: I was really worried about the tips of my fingers being painful and potentially prohibitive to playing every single day, but the good news is I’m trying to be quite strict on the time I play each day which helps make it more manageable. They do hurt though, don’t get me wrong. Tingly fingertips. I’ve been working through the Yousician lesson plan which is really brilliant. It’s an expensive subscription (Although they have an amazing Black Friday deal on at the mo that I’m gutted to have missed out on but is worth a look if you’re tempted!). The course is so well laid out - chords and fingerpicking, plenty of songs to play within the course or as and when you want to, and… drum roll please… certificates!!

There are a lot of problems with the clothing industry for women - sizing inconsistencies, promotional angles, impact of fast fashion - but one of the biggest issues is the lack of pockets. This isn’t new news, it’s been a vocal complaint from many women for years: where are my pockets? There’s no good reason that suit trousers or jackets or skirts or anything don’t have pockets. Or worse, they have a pretend pocket opening with a sewed up liner. Infuriating.

I know quite a few of the songs from this musical without having actually seen it until now - and what a production to have for a first viewing. The cast were incredible, particularly of course Sutton Foster who absolutely steals the show and dominates every scene and dance number she’s in. Her inter-play with Robert Lindsay was great, although I do think that slightly fake fourth-wall break in Friendship was a bit awkward.

This is my earliest film watched to date, and my first Fred & Ginger, and I really enjoyed it. What a great musical! It’s a bit corny in places, and I really question the logic of someone tap dancing in any kind of apartment or hotel building… but I loved all the mistaken identity stuff, and that everything that happened just went to reinforce her thinking Jerry was the married one. Fun and frothy, and the only downside was how poor the Venice set looked… to my modern eyes, of course.

It’s Blackpool next week, in case you missed one of the hundred references to it in this week’s show. Time to get your drinking games on! Blackpool… DRINK! A fact I heard during the week on It Takes Two was that four of the six couples who have left the show so far have gone out on a Charleston, making it the danger dance of the series so far. Ellie’s on for the Charleston this week - uh oh - and she was first up on the dancefloor. Let’s go!

I don’t know that I would have specifically picked this up but I had it as part of a two-in-one collection including the Mount Everest adventure. That one was a good read, but I didn’t get quite so engaged in this one. I don’t know if it’s just the nature of the challenge being undertaken or what but I really rushed through to get to the end. Clearly this was a hard experience and a real endurance exercise but it sort of read quite slow and boring - because ultimately it’s five guys in a boat just clinging on to get to the other side, rather than the slightly more interesting and varied experience of climbing a mountain. But tick, another book finished.

Duolingo have been rolling out a new format to their free language learning app, with a more structured approach than previously. I’ve been using the app on and off for years, and have loved it, it’s been my go to for language learning. The new path rolled out to me this month, as it did to most others, having been in testing and beta for a while, and the reaction has been… mixed would be polite, negative would be more truthful.

Really good, solid, 80s rock pop. Alone is an absolute belter and of course I’m listening to this album because the song popped up on Strictly Come Dancing at the weekend. What a tune! The rest of the album doesn’t quite stand up to such a high level, but it’s honestly not that far off. It’s just that recognisable rock from the decade of big hair and equally big riffs. Good job.

The film suffers from the same problems as the book - the tone is odd, the sympathies feel misplaced, it’s a very simplistic and historically inaccurate view of the Holocaust. But the film itself is ok - Asa is incredible as the wide-eyed innocent, and that twist ending continues to pack a punch.

This is a good album, nice sounds, very 1975 from start to finish. It’s not going to stick in my mind, particularly, I don’t know that there’s a standout song in there, but as an album to listen to, it’s perfect. The only real complaint is that the title doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in relation to the rest of it. But I’m sure there’s something I’m missing.

After wrapping up the Apple TV+ series based on this work, I sought out the original but it wasn’t available as a digital read, only an audiobook. So I quickly raced through that on Audible Plus - it’s well written and read, detailing the important moments of the journey, but if I’m honest, if I hadn’t have watched the show, I don’t know that it would have grabbed me all that much. Still, good to have the background behind the piece.

The miniseries Black Bird starring Taron Egerton was released back in August and although I heard all the positive reviews and expected it was going to be a good watch, it took a while to get round to it. I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned it but there’s a LOT of good TV out there at the moment, it’s hard to know what to prioritise! But anyway, I’ve finally raced through this series and what a wonder it is to behold.

I love it when green spaces pop up in unusual locations, so was interested in the Castlefield Viaduct green space initiative run by the National Trust. The Manchester viaduct was built in the 1800s and was part of the Industrial Revolution, but has since taken a back seat in priority and was closed in 1969. Now the intention is to make the whole area a spot of green amongst Manchester’s city streets.

This was a much heavier book than I was expecting - and somehow, despite starting with two attempted suicides, it just seems to get darker and darker as the story goes on. Poor Christine seems to be surrounded by people determined to kill themselves, and takes it all upon herself to fix everyone. It was a good read, and I liked the bits with Christine’s family - they were a lot of fun and I would have liked to have more of those - but otherwise it was just left me feeling quite down.

I don’t remember but I think this was a free book of the week on Apple Books, so I didn’t have a lot invested in it - but it really grabbed me. It was that kind of gentle rom-com read, where an outsider heads back to the remote village they came from and has to reconnect with their roots and with the people they left behind. I wasn’t expecting the bridge situation which heightened the claustrophic feel, and the whole DNA part was a surprise. It was a wonderful cast of characters and the start of a lengthy series, so I’m glad to have read it!