I watched this film a while back and knowing the book was written by C. S. Forester of most excellent Hornblower fame, I have had this on my to read pile for too long. It’s so good. Just like the film, I was caught up in the tension of the piece, and even though I didn’t understand all of the intricate, well-researched details, you can’t help but be swept up in the misery and cold, the state of high alert, the danger. It’s so well done, and although there’s not a lot of room for character development, it’s still a really good story.

Strictly went back to normal this week, no theme, just songs and dances. I was ill, though, so didn’t watch it live. Instead I caught up later, and in a particularly grumpy mood, so who knows if I enjoyed the dances as much as I normally would have with a glass of wine. Claudia seemed to have rocked up in her pyjamas, but they were very snazzy so I was all for it.

I probably needn’t have bothered. The only real good thing about this is the incredible cast. CGM is absolutely stellar as Wednesday, who, of course, is the best thing about it anyway. I didn’t mind the story, and actually really liked Allison Janney’s slightly deranged TV host, but otherwise, the animation style was weird, the rest of the subplots not interesting, and none of it particularly funny. Best left.

I have a battered old physical copy of this novelisation from the film and had actually read it a few times before I’d even seen the film. It was different reading it after enjoying the movie experience, as the characters were so much more vivid and crystallised in my mind. The book is actually a pretty close retelling of the film, aside from dipping into the thoughts that you don’t necessarily get to share on screen, it’s scene for scene the same - so a great read but potentially not adding much to the experience.

I was tucked up under a duvet feeling ill and sorry for myself and figured an old-school musical might lift the blues a bit. I couldn’t have picked a better one for it. I didn’t know anything about this going into it, although turns out I do know the song The Company Way. But it was entertaining from start to finish, funny and a really good jab at the world of business and marketing.

This is a rollercoaster of an album, the bangers are brilliant, obviously. Frozen is a tune and a half, and I’d forgotten about The Power of Good-Bye which is a really great song. And then some of the other stuff is great, not quite living up to that level but really listenable. But then there’s also some elements that really dragged. the Candy Perfume one really felt like it was never going to end. Overall, though, a great album.

I’m going to say straight off that I’m not a fan of the moustache. People can make their own choices but oof. However, while listening to the album, I can’t see the moustache and it was a real hit! Great songs, it’s the middle-of-the-road kind of pop that’s great not boring, and other than Are You Looking for Billy which has some odd choices in, I could listen to it over and over.

I love, love, love Tony Robinson and didn’t realise he’d written an autobiography, so when I saw that he read the audiobook version, I dived right in. There’s so much I didn’t know - he’s had such a varied career, so much on the stage, so much TV, packing so much in before Time Team! And all of it is told with rhythm and style and grace and honesty and wisdom and a self-depracating nature that is the reason he’s a national treasure. He’s not perfect, but who is? Even the political chapters were told so well I loved it all.

Saw this film, ages and ages ago, so was interested in the source material. It’s interesting because there’s a character who is plugged into a virtual world, and at one point that avatar plugs into a robot and controls that too. It’s layers upon layers of fantasy and yet it’s so well written, it works. I didn’t know half the references being mentioned so some of it went over my head, but the story is good and the outcome even better. Working as a team for the win!

November has arrived and with it comes the dark nights, cold weather and general feeling that hibernation would be the right choice for any sensible person. Unfortunately, that’s not really an option, so instead, it’s time to come up with another 30 day challenge to get me through the month. This time? Guitar! Hooray! This has been on the list since I first started thinking about doing many thirty day challenges, but there was a small problem - up until recently, I didn’t have access to a guitar. But now I do! It’s not super fancy or anything, but a basic acoustic guitar and a Yousician subscription should get me through the next thirty days.

I whizzed through this book, I wasn’t totally sure I was going to finish it but something kept me reading to the end. Ultimately there were three friends and we’re looking at when they first met as teenagers, to where they are now in middle-age and then, of course, everything that happened in between. They weren’t particularly sympathetic characters but enough to get to the end of hte book and find out what went down between them all.

I wasn’t sure how October’s 30 day challenge was going to go - learning sign language with this online course. The guidance suggests really taking your time so I didn’t want to rush through and set artificial deadlines when all I really wanted to do was explore the language. However, I was at a massive advantage being able to fingerspell already, so it became an achievable goal to get through the whole course in the month.

We’re not quite back to normal with Strictly yet, after last week’s slightly bizarre and trying-too-hard 100 year birthday theme, this time it’s the more traditional Halloween. The costume, hair and make up teams really pulled out all the stops for this, it was clear as soon as the couples started descending the stairs. And the judges! They all looked incredible too, even if Anton spent most of the show doing battle with his curly wig.

I had high hopes for this because, you know, George and Julia, and it lived up to the hype! A solid rom-com, funny and with a good story and a happy ending. What I wasn’t expecting was for Billie Lourd to steal the show, but if I’d known she was in it I probably would have expected that too.

One of the innovations Apple Fitness+ feature is artist spotlight workouts, where all the music on the workout playlist are from one specific artist, giving you a chance to really celebrate with your favourite artists or get into the groove with a specific vibe. If I’m honest, I’ve not been a big fan of these, but I don’t have a good reason for that. Some of the featured artists haven’t necessarily been my cup of tea, but there have been a couple I’ve liked and just not really been bothered about.

I thought I only new Last Nite off this album, a song that I really love. But as I listened through I also recognised Someday. I really enjoyed the album, it takes that rock vibe through from start to finish. The only downside is that some of it was less memorable than the standout song, Last Nite, so although I liked listening, I’m not sure any of it is going to stick with me. Still, a successful album overall.

I’m always keen to hear what direction Taylor has taken on her next album and this one is another change of form. The previous two albums were very gentle, folksy, and slow. Charming but kinda dull. I was worried an album called Midnights based on late night music musings might be the same, but it wasn’t. This was a turn back towards the pop stylings of 1989, although still retaining the more gentle feel. It was a good album, nice to listen to, a fun return from TayTay. The only downside was that there are no bangers on there at all, no massive huge potential hit. To me, anyway.

Last time I wrote about The Sims, I had just discovered my purchase of The Sims 4 and dived into the game, a little late to the party as always. I finished off that post saying ‘The trick now is to not let it take over my life while I see what it’s all about.’ I think I finally managed to get a good Sim balance in my life - it’s not an addiction that sucks up too many hours, but I do check in on the game regularly and get a quick fix of micro-managing those little idiots.

With Doctor Who in the news recently following the excellent farewell to Jodie Whittaker’s iteration of the character, it wasn’t a surprise when Disney+ announced they would be the home of the show in the US, rather than BBC America. It’s a big streaming platform and the connection makes some sense. I wasn’t expecting further details to emerge of this deal which turns out to be more than just a place to park the existing show.

It’s been a while since I purposely sat down and watched an episode of Doctor Who live as it aired on TV, but the combination of Jodie Whittaker’s last episode and the promise of centenary celebrations from the BBC made me think this was one to make the effort for. And it turns out, it really was. A ninety minute special, the show was packed full of great story and wonderful characters and did, ultimately, culminate in the cliffhanger to usher in the next DW era.

This is one of the original slasher films and was a really early entrant in that terrifying horror genre, so it has to be given the respect it deserves. There are moments of genius in there, great tension racking up and some scary deaths without actually showing anything too graphic or gory. Somehow upsetting despite the actual visuals being quite tame. However, it does take a long time to get going, and then the last half hour is really just a riotous noise that I couldn’t wait to be over. So I can appreciate this film’s cult status but I didn’t really like it much myself.

I was expecting this to be a really poor sequel and sure, by this time, the movies are Not Good. But they are fun horror films and this one is up there with the previous but for different reasons. The relationship between the main two characters grows gradually which gives you a really good basis for the rest of the adventures. The deaths are pretty gruesome, that tanning bed scene is horrific, but quite fun the way it cuts to the coffins.

I’ve seen this before but this is a pretty good sequel - the initial highway accident has stayed with me a long time after I originally watched it. I like how it connects with the first film, how all the characters had close calls with the original characters, and I like Clear’s story and how she comes back into it. I don’t fully understand the twist in the story this time, as in, Death is going in reverse order this time, apparently, but no one really says why? Never mind though, a good second film and a fun ending.

There’s been a growing feeling of dissent amongst Great British Bake Off viewers for a few years now - the challenges are getting too hard, we want to go back to basics, there’s nothing wrong with 12 different takes on a basic sponge cake. This year it seems to have hit harder than ever, wherever I look I see complaints about how hard the show is this year. So I thought I’d add my thoughts to them too.

I like some of Simon Brett’s radio work so I was interested in what his novel writing was going to be like. The cosy little murder mystery genre is huge at the moment so this fit the mood perfectly. A widow heads to an old people’s hotel and solves quite a few crimes along the way, but mostly a murder. The characters were well done, gradually revealing themselves as the story unfolded, and the backstory to Mrs Pargeter is really intriguing and I hope in the subsequent books we get to learn more.

I really like this film. I’ve seen it before and previously found it really gruesome - I guess watching a lot of more grim TV recently has made me enured to it because it wasn’t too bad. I think it’s a clever premise, even if it doesn’t all stack up 100%, and it makes for some edge-of-your-seat moments, even when you know what’s coming! I wanted to watch this one to be able to watch the next couple, but I’m glad I got to revisit this… it must be the strongest in the series.

In September, I wrote about the latest updates that iOS 16 brought to the Apple Books app, in particular a consternation about the stupid cross in the corner ruining the reading experience. Well, thank goodness, they’ve fixed it. This week saw a raft of updates to various devices, and as ever, I’m grateful to have a nerd in the house to make sure everything is up to date as and when it’s needed.

The animation of this film is absolutely gorgeous, it’s so well done, beautiful to look at. Every scene is basically a work of art. The voice acting is great too, featuring some of the best voices in the business, and particularly Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. Unfortunately I think the story lets it down a bit. It’s quite drawn out, takes a long time to get going and get interesting, and ultimately feels quite rushed at the end. Not perfect but worth a look.

I’m not really happy about the setup for this film, I think it’s a pretty terrible thing the husband does to the wife and makes me lose a significant amount of sympathy for him. However, I do like the slow burn of the piece after that - the kid gradually showing signs of devilry and eventually it all getting darker and darker until the surprising ending with that creepy smile. It wasn’t really as full of horror as I thought, although that decapitation was pretty grim. But still a really good movie.

Throughout the Famous Five series, one of the features has been how much food they eat. Blyton really leans into it this time as they end up on holiday staying with a farmer’s wife who cooks literally everything in sight and wants to feed them up as much as possible. Meanwhile there’s an adventure to be had - they’re in Cornwall so naturally it includes caves and smugglers and all that jazz. Plus a new friend called Yan.

This is a much calmer and slower paced horror movie than the previous one I watched - nothing too hard on the special effects, other than the white eyes, and it’s more of a thoughtful piece than an all out horror. It did get a bit more adventurous towards the end, and a bit sillier, but ultimately it was a good story with some incredible actors. Why not?

We’ve got a bonus theme week this time round with the BBC celebrating 100 years and Strictly jumping right into the fun. When the list of songs and dances were revealed, it was quite eye-opening. Our stars would be dancing to a variety of BBC theme tunes and related songs and some of them looked like they would be more successful than others. I couldn’t see how the Grange Hill theme tune was going to work, and I couldn’t remember that Line of Duty had a theme tune anyway - but as always, judgement had to be withheld until we’d seen the performances on the dancefloor.

This is the movie that launched Sam Raimi’s career, and it got plenty of mentions in the behind the scenes of the recent Dr Strange - there were lots of references to this film in that one, particularly as it had taken a darker turn. With it being Halloween this week, and as Evil Dead was free on iPlayer, I figured I’d give it a watch.

Off on another adventure, this time the Five are camping in a field that also happens to have a travelling circus nearby. At first they’re not friends but the return of Jo who we met in a previous book softens them, and together they manage to rescue a scientist who has been kidnapped and is being held prisoner in the crumbling ruins of a castle. As you do. Fun, but pretty standard at this point for the group.

While dreaming up ideas for potential 30 day challenges, I pondered whether thirty days of Lego would be something that could work. I love the sets they do featuring elements from popular culture - a lot of fun and nostalgia all in a handful of plastic bricks. It didn’t take long to drop the idea because have you seen how expensive these sets are? Maybe one day in the future but for now, I had to settle for just browsing the online store.

If you’re looking to dip right back into the 70s, then this is the album for you. It’s stacked full of strong 70s beats, a couple of those old songs that you know and love and otherwise just fun times. I don’t think I’d really understood what Earth, Wind & Fire were or that they were behind these songs - Boogie Wonderland is such a long-standing classic, how did I not know who the artist was? But lesson learned and another album ticked off the list.

This is a really good album from Willow, packed full of that pop rock angst that she does so well. The titles are a bit weird, but otherwise, it’s great. The only problem with it is it’s not as good as the last one, Lately I Feel Everything, which was outstanding. If that one didn’t exist, this would be fantastic, but as it is, it’s just living in the shadow of its predecessor. A shame but still totally listenable and great.

I wrote about Welcome to Wrexham after the first few episodes, gushing with love and admiration at a great series - particularly one about football. That all stands up now that the series has completed, it only served to get better and better. The stakes got higher, the emotional rollercoaster more incredible, and we cheered and cried along with everyone involved. Fantastic. It’s coming back for a series two and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Dipping into the next three adventures of the Famous Five, and this one saw them go for a long hike… although obviously that turned into not so much walking and more of an adventure. This time they were following a riddle that was inadvertently given to them - something of a treasure hunt - and I liked that aspect of it, unravelling the clues and determined to make it work. It’s so interesting how the characters develop in each book, this time the focus seemed to be on Julian who was very bolshy and almost rude this time out - standing up for their rights and not taking any nonsense from what could be quite scary strangers. Curious what their next adventure might be!

This is just an incredible book from start to finish. I’ve seen the film already and loved it, so was keen to read the source material and it’s even better. It’s wonderful writing, witty and insightful, full of honesty and humour and thoughtfulness and longing, and alongside all that it’s telling a fantastic story. I couldn’t necessarily relate to Johanna/Dolly but it didn’t matter because it was so well told that I was there for every moment of the journey. Wonderful.

We need to talk about Bad Sisters. This Apple TV+ show had all the hallmarks of being a promising comedy-drama, coming from the creative mind of Sharon Horgan and being firmly based in and around Dublin. The first episode was intriguing and instantly had me hooked and the show honestly just got better and better until an extremely satisfying and cathartic finale.

It felt like a bit of a comedown this week after the fun and games of movie week, but there were lots of tunes to behold this week and some great outfits… and also Ellie dressed like a bizarre Little Bo Peep. But I’m getting ahead of myself. During the intro, Anton brought out his NTA award for judging - Craig must be fuming, the guy’s only been doing it for about six months!

This was a good book, very moving and emotional in places. I do think the pacing of it was a bit weird, sometimes it felt like time was just dragging, other times everything seemed to be happening at once. It was kind of predictable but not in a bad way - the characters were acting exactly as you’d expect them to which ultimately made for an interesting romantic drama.

If the weather is anything to go by, we’re fully into autumn now. We’re either having those glorious days where the sun is shining but the air is brisk, or it’s absolutely hammering it down giving the earth some much needed moisture. I’m seeing plenty of info out there about things you can still do in your garden, but I have to admit I’ve lost a bit of steam this year.

I guess I just have to come to the conclusion that James isn’t my cup of tea. I like a couple of the main songs but as a whole, I can take or leave the albums. James was the choice this week after the drummer’s daughter appeared on Welcome to Wrexham - very random connection there. So good to tick this one off the list and all I can do now is prepare for many future disagreements with Mr C over the band.

Yay for Paul and Jacqui, they always seem to deliver. Great tunes, insightful lyrics and the great variations between upbeat and more thoughtful tunes. Still is just beautiful. However, I’m really not sure what’s goign on with Baby It’s Cold Inside - taking that Christmas song but making it not Christmassy and… what instead? Not sure. But ultimately the album as a whole is a winner so thanks team!

I had mixed feelings going into this series - I was curious how they would give She-Hulk a believable origin story in a short time, and somehow keep that alongside the legal drama that it was promised to be. However, it looked like it was going to be fun and Tatiana Maslany is absolutely outstanding so I knew whatever it did turn out to be we could at least trust in her.

I’ve been wanting to read this for a while and I’m glad I finally got round to it. Bella tells the story of how she discovered running after a painful divorce and found it really helped with her anxiety and other mental health struggles. This is an unflinchingly honest look at how difficult and far-reaching mental health issues can be, and how there’s no one solution fits all. But for Bella, and for others that she talks to throughout the book, it was running that did it. This is a great, and important read. I felt it was a little bit repetitious in places, but I think it will be unfailingly useful for others going through the same thing. Just to know you’re not alone is the first step on a difficult journey and Bella’s done a brilliant job here of reaching out a hand.

The latest Star Wars TV offering, Andor, reached its sixth episode this week on Disney+, and that’s the halfway point of the series. It seems like a good time to take a moment and review what we’ve seen so far because, boy oh boy, it’s been a rollercoaster of a ride. Firstly, I totally understand why three episodes were released at once in the first week… because the first two were dull, dull, dull. If it wasn’t Star Wars and the lovely Diego Luna, I don’t think I’d have carried on watching. I’m not sure if they just took too long in the world-building, or if the characters just weren’t that interesting, but it wasn’t until Cassian had left the planet and started on his current adventure that things picked up. And let me tell you, it’s a significant fail to make the fantastic Fiona Shaw a weak link in a show.

True to my word, after reading the biography of Agatha Christie by Lucy Worsley, I dipped straight into the author’s back catalogue, starting with this first book featuring everyone’s favourite Belgian detective, Poirot. I really enjoyed the mystery, the cast of characters are set up with all of them being slightly suspicious, and the clues and twists are thrown at us until the answer is revealed. Very good.