There’s a lot to like in this book, the story of a friendship tested many years ago and efforts now to bring it back together. The characters are good, the friendship described well, the setting is vivid and the drama off the scale. Tension is present throughout, and for that part, it’s good. But it does feel long, it drags in places, and very repetitive - the scenery, I get it, in some way’s it has changed a lot, in others it’s the same. I’m glad I read it but I’m also quite glad to have put it away now.
The second part of my winter catchup, and let’s be real, we need to get this out the way so I can start talking about the TV shows I’ve watched recently - there has been some good stuff. But as a quick recap of some of last year’s viewings, here are eight shows that caught my eye.
Yay for ABBA! This is a fun album, it feels a bit more eclectic than you might usually expect from this pop group. The boys get more of a turn singing, and the topics range from the usual love songs but also an ode to King Kong after seeing him on TV, and a treatise on respecting those who go out adventuring and exploring. I wasn’t so keen on Suzy-Hang-Around, it was a bit mean, but otherwise, this is a lot of fun. And we haven’t even mentioned Waterloo yet!
I was, if I’m honest, a bit disappointed by this. It’s just some pretty bland, generic pop. It’s not bad, there’s nothing to hate about it, but it doesn’t have whatever it was that made Blue special, that little bit of swagger that made them cool in the 90s. It was fine, but I wouldn’t particularly recommend it.
I’ve had this in my collection to read for a long time but this year I’m trying to dive in and clear some of the backlog. This is a Grisham law story but aimed at a younger audience - I still really enjoyed it. It’s got a great balance of technical law but explained for that youthful audience so it becomes really easy to read and to follow the angst this young, slightly precocious but quite endearing, boy is going through. A cracking read and I’d be keen to read more.
I don’t really know what to say in this review, because it’s just more of the same excellent historical writing from Bernard Cornwell. We’re so far into this series that our heroes are embedded, we know how they’re going to react to things, and all it needs is outside influence and forces beyond their control to create a gripping narrative. As always, the specific details and character names get muddled in my head but somehow I still really enjoy the read and look forward to the next one. It feels like we’re building towards something big.
I’ve drifted far away from podcasts over the last few years, having previously been mildly obsessed with the format. I’m rectifying that by resurrecting this feature, and my first podcast for 2026 is Get a Grip. The show is a conversation between two good friends, covering recent pop culture news, things happening in their careers and personal lives, and new ways to look after yourself.
Angela Scanlon and Vicky Pattison are done being told to pipe down, calm down… or “get a grip.” Instead, they’ve flipped the script – Get A Grip is their unapologetic podcast group chat where nothing’s off-limits. From the messy realities of womanhood to celeb gossip, wild headlines and the everyday dramas we’re all muddling through, Angela and Vicky are loud, proud and completely unfiltered. Every week, they’re laughing, oversharing and getting real, while dragging you, their beloved Gagglers, right into the chaos.
I was a bit nervous about this one, if I’m being honest, because the last two Knives Out films have been brilliant, how long can this run last? And this one incorporating themes around religion and faith, and priests and resurrection… not really my cup of tea. But of course, it was fantastic. Yes, it was fully rooted in religion and belief but it was all done so well, so respectfully for both sides. Josh O’Connor was outstanding as the young, modern priest troubled from start to finish but hauled into this murder investigation with the ever-brilliant Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc.
I’m gonna be honest, this was the start of a new year so I just looked at the list of albums I’ve got hanging around and picked the top one. Thankfully, it was good! I don’t know what I was expecting really, but it was a lot more rock than I’d imagined. What’s Up? is such a classic, I honestly think it would be in the debate for best song ever for me, so there’s no chance the rest of the album could live up to it, but it was still a good listen. Odd, different to what I’d expected, but great music from talented women.
It became apparent towards the very end of last year, that I’d missed something in the crazy success of Alex Warren. He rocked up at Capital’s Jingle Bell Ball this year and I realised it was the same song that had been on Strictly earlier in the year and that it was HUGE. So, I started listening to this album and at first I was worried - it was great, soaring choruses, huge tunes, what if this should have been in my top ten list? The main song, Ordinary, is a banger, but once that’s out the way, it starts to feel a bit samey. The songs are all great, there’s nothing wrong with them, but it’s on and on for a full hour. I don’t completely understand the decision of making an album and then sticking the EP on the end as well. So it’s great, but it’s a lot.
The drama! We’ve got a bit of a continuation from the previous book, with Ryan struggling to balance his happy family life with what could be a national conspiracy. I thought at one point this might lean in to the Da Vinci Code style of puzzles and codes to unravel and solve the mystery, but it only did a couple of those and they weren’t really the heart of the story. I’m slightly concerned about how much trouble our favourite characters get into, at some point this isn’t going to end well. But thankfully this time, things worked out okay!
Whilst we are waiting endlessly for the new Tomb Raider games to arrive (finally they are announced, at least!) there’s been the upcoming Amazon MGM TV series to focus on instead. Previously we only knew that there was going to be such a show and that Sophie Turner was playing the lead role. I find Sophie a bit hit and miss, but she was excellent in Joan so I hold out hope for another good strong performance.
I’m going to try and be more prompt with my musings on TV consumables, given that the last roundup I did was a summer catchup in July. Given that we’re in the situation we’re in, however, I thought a winter round up to finish off 2025 would be appropriate, before my new year’s resolution of writing more often takes effect. With that in mind, here are eight programmes that I thought were worth mentioning.
I get annoyed at myself for falling for celebrity names trying their hand at writing a novel, but I was a little bit sucked in to Clare Balding’s debut. It’s not a bad piece at all, the writing is very careful, but engaging nonetheless. The story isn’t exactly a stretch - farming, horse racing, LGBTQ+, etc. The characters are fun though and you’re rooting for good things to happen to good people, so it’s worth a look.
This year’s Taskmaster New Year Treat was a two-parter, the first time the festive special has been extended from one hour, and both parts were absolutely brilliant. The New Year episodes tend to feature a cast that aren’t comedians, and this time we had Big Zuu, Jill Scott, Sam Ryder, Suzie Dent and Rose Ayling-Ellis - a dream cast.
This is the time of year when people are making resolutions and trying to revolutionise their lives - myself included - but that can be overwhelming and easily ditched once January really kicks in. One habit that could be useful is to use Finch, a self-care app that has an adorable and gamified approach to keeping you on track.
For a few years now, the goal has been to watch 100 movies during the year, with a nice mix of old and new along the way. Last year, we just scraped across the line with The Holdovers being the 100th movie in the last few days of December. The trouble is, whilst the films are still out there and calling out to be watched, streaming television has been SO good recently that it’s hard to balance both! However, I would like to give films a fair go in 2026, and here are five upcoming releases I’m looking forward to.
This is another movie that we’ve been trying to fit in around Christmas because it’s sort of set around Christmas/New Year, but also fitting the right mood because it’s not exactly a festive feast. We finally managed it this year and I’m glad to kick off the year with this as the first film. It’s a great musical, although I’m not a fan of all the elements of it (I can live without the cow over the moon nonsense). I wasn’t sure about all the changes between this and the stage show, they cut quite a lot of mentions of Christmas, and a whole song here and there. And some of the sung through dialogue became conversation, but that worked better than I thought it might. It’s a bit clunky, and the pacing is hard because the first half is joy and love and the second half is emotion and death, but ultimately it’s a great journey.
Last month, Apple released an excellent ad that showcased the accessibility features that can give more people the opportunity to experience college and student life (specifically in America, but obviously everywhere). I was going to blog about this at the time, but had forgotten until it was mentioned on The Last Leg of the Year on New Year’s Eve.
As host Adam Mills said:
Yes, it was self-serving, yes they were bigging themselves up, and yes they timed it for International Day of People with Disabilities. But by crikey, they made a powerful message.
In December, we visited Warwick Castle to see their light trail. It was spectacular, although some of the organisation around the site could have been better. But kicking things off with a purple castle is a great way to entice me in.
This is a fantastic short book documenting the year that saw Alex James reform with Blur for some huge gigs and a global tour, alongside putting on the annual Feastival at his farm, running said farm, and looking after a sizable family. It’s told so well, entirely engagingly, with great humour but also a knack for bringing you into the situation - whether that is euphoria, or exhaustion, or quite a lot of hangovers, it sounds like. I really enjoyed reading this and actually learnt quite a lot about James and Blur despite how short it is.
Absolutely loved this. The timing of its availability means we have been waiting so long to watch it that the anticipation was quite high - thankfully it delivered. I wasn’t sure it was going to, with the opening titles that were so very 70s, and quite a slow start. But it grows on you and gradually gets warmer and more heart-warming, even as these characters are opening up about their difficult lives. At the end, that small handshake between the lead characters was so much bigger than some of the huge professions of love and hugs that other Christmas movies finish with. It was wonderful.
This year I really reigned myself in and clamped down on book purchases so that finally, FINALLY, I have made some progress on the to read book pile. I’m still embarrassed by the number of books that are on that list, but we’ll get there. Meanwhile, I supplemented those books with digital tomes from the library, and really managed to get through a lot of books this year. However, this is a selection of the best of the best from 2025.
I loved this book, in part because it has a meta feel to it - the story about characters going back to a small town and falling in with the local crowd whilst finding romance is such a trope that everyone within the book is well aware of that and is either leaning in to it or actively trying to avoid it. The characters are great, the situations intriguing, the writing engaging and the drama non-stop. I loved it.
2025 was the 10th year of On the Record, my album adventure that involves listening to a variety of albums throughout the year to widen my musical taste and knowledge. It’s amazing to look back and think about how this little project started and what it has turned into, a pillar of my weekly routine with many highs and lows and the occasional unlistenable record.
I was nervous heading into the first episode of Apple’s hit show Pluribus, because the title doesn’t give much away and the poster - featuring Rhea Seehorn screaming on a vivid yellow background - was a little offputting. But of course I needn’t have worried, Apple TV has scored another success with a quality programme that came to an end this past week.
Another year of listening to old and new albums is complete and I’ve loved the adventure this year. It felt like things got off to a bit of a slow start but gradually things picked up and I ended up with a short list for best albums of the year of 13. The worst part of the year is having to narrow that down to five, but the debate has been lively this year and I think I’ve come to a good conclusion. Interestingly, these five were all listened to in the last couple of months, so things really did pick up in the latter half of 2025.
This year I achieved the impossible - getting the Apple Watch Monthly Activity Challenge badge every month for the full year!
This is an achievement not so much because of getting the badge each month, although that does deserve a big pat on the back. These badges vary month on month so can be anything from reaching a certain number of exercise minutes each day, or walking a certain number of kilometres in the month. The variety keeps it interesting and motivating, and some are much harder than others!
This is a fun book, based very much on the film The Holiday - referenced right at the start. Rather than two people swapping Christmasses, however, this time we have three. That did make it quite confusing when switching between them - it might have helped to have the location as part of the chapter headers rather than just the character name, because it wasn’t until very near the end that I could actually tell them apart. But still, contrived as it might be that they all find their own version of romance, I still really enjoyed it.
The blanket is finally finished! Let’s not dwell on the fact that it has taken more than a year to get to this point, but it’s done, and it’s lovely.
The photo doesn’t really give a sense of the scale of the blanket, it’s about 1.1m wide and long. I think I went a couple of stripes longer than the pattern suggested, but it’s turned out really well. A big thanks to my mother too, who instructed me on the best way to weave in all the ends, and then made sure I sat there until it was done.
It’s become a bit of a tradition now that each Christmas I set about working on a music playlist to replace some of the more traditional ones on radio and streaming services. I get slightly annoyed with them because they either feature songs that are clearly not Christmassy (slowed down pop tunes for festive adverts should not be there!) or they repeat the same classic tunes over and over.
Of course it’s not Christmas without a Sarah Morgan book. This latest one features various members of the same family heading home for Christmas, and all dealing with their own various dramas - family issues, falling in and out of love, all that you’d come to expect. I did feel like there was a lot of preamble and the good stuff didn’t really happen until the final third, but still, a good cosy read.
Having enjoyed Chapter One by the author, I thought I’d have a look at his thriller series with DCI Matilda Darke. It was pretty traditional - troubled detective wrestling with a significant case - but I still enjoyed it. It was interesting how the cold case and the current case mixed together and ended up being vital to each other. I’ll read some more in this series, I reckon.
Judge me all you want, but I really enjoyed this film. It’s got all those festive Hallmark tropes - it’s cheap, the script is clunky, and the chemistry is questionable. But I loved the time travel aspect of it, and how it all worked itself out, it was fun. You do have to question how quickly the guy seemed to accept everything in the modern world, I know he’s an engineer but a microwave must be mind-bending for someone where barely electricity exists. Cheap and cheerful, warm and cosy, I recommend this one.
We tried to watch this a while back and opted to pause because it looked like it was Christmassy. Turns out, it’s really not a Christmas movie at all… although, I think it suits this time of year more than summer, so it’s worked out okay really. The first half an hour is really slow, I was bored, I’m not going to lie. It’s so male-focused and none of these characters are particularly sympathetic, although there is some great acting going on.
For the past couple of years, the Strictly final has meant basically two to three hours of crying. I wasn’t expecting it this year, because whilst I love the remaining couples, none of them had that emotional impact for me. And yes, we’re saying goodbye to Tess and Claudia but they’ve always said it’s about the couples not them, so that won’t be too bad either, will it?
It’s been a whole year since I wrote anything about Mischief Theatre, but I recently got to see their festive stage show Christmas Carol Goes Wrong and it was spectacular. I’d previously only seen the BBC version, an hour long special which features the main story of Scrooge and the ghosts, and of course, plenty of things going wrong.
I love Jonathan Creek, the BBC mystery series from the late 90s, early 2000s. Alan Davies in that duffle coat, mooching about a windmill, using his big brain to solve seemingly impossible crimes. Wonderful. The earlier episodes are perfect, and despite knowing whodunit, I get quite a lot of comfort from rewatching them. The show went downhill a bit towards the end, but still, lots to love.
This was another good Grace story, a bit lengthy in places and the pacing wasn’t perfect, but overall it was interesting. The dipping back and forth in time, particularly as one of the timelines was around the September 11th attacks in New York added rather than confused, and I enjoyed seeing how it all unwound itself. And that twist, right at the very end, it made my jaw actually drop!
This is, objectively, a bad Christmas movie - not really much going on in terms of plot, lots of weird coincidences and that faux romance that is quite hard to believe. But, at the same time, I really enjoyed Chad Michael Murray’s performance in this, it was all over the place, but also quite cute. The script lets all the actors down on many occasions, but he, at least, does a watchable performance with it.
I was really keen to watch this having enjoyed the series enormously. It was very confusing right from the start, given that it takes place before the events of the series finale, and with Angie alive and kicking again. But also, it just wasn’t very good. Not very much happened, and all the characters were just sniping at each other for an hour, which wasn’t exactly entertaining to watch. It didn’t seem to have the heart or the gentle jokes or anything that the series excelled at. I feel like we should have just stuck with the three series and left it there.
I always find it very difficult to review albums like this. Stevie Wonder is a legend, no question. You can tell he’s worked some magic when so many of the songs are covered or sampled and go on to become classics in their second life as well. This album features on so many best of lists that it felt fitting to finish the year on it. The good stuff is great. Fantastic songs, wonderful music and great soul. But it’s long. Even for a double album, it feels really long. And sometimes it gets really self indulgent.
I enjoyed this. My Suede knowledge has been building over the past year or so, with our rewatches of 90s Top of the Pops episodes, so it’s interesting to see them fast-forwarded and releasing new music. It’s good! It doesn’t feel like a retro band hopping on the nostalgia bandwagon, it actually feels like new music and a new perspective. I’d say there wasn’t any songs that leapt out and grabbed me, no potential classics, but as a whole, it’s a really good listen.
For a brief minute once I’d started this, I almost gave it up - it was so brash, so in your face, quite overwhelming. But I’m glad I stuck with it because although it took a moment to settle in with these characters, once I had, it was brilliant. So relatable, such a complex family with brittle and evolving relationships… all plunged together for a Christmas they’ll never forget. Loved it.
This was a weird movie. The anti-news rhetoric was not subtle and really got quite old, the guy’s just doing his job for goodness’ sake. The two leads were fine but it didn’t seem like they had a spark to end up together particularly. The kid was great, but some of the things he was allowed to get up to didn’t seem that appropriate. I don’t know, it was watchable, and it steered clear of some of the generic Hallmark movie tropes but it wasn’t great.
I can see the idea behind this film and I like it, it’s quite creative - really just a natural family getting together and us watching the various things they get up to. But we didn’t really have any chance to connect with the people, I didn’t know who I was looking at at any given moment (only Maria Dizzia because I know her from other things), and it was all just a bit dull.
Overall, this is a fun Christmas movie, enjoyable to watch and with plenty of heart and a good story. Lots of fun elements - fish out of water, the guy that does every job in the town, the wonderful Derek Jacobi stealing the show, and a panto at the end. It’s not without problems though. Rebel Wilson is miscast in this from the get-go. The accent is terrible and she’s not believable as a love interest for either Danny Dyer or Keifer Sutherland. I like her but this is not it.
I was curious about this film because I didn’t realise Luke Goss was an actor (turns out he’s done a few things) and what on earth is he doing in a film with Joan Collins? The trailer didn’t look great but I gave it a go… and couldn’t get past twenty minutes. It’s so bad! Lots of films start with someone down on their luck but this was so miserable and cheap looking and hard to engage with, I honestly couldn’t wait to switch it off.
This probably isn’t a movie I would have reached for if it wasn’t a holiday movie, because I’m not mad about dogs particularly. Actually, it was pretty good, very funny, an excellent rom-com which is always a nice surprise in the current movie climate. The only real problem with it is that it’s not all that Christmassy… they go on holiday to a Florida beach and so most of the film is on the beach and in the sunshine. There’s a bit of festive fun at the start and end though, so it’s worth a watch at this time of year, for sure. Also, Charlie Cox is so adorable.
