I picked this up in a sale and it obviously only took ten minutes to read but it was so familiar and lovely and warm. Oddly, this meant more to me than the first one did, I must have read this more often. I felt like Enid had been around forever, but apparently not. And the image of Mildred floating into the hall on the broom to escape the cupboard was so clear in my mind…

Okay, so I can just about remember the first one of these from a couple of years ago, and that was a fun Christmas movie. At first this one seemed like fun as well but it soon grew to be a confusing mess of many strands, although somehow despite how complicated it was, there wasn’t a lot really going on. Two people had previously fallen out but after spending an hour together they fell back in love. And someone else got kidnapped but then rescued without much drama. Job done.

Another 87th Precinct novel and it follows the familiar patterns of our favourite group of cops investigating crime in the city that never sleeps. There were some interesting structure changes in this one, with direct paragraphs from the gang members. I didn’t care for that so much, they felt quite long and drawn out without giving too much information away. I prefer the dialogues between the cops, or between cops and suspects, as they try and whittle their way towards an answer.

This was a lot better than I’d expected it to be, lovely Sandy running around being slightly hopeless but also getting to the heart of the mystery. I liked the two partners being antagonistic towards each other to start with but gradually growing to respect, if not like, each other.

Looking for something completely different to the disappointing blockbuster of Little Women, we turned to an indie music treat. I really liked this, it was slow and soft with good music and great acting, good connections between the cast. We’ve seen music stories before and stories about people coming home after a disappointing life, and this seemed to merge the two storylines together really well.

Unfortunately, I just didn’t like it. Flipping back and forth and giving away the big plot points within the first five minutes didn’t sit well with me. Also, whilst Saoirse was incredible as always, and Timothy so handsome it’s almost painful, I didn’t feel like the rest gelled. Oh well!

It’s taken a while for me to get to the end of Tehran, the Apple TV espionage thriller based in the Iranian city. Initially, I was watching it week on week as it was released, but I’m no fool. I knew the penultimate episode would have one heck of a cliffhanger, so I opted to save it a week and watch two episodes together. But then, a week became two and other things got in the way and oop, finally it’s nearly Christmas and I need to finish watching Tehran before the jingle bells start.

It had great humour (the restaurant scene was a lot of fun), some amazing fight sequences (could have done without the farm machinery, if I’m honest), and a female sidekick who was impressive rather than irritating. I also liked the recall of various moments repeating themselves… for good or for bad. So not a top notch movie but a lot of fun.

This week the 2021 Grammy nominations were announced and immediately two things stood out to me: firstly, I get very confused by the categories at awards shows and secondly, by far the more important fact, women are having a really good showing this year! For the first time ever, all the nominees for best rock performance are women, and the same can be said for the best country album (sort of - if you see Little Big Town as being fronted by the two women, which I do. To be honest, I see Little Big Town as being fronted by just the dark-haired one, so yea, to me it counts.)

Oof, this is a good album. I don’t quite know why I didn’t do this one when I have previously dipped into Snow Patrol’s back catalogue because it’s stacked full of great singles with lots of amazing work in between. There’s no real filler, and it’s all very moving and emotional.

Kylie’s talent at trying any new genre is amazing, she’s done pop obviously, and more recently country, but now we are firmly in disco territory - if the title of the album doesn’t give you enough of a clue. From start to finish this is an uptempo disco riot, good luck listening to it without so much as tapping your feet.

I do like how the new writers in the Frost series have channelled the feeling of the original set of novels but I’m not totally sure this one lived up to my expectations. It had a great start to the story and a great end, but seemed to get lost along the way in the middle. There’s a lot of waffling around and waiting for things to happen.

Another surprise release from Swifty, and it’s a good one. A great insight into the album, opens up the songs to mean more and is yet more insight into this excellent and ever evolving artist. It was quite comforting under the current conditions but nowhere near as emotional as the Bruce film.

We all know by now that Nora Ephron writes wonderfully with wit and nostalgia, hope and horror in equal measure. This is a short but sweet collection of essays that take a look at Nora’s early work in journalism, dealing with trying to remember people’s names, and how divorce can affect you in very different ways.

Wow, I really loved this book and I have no idea why. I’m vaguely aware of Gilmore Girls and saw Lauren in that Zoey Playlist show recently but otherwise I can’t admit to being a huge fan. But this book was brilliant, effectively a stream of consciousness and a great insight into being in one of the biggest shows of its time.

On the face of it, this is just one of those pretty rubbish but kinda fun comedies, with Kevin Hart running around getting into scrapes and Tiffany Haddish being queen of sass (and I really liked her in this - rundown and sarcastic but with a good, good heart). So you can’t get too involved in the plotting, etc, but even so, it does have some real problems.

I knew a couple of these songs before listening to the album but I think my Lenny Kravitz knowledge was pretty poor. I quite enjoyed it as a collection of songs but I do think it was lacking some cohesion - the styles and genres seemed to jump around quite a lot and you were never quite sure what was coming next.

They’re good songs, catchy and poppy and it does a good job - however, it’s also a bit run-of-the-mill boys getting kinda older and not really wanting to grow up and optimism and all that. Good, but sort of… bemusing. Not really what I expected from McFly.

After perusing the beginners’ guide to Greek legends recently, I thought who better to guide me through the details than Stephen Fry? So I snapped up the audiobook and settled in for the legend to talk to me about legends. And of course he does a great job trying to bring it down to a manageable level. Fry narrates the people and the stories very well, but I have to admit I couldn’t get to the end of it.

I’ve had this book for such a long time tucked away in my Apple Books library and suddenly had a desire to read it. The story follows two points of view, two friends finding their way whilst growing up on the island of Guernsey. It details family issues, love lives, school troubles, and lots more as Renée and Flo at first don’t like each other but gradually find out they are destined to be firm friends.

I mean, we knew exactly what this would be going in to it - a pretty trashy film with Amanda Bynes running around being amusing. I was expecting bad wipes and bad ADR and I got most of that. It didn’t really make any sense and wasn’t very believable but it was a lot of fun and exactly what was needed after an exhausting few days.

I thought this was going to be a straight up rom-com but actually it had a few extra layers and surprises that I really wasn’t expecting. Firstly, it became very clear that the Zooey Deschanel character and subplot was far more interesting than the main one. I didn’t quite understand what was going on with Matthew M being harrassed by wildlife quite so much, it was a weird add-on to the plot.

A relatively good album this one, gets off to quite a jazzy start and, of course, New York State of Mind is an absolute classic. There’s a range of styles and lots of instrumentation to enjoy, but I don’t know if it’s one I’ll replay a lot.

I genuinely don’t know how Little Mix do it but they keep cranking out the hits and they’re all really good ones. Of course it’s not an entire album of bangers but there’s a lot to love on this album and from start to finish, it’s got that girl power loving life confidence first attitude that we know the girls are famous for.

I remember reading the previous Villanelle book and being a bit annoyed at the cliffhanger ending - or not so much a cliffhanger as one that just stopped. I thought I would pick up the next book quite quickly but it’s taken me a while to get round to it. So it took me a while to get back into it and remind myself what had happened in the book and what I’d seen on TV.

This is such a good book. It’s just the simple insight and opening up of one man’s struggle with his mental health - something that needs to be, and gradually is being, talked about more. I think it’s crucial that there’s no big catastrophe that causes Josh’s mental health problems - of course it’s so tough for him but a clear example that brains are really complicated and can just sometimes change the way they work.

Having whipped through Henry’s first book, which talked of his accident, his recovery, and his new-found outlook on life, I was interested what this second book could hold. It takes the form of a Q&A, with a handful of regularly asked questions, answered in great detail by Henry, and ultimately trying to dispense with some advice on how to live life better and appreciate what you’ve got.

Considering this was made in 1990, everything about this movie has a hardcore 80s feel to it - the music, the technology, the way the action unfolds. It’s a good story though and it stands the test of time. I liked that Goldie Hawn isn’t a completely useless companion and I quite like how they had to discover each other again after such a long time apart (and a significant number of identities for him).

I loved it! For a while it confused me how to place the genre of the album, it’s sort of like Enya and that folksy, ephereal style but with a bit more grounded pop underpinning it. Some of the songs stuck in my mind for ages after listening which is a good sign!

Ariana continuing to fight the good fight and show that she’s completely grown up, there’s some lyrics on this album that really do raise eyebrows. But ultimately it’s a very good body of work - some nice pop, well executed and with her incredible vocals over the top.

I have to admit that I started listening to the audiobook of this read by the most excellent Rosario Dawson, but it just didn’t grab me at all. I wasn’t hugely keen on the character and couldn’t quite picture the scenes. I wanted to give it another go, though, and dived into the ebook instead. I’m glad I stuck with it because it was an entertaining read. It was always going to be difficult for Andy to follow up the incredible success of The Martian, but this was a great effort.

I was expecting this to be one of those buddy comedies that you have to switch your brain off to get through. There were certainly elements of that rubbish stuff in there, overly sexualised and mildly offensive in places, and I don’t think it’s aged particularly well. There was also more to it than just dick jokes, though. I wasn’t expecting the development of both sets of relationships in the way they happened, and how things completely turned on their head by the end.

Norah has a beautiful voice but this album is the epitome of easy listening. Smooth, calm, relaxing, there’s nothing to complain about other than it may go on just a tiny bit long. I really like Don’t Know Why, so it’s a good opener to the album, but the rest of it gets a bit lost in niceness.

What an album this is. Obviously it means more having watched the revelatory and intensely moving documentary that goes along with it, but oof, it’s so good. A handful of the songs stand out when you’re not listening to the album but when you’re in it, it’s all good. My only complaint is House of a Thousand Guitars which doesn’t scan, and mildly irritates me every time I hear it.

I wasn’t too sure about this one. It’s one of those little gift-style books that is more than just words. It’s quotes, it’s pictures, it’s ideas, and it’s well put together. I just wasn’t sure it really told me anything, and I’m afraid I wasn’t a big fan of the illustrations.

There’s a lot not to like about this film too. To start with, it doesn’t really honour the canon of Sherlock Holmes and that’s before you even take into account that he doesn’t need to be in the film. Mention him if you must but why is he there? She could have done everything she did without his input. And it’s just a smack in the face for him to be all smug at the end having figured it all out anyway.

I don’t normally care for nature programmes. I mean, let’s be clear, I think they’re incredible. The time, effort and production values always blow me away and whenever I see an episode of a nature show, I’m usually entranced. But they don’t really grab me and I don’t seek them out. However, I couldn’t really ignore the enticing idea of Paul Rudd narrating a half hour show that focuses in on the smaller elements of this planet of ours - the new Apple TV nature show Tiny World.

I make no apologies for choosing to watch this clearly bad film, even the trailer made it look like a trashy piece of teen entertainment. That’s exactly what it was but here’s the thing: Amanda Bynes is really good and I love watching her running around getting into scrapes!

This is such a gorgeous but sad book. Telling the story of a love affair from both sides - with two men struggling to find themselves, and the strong women beside them who facilitate their path. We start with Ellis who leads a lonely life and you don’t really know why until the back story begins to come out. His remembrances are all about the early days, and how everyone came together but also ended up apart.

Considering the quality of names attached with this, it was awful. Far too much exposition to start with, and then when it finally got going, the horror that was those witches. Inexplicably awful.

I had purchased The Power In You and then realised it was the second book that Henry had written, so I quickly snapped up the first one just to make sure I read them in order. It’s an inspiring story, just the simplicity of making every day and good day and having gratitude for the big little things. There’s a determination in Henry that might not be in everyone, going back to school so quickly after his accident was really impressive. But the ideas of acceptance and gratitude are surely within everyone.

It’s always going to be difficult following the wonder that is Lost in Translation, and it probably didn’t help that we only watched that movie quite recently. Even Sofia Coppola said she left off teaming up with Bill Murray again for fear of not being able to follow in their own footsteps.

I don’t remember why I picked this up, at some point during one of our alcohol-fuelled nights the topic of Greek mythology come up and I realised I knew nothing and probably should know more. So this seemed like a good introduction, and I think it was. It took a minute to get into it because there’s a lot of names and things to remember, and people sleeping with their relatives, and people eating their own children. It’s a bit weird.

This was far too stressful for a rom-com. The lies and pretence, the high stakes of getting caught, and getting that white coat dirty! I love Jennifer Lopez, and I quite like that she can have chemistry with anyone, but I don’t really buy them as a couple which doesn’t help the whole point of the film.

If you start an album with Pure Shores, you’re really raising the bar very high and giving yourself a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, I don’t know that the rest of it stands up, although of course Black Coffee is a good single too, but if I’m honest, I couldn’t pick the rest of it out of a line up.

Really good album, very country of course, but with some proper highlights. I’m Not For Everyone stands out as a meaningful one, Make It A Good One also. However, we can’t ignore the middle of the album where it suddenly goes all twiddly and really, quite annoying. It might have been a 5/5 if not for that.

Just glorious. My knowledge of Springsteen is limited at the moment but growing all the time, and I like what I hear. This documentary is so good - soft and gentle, introspective and thoughtful. It’s about friendship and loss, about connections and re-connections. It’s about the strength of music, of a group, of the power of getting together exceptionally talented people.

This was a freebie given away by Apple Books, I’m not sure I would have picked it up otherwise. It’s a functional rom-com style book but to be honest, it wasn’t my favourite. As always, the promise of heading off to a sunnier climate to get over a heartbreak is a great bit of escapism but I got a bit frustrated by our main character. She was sent over there with a job to do but really didn’t seem to get a lot of work done.

It was laugh out loud funny in a lot of places, but it really felt like watching a couple of sketches put together. The through story wasn’t really fleshed out enough to fully sustain the movie, and it was a short one at that. There’s a good moral in there about not using your phone too much but it did find it hard to strike the balance between telling a story with a moral and really just frowning on the modern world.

The next book I own in the 87th Precinct series and this time we see the return of the Deaf Man, as heralded by the title of the novel. He’s popped up on a couple of previous occasions, and whilst I like the continuity of a nemesis, I’m not sure I care too much for the Deaf Man - his motives don’t really come across and the weird way he toys with the police doesn’t seem to have a point to it.