The final book of the Hogwarts/Pottermore trilogy, and this one had a lot more slightly smaller entries - little snippets about the Great Lake, about the Marauder’s Map, about various headmasters and about how to get to and from the castle in the best way. As with the other two books, I really liked how the way it’s put together, the different elements linked and small additions and updates from JK Rowling herself. Not a lot to add, but it’s a good read, super quick to get through, and just adds to your Wizarding World knowledge.

It’s been a while since I’ve read an 87th Precinct book, I was obsessed with them for a while and raced through loads. Then I sort of lost interest for a while, but reviewing my old digital bookshelves has brought them back to mind again. I started reading this one, and I think I must have attempted it before because it rang a lot of bells. I don’t know why I gave it up because it’s a fun read, a bit different to the usual ‘someone’s been murdered, whodunnit?’ This time, it’s a bit of a treasure hunt, combined with some murder on top.

Hmm. So I knew of Paul Young basically from Live Aid, and having recently watched a documentary about the legendary concert, it seemed about time to give him a go. I wasn’t expecting there to be quite so many covers on the album, and very surprised to see a Joy Division song on there.

I really loved it, too. It’s just that kind of good, catchy pop rock that comes out of great bands like The Killers, only with a telltale Scottish accent sneaking in here and there. A lot of fun, and I can’t wait to dip into the back catalogue now!

Another of the three Hogwarts books that were a compilation of Pottermore articles written by the author and published on the website. I really liked the list of Ministers for Magic, it seemed like they didn’t last in the job very long even in the good times! But such a long list and such interesting ways that they left their position! Also, I thought the detail about Peeves was good, whilst it wasn’t so interesting to read about Slughorn - I think we knew most of that already, so it didn’t really add too much.

Fun story, band hijinks, and lots and lots of famous faces to spot. Plus that song is really catchy and is completely stuck in my head now. The only thing I didn’t like is it felt like it didn’t really come to an end. All this build up and then it sort of just stopped. But equally, there was so much story that could still be told, it would never have fit into a two hour movie.

I was browsing through some of the shorter books on my digital bookshelf and I realised I don’t remember buying these and if I read them, I’ve forgotten what was inside. I know at the time some people were annoyed that this was writing that was also available for free on the Pottermore website, but I do think there’s a value in gathering things together in an easy package. Particularly this one, which neatly links together a few different topics.

Whipped through this in super quick time after loving the first book. It was odd reading this directly after the other one, as we went back to the start of Dr Kay’s career when he was a lowly SHO and then rose through the ranks again. Just as always, the writing is humorous but hearty and I thought it really interesting how it only takes a couple of years to become institutionalised to working every Christmas Day.

This is an exceptional piece of work and I totally understand why it dominated bookshelves and lists and charts and recommendations for so long. The writing is exquisite - both respectful and thoughtful about the roles and pressures of doctors and the variety of patients they have to see, whilst also having a wonderfully dark sense of humour that is often laugh out loud funny.

It’s a long one, this, and the mystery is sprawling. I quite liked it up until the murder halfway through, all that House of Commons and blackmail stuff was kind of interesting. Once it turned into a murder investigation, though, I started to lose the plot a bit. There are so many people, so many elements to it, it’s hard to keep track of who everyone is and what they are doing. I also think the mystery at the heart of it, once it’s all revealed, is so convoluted, I still can’t really get my head round it.

I can’t believe how brilliant Elton was right from the start. Usually people take a while to warm up to their greatness. It absolutely boggles my mind that he gets given the lyrics and the songs just pop out - such a weird way of working but such good stuff comes out of it.

Short and sweet album from Luke Bryan, who does what he does well and rarely falters. Normally I would have said this was an album stacked full of good country songs but without a standout. However, One Margarita is a great song that really sticks in the mind.

I can absolutely see how this book came about, Adam finally having enough abuse on Twitter to warrant a response longer than the however-many-characters is allowed. It does exactly what it says on the tin and whilst initially I wasn’t sure how a whole book could be sustained by the simple notion of ‘stop being an idiot’, actually, it does a really good deep dive into why we essentially don’t know anything about anything and therefore can’t be so cock-sure that one race is better than the other. Because they’re not. What is race anyway?

It really wasn’t a very well-made film. It’s got an okay story at its heart, pretty derivative and the kind of thing that romance novels are made of, but okay, a beginning, middle and end. It’s so overdone though - the moment where they’re sat at the table and she says ‘He made everything lighter’ as the literal beams of light come through the skylight that he put in. (Also, what moon actually gives off light like that? I’ve never seen it.) Hamfisted and in your face, with a lot of very dislikable characters because their dialogue is so on-the-nose. It’s bad.

Obviously, Romeo and Juliet is a ridiculously stand-out song, but the rest of it is pretty good too. It’s so clearly Dire Straits, their individual sound so good from start to finish. There are only seven tracks but it still manages to take you on a bit of a journey. I enjoyed it!

Oh wow, this is such a good album and was a surprise to me, really. I’m a fan of Alanis’ work from Jagged Little Pill, but if I’m honest I don’t know much of her album work outside that one. This is her first album for a while and it’s like plugging right back in to Alanis’ world.

It’s certainly a step change from the previous two. This time, we see inside the head of the villain and it’s not pretty viewing. There are some pretty disturbing scenes, if we’re being honest. But what everyone is here for, I assume, is the burgeoning relationship between Strike and Robin, and to unwind the mystery. Let’s talk about the latter first: it’s interesting that we have three leads to go on and for a change, they are completely separate. Rather than everyone who knew a model, or anyone who worked with a writer, these are three very separate people. That’s interesting and different.

Love, love, love. After not enjoying the last music movie we watched, it was time to crack open a well-received, critic-approved journey into the seventies. I wasn’t quite expecting the vast array of moustaches and flares, but once I got used to that, it was a triumph.

Clive James is a bit of an institution, a national treasure of both Australia and the UK, and it was with sadness that I saw he had passed away last year. This is the first of his series of memoirs, chronicling his early years in Australia, and the vast variety of scrapes he got into.

I know of this book only because it’s so very famous, and I can’t believe I never read it as a teenager, I can totally see why people love it. Frank and fresh, it’s just the inner workings of a teenage girl’s mind - the concerns and wobbles that a teenager has when navigating friends, family and school.

I’d not heard of it before but thought the combination of Katie, Patrick and a load of pianos couldn’t go wrong. And yet it did! There just didn’t seem to be a lot of story to it, at the end no one really seemed to be further forward than they were at the beginning, and although there were some pretty visuals along the way, I was left feeling pretty empty about the whole thing.

I loved it. There’s heart to it but ultimately it’s just a buddy road trip comedy, with three boys escaping their parents to go in search of some long overdue gratification. They learn and grow and get what they wanted in more ways than expected, and it ends with a somehow desperately sad but ultimately uplifting resolution. Incredible.

I can’t believe Elastica only had two albums altogether, and only really this one has stood the test of time. It’s so good! Some really good pop rock punk combo, with unique elements and interesting riffs and beats that I’ve not really heard anywhere else.

My first listen through this was, I’ll admit, a bit disappointing. It has a slow, slow pace, with very few upbeat songs, and I thought it was a bit boring. As always, the first listen isn’t the one to fully judge an album on. Second time through, I could start picking out the good songs, and that gives me something to work with.

It turned out to be a really good film, funny and with interesting thoughts on gender, a little bit stereotypical in places, and a clear gaping hole in how she thought things were going to resolve themselves if it hadn’t all gone wrong like it did.

This is an interesting one. Obviously Vienna, the title track from this album, is an incredible, classic and long-lasting song that will stand the test of time. Amazing to know that Midge wasn’t that bothered about it and his refrains of ’this means nothing to me’ are more about the song than anything else.

Ooh, this was a good one. It felt like listening to Pretenders of old, but with all new stuff. Lovely Chrissie Hynde and her amazing voice belting out some real rock stuff, alongside some more moving moments. Crying in Public is a real beauty.

Genuinely, the first couple of minutes of this movie proved it was going to be a 5 out of 5. Beanie being brilliant, and also doing an incredible accent, some fab music kicking in, and just a wonderful sense of British nostalgia (the good kind).

Until Oprah picked an Elizabeth Strout book as part of her book club, I hadn’t heard of the author but now I have, I’m a little bit obsessed. This was a short and just intriguing stream of consciousness from the eponymous Lucy Barton. She uses the time she was laid up in hospital for several weeks to share stories about her family, her extended family, friends, neighbours and relative strangers.

It’s been a while since we saw a really good heist movie, and I had a vague recollection of seeing this before and liking it. I could only remember it having something to do with a briefcase though. I’d expected it to be more about the stealing of the painting in the first place, so that happening and them figuring out it was him in the first half hour left me wondering what else the movie was about?

It’s Michael Palin’s way to release an accompanying book to go with his travel adventures on TV, and his trip to North Korea was no different. Well, I suppose it was very different and the book is a great way to relive it. I watched the programme when it was on, which was a long while ago, so it was good to revisit things in another medium. The book takes the form of a diary with day by day thoughts and exploits, alongside lots of photos.

I don’t know that I would listen to a Christian album from anyone else but Cash has the vocals to make it work. And in all honesty, this wasn’t so different from his previous albums, just slightly weighted towards the topic of the heavenly father. Otherwise, it was good 50s/60s beats, that incredible voice and short, sharp songs.

It was a good album although I had problems with the first track, which was some kind of experimental nonsense. The underlying song was good but then it kept breaking off into what I can only describe as Ross moments. Friends fans will know the Ross music episode, wherein he basically has a keyboard of sound effects and presses them randomly - although at least in time with the beat.

This is a really great thriller, non-stop action from start to finish, and the type of book where I can imagine the movie adaptation as I’m reading through. It was a little bit exposition heavy in places, mostly where we were learning about our protagonist Flynn’s back-story. He has quite a lot of history to fill in so it makes sense, and he’s an interesting character. You often get lawyers with a past but this is one I hadn’t heard of before.

Another collection of Roald Dahl short stories. There are some real classics on here, although I think as a whole the collection in Kiss, Kiss is better. There are, of course, the stories that stay with you but there are also those that sort of passed me by and already I’ve pretty much forgotten them.

I was in two minds about reading this book because as much as I love Miranda Hart, I’m not so keen on people gushing about their pets. It’s fine if they have such a great relationship with their pooch, I’m just not sure I need to hear about it. But I picked up this audiobook in an Audible sale and decided to give it a whirl. I’m glad I did. Although there are some moments that non-pet owners like me will never understand, there’s still a lot to learn about life and love through this.

Once it found its feet, though, it was actually fun. It was a bit of a rollercoaster where at times I was like ‘what the hell am I watching’ but then they would pull out a really funny line that drew my back in.

Pretty good film, this one. Initially it’s hard to like Jack, because even though he clearly has demons, he’s not exactly doing much about it and is being a bit of a drain on the people around him. But then you learn more about why he is in the pit of depression that he finds himself and it becomes a more well rounded picture.

The very first Sugababes album and thus it is them in their first iteration - featuring Siobhan, Mutya and Keisha. A couple of these songs are stand out brilliant, I love Overload and Run For Cover, but all of them have stood the test of time.

I really loved this album. It’s so heartbreaking for someone to have music taken away from them, and that’s never more clear in this cut short album that only has a handful of songs on it. The crew never quite got to finish due to Huey’s hearing loss, but at least they can know they’ve gone out on a high.

Loved it. I actually only had a vague idea going into this what it was about - a Tom Hanks project, about the war. I didn’t realise it was written by him too, which is actually an impressive feat considering how much naval jargon is in there. It was so good. A great little story, told well, in a short space of time.

Wow, I really loved this book. Such a great idea, a sort of Sliding Doors but for gender. The book follows the lives of one person Lou Alder, but splits into two timelines where they are female and in the other male. Both stories are fascinating and would stand up in their own right, but the real joy is in seeing how they intersect. The similarities between the two are intricately plotted, and even the vast differences seem to come back to the same thing in the end.

I listened to an audiobook reading of this which was very good, although the reader trying to get through quite so many French words was a bit difficult. It’s a good story, though. I was surprised how close to the musical it is, and yet so far away. The book is formatted more like a memoir, pieced together from fragments of evidence and eye-witness accounts, but is still at heart a ghost story that you have to believe in.

This was a surprise, it was really good. I don’t know if I was expecting much as I’d never even heard of it before it popped up on Prime, but it delivered in spades. It starts off quiet and unassuming and gradually the tension rises until the hijackers leap into action and then the drama starts.

I really liked this one. The nice blend of traditional Irish vibes alongside general pop goodness is great, and Runaway is obviously a stand out that leads the way. I listened to the most recent Corrs album and it felt very middle-of-the-road, but back at this time, their debut album, it has that feel like they had the option of going down a unique and interesting route.

Been looking forward to this album for such a long time, and whizzed through it twice (and more!) very quickly. It’s classic HAIM, a unique kind of alternative pop that stands out from the crowd but also blends in nicely.

The music was brilliant and the staging really good, if a little bit busy at times. But I don’t know anything about history or politics and was too stupid to follow the story when it was being told so fast. So by the end, I still didn’t know who this Hamilton guy was, what he’d achieved, or why we should care about him. He didn’t seem like a particularly nice guy.

I saw a handful of bad reviews before watching this so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I can sort of see why people don’t like it, it sets out to confuse and betray you from the start but I don’t think it’s a bad film particularly. It’s quite clever and the twists are good.

Third in the Famous Five series, and this time the gang are very much left to fend for themselves. When Aunt and Uncle have to go away for illness, the crew find themselves at the mercy of some very unscrupulous fill-in housekeepers. It does make me wonder how much screening Uncle Quentin does on his staff, with these guys and with the rogue tutor from the previous book.

When Disney Plus first launched, my only focus was on watching episodes of The Simpsons and devouring The Mandalorian as quickly as possible. Hearing of a TV show based on the High School Musical franchise, though, my interest was piqued. And when I heard that it was a docu-drama style show about teenagers who go to the actual school where the movies were filmed and then decide to put on a production of the musical based off said movies and all of this called High School Musical: The Musical: The Series? Well it would be rude not to see what on earth that was all about, wouldn’t it?