The thing about this album is, it’s good enough, but it starts and ends with two brilliant songs that feature Daft Punk. So should I really be listening to a Daft Punk album instead? Love The Weeknd’s voice, it’s reminiscent of Michael Jackson in places, and carries the album through despite it being quite lengthy!

Anyone who has been following this site for a while will know that at the end of each year, I like to hand over the reigns to Mr C to share his top five songs and films of the previous twelve months. Last year was an absolute disgrace as he was unable to narrow down his shortlist to five and after a full month of arguing about it, we ended up with top tens instead.

Although I’ve stopped making specific New Year’s Resolutions (for the most part), there’s always one thing that I try and reboot each January 1st and that is being organised and staying productive. Whether it is trying out a new task list software, or actually finding a use for the notebooks I buy when I raid stationery shops, it is really difficult to end the year in the cool, calm state I start it.

The incredible thing about this film is that it manages to take two generally unlikeable characters (well, an awful one and a nondescript one), get them to do some pretty unsavoury things, and still make an interesting and entertaining film about it. It’s drama, through and through, but has the edge of comedy that makes the story worth watching.

I suddenly remembered that we hadn’t watched the latest in the Star Trek reboot series, but having attempted to watch thirty minutes of it, I now wish I hadn’t bothered. I can’t really explain why, but it just didn’t do it for me at all. Aside from the short scene between Bones and Kirk in the bar, the characters didn’t seem to be doing anything or connecting at all.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have watched this, I don’t think. It’s one of those films that is just a bit too stupid, a bit too crude, not really that funny. But I love all four of the main cast members, and it’s hard not to watch a Zac Efron movie, it just is.

Good little film this. It’s exactly what you expect it’s going to be - cats and dogs being cute, going on adventures, making a few jokes, and finding a happy ending. I wasn’t sure what the story was, and in the end it was exactly like Toy Story, but the characters were different and entertaining, which made it worth watching.

Great cast in this film, but I wasn’t totally sure it would be our cup of tea, given that it’s all about parenting - one of those things I know absolutely nothing about. Thankfully, it’s about the worst side of parenting, which is something I can understand and celebrate - having kids sucks, hooray!

Over Christmas, the 80s TV show Pop Quiz returned for a two-part special, and it was brilliant! I’ve never heard of this show before, but was keen to give it a watch as it looked just like Question of Sport only about music. It even features genuine music acts, including Toyah Wilcox, some guy from Spandeau Ballet and other people I don’t know but who were a lot of fun. I really enjoyed the intros round, as well as the “guess the song from the lyrics” round. It’s always amazing how hard it is when lyrics are taken out of context and read with the wrong rhythm.

It has been an incredible year for me, listening to 100 albums in total across 50 weeks and learning an enormous amount about albums, artists, and music in general. The biggest lesson, though, is that there is so much more to learn. This album listening thing will continue into next year, but it seems only right to wrap up what has been a brilliant 2016 of albums for me. Firstly, it’s worth saying that whilst I’ve always been a bit skeptical of the subscription music business model, this album adventure couldn’t have happened without it. When I was a listener of “just the songs that I like” then I wanted full control over what I did with them, which playlists I put them in, and wanted to hoard them which meant subscription services weren’t the right thing.

It has become a tradition in our household to watch Love Actually at some point over the festive holidays. It’s a sugary sweet treat, although usually ends up in both happy and sad tears, particularly as each year passes and makes us feel ever more closer to the characters involved. Anyway, we indulged this year and instead of the floods I was expecting, I actually found the whole thing to be uplifting. Maybe it’s because it’s been such a bad year, maybe because there are so many moments in it that you just feel wouldn’t be possible anymore (a politician standing up for what they believe in? Don’t be silly). But mostly, it’s just because the premise of the film, whether you like the saccharine nature of the movie or not, is that it’s about love and it proves that no matter the situation there is good to be found in people.

Apple have presented Watch users with a new challenge for January, hoping to encourage people to stick to their new year’s resolutions and get active. A notification on the watch this week highlighted a new and unique badge that can be earned during January 2017 by completing the activity, stand and exercise rings for a full week Monday to Sunday. It’s harder than it sounds, particularly if you’ve spent Christmas lounging on the sofa, but it’s totally doable and I love, love, love the motivation a standalone badge can give you.

Unfortunately, I don’t think the film really stood up to the challenge of making his comeback worthwhile. There’s a moment where they are talking about Bourne’s purpose now that he has all his memory back, and that kind of stands up about the film too. What was the point of it all? I quite liked Alicia Vikander but she was just a reboot of the Nicky character, and thus also kinda pointless.

Earlier this year, I wrote about the return of Top Gear - the new and not-so-improved version with Chris Evans and Matt Le Blanc. My basic conclusion of that show was that it didn’t have enough new things to make it worthy of the revamp name. I was keen to see what the Clarkson, Hammond and May trio would do in their Amazon Prime odyssey, and six episodes in, I think we have a good idea of how it’s panning out.

Loved The Office, so naturally was keen on watching this to see how the character of David Brent has been getting on. However, I was also dreading watching it because a thirty minute episode with Brent was excruciating enough, I wasn’t sure getting through ninety minutes would be bearable.

A while back, at the height of my new-found Star Wars obsession, I realised I needed to find a way to watch the Star Wars Rebels TV show. I discovered the DisneyLife iOS app, which allowed me to watch the series, and as long as I watched it within 30 days (which I did), then I could cancel the subscription and only have been charged for one month’s use. I did all of the above and then forgot about the app, until it was updated just ahead of this Christmas period. The price was lowered from £9.99 to £4.99, the app migrated to the Apple TV, and more content was added. With the knowledge that the festive period means lots of time spent at home, I signed back up to watch some more stuff.

I’ve managed to read quite a few books this year, dipping in and out whenever I get a spare five minutes. I post my reviews over on Goodreads, but thought I would share those books I’ve enjoyed in 2016 for which I’ve given five out of five stars. Lucky Man by Michael J Fox I was hooked from the beginning, revelling in this calm and rational way of looking at and dealing with the world. It can be a difficult place, but Fox has such a humour and humility about it all, that it was inspiring to read. I liked how it dipped back and forth a bit, but was generally chronological, from his childhood through to his recent advocacy work with his Parkinson’s Disease foundation. Inspiring and insightful, I highly recommend this whether you’re a fan or not.

I’ve been obsessed with novelty mugs for many years, and occasionally have taken time out to blog about some of my favourites. In fact, I’m surprised to find that I’ve written five posts before, and that it seemed to be an annual event up until 2013. Given that it’s been a couple of years since I had a look at what’s available on the hot drink container market, I figured it was time to break out the mug post again, so here goes. It’s too late to buy any of these as gifts for Christmas, but if you’re looking for something to spend your holiday gift vouchers on, then look no further!

I’ve read a couple of the Kinsey Millhone books before, but figured there’s no harm in starting the collection again now that they’ve almost finished the end of the alphabet! I remember enjoying it and my second read through highlighted just why. It’s a straight forward private investigator story, digging into the details of an old case, so it’s a lot of fun to trawl through the evidence with Kinsey and try and make educated guesses as the truth draws ever closer.

Another Ken Follett classic, I really enjoyed this one. Telling the tale of the one final flight of the Boeing Clipper, crossing the Atlantic from Southampton to New York in various stages and getting more and more dramatic as each stint unfolds.

What I love about Genova’s work is that it highlights and gets deeper into diseases that you know about, but don’t really know about. This book talks about Huntingdon’s Disease, which a Charlestown cop discovers he has. The story focuses on his reaction and gradual decline, but more importantly it examines the effect his diagnosis has on the second generation.

The wonderful memoir from Dawn French that tells stories from her life in a vaguely chronological manner, in the form of letters to her nearest and dearest - and those she probably wishes were near and dear. It’s at times hilarious, at times moving, but at all times engaging, honest, warm and showing just how lovely Dawn must be to have as a friend.

That’s the key, you know, confidence. I know for a fact that if you can genuinely like your body, so can others. It doesn’t really matter if it’s short, tall, fat or thin, it just matters that you can find some things to like about it. Even if that means having a good laugh at the bits of it that wobble independently, occasionally, that’s all right. It might take you a while to believe me on this one, lots of people don’t because they seem to suffer from a self-hatred that precludes them from imagining that a big woman could ever love herself because they don’t.

I didn’t know what this book was about when I started reading it, but I was quickly engrossed in the story of Egypt, its Pharaohs and the bloody warfare that they indulge in. Although the story itself is a relatively straightforward one about two armies facing off against each other, it is the intricate details of life in Ancient Egypt that make it an incredible read.

This coming weekend is the final of Strictly Come Dancing’s 2016 competition, and it’s been an epic run to the finish. I used to write about this show all the time but haven’t shared my thoughts since 2012. It must be a good series this year to get me back behind the keyboard! Rather than prattle on endlessly, I’ll just share five thoughts about the 2016 batch of amateur dancers:

It’s only fitting to finish the year with the album that started this entire process, and what an album! It’s stuffed full of brilliant songs, and even the ones that aren’t super hit singles are still great to listen to. The stories behind this album make it incredible but even standing on its own two feet, it’s a wonderful listen.

This is plenty good enough as an album you could listen to as background music, but I found myself a bit disappointed. I know the boys took a new direction and it is far less reliant on rocking guitars, so I wasn’t surprised at the different sound, but it just didn’t quite tick the boxes for me. Totally listenable, but perhaps not as special as I hoped.

At the moment, travelling is like a distant dream - a wonderful idea full of experiences that would be fabulous, but that is just out of reach. Time, money, effort, life, all those things are getting in the way. But that doesn’t stop me letting the dream run wild, and I found an app that is such an incredible concept, I have to share, even if I haven’t experienced it myself. It’s for the more spontaneous and random traveller, someone who isn’t really sure what they want to do.

At first glance, The Pandolly Podcast doesn’t seem like it would be a good fit for me. Pandora Sykes and Dolly Alderton, fashion and dating experts from The Sunday Times Style, get together once a week to review some of the big and little stories of the week. They recommend fashion items from sponsor River Island and Instagram accounts to follow, chat about celebrities, odd stories and bigger worldwide news, plus often get into all manner of feminist issues.

I am, for the most part, always nervous about watching Pixar sequels these days, but this one delivered all the good stuff and was stunning to look at. Following Dory is an inspired choice, as she was the most popular character from the original film, although I think this sequel suffered from trying to get into the story.

What I enjoyed about this one was the number of references to the original, and the appearances of the founder members, obviously, but equally the way it told the story in a whole new way. The separate pieces coming together to explain how and why these girls end up doing the job they do. The reason for the overalls, deciding they need to be mobile ghostbusting packs, the brief visit to the old police station, all that kind of thing.

So I sort of have to admit that I’ve never really watched the television series, but of course I know the general basics - grumpy kid has to put up with fading hipster mother and her, frankly, indescribable friend. I’m not sure I would have been particularly bothered about watching this, except it entirely fit the bill for an evening where I was really feeling under the weather.

I enjoyed listening to this album, although it did cause some consternation in terms of how and why I knew some songs and didn’t know others that I probably should have done. It’s a nice listen though, full of the angst you’d expect and quite heavy going but falling short of full out unlistenable rage. High and Dry is a favourite.

Good album, perfectly pleasant to listen to, but there are some odd moments where it all feels quite familiar. Not in a rip-off kind of way, just in a ‘I’ve heard this idea before’ way. I like the mix of songs though, and the foray into country music – I didn’t know Bon Jovi did that kind of song, must check out more.

I really enjoyed this album, far more than I thought I was going to. They have such a distinctive sound and from the moment the first song starts, they’ve got you bouncing along. I love, as I’m sure most people do, Hungry Like the Wolf, and the rest of the album lives up to the high standards set by that song!

Another crazy good album from the successful girl group. I loved their last album and this one is just more of the same. It’s perhaps another step more grown up, more sexual references and that kind of thing, but it retains the beating heart of the album – incredible vocals over solid melodies with fun pop beats underneath.

I love Anna Kendrick a lot, so it was no surprise that her memoir was right up my street. Having said that, I was a bit taken aback by the book because it was basically like reading inside my mind - some of the anxieties, some of the anti-social tendencies, some of the obsessive compulsive stuff, you mean Hollywood stars feel like that too?

A solid work by John Grisham that follows the story of a lawyer who believes he was wrongfully arrested and works out a way to get an early release by revealing the culprit of another crime. As you might imagine, it’s nowhere near as simple as that and the reveal of the culprit’s name is just the beginning.

Another solid story from Nicci French, I quite liked this one particularly because it was about a crime that didn’t happen to our main protagonist. Whilst there was still an air of tension surrounding our hero, you at least didn’t read the whole thing feeling like she was in mortal danger.

A great pop album that takes you right back to where it all started. It’s easy to laugh at some of the horrific nineties tunes here, and some of the slightly dodgy singing (I’m looking at you How Can It Be), but there are some real classics tucked away on the album, and it’s great to hear boy band pop from its fledgling days.

I loved this group’s EP, so was looking forward to the full album, and it didn’t miss the mark! A good, solid, pop album – a lot of fun and with just a bit of the quirky edge that you’d expect from this band of cute misfits. Some tracks are better than others, naturally, but the good ones really make you struggle not to dance along. Or DNCE along, I suppose.

I wouldn’t have picked this one up if it hadn’t been on the Big Read reading list that I’m working through, but I’m glad I got the chance to read it. It’s an evocative story, hard work to get straight in your head, and an intensely depressing tale, but a good one.

There’s a natural nervousness that you feel when reading a book that uses much loved characters from previous works, and this book gave me that feeling. I needn’t have worried though. It’s a book that follows Dr Watson on his travels to France during the First World War, after his adventures with Sherlock Holmes.

The album begins with two great songs, so it’s off to a fab start, and although I don’t know any of the other songs, the guitar work is a lot of fun. If you want to air guitar, I reckon this album could be a good choice. However, there’s a moment of chatter about CD users waiting for record listeners to turn over for part two… probably funny at the time, but hasn’t aged so well!

Good, solid pop album, I’m not sure there are any stand out songs though, like there have been in previous years. None of it feels particularly fresh and original, but it’s still good to listen to. Although it really, really bugs me that the chorus to Private is exactly the same as Cake by the Ocean. I mean, exactly the same.

Now, you know I love James Corden and his antics, but combine them with the fabulous Hailee Steinfeld and you’re on to a winner. This game, though, it is something mindbending. Taking the first line of every song and repeating it for every line is so hard, have you tried it? Try it! A lot of fun though, and far more hilarious than it has any right to be. I’m worried I will never be able to sing songs normally, now that I know they should all just be the first line repeated over and over.

It’s an interesting work really, because it starts out from the point of view of the antagonist, and it’s quite a long time before you really see that he’s a bad guy rather than someone just working for the country they are loyal to. He doesn’t seem all that different to someone like James Bond, so it is almost hard to totally root against him - until he starts acting badly, that is.

I’ve put off reading this for a while because it felt like a personal story that wasn’t really any of my business. But then I saw that Hammond was remembering the ten year anniversary of his crash and thanking everyone that helped him, and I realised it probably is a story that is worth reading, if only to realise how thankful we should all be for the amazing medical profession.

Great album, I like The Script. Good songs, fresh perspective, slightly Irish lilt and (more than) a hint of U2 in places. I feel like it’s not their best work, but half the songs on the album were singles so it can’t have been too bad a start for their career!

Alicia’s debut album was one of the first and few that I bought and listened to in full over and over. This one is stacked full of wonderful songs, feel good music that is inspirational and uplifting – desperately needed this year! I wasn’t too bothered about the interludes but the songs themselves are great.