At the start, there were a lot of people to try and place, link together, and keep track of, so it felt like it was going to be hard work. But the main bulk of the film only requires a handful so it’s much easier to follow. I loved that it was, for the most part, playing out in real time, which added proper tension and drama to the situation. Quick decisions were required, and you could feel the vital seconds ticking by as discussions continued.

Danny Wallace’s novels follow the pattern he set for himself as a non-fiction writer, in that characters go on bizarre adventures and learn meaningful life lessons along the way. Charlotte Street was about following the clues from a set of photographs, Tom Ditto is about following people themselves.

The continuing saga of the Clifton and Barrington families this time took on a more vicious vibe, as it was revenge and retribution all the way. Having discovered the outcome of the last cliffhanger, it was clear we were just going to wend our way towards another, and naturally the events in between each were of the page-turner variety.

An interesting idea for a book, this. It’s simply a collection of interviews with Scottish crime authors, transcribed to provide insight into their motivations, their writing processes, and what they think of the genres their books are considered to be in and out of.

Loved this album, it was so wonderfully of the 90s. It also reminded me of the scene in Ted where he talks about the vowel songs of that era. A-E-I-O-U! Fab stuff anyway, mostly upbeat pop rock, catchy lyrics, right up my street.

I listened to this purely because they made an appearance on Nashville, and found it to be just a bit too country for me. However, there were some good songs on there (and some not so good, what is up with Ship-faced?) So many alcohol references, too, I felt drunk just listening!

I recently stumbled across an old note I made, after listening to an episode of Inside Science from the BBC. It’s a fantastic space quote about setting up lunar fuel depots, discussing the prospect of solving the problem whereby you need to take off from Earth with all the fuel to get where you’re going. If you can break that barrier, more remote areas of space become possible. Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

This book followed in the same fashion as the previous Clifton Chronicles, and was just as gripping - following the fortunes of various family members as they dip in and out of each other’s lives. It was fun reading about the squabbles of siblings, although I was less interested in the machinations of Giles attempting to retain his seat as MP.

The second in the Clifton Chronicles trilogy picks up exactly where the previous book left off, and follows a similar pattern: tracking the movements of each character before moving onto another, revisiting some previous events before moving the story along.

Was worried about listening to this one, it’s so highly regarded. Luckily, I quite liked it although some of the tracks verged into too much screaming, which I can’t stand. The more sedate tracks are brilliant, though, and there’s a clear and moving talent there.

More pop than indie rock, I really enjoyed this album. Although there’s a similarity to other bands, it stands out because of its nostalgic feel – the first half of the album is very 80s, and the second half sounds like it has been plucked straight from the 90s, and both are a lot of fun to listen to!

I was looking for a fiction book about ballet and this one popped up at exactly the right time. It traces the interweaving lives of several ballet dancers, male and female, plus their extended friends and family. The book moves forward through time quite rapidly, but then dips back again and again, so that each time you learn more about events.

It felt like the film grew and grew on me as we watched. You have to really stick with it at the start because she’s not a nice character at all, even knowing what happened to her. But, just as she herself goes on a journey, she drags you along with her and I grew to love the character and the story, and really started rooting for everyone involved until I was super caught up and emotional about the whole thing!

It was a good story, but missing some elements (in an unfortunate coincidence with the title), which were then fleshed out with areas of too much detail. Where the kidnapping and underlying plot are great modern situations, there didn’t seem to be quite enough peril, enough haste, much of anything standing in the way of the good guys getting to the answer. There was little doubt over who did it and he quite literally led them to the answers.

It’s exactly because of the recommendations given to me for this book series that I have been reluctant to start - a proper page turner that you can’t put down, is how it was described to me and boy was that an accurate description.

I am confident that someday in the future The Rock, who was once a professional wrestler, will run for president of the United States, and I think that he will win. I have seen with my own eyes the power of The Rock. The Rock is a uniter, not a divider. When the BOP showed Walking Tall, the turnout for every screening all weekend long was unprecedented. The Rock has an effect on women that transcends divisions of race, age, cultural background – even social class, the most impenetrable barrier in America. Black, white, Spanish, old, young, all women are hot for The Rock. Even the lesbians agreed that he was mighty easy on the eyes.

I haven’t read a book in this sort of summer-time holiday read genre for a long time but seeing it was written by the wonderful Celia Imrie, I thought I’d give it a go. I suspect it is aimed at women slightly older than myself, but that didn’t stop it being a fun read - sort of the novel equivalent of the Best Marigold Hotel film.

It was interesting to read this, having watched four series of the television show that it inspired. You can recognise some of the characters and a few of the events depicted within, but for the most part this stands alone as a really good memoir of time inside the prison system.

Liked this album, it’s quite fun pop although it threw me off guard how very similar they sound to Duran Duran. Just ten songs, and none quite live up to the album opener of Take On Me, but that’s an impressive gauntlet to throw down. All good, though.

I have mixed feelings about Rihanna and this album does nothing to change that. Some of it is really good, intriguing pop with great vocals and some solid lyrics and songwriting. Others are way overproduced so that they only serve to distract from Rihanna’s talent rather than enhance it.

This is such a unique idea for a story, and one that really makes you ponder, from the start to the finish. It glosses over some slightly more important questions at the beginning - how did this woman give birth to a full size grown man, and what happened to her afterwards? How did they manage to keep it under wraps for so long?

This came recommended by good friend Lukeh, and as it has Paul Rudd AND Selena Gomez in it, I was on board immediately. It was a great recommendation as I loved the film. It took a little while to understand where it was coming from, not that it got off to a slow start, but just you’re not quite sure where it stands - is it a comedy, drama, how are you supposed to be feeling about these characters and what they’re going through?

It’s the first time in, perhaps forever, that I have stayed up until the midnight release date for a book, but I was so eager to see what happens in the next part of Harry Potter’s story, that I read the first act before finally admitting defeat and getting some sleep. The rest of it was read in just a few hours upon waking, and what a great story it is.

This one was unknown to me, but in the search for something mindless, fun and action-packed after a long work week, we opted for Arnold Schwarzenegger doing what he does best: muscles and unintentional comedy. I was expecting it to be pretty bad, and I can’t argue that it was some brilliant filmmaking, but I did actually really enjoy it. Arnie can’t act but that’s not why we watch him, and he used his ridiculous strength well in this one. The child wasn’t irritating, which helps, and I actually really liked the pilot woman who helped him out.

With his daughter all grown and gone to university, Chris is back with another book of stories from El Valero, the Spanish farm he lives on. There’s no chance of getting lonely, however, as there’s a constant stream of visitors coming in or adventures to be had outside, and we get to hear them all.

Rob Brydon’s autobiography is deliberately set in the period from birth to just as he broke through and become a household name. I admire that, considering the world of autobiographies can be about just spilling the beans on your rich and famous friends.

Interesting one this, a story about aliens farming humans for meat, and following the trails of one particular alien who has to trawl up and down the roads of Scotland in search of hitchhikers who won’t be noticed if they disappear.

I knew far more of this album than I’d anticipated, so plenty to sing along with. Great songwriting skills and lots of interesting instrumentation and sounds to keep each song alive and fascinating.

Wonderful album, soul with real heart, sultry movements and genuinely relaxing vibes. One of the tracks had just a bit too much repetition for me, but it’s a small complaint in a really good body of work.

I’d always wondered about this book but had never really been inclined to read it until the kerfuffle kicked up over the sequel/first draft that was published last year. With my interested piqued, I finally got round to reading it, and what a wonderful book it was. I understand the fuss now, I really do.

I actually found myself laughing out loud more than I’d anticipated, it was funny all the way through. Some of the jokes were crude, some obvious, some more nuanced and detailed, I really liked the variety. It was a bit weird watching OJ in a film but thankfully he wasn’t in it that much, and when he was, he was just being thrown around for comic effect anyway. I was also surprised how many liberties the script writers were allowed to take with the Queen! Bit dated in places, but overall entertaining.

I’m so disappointed in this. I know that this was a good film, that I’ve seen it before and enjoyed it. And I wanted to watch it again because, you know, Leonard Nimoy! But this time, oh my word, it was impossible to get more than 25 minutes in because of that baby and its incessant crying.

In honour of Garry Marshall, we quickly righted this wrong and watched the film. It’s quaint to see Hathaway so young but so quirky already, but if I’m honest, the star of the film for me was Joe. His guidance of the potential princess, his all-knowing attitude as a chauffeur, and the spark of romance with the wonderful Julie Andrews, awww, it has my heart warming just thinking about him.

It wasn’t quite as good as I’d built it up in my head, but it was still a really good film. It got off to a slow start, I think, but once things picked up and everyone started acting like complete maniacs, it was a lot of fun. I was impressed with the effects, a few of them went a bit wonky, but there were a couple that I’m still not sure how would be achieved today, let alone twenty years ago. Some of the fashion choices haven’t aged particularly well and I was annoyed at the scene where Goldie has lipstick on her teeth - they couldn’t have shot that again?

This one was similar to the last, in that it looked like it had the potential to be a good film, but the story didn’t quite make sense. Also, there were some seriously dodgy special effects along the way (some of the London river stuff was particularly bad). Having said that, there was one sequence that was really good, where it was a long one-shot take as the battle took place in the streets. Really liked that.

I picked this book up after doing just a little bit of research about Cheddar Gorge and finding some detective fiction based around the Somerset area. It’s an interesting story, a little bit too much detail on the rock climbing which went totally over my head, but otherwise a good murder mystery.

This book is a love story, written in two parts - the present where a new widow is forced to remember an old love, and then the past, catching up the story of the three main characters until the present. I struggled, a little, with the way the book is structured, because you start at the end, where it is obvious what is going to happen, so the rest of it seems a little fruitless.

A long, long while back, I wrote my five reasons for not going to the cinema anymore, and occasionally if I’m ever asked why I dislike watching films on the big screen, I point people towards that post. All of it still holds true, and as I get more cranky and my TV setup at home gets more awesome, there’s less of a reason to fork out for cinema tickets for any blockbuster release.

I’ve been looking forward to this since I saw the first trailer, and at last, it arrived. I loved it just as much as I thought I would, it’s the perfect mix of cute and funny, as well as telling a serious tale with genuine feelings. I actually thought some elements of it were a bit much for a kids film, but that’s what parents are for, isn’t it, to decide on that kind of thing. As an adult, I thought it was perfectly pitched, and really, truly, hilarious in places.

A different, self-indulgent kind of experience. The songs are super long, so you have to settle in and go with it. Money for Nothing remains a favourite but I love how the songs are all so different with great layering and instrument work to make it a real gem.

Love this album! Guitar pop loveliness, really listenable, jolly for the most part and a few songs you can really tap your foot to. I just dislike the one song that is exactly like Teardrops from Eurovision.

Looking at Rotten Tomatoes just before publishing, I noticed this film has 0% on the tomatometer. Now, that’s because it’s in cinemas now and so lacking in reviewers, but even so, that seems incredibly harsh. It’s clearly a low budget movie, an indy that does look cheap in places - the producers clearly spent some money on a drone and were damned if they weren’t going to get maximum use out of it. So it did look cheaper than your average blockbuster, but I still thought it was a lot of fun.

My Life List has featured “watch a professional ballet performance” for a long time, and I’ve never quite got round to it. I’ve just recently realised why that is, considering how much I love the theatre and would grab any excuse to go. I have a weird obsession with ballet that manifests itself by me loving the behind the scenes activities – training and classes, rehearsal, choreography and dance schools – but then not being at all interested in the end result.

We know now that the NFL tried to quash some or all of this movie, and that the story behind this is no doubt a lot, lot worse. That explains why once the concussion findings have been published and the news is out there, the film gets a bit wobbly in its pacing - almost like it can’t decide whether to go full out on the good versus bad guys, and instead sits nervously in between the two.

Apple Music gets quite a lot of stick for its functionality and usability, and I can understand the complaints to a degree. However, I’ve used it constantly these past six months for my weekly album adventure and much more, so I’m listening to more music than I probably have before in my life. I’m comfortable with how it works and I love it being part of my iOS experience. There’s one feature I really would like, though, and that is a Reading List style place to save things for the future. If you use Safari, you’ll know it’s easy to save whatever web page you’re on to your Reading List so that you can revisit it at a later date. Or if you’re anything like me, save stuff that you take several months to get round to looking at.

I’m surprised I haven’t seen this one before, it feels like it’s a film that’s part of the collective consciousness of the world, a piece of culture. And having now seen it, it’s also essentially an extended version of the first episode of Ugly Betty, which I loved.

Written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, you have to expect this book to be slightly crazy, pretty funny, and insanely well structured. It was all of those things. I’m not sure it was 100% to my tastes, but I did enjoy it, particularly the way all the characters seemed to be drawn inexorably towards each other.

The 2016 Wimbledon Championships drew to a close this past weekend with Williams and Murray taking their respective crowns and bringing to an end two weeks of spectacular tennis. I’ve never felt quite so on top of all the Wimbledon action as I have this year, well not since I once took a whole week off to watch nothing but the tennis. There are two reasons why I’ve managed to stay so informed. One is the brilliant Live at Wimbledon radio, which provided all day every day coverage either of everything going on across the grounds, or more specific channels for Centre Court and Court One. The other weapon in my knowledge arsenal was the fantastic Tennis Podcast.

I have to be honest, I didn’t really enjoy this one at all. There didn’t seem to be a clear angle with it - you can tell the author wanted to stick with rabbits that weren’t acting too human, and it was interesting to see where they didn’t understand human ideas, like the sea and bridges, but equally, these rabbits were capable of getting in a boat in a bid for freedom and rescuing each other from garden hutches.

Now, I have to be careful writing this post, because in our household there is one human who is utterly obsessed beyond comprehension with Taylor Swift, and just to be clear, it’s not me. I like Ms Swift, I think she’s very talented and pulled off an incredible feat switching from country to pop the way she did. 1989 is a really good album. I also like the stuff she does with her fans and the way she really seems to care about what’s going on around her. (That’s enough praise to get me out of trouble, isn’t it?)