I really enjoyed the first half of the book, tragic as it was in places. Following the early stirrings of a life as a chef in a young boy with a lot to learn, we track him across the continents as his extended family move around a lot, eventually alighting in France. The bitter fight with the neighbour across the road is also fascinating, but then I found it started to lose its way.

I knew nothing about James except for two random songs, so this was a refreshing experience. Great album, the songs are all quite gentle pop and with that iconic voice, there’s a familiarity throughout the album (although it goes a bit wonky in the middle), making it fab for a comfort listen or as background music.

I was quite ambivalent about this album on the first run through, it all sounded much the same. Very Red Hot Chili Peppers, you know what you’re getting and not bad but not special. Second time through I was starting to pick out more interesting melodies and bass lines, so I think this one is definitely a grower.

I feel like I saw this Chinese elevated bus concept previously - perhaps at the drawings stage of design, but now there’s a scale model to show how it really would work. It looks incredible, wonderfully futuristic, and it’s a brilliant idea. BUT, I do get the feeling it wouldn’t work with human beings behind the wheel of the cars. What if someone has to get out for a second - or pull over? What if there’s a crash underneath it. Where do the lorries go?

I wouldn’t cook well with a camera up close like that. The pressure!

I struggled with sympathy for some of the storylines, because you know, I couldn’t care less about carrying on my genetic lines, but considering my cynicism the film actually did a good job. There was an interesting mix of successful and unsuccessful parenting units, and although there was some drama along the way, for the most part, it was all happy endings.

Nope, nope, nope. Thought this would be bad but also quite like Zac Efron so opted to give it a chance. Wish I hadn’t, though. Not funny, constantly offensive, and god there are some images of Robert De Nero in my head now that are never going to leave.

Although I enjoyed the different style of the last book, it was nice in this one to go back to the more normal Jessica Daniel adventures. Investigating crimes in a more than unorthodox fashion, dealing with her own demons at the same time, and trying to keep everyone around her safe and happy, it’s a tough life for Manchester’s favourite detective.

Wonderful album, stacked full of shorter but well-crafted songs. God Only Knows is just under three minutes of perfection. I wasn’t expecting there to be instrumentals, and as a whole Sloop John B stands out as not quite fitting in, but otherwise it all works well.

Really good album. If you like the single Close, then it’s very much more of the same. So many songs packed together, though, made me realise how often Nick uses the falsetto and that grinds my gears when it is overused.

I quite enjoyed some of the stories, learning about the olive making process was interesting, and it was also good to read about nipping across to Morocco for some seed-picking fun, but others weren’t quite up to the normal standard, I thought. The journalist coming to review gardens was interesting but didn’t really seem to have a point, and trying to find a random parrot wasn’t the best way to start a book, I thought.

I didn’t really enjoy it, there were a few funny moments along the way, but really neither Heigl nor Rogan played sympathetic characters and it was hard to care about them when they made bad decisions almost every step of the way. I was also seriously annoyed that he made a huge effort to turn his life around and she barely acknowledged it.

After seeing the brilliant film of this story, I wanted to read the book to see how it compared - both are very similar, the film was a close and accurate representation of the story in the book. It’s a heartbreaking but important read, I think, written mostly from the perspective of the patient so it is so easy and painful to feel the decline in abilities first-hand.

We had to watch this due to my obsession with Sandy, but it looked like a good film from the trailer. Oddly, I hadn’t expected it to be quite so political as it was, which is really down to me being stupid, given the subject matter.

This book was slightly different to the more normal 87th Precinct series, taking the point of view of the criminal and sticking with it throughout the entire story. It was almost disconcerting that the regulars barely make any appearance in the book, with just a brief scene where we follow Carella into a restaurant, and a short interview conducted by Hawes (or Horse as it is misheard).

Whipped through this book in double-quick time, the story of our two favourite detectives (Carella and Hawes) investigating a brutal and gory murder committed by axe. I thought the story was fascinating, because it seemed such a horrendous murder from the outset but was the result of (minor spoiler alert) such a minor quarrel.

I really enjoyed this book, the second in the spin-off novels from the TV show Death in Paradise. It felt more relaxed than the first, more like the characters we’ve grown to know and love, and less repetitive, particularly in terms of the murder investigation. Rather than endlessly going over the clues, we revisit them just a couple of times throughout.

This podcast popped up out of nowhere but instantly became a regular part of my audio entertainment. It’s a simple concept - Anna invites over her Hollywood friends, has a bit of a chat with them, and then takes calls from listeners with relationship and other problems. Anna and the guest attempt to dispense advice, but make sure to point out they’re unqualified to do so.

I was nervous about listening to this but it’s about as accessible as heavy metal can be. I ended up quite enjoying it, although listening to all that angst in one go did make me anxious. The intensity and the harsh vocals can be a bit much but I still loved a few of the tracks along the way.

Good modern country – mentions both the moon and time machines, so I’m confident that he wrote it all with me in mind. Branches out occasionally with some ballads and some brass, but otherwise it’s a nice comfortable country album.

I love this video about some of the work the LEGO Master Builders get up to - how they come up with ideas, design their projects and build the finished articles. The best bit, of course, is the glimpse inside the warehouse of LEGO bricks - row upon row of baskets stacked full of bricks, organised and wonderful. The other thing this video brought to mind is that, whilst we live in a world where getting your dream job is more and more possible, there are still some jobs that still make you think “how on earth do you become one of those?”

I was expecting this to be some kind of disaster movie, given the title and the cover, but it turned out to be the first part in what could potentially be yet another young adult trilogy. I’ve not heard of it, nor read it, but it soon became clear that it was in the young adult genre, and the somewhat cliffhanger at the end was seriously annoying.

Given the promotion for this film, I knew what we were getting into but even so, the amount of self-awareness shown right from the start was incredible - and somewhat exhausting. It’s brilliant on so many levels, what with breaking the fourth wall, talking about the studio and their budgets, and referencing the actors that actually play the characters.

Couldn’t quite remember the first one initially, but it all soon came flooding back when Kevin Hart and Ice Cube started their bickering. I have, since the first film, realised I love Ice Cube so him and his grumpy antics throughout the film were very entertaining.

I’ve been wondering why I’ve felt quite tired recently, and then I realised. It’s because I’ve suddenly started focusing on my health and fitness again, ramping up the amount of exercise I actually do. Three years of concentrating on exams can have a detrimental effect on the time available for little things like: joining a gym, going for a walk, dancing around the kitchen, that kind of thing. That’s all done and dusted (for now at least!) so I’m focusing on fitness which, for me, begins with the Apple Watch and it’s pesky three-ring strategy. Stand goals are relatively easy, but it took a considerable effort to get Stand, Move and Exercise maxed out every day. First I did it for a week, then that turned into two weeks, and then I thought, can I? Could I possibly? Will I be able to keep this up for a whole calendar month?

I enjoyed watching the first week of the French Open at Roland Garros, but the second week has been a bit of a washout. These days it always feels a bit weird for me to watch men’s tennis because we get to view so much of the WTA via BT Sport’s brilliant almost-constant coverage. Having seen a few men’s games this past seven days, I’m convinced that we’ve got the good end of the deal. When I was younger I used to prefer the men’s game because I knew more of the players, plus it was faster and more interesting to me. Now I’ve completely changed my opinion and prefer the women’s tour - and here’s five reasons why.

Beauty and the Beast was never one of my favourite Disney films but with Emma Watson in the live action remake, I’m interested to see how it comes to the big screen. A teaser trailer was released this past week, with just a few glimpses of the lady in question, and no sign of the beast at all. I’m a bit concerned that this teaser doesn’t really do much to make it look live action, up until you see Emma’s lovely face. Until then, it could just as easily be the cartoon in slightly sharper detail. Hopefully future trailers will offer up a little more because even though I said it wasn’t my favourite, I’m still secretly a little excited for it.

Top Gear returned on Sunday, with the first episode presented by the new line-up airing over the bank holiday weekend. I’ve been waiting with anticipation for this moment, along with the debut of the Clarkson/May/Hammond Amazon adventure as well. Top Gear in its previous guise was brilliant but it was never quite clear if it was the format of the show that made it great (gorgeous HD photography, fun stunts alongside interesting but not so useful car reviews) or the personalities and relationship between the three hosts. Jeremy Clarkson’s angry outburst has given us the exact situation where we can find out.

Love the rhythms here. Subject matter can veer too far for me, I couldn’t listen to Kim the second time round. But then again, Stan is an absolute classic so it’s swings and roundabouts.

Very catchy pop, high production values, but not totally special. Influences of Beiber and even occasionally Taylor Swift. Enjoyable enough to listen to, with plenty of good songs, but not all that memorable.

It’s always a lot of fun when artists cover other artists, and that is never more true than when it’s a Backstreet Boys tune on display. The superbly fun Florida Georgia Line took on that challenge with an impromptu cover of ‘Everybody’ and they did it pretty well, I think! If anyone else leaves BSB, there could be a spot open for one of these two. Although, I have to admit, my one takeaway from this video is to ask what device is it being filmed with? It’s a brilliantly clear image! Love it.

The weather is getting more and more unpredictable, so when the sun is shining and the skies are blue, you have to make the most of it.

I love this video promoting the US version of Red Nose Day. So many celebrities, most of whom are favourites, and only a couple of whom I don’t actually recognise. It’s an amusing message, of course, but I have to admit the best bit is the bonus appearance of Ana Lucia - who appears to be on a film set and in a completely different context to everyone else. Weird.

A recent episode of Note to Self highlighted a really interesting concept that they’re unfortunately calling the ‘Lonely Web.’ The idea is that for all the popular social media posts that get hundreds of views every day, there are those that don’t get any visits at all. It’s an interesting listen, if a little hamfisted at times - you sort of get the feeling that it’s not a huge issue, particularly as not everyone is out there to be famous, and there’s an awkward moment at the beginning where Manoush only just manages to remember there’s a world outside of America. Nevertheless, it’s a thought-provoking podcast with great production values.

A new trailer for the third installment of the Star Trek reboot was released recently and it looks quite a lot like the previous two! This time, however, it’s co-written by Simon Pegg and directed by Justin Lin, who played a big part in getting me hooked on the Fast and Furious franchise (something I’m still not totally over!)

This was an interesting concept for a story - a girl narrowly escapes being the victim of a serial killer and spends some time trying to rebuild her life, only to find that he’s still after her. It has all the elements that should make a thrilling read, but I have to say, the actual murderer didn’t quite have me convinced.

It’s not every day you open up the app store on your phone to discover that Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has released an alarm clock app to help you wake up and set your goals. Turns out that was a really good day. The Rock Clock does exactly what it says on the tin, it’s an alarm clock which pushes you to reach a specific goal (ie. wake up early, or write that screenplay), and the alarm sounds feature the Rock’s beautiful voice giving encouragement.

A short novella in the Jessica Daniel series, this story brings back the side character who has appeared only occasionally in the main novels - Hugo the magician. I feel like the author enjoys this character far more than I do, but with that aside, it is always interesting to see how the aspects of magic relate to crime - ie. deception, distraction, and all that goes with the art of sleight of hand.

I properly loved this album, so much that I listened to it twice straight through, and was then humming Fast Car for the rest of the week. Brilliant, lyrical, moving. I love it, although it did open my eyes to why some people aren’t such fans of Boyzone. Oof.

I liked this far more than I expected. It was the perfect mix of pop and RnB – a lot of it reminded me of the RnB from the 90s, which is my era of music. I also really enjoyed the bonus Macy Gray!

I really love this music video for Sweet Lovin’ by Sigala. The song itself is your standard dance number, but the video takes it a step further with roller skates that issue smoke from the back. I want some! What is really fab about the whole thing is when more skaters join the fun towards the end of the video, creating a sort of roller skating version of the Red Arrows. This must have been a lot of fun to film.

I’ve read this before, a long time ago, and it was interesting dipping into it again. I remembered it as I do so many of Harris’ books - full of warmth and sumptuous descriptions, moving passages with vivid images, and of course, plenty of food. What I hadn’t quite expected, and this is foolish, of course, is just how much chocolate there is.

I’ve had to skip a few of the 87th Precinct series because the books aren’t available in a Kindle version, but that’s not too much of an issue as time moves slowly in these novels. All the main characters are there, but most are only referenced as this one revolves around Carella and Meyer dealing with a particularly tricky case.

The second book of an epic Follett trilogy, Winter of the World encompasses the build up and events of World War Two plus the horrifying end and aftermath of the fighting. I feel like this book didn’t quite have the same impact as the first, but that was mostly down to how much ground it had to cover.

This entry in the Jessica Daniel series is slightly different from the others which makes it a refreshing break from the slightly more formulaic crime series drama. Jess is dealing with a lot of emotions and working through grief from several different traumas, and uses her situation to infiltrate a cult and find out what sinister secrets they have.

Good album, great guitars and interesting lyrics. Confident I was missing important song meanings but I liked it anyway. Only concern is the singles stand head and shoulders above the rest.

Some good bits here and there, very well produced, but ultimately I just found it quite boring. It was a slog to get through it a second time.

I’ve been vaguely aware of Kurt Wallander’s morose tales, seen promotional shots of the TV show but never actually read or watched anything yet. I quite enjoyed the story, if you can enjoy such a horrific crime being investigated by such a depressing character.

One of Ken Follett’s epic sprawling saga’s begins with many different characters and families dealing with the descent into the First World War, the horrifying action itself, and the beginnings of the aftermath. I really enjoyed the soap opera style drama, who is in love with who, and how they twist in and out of each other’s lives.

Really enjoyed this album, so very indulgently eighties. Fine balance between guitar rock and country music, but great songs, catchy melodies, and some anthems you can roar.