Book 8 of 2026, masterpiece from David Nicholls. You experience all possible emotions reading this. His 3rd novel, and all have lead male as inept & completely flawed. Emma is the real hero of the story, she never gives up even when Dex is an arsehole, many would walk away. #StSwithensDay #BookSky

Record fair in Clevedon, got a decent haul of 10 cds for less than £20. Nothing overly exciting, mostly stuff I had on vinyl/cassette back in the day.

#last4albums There's a theme to this one, back in the 80s if I saw a decent review in Record Mirror and liked the name of the band, I would buy a single and if I liked that I'd buy the album too. Here's four of those bands, had a nostalgic Saturday morning

#Ceilingsonsaturday #Berlin Europa Center

#BookSky. Book 7 of the year is another masterpiece from @michaelrobotham.bsky.social A welcome return for Philomena McCarthy. We encounter a Hatton Garden robbery, some murders, a turf war with a satisfying body count and a kidnapping. Fast paced as ever with plenty of twists on the journey. 1/2

My 6th book of the year comes from @russincheshire.bsky.social known mostly for The Week in Tory on the other place. Comes across as a decent bloke and he's from Sandbach where Mrs D hails from. So when I'd heard he's written a novel it got added to the TBR list. 1/2 #BookSky

Remember last summer when some daft people tried to claim Spurs had a better season than Arsenal? What really happened was both clubs were laying down a foundation for what was to come this season. No one sensible was impressed by winning the European equivalent of the Auto Windscreens Shield.

Can you hear it? The sound of something burning Something changing On the merry-go-round tonight

#last4albums Including the best album ever released

Latest corner gate issue is the amount of time that Arsenal are taking them. Which I get, it's frustrating. Almost as frustrating as watching goalkeepers take over a minute over goalkicks when not losing against Arsenal. Or every single quick set piece taken by Arsenal get called back by the ref.

St David's & St Tott's what a day to be Welsh & The Arsenal

In recognition of today, quote post with something #green you've photographed

I'm gonna be busy for a little while #terryhall #colourfield

#last4albums Unintentional S theme

Repost with a photo that would make a good album cover.

Turns out he really does only score against the weaker teams. Once if they're shit, twice if they're shit and getting relegated.

Book 5 didn't last long, abandoned. The prologue was promising, but the first full chapter tuned me out. Decent authors can include the minutae of life without padding the story. Dialogue needs to be on topic. The first chapter was waffle and heavy on dialogue but thin on content. Very disappointing

Seems ages since reading any @valmcdermid.bsky.social, only downside of having read all her books is waiting for the next to come out. Fantastic read covering 4 murders, rape and football betting scandal. We see how Pirie (and her team) juggle all of the above in her inimitable style. A must.

These days, I'm struggling to stand my own reflection It always looks backwards From the way that I imagine

“Post an album that was important to you when you were 11.”

Book 3 of 2026. Let's go through the Checklist.... Maverick cop Haunted by personal tragedy Broken marriage Murdered sex workers Bent coppers on the case Despite all of this I quite enjoyed this tale, even if the business end of it seemed more than a touch unlikely.

Release day for Ist Ist. Everyone's favourite Mancunian doom merchants. A familiar wall of sound, stomping anthems in what nme would probably describe industrial. It's fucking great, give it a listen.

January goes out with a bang. The debut album from The Molotovs is a generational release. The most important UK debut since Up The Bracket, 24 years ago. Lande Hekt is a bit more twee and introspective, local indie from Bristol. Both are marvellous.

1/2 Second book of 2026 (very apt). A collection of contemporaneous blog posts, so the book stays in real time all the way through. Making it a documentation of the season on the pitch rather than a deep dive of anything behind the scenes. Autumn hope turns to winter despair and spring acceptance.

First book of the year. Straight up who dunnit from Chris Chibnall. His first novel but plenty of TV credits, Broadchurch, Torchwood, Dr Who etc. A good read, lots of noise taking you away from the actual perp. Decent pace and subplots, but in line with a TV drama the reveal was a tad underwhelming.

First cd of 2026 is "Secret Love" from the excellent Dry Cleaning. There's a few bands at the moment delivering spoken vocals, Dry Cleaning (along with The Rhythm Method) are my favourite. In this case backed up by a chaotic, at times, screeching guitar sound. Wonderful stuff.

Manchester City have dropped more points in the first 4 days of the year than Arsenal have since December 1st, so am going to assume that there will now be daily wall to wall articles about Manchester City being jittery for the next week or so.

youtu.be/YIW4M-oBiBA?... 5-4-3-2-1 and it's over..... #desperatejournalist

Final picture dump of 2025 9/9, a week in Benidorm in September. #Benidorm

2025 pictures 8. Another family wedding in August

2025 pictures 7. Cardiff Castle on my birthday in July. #Cardiff #Cardiffcastle

2025 pictures 6. Had 4 nights in Berlin in July, not long enough, will definitely return. Was meant to go for my 50th, but covid lockdowns stopped that and it took us 5 years to organise it properly. #Berlin

2025 pictures no 5. In June we went to visit Sarah's cousin in Yorkshire. Taking in Hebden Bridge, Esholt (original Emmerdale village), Richmond, and a drive through the dales to the highest pub in England. #tanhillinn #emmerdale #woolpack #yorkshire

2025 pictures no 4 End of May, another London day trip, popped into The Arsenal to buy this season's top. #arsenal

2025 pictures part 3 Benidorm in May #benidorm

2025 in pictures part 2. Camden Market in April #Camdenmarket #Camdentown

2025 in pictures 1/several. Bourton on the Water in January on Sarah's birthday, followed by afternoon tea in Bristol. In April Sarah's niece got married in Winchester. #Bourtononthewater #wedding

30/2025, probably the last. As noted on the cover this novella was a tv tie-in. From memory what you get in the series is exactly what you get here, no more no less. Entertaining, with wry humour, Hornby is able develop characters in such a short time. Both have flaws and you wish them both well.

1/2 29th book, read last week coinciding with the anniversary of Stuart's passing. This book doesn't touch the Adamson years, just what happened after the remaining band got together again. Butler leaves you to read between the lines as he's too nice to spill all the beans on what went down.

Been to see Avater Fire & Ash. Visually stunning. Storyline as you'd expect if you've seen the first two, but that didn't make it any less enjoyable to me. It would have been better if an hour shorter, but I guess the self indulgence is to be expected. Wonderful film. #avatar

Madness at Cardiff Arena last night #Madness

Squeeze at Cardiff Arena opening for Madness #Squeeze #Madness #Cardiff

Book 28 of 2025. Long time to read this, but did finish it. We're meant to believe that a DC who's under internal investigation goes an entire case without anyone asking him what he's up to or even check his progress. The least you want from a crime fiction book is that it could happen. Crap.