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.

Potentially 2 deliveries away from being halfway through the #Ashes series. Archer is 2nd in Eng's averages. For batting. Even if he goes first ball he will only slip to 3rd/4th depending how many Stokes adds. Probable that only Root will average over 30. Eng will drop a bowler for next test.

Book 27. The FBI want Flynn to take a case, but the defendant has a legal team already. They also want the defendant to take a plea, but he's innocent. Meanwhile Flynn's wife isn't innocent, unwittingly. How does Flynn cope with all this and deliver his own sense of justice? Great work by Cavanagh.

As the years hang on me You will always be young

26/2025 a novella from Cavanagh. Eddie Flynn has to prove that a cop killed his clients' partner. In doing so the body count rises and further corruption within the NYPD comes to light. Not a dull moment, not entirely plausible, not one to be missed.

2025 album of the year 4/4 #albumoftheyear 1 @thebeths.bsky.social "Straight Line Was A Lie" 2 @theloftuk.bsky.social "Everything Changes, Everything Stays The Same" 3 Wet Leg "Moisturizer" 4 @franzferdinandhq.bsky.social "The Human Fear" 5 @penfriendrocks.bsky.social "House of Stories"

2025 album of the year 3/4 ##albumoftheyear 6 @apollojunction.bsky.social "What In The World" 7 @thebeaches.bsky.social "No Hard Feelings" 8 Lola Young "I'm Only Fucking Myself" 9 Manics "Critical Thinking" 10 Coach Party "Caramel"

Book 25/2025. Quite possibly the best book I have ever read, judging from a month or so later. We witness the resolution of the Evie Cormac mystery. The final chapters had me openly crying, can't remember any book as an adult having this affect on me. Bravo @michaelrobotham.bsky.social Bravo.

2025 album of the year 2/4 #albumoftheyear 11 @thelastdinnerparty.bsky.social "From the Pyre" 12 @theslowreadersclub.bsky.social "Out Of A Dream" 13 The Lathums "Matter Does Not Define" 14 Stereophonics "Make em Laugh.." 15 @jodyandthejerms.bsky.social "Love Descends"

24/2025 #slowhorses. Read this in October, it's the one where Standish gets abducted. No real difference from book to tv programme. A good read, but some of the passages away from the action seem laboured. The dark humour redeems this and more. If you enjoy the TV series, you'll enjoy the books.

2025 album of the year 1/4 #albumoftheyear 16 @fortitudevalley.bsky.social "Part of the Problem, Baby" 17 The Adventures "Once More With Feeling" 18 Red Rum Club "Buck" 19 Len Price 3 "Misty Medway Magick" 20 @sparksofficial.bsky.social "Mad!"

Book 23, this was a fantastic read, covers all stages of Broudie's career. Some really interesting stories. Been a fan since Pure & bought all Broudie's albums along the way, and many he has been producer of, but strangely I've never seen Lightning Seeds live. A must for any LS or indeed music fan.

Oh my days, seems like I've been blocked by some australian, who's timeline was based on mocking the English cricket team dressed up as biting satire. 1 comment, not controversial and definitely not abusive has seen me personally attacked, swiftly followed by being blocked. Touchy sort aren't they.

22/2025 holiday read back in Sept. Backstory comes to the fore in this as Cyrus' brother gets released back into the community. The dynamics of how this affects Evie is central. Meanwhile, a couple of abductions mean Cyrus is officially on a case, and by (un)happy coincidence, Evie is also involved.

21/2025. Lapena delivers a story where the unthinkable happens to decent people in a quiet area. 1 by 1 we see the layers peeled and those people ain't so decent after all. All have secrets, and a motive. But which one of the fuckers did it? Tried and tested formula maybe, but still great stuff.

20/2025 Mark Billingham was the author that got me into crime fiction and remains my favourite author. Someone is killing coppers, we learn in revenge to their behaviour in uniform - a topical theme. MB tells it well and keeps the twists coming - didn't see the final one coming. Amazing book.

19/2025. A very easy read thanks to the narration of @jonspurling.bsky.social Each chapter looks at a club or tournament giving a snapshot in time. There are some great stories, many of which I'd never heard before. Highly recommended for any football fan around in the 80s regardless of allegiance.

Final music purchase of the year, been looking forward to this. First listen, it's not top drawer The Wedding Present. Just because it's not immediate, doesn't mean I won't love it within a month.

18/2025, another summer read. Been meaning to read this since first watching Dexter. The Ice Truck Killer, as ever the book and the TV show differ in places. Never understand people who get upset at the different artistic representation. Really enjoyed it, will definitely continue the series.

I get the bluster from a lot of England supporters following Root's century. However, whenever England post what on the face of it looks like a decent score abroad, it only takes a session and a half later to realise they were 150-200 runs short.

Book 17/25, read this back in July. Topical expose of a hero cop who is a violent misogynist, protected by rank and reputation. Wonderfully told by @michaelrobotham.bsky.social Plenty of twists and turns in a fast paced thriller that is gripping from beginning to end, as you would expect from M.R.

Must get back to posting on here, lost a bit of enthusiasm back in the summer, got busy, did a bit of occasional lurking, got busy again.

16/2025. Not a critical look at what Bazball, but an exercise in blowing smoke up the arses of all involved. You'd have thought England were now world beaters at cricket, rather than the mid ranking side they are, unable to win Ashes at home, spanked away in India. Better to watch, still a bit shit.

Book 15/2025. Really enjoyed this yarn from @richardosman1.bsky.social Weaving the unlikely, the mundane and the near impossible deliciously in a tale of chasing murder across the globe. Superb characters & great observations litter the plot where you're never more than a page away from a chuckle.

Bit late in posting, but last Saturday found myself at The Armoury. Youngest had a Dr Who thing in Chiswick, so to kill time I took the wife up to The Arsenal, do a bit of shopping and take a few pics

Book 14 in 2025. I wanted to like this, James are one of my favourite bands and have been since buying What For in 1988. I tried to like it. Unfortunately, the best I can say is that I read it until the end.