Reading - June 2026

Choosing You by Stacy Finz (2021)

Predictable but nice. The little US town of Nugget, where this series is set (this is the 11th book!) is unrealistically wholesome and basically an escapist fantasy, but that's what we want anyway and everyone ends up happy.

The Cuckoo's Egg by Clifford Stoll (1989)

I bought this, the early classic of computer espionage and hacking, over thirty years ago and haven't read it in at least twenty (definitely not since 2009), but the details remain in my mind. It's fascinating to learn about the early internet, from several years before I first came across it and at least 10-15 years before it became common ground.

Holding On by Stacy Finz (2021)

So finally I've reached the end of the Nugget series. There's nothing in this to indicate that it's the last one, just another sweet, wholesome romance set in small town America. Very readable and enjoyable.

Wild Eyes by Elsie Silver (2024)

Superior romantic fiction - well constructed, well told and thoroughly readable. The only slightly sour note is that while the MFC is gaining her independence and learning to speak up for herself, she lets herself be a submissive male fantasy plaything in the bedroom. Nothing wrong with that if that's your thing but it seems inconsistent with the character and with the theme of the story. Still, I'm pleased to note that there are three other books - so far - in this series.

An Ethical Guide to Murder by Jenny Morris (2025)

An entertaining and compelling examination of the ethics of murder, framed within the concept of someone who can somehow transfer life force from one person to another at will. If some of the characters seem a bit light - particularly the boyfriend - then it only detracts slightly.

The Partner by John Grisham (1997)

I find Grisham highly readable - you really want to know how it will all play out - but this is a lesser entry in the canon, which explains why I haven't read it in over twenty years. And the cheap shot twist at the end makes no sense - a twist has to make sense in hindsight, even if you didn't see it coming.

Clueless by Amy Heckerling (draft script, 1994)

Reading early version of scripts is interesting, seeing what stays in and what gets cut. There's almost always fewer words in the film, because you can do so much more on screen without them. But this is pretty close to the final thing.

Nemesis by Agatha Christie (1971)

Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie (1976)

At Bertram's Hotel by Agatha Christie (1965)

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (1930)

For some bizarre reason, the twelve Miss Marple novels in three omnibus volumes are not in anything even close to chronological order. So here, in Volume 3, we have the last three stories, albeit not in order themselves, and then the first. Why? Anyway, they're all very good and if the eventual motive for murder seems perhaps a little light, the point is the puzzle and, as always, they're well set up and designed. Light reading for a hot day (I read three of them in one day).

Let The Games Begin by Rufaro Faith Mazarura (2024)

A perfectly pleasant romance, set at the 2024 Olympic Games and featuring Black characters, which was nice as it made a change to get their cultural background but made no real difference to the story.

Death on Ice by R. O. Thorp (2024)

A locked room murder mystery with a slightly improbable set of characters and plot, but engaging and a good read.

Watching - June 2026

Tom Scott: England (season/"part" 1, 2026)

Tom Scott, having taken a break from YouTube after ten years of constant activity, returned this year with what is, to all intents and purposes, a broadcast quality documentary series (presumably self-financed and independently produced) covering all the counties in England. The episodes are short, very varied in subject matter and, assuming you like Tom Scott, interesting. Luckily, I do like him. "Season 1" contains the first ten episodes on Nebula, which I signed up to for this. I'm not sure I'm finding anything on Nebula I couldn't find on YouTube, but it wasn't expensive.

Taskmaster (season 18, 2024)

As always, plenty of laughs to be had. It's so impressive that they've kept the standard this high for so many seasons.

Scrubs (season 1, 2001)

Where it all started! In preparation for watching the return of Scrubs, I thought I'd have a quick cruise through all eight seasons (we're not counting season 9), but as usual I'd forgotten how long a season of US sitcoms actually is. Still very funny, sometimes very moving and sometimes a little over-reaching.

F1: The Movie (2025)

Watching this again reminds me of, firstly, how implausible the whole thing is, and secondly, what an amazing publicity coup by the F1 organisation the film is.

Boomerang (1992)

I can't find where now, but I read somewhere that this was both an underrated romcom and an underrated Eddie Murphy film. Marcus (Murphy's character) is a womanizer who doesn't understand why the girls he loves and leaves get upset when he walks away, only to get all possessive and clingy when he comes across Jacqueline (Robin Givens), who treats him the same. Luckily, sweet Angela (Halle Berry) is there to show him what real love is. There's mileage in the idea but the way it's played is slightly clumsy (you can't tell me a player wouldn't realise he's being played, and the role reversal is too pat), and there seems to be a slice missing from the film near the end, where Marcus and Angela fall in love. But Murphy is as watchable as always while being pleasingly more subtle than usual, and a mainstream comedy film populated almost entirely by black characters is still a rare thing.

Ted Lasso (season 1, 2020)

I knew little about this other than it was supposed to be good, but there it was on my free Apple TV subscription, so I gave it a go. When I saw that the credits mentioned Bill Lawrence, creator of Scrubs, I knew I was in for a good time, and so it proved. There's plenty of laughs of course, but plenty of pathos too. What pleases me most is how English the whole thing is - albeit slightly cleaned up, of course - in a way that surprises me in a US sitcom that is, presumably, primarily intended for a US audience.

Watch the Sound with Mark Ronson (2021)

Mark Ronson has got to be one of the coolest people on the planet and obviously his contact list is unparalleled, but this was a bit of miss for me. I suppose it's possible that's because I already know most of the information being presented here, so although it's interesting to see some things, most of it's labouring the point for me. Might be worth it if you like music but have never wondered about some of the mechanics of making it before.

Minority Report (2002)

Yet another Philip K. Dick novella transplanted onto the screen and slightly bowdlerised as a result, this is nevertheless a satisfying techno-thriller with an enjoyable frosting of "what is reality anyway" (although not too much because that would get in the way).