This blog turned one year old in January 2026. Some of you will have been with me from the very start, while others will have found your way here at another point in the past 12 months, but I’m grateful for every single one of you that’s taken the time to read any of my posts.
This new series is my way of letting you know some of the things I’ve gotten up to in the previous month that haven’t led to dedicated reviews. Think of it a bit like an Instagram dump but in written form.
What I Watched in January 2026
For Christmas, I was gifted a book called ‘Everyone’s A Critic: 52 Week Movie Challenge’, which sets out a different kind of film to watch each week of the year.
It’s forced us into watching some films that we may never usually choose and it’s mostly been a success so far.
CODA was our choice for ‘Best Picture Winner’ and I’m not ashamed to say that it moved me to tears. I had no idea what to expect but it was genuinely a five-star film for me, balancing humour, sadness, the difficulties of being deaf and even musical elements perfectly.
12 Angry Men is a bonafide ‘classic’ and although I have watched it once before, it must be around 15 years ago now and I couldn’t remember much apart from the fact that I enjoyed it. The performances in this film are incredible and it never feels boring, despite about 99% of it taking place in the same room. In fact, the setting is essential to build the tension and create an uncomfortable atmosphere. Rewatching it, I also found it interesting to notice a few parallels with one of my favourite comedies – My Cousin Vinnie.
With a budget of $8 million and box office takings of over $100 million, Little Miss Sunshine was a prime candidate for the ‘low budget, big box office’film. I absolutely loved this. It was absolutely hilarious in places and it tackles some extremely serious themes like depression and death in a light way, but without feeling insensitive. The cast all bounce off each other brilliantly as well and their chemistry is amazing.
As a cartoon, Kiki’s Delivery Service was perhaps a little bit of a cheat for a film ‘starring animals’ but one of the main characters is a black cat so we can count it. The animation is absolutely gorgeous, the music is incredibly relaxing and once again, it tackles themes such as loneliness and anxiety in a way that children would be able to understand and empathise with. Although I didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the previous three films, it still really worked as a lazy Sunday watch.
When it comes to TV, Twin Peaks (including Fire Walk With Me and The Return) has dominated our viewing over the past couple of months. As is the case with David Lynch, I didn’t know what going through on some of the time and the ending wasn’t satisfying in the traditional sense but I still enjoyed the ride.
I’d put off watching Stranger Things Season 5 when it came out – partly due to the staggered release schedule and partly to avoid getting caught up in all the hysteria. I’m glad I did in the end because I saw the final season of the show get absolutely panned on social media and while it had issues and definitely could have been better, I still had lots of fun with it.
After being left massively disappointed by the last Harlan Coben Netflix adaptation Missing You, last January, I vowed to never watch one again but here we are. Run Away ended up being a pleasant surprise and without giving too much away, I thought the very final twist was very well executed.
What I Read in January 2026
After falling short of my target of 50 books last year, I’ve not really set myself a reading target in 2026; I just want to focus on enjoying stories to the fullest. January has been a strong start on the whole, with four books read – three of which I enjoyed immensely.
Midnight Library by Matt Haig was first up and is a book that I’d been recommended a while back. It has a pretty whimsical concept so I wasn’t sure whether it would be up my street but I found it genuinely thought-provoking. “You don’t have to understand life. You just have to live it,” is a quote that stayed with me well after putting my Kindle down.
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson sounded like the kind of dark thriller I regularly race through but I really found it to be a drag. I enjoyed the narrative device of flipping between the interrogation room and the ‘garden’ and initially thought it would be a slow burn that would burst into life. Instead, I just found it difficult to get through.
The Good Luck of Right Now by Matthew Quick is one that’s been on my list for ages but just not been able to get hold of a copy. Matthew Quick is the author of my favourite novel of all time – The Silver Linings Playbook – and I also really enjoyed The Reason You’re Alive so I had high hopes for this and early on, I thought this may be right up there with those two. It ran out steam a little bit in the middle but the ending was really hopeful and had me smiling.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng is another that’s been recommended for a while but I didn’t really get on with her novel Everything I’ve Never Told You so I’d put this off. This one started slow but I ended up absolutely racing through the second half of it and would definitely recommend it. I just need to watch the TV miniseries now, as I believe it’s supposed to be even better.
Everything else I got up to in January 2026
In the first full week of the year, I officially became a homeowner. However, I thankfully didn’t have to go through the stress of moving, as the semi-detached house I’ve bought with Mrs Molloy has been my home since I was around two months old and the purchase of it was from my mum.
In the weeks since, we’ve moved quickly to get a brand new roof and order a kitchen (which will hopefully be fitted in March).
In true ‘new year, new me’ fashion, I’ve started running again after letting it really drop off in the last couple of months of 2025. To motivate me, I booked on to the AJ Bell Great Manchester Run half marathon and the end of May and I’ve managed to run just short of 70km in January – for context, that’s about the same distance I ran between 18th October and 2nd January.
In a similar vein, I’ve continued to play padel after first trying it late last year.I’m not particularly good at it but I’m still enjoying it greatly. I’m trying my best to improve as well by joining on to the brilliant beginner sessions at Just Padel in Bolton. I’ve even recently pushed myself out of my comfort zone by taking part in an ‘Americano’ (a fast-paced tournament format where I had to rotate partners for short matches over 90 minutes).
It’s also been quite a lively month in my day job; I led on pitching the story of musicMagpie and Timpson’s new trade-in partnership to press and I had the pleasure of hosting some brilliant journalists in the AO suite at the AO Arena for National Lottery’s Big Night of Musicals.
I probably should have done a review of the latter as it was a brilliant show, with Sam Ryder’s showstopping world exclusive performance of ‘Gethsemane’ from Jesus Christ Superstar the biggest highlight, with an honourable mention for Ava Brennan and her powerful rendition of ‘As Long as He Needs Me’ from Oliver.