My Books of 2022

 Happy New Year!

And thank you for letting me have the last year off blogging.  I'll update you all with everything eventually, but for now lets concentrate on the most important things: Books!

I actually read 52 books (1 isn't currently on goodreads), though there were two books that I confess that I didn't finish.  I decided that life it soo short to persevere with books that are either too slow or too boring, when there is so much more out there that I want to read!

I should also say, that though I am going to separate out all the books that I have read this year below, the links won't work until I have written up the reviews.  And I know that some of you are still waiting for the reviews of the books that I read in 2021.  Hopefully, now that I have a bit more time (she says, on the first bank holiday of the year), I'll get around to catching up and filling those in too.

You will notice that some of these books are from my recent A-Z Challenge but that I haven't finished this list.  That's because, when my daughter was going in for her heart surgery, I made sure to download a load of free boxsets.  As they are currently on my kindle, these are what I have been going through more recently.  And I have recently joined my local book club, so I'll be reading two 'random' books each month too.  The first meeting I'm attending is tomorrow, so wish me luck!

So here is the list of books that I read in 2022, though I may have the order slightly wrong in some places. 
For those who prefer visuals, there is a picture below.

Fiction:

• Exodus by Andreas Christensen
• Aurora by Andreas Christensen
• Genesis by Andreas Christensen
• When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason
• When a Heart Stops by Lynette Eason
• When a Secret Kills by Lynette Eason
• American Gods by Neil Gaiman
• Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
• The Monarch of the Glen by Neil Gaiman
• Black Dog by Neil Gaiman
• The Last Safe Place by Ninie Hammon
• The Crown of Thorns by Ian C P Irvine
• Hidden byt Megg Jensen
• The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
• A Single Step by Georgia Rose
• Reckoning by Megg Jensen
• Hunted by Megg Jensen
• Before The Dawn by Georgia Rose
• The Wedding Pact Boxset by Denise Grover Swank
• Wicked Words by M J Scott
• Patterns in the Dark by Lindsay Buroker
• Pale-Eyed Mage by Jennifer Ealey
• Torn by O M Faure
• Untied by O M Faure
• Chosen by O M Faure
• Thicker than Water by Georgia Rose
• Soul Blade by Lindsay Buroker
• Dragon Blood 1-3 Boxsetby Lindsay Buroker
• Shattered Past by Lindsay Buroker
• Oaths by Lindsay Buroker
• Raptor by Lindsay Buroker
• The Fowl Proposal by Lindsay Buroker
• Heritage of Power Boxset by Lindsay Buroker
• Playing Dirty by Andrew R Williams
• The Christmas Bookshop by Jenny Colgan
• Falling by T J Newman
• Jim's Revenge by Andrew R Williams
• Superior by Andrew R Williams
• Andalusia by David Harvey
• The Dark Insite by Solomon Carter
• The Singapore Grip by J G Ferrell

Non-Fiction:

• English Legal System by Emily Finch and Stefan Fafinski
• Legal Profession - Is it for you? by V Charles Ward
• Watching Neighbours Twice a Day by Josh Widdicombe
• Helping your Child with a Physical Health Condition
• Older and Wider by Jenny Eclair
• Parsnips: Buttered by Joe Lycett
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman

Christian Inspirational:

• The Secret Message of Jesus by Brian D McLaren
• Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey
• The Message: New Testament by Eugene H Peterson

My books of 2021

 

Last year, I set myself the target of reading 50 books, which I hit.  I think I've actually read a couple more than 52, as I still (sorry!) have some reviews to write up, and I don't always add them to Goodreads if I haven't done the review.  If you are a Goodreads user, feel free to click this link to follow me there too.

This next year, I've set myself the even more modest target of 24 books in a year.  This is because I barely wait whilst the girls are dancing anymore, so I have less time to read actually structured into my week.  I also (before last week) hadn't read anything since about October.  I had less free time, and in December you have to watch as many made-for-TV crappy Christmas movies as you can.  It's the law.

Here's a pictorial summary of all the reading I did last year, and I'll give a link to each review below.

Fiction

• The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett
  
• Red White and Blues by Rysa Walker
  
• Ember by Jessica Sorensen
  
• Forgotten by Don and Stephanie Prichard
  
• Genesis Code by Eliza Green
  
• Happiness is a Smoking Gun by Alaine Allister
  
• I Spy, I Saw Her Die by Ian C. P. Irvine
  
• Juliette and the Monday ManDates by Becky Doughty
  
• Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
• Catriona by Robert Louis Stevenson
  
• The Legacy of the Key by S L Morgan
  
• Mouse Tails by Sonny Collins
  
• Nocturne by Kat Ross (The Fourth Talisman Series)
  
• Out of a Dream by Rosemary Hines
  
• Pancakes and Corpses by Agatha Frost
  
• Quantum by Patricia Cornwell
• Rift by Andreas Christensen
  
• Season of Hope by Dayo Benson
  
• Taste by Mary E Twomey
  
• Ugly Girl by Mary E Twomey
  
• The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith
  
• The Wave at Hanging Rock by Gregg Dunnett
  
• Yesterday by Amanda Tru
  
• Meadowlark by Melanie Abrams
• Brainrush by Richard Bard

Non-Fiction

• Trim Healthy Mama Plan by Barrett and Allison
  
• I Can Make You Thin by Paul McKenna
  
• The Diet Trap Solution by Beck & Beck
  
• The Obesity Code by Jason Fung
  

Christian Inspirational

• Women Rising by Meghan Tschanz
  
• Finding Intimacy With Jesus Made Simple by Matthew Robert Payne
  

And another month goes by...

So, I'm still seeing my PT twice a week.  My weight was still going up, and I almost hit 100kilos, which I've never been before.  But, I am still decreasing my size, and have even dropped a bra size when I got measured recently.

As sexy as I look in a bra and a pair of shorts (not!), I am pleased that even *I* can see that my back-fat is going, and I now have a waist again.

Both my girls are now in school, as DD2 recently started year 7.  She does enjoy it, but is very tired.  Having gone from needing 10-12 hours sleep a night, to having to leave the house at 7.30am, return near 5, then rush straight to dance lessons and often doesn't get home aain until 9.30 or 10pm, is a bit of a shock for her.

As schools have gone back, I'm tutoring again now.  My days have changed this year, so I work Tuesday mornings, Wednesday mornings and Thursday afternoons.  I don't have much free time, though, as I'm still involved with Home Education locally, nationally and politically.  (Ok, I don't know if 'politically' makes any sense in that sentence, but the rhythm made me feel like it needed a third thing there.)

I am trying to read too, but that has slowed somewhat.  As I don't need to wait at dance in the evenings anymore, I don't have as much time to read.  Also, in the few gaps I've had during the day, I have had a bit of a TV binge, watching non-kids TV during the day! Very exciting.  I have recently watched Sex Eduction, Love on the Spectrum, Motherland, and I was getting into Making a Murderer, until my husband joined me one day, and now I'm 'not allowed' to watch it without him.  Yet, since then, we haven't watched it together at all, so if he's not careful I'm going to continue watching it and just not tell him, lol.

And yes, I am aware that I haven't caught up with the book reviews I said I would write a month ago.  Despite everything I've written here (and this feels like a lot to me), I've even more things going on.

DD1 has been having mini absence seizures/blackouts for a while, though she didn't tell me that they had become frequent until last October.  I told her to keep a diary in case it was related to what she had been eating or time of the month or anything like that, and we made an appointment to see the GP.  Fast forward to February, and we were referred to hospital to see a neurologist and to have an EEG.  As part of this, they gave DD1 a general health check and discovered she had a heart murmur.  Not a big surprise or concern as my husband had one when he was little, but they referred us for an ECG.  And another.  And an echo.  And a heart consultant who told use they would be bringing in the big-guns from a nearby city to look at her heart, because she has a hole in her heart.  As you can imagine, this was a bit of a shock, given she was 13yo at the time, fit as a fiddle, loads of dance, and zero symptoms (breathlessness, fatigue, palpatations or enlargement of the heart).

Anyway, we saw the big-gun heart consultant, who did another ECG and echo (which incidentally, is really interesting, as the computor automatically colours the blood blue and red depending on whether the blood has been oxygenised or not).  She confirmed that the hole in the heart is nothing to do with the mini blackouts DD1 had been having, and because the EEG was clear, they (the hospital) are not following that up at the moment.  However, DD1 does not have a hole in her heart - she has two plus a leaky valve! (It's a partial AVSD for anyone who wants to google it.) Due to where the holes are located, they cannot go up the leg/groin to close it, but she will need open heart surgery.  But, it isn't urgent, because she has no other symptoms, so don't worry about it too much.  It's a fairly straightforward procedure, etc etc, and just has to be done before she becomes an adult, as if left unfixed, it could cause massive problems when she's in her 20s and 30s.

Then over the summer we had a virtual consulatation with a surgeon, who said they expected surgery to be in October!  DD1 would have to be in hospital for at least a week, at least a month off school, at least 3 months off dancing.  All of a sudden this became very real!  Due to dance festivals finally starting up again (and the enxt one being in October) we have asked for the surgery to be postponed until the summer term, but we will follow the guidance of the consultant.  Meanwhile, DD1 has had even more hospital appointments, and had to wear a 24hr heart monitor, and been asked to participate in research before/after surgery, so my suspician is that it will be sooner, rather than later.

Oh, and we have got a second dog, Luna.

A-Z Challenge 2021 Fiction Authors

So here is my new A-Z Challenge by authors, and this time I won't be filling in the letters that I'm missing.

A - Meadowlark by Melanie Abrams

B - Brainrush by Richard Bard

C - Exodus by Andreas Christensen

D - Thicker Than Blood by C J Darlington

E - When the Smoke Clears by Lynette Eason

F - The Singapore Grip by T G Farrell

G - The American Gods Quartet by Neil Gaiman

H - The Last Safe Place by Ninie Hammon

I - The Messiah Conspiracy by Ian C P Irvine

J - Hidden by Megg Jensen

K - Earth - Last Santuary by Christian Kallias

L - Heaven by Mur Lafferty

M - The Wedding List by Autumn MacArthur

N - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

O - Daygo's Fury by John F O'Sullivan

P - Mr Rook by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

R - Where the Shadows Lie by Michael Ridpath

S - The Phoenix Conspiracy by Richard L Sanders

T - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

V - The Time Traveller's Almanac by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer

W - Daughters of the Lake by Wendy Webb

Y - To Fear the Dawn by Sean Young

Z - The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafron

(Note: If it turns out that some of these listed either are non-fiction or I have previously read them and forgot whilst making this list, I will change them for books I haven't yet read.)

Where has the time gone???

I can't believe it's nearly a month since I last posted anything on this blog!  I've got lots to say, but want to post it all separately, so I'll give a quick overview now, and hopefully will find some time in the not-to-distant future to actually write properly.

This past month, it was my 16th wedding anniversary, (did I tell you in July that my hair is no longer purple?  It's red now), I went to Back To the 80s & 90s Festival by myself and had a fab time, I finished reading all the books on my A-Z Challenge list, plus the rest of the Ugly Girl series, I went to London twice with the family to see 2 different shows, I've started going out with friends again in an evening, DD2 had her 11th birthday yesterday, and today was her first day of Summer School (transition week) before starting secondary in September.  I am officially not home educating any more!  I have some new tutees and some old ones lined up for me to start tutoring again.  I am still involved in HE politics, despite it being the summer holidays.  And I'm still seeing my PT.  I know I didn't update you guys with my last set of progress photos (even I can see a difference now compared to how I looked when I started!), but I'm due to take my next set this coming weekend.  I'll also be taking new measurements, and will have a look to see if I am finally starting to lose weight.  Since I started with her in April, I have only put on weight, so it will be good to see if that finally starts to change!  And, as I finished my A-Z of fiction titles I need to set myself a new challenge (based on the books I already have on my kindle that I haven't read yet).  As, on my kindle, I can only sort by Recent, Title or Author, I suppose I'm going to go back to Fiction Authors.  Unlike last time, however, I will not be buying any books to fill-in the letters I'm missing.

A-Z of Fiction Titles

After my success of reading a fair few books by choosing them according to author's name, I am now going to go through my fiction books and read them based on the book's title. 

This time, however, I will not be buying additional books to fill in the gaps.  I still have a few hundred books on my kindle and in my amazon account that I haven't read, so I am going endeavour to get through these without buying more.  (Usual caveat, about if I read the first book in a series and it's absolutely amazing, I probably will finish the rest of the series, but I am getting better of adding books to my wishlist instead.)

So here is my list.  Again, once I have read the books, I will update with a link to my review.

A - Affliction by Scott Medbury

B - Begin Again by Kathryn Shay

C - Chosen by D G Swank

D - The Dark Side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett

E - Ember by Jessica Sorensen

F - Forgotten by Don & Stephanie Prichard

G - Genesis Code by Eliza Green

H - Happiness is a Smoking Gun by Alaine Allister

I - I Spy, I saw her Die by Ian C P Irvine

J - Juliette and the Monday Man Dates by Becky Doughty

K - Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

L - The Legacy of the Key by S L Morgan

M - Mouse Tails by Sonny Collins

N - The Nocturne by Kat Ross

O - Out of a Dream by Rosemary Hines

P - Pancakes and Corpses by Agatha Frost

Q - Quantum by Patricia Cornwell

R - Rift by Andreas Christensen

S - Season of Hope by Dayo Benson

T - Taste by Mary E Twomey

U - Ugly Girl by Mary E Twomey

V - The Vine Witch by Luanne G Smith

W - The Wave at Hanging Rock by Gregg Dunnett

Y - Yesterday by Amanda Tru

Reading List O-Z

As I finished yet another book yesterday (I'll write a review of If I Didn't Care by Kait Nolan soon), I was searching my Kindle for the next book to read based on author - I'm now on O.  I had to scroll through over 70 pages of books, just to get to author O!  (There may well be a quicker way of doing it on my kindle, but I can't seem to be able to search specifically for an author's letter, so scrolling it is.)  Given that I don't want to be repeating that all the time, especially as we progress through the alphabet I'll have to skip more and more pages, last night I chose and downloaded the books I will read for the rest of the alphabet.

Usually I go by gut-feel, so sometimes I'm in the mood for romance, sometimes a thriller, sometimes fantasy, sometimes Sci-Fi; sometimes I'll want to read a classic, other times I want to read something lighter.  It depends on what I have just read and what's going on in life.  Now, however, with this pre-chosen list I have to hope that I've chosen well.  As always, I have gone by the title and by the book cover, so though I may have an inkling of what the book is about, I am often wrong.

O - The Centurion's Wife by Janette Oke and Davis Bunn
P - Ties that Bind by Anne Patrick
Q - Third Daughter by Susan Kaye Quinn
R - Rise of the Dragons by Morgan Rice
S - The Lanvin Murders by Angela M Sanders
T - Incarnation by Jason Tesar
U - [ETA: Plague 99 by Jean Ure]
V - Stronger than Magic by Melinda VanLone
W - Now, Then and Everywhen by Rysa Walker
X - [ETA: On Her Own Two Wheels by Stacy Xavier]
Y - Forged in Rage by Sean Young
Z - The Forever Man 1 by Craig Zerf

As you can see, I am missing a U and an X.  Though I'm meant to be working my way through the books I have already bought, it does bug me somewhat that I'm missing just two of the letters of the alphabet.  If you know any fiction authors whose last names begin with these letters, please recommend them to me.  Ideally, I'd like a free book on Kindle (as the whole point of this was to not buy any more), but I'd be willing to pay a little just for completeness.