The Forbidden City by Alexander Grant

The Forbidden City was my chosen 'G' from all the books I have unread on my kindle.

It tells the adventures of General Leandros, the King's Lion.  Prince Assaf assassinated the king in order to take his place, and a group of soldiers loyal to the rightful king, plus General Leandros, abandon their old country and seek refuge in Indra.  Unfortunately, Assaf has now pronounced himself Emperor and he looks to conquer all surrounding lands to expand his empire.

The blurb says:

It was the perfect plan. Murder the King and use his legions to restore the Empire. Only flaw; the man who created the legions managed to escape. No big deal. He was only one man, right?
Immerse yourself within the magical world of the Eagle Empire through the first book of the King's Lion Tales. Spectacular battles, high level strategy, romance, Gods, shamans, magicians and miraculous spices are making a truly entertaining read.
They sent his own legions to hunt him down. Assassins lurk behind every corner. The woman he loves is in danger. As if these are not enough, they plan to unleash a terrible ancient evil to plunge the world into warfare and bloodshed.
But he is not an ordinary man. He is a legend. General Leandros, the undefeated King's Lion. Now he is coming back armed with steel and magic. In a world full of intrigue, sorcery and enchantment, where Gods and humans play lethal power games, the King's Lion fights one breath-taking battle after another across an entire continent. The future of the Empire and of the woman he loves depends on him. Will his genius manage to save the world?

I enjoyed this story.  I liked the plot, and though there is a lot going on (battles, deception, gods, magic, love) all the twists and turns make sense and though they may not always be expected, they do not come out of nowhere, itms.  As expected when reading a story about a general, much of the book centres around the battles and strategies of warfare - that said, when I chose the book (based on the title alone, once I sorted by author for G) I didn't expect it to be as heavily based on battle.

This is the first book of the trilogy, but I have enjoyed it as a standalone.

Edited to add: Alexander Grant has been in touch and he is hoping to write a 4th book in the series!

The Collective Virtual Choir

This past month or so, I have been singing as part of The Collective.  The Collective is a Virtual Choir that describes itself as "An A Cappella Virtual Choir made up of singers from around the world. First started in 2020 during the Covid 19 Pandemic."
I saw an advert on Facebook that a friend shared, and it looked like fun.  It's a group of singers from all around the world, who are singing together, but separately, to make some music.

They did a project back in April ("back" - as if April was so long ago, lol) that I wasn't a part of, but gives you an idea of the type of thing we are working towards (as I'm not giving too many details until it is finished): White Cliffs of Dover by The Collective.

I had not realised that I missed singing, and it certainly does help with my mental health.  So, I have been learning a new song, learning new techniques and even learning how to self evaluate my own recordings by listening back to myself - something very scary when you've been told most your life that you can't/shouldn't sing.  I love singing, but this has stayed with me, so even though I do sing, I'm not convinced I'm any good at it.  During this experience, I have been brave and sung solo in front of strangers live, I have sent a recording of my voice part in for feedback, and this morning I have sent in my final recording to be included as part of The Collective.

The feedback I got almost made me cry - in a good way, I'm just not a cry-y person.

I'm not joking when I said that I have often been told I shouldn't sing.  When I was a child, I felt I didn't have support from family; I can remember friends laughing at me because I had perfected the art of miming to songs, and even though I did enjoy singing (even as a child) I can remember one friend telling me my voice was perfect for a choir but not for solos.  It took a lot of courage for me to join my Adult Musical Theatre group, though I haven't yet built up the courage to sing more than a few words by myself, I am hoping this experience with The Collective helps me to become more confident.  Even when practising this song, my kids say I'm embarrassing and my husband says I'm too loud because he is in meetings... 

This first song is nearly finished, and the next song is due to start next month.  I encourage everybody who enjoys singing to sing, whether it be at home, in a choir, or in a virtual group like this one. 
Sing and let your voice be heard!

Learn Free Home Education Conference 2020

Over the weekend of the 15th May, the Learn Free Annual Home Education Conference went virtual due to the Coronavirus.  Normally held in Coventry, this was the first year that I was able to attend.  The ticket was only £12 and for that you get access to all the talks and discussion. And, as this year was virtual, all the content is still available for the next 6 months, so if it sounds interesting, you can still buy access!

Using the Whova app (that I hadn't even heard of before, let alone use) it is really easy to navigate the conference and see and speak to everyone you wanted to.  The program was full with many speakers, including Dr Peter Grey the writer of Free to Learn, covering topics such as General Interest, SEND, Legal/Political Factors, Charlotte Mason, Secondary Education, Christian Education, Unschooling, Early Years, Numeracy & Literacy, Classical Approach, as well as some Just For Fun.

For the price, I thought the conference was amazing.  I had thought about going in previous years, but with the girls dancing (there is usually a dance festival May half term, so can't miss dance lessons on the weekends leading up to it) there has not been the opportunity, so being virtual has been good for me.  It also gave me a chance to catch up with old friends, some of whom I hadn't spoken to for years.  If there is an online version next year, I will definitely go again.

Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst

I was recommended Made to Crave by a friend who had started reading it a while ago, and was planning to finish reading it.  We decided to read it together - a few chapters each week - and then coming together on a Friday to discuss what we had learned.

The blurb says:

The reality is we were made to crave. Craving isn’t a bad thing. But we must realize God created us to crave more of him. Many of us have misplaced that craving by overindulging in physical pleasures instead of lasting spiritual satisfaction. If you are struggling with unhealthy eating habits, you can break the “I’ll start again Monday” cycle, and start feeling good about yourself today. Learn to stop beating yourself up over the numbers on the scale. Discover that your weight loss struggle isn’t a curse but rather a blessing in the making, and replace justifications that lead to diet failure with empowering go-to scripts that lead to victory. You can reach your healthy weight goal – and grow closer to God in the process. This is not a how-to book. This is not the latest and greatest dieting plan. This book is the necessary companion for you to use alongside whatever healthy lifestyle plan you choose. This is a book and Bible study to help you find the "want to" in making healthy lifestyle choices.

The idea that feeling cravings wasn't a 'bad' thing was a new idea to me, but makes sense that these cravings are created by God and should be directed to Him. The book is full of ways to keep God as the centre of your focus, as you build your relationship to him, and weightloss is almost a side effect.  Honestly, I did find that I was losing weight as I read the book (See my Weekly Updates from Y2Wk12), with my weight going from 95.3kg to 91.4kg, which is quite an achievement, when it feels like nothing much has changed!

If you are a Christian who is trying to lose weight (or indeed take control of other cravings), there are lots of insights to be found in this book.  It is highly recommended.

Weekly Update Y2w21

As I explained on my FB page (HERE), I have been really busy so forgot to update last week.

This week I'll give a quick update, though you don't really need me to describe the graph.

My weight was going down nicely, then I had my birthday.  It has taken longer than I hoped for my weight to stabilise again, but it it near enough stable and has started to decrease again.

As the weather is staying warm, we're having more BBQs - not a bad thing in itself, but I need to remember that I don't need to have bread with the burger, or alcohol, or the extra giant toasted marshmallow, or anything else that my family has.  That's not to say I can't have any of it, but I should ensure that I eat Veggies Most, and enjoy my treats as 'treats' and not 'normals'.

Weekly Update Y2w19

Let's start by getting the elephant* out of the way - can you tell I had my birthday last week?

*as in "the elephant in the room", not as in me!

Despite that, I'm still pleased.  I hit a new lowest weight during the week, and after 2 days of increases, my weight is starting to decrease again, so I'm counting this as a win!  

I am trying to make a lifestyle change, rather than simply omitting lots of foods for the weight to go back on afterwards.  So, yes, it was my birthday and I had cake.  Actually, I had two cakes - one from a friend and one from my husband, both ordered from Mcctaffs!  I wasn't expecting either, so it was a lovely surprise. 

We have demolished the sweetie cake (which may or may not have something to do with the weight gain...), whereas for the chocolate one, I regained my senses and we portioned it up and froze the individual portions (well over 30 left over, and we ate plenty!).  That way, when we want cake, we can simply defrost the amount we are going to eat, rather than  eating it because it is there.

I was also given a box of chocolates, and am only allowing myself one per day - at the end of the day.  Sometimes I can do this easily, tbf, usually I can do this easily.  It's only when I'm stressed or depressed I can't (assuming it's decent chocolate - if it's cheap or milk chocolate, then I don't get my 'hit' and I end up scoffing the lot, which I hate myself for afterwards as I don't even enjoy it).  This is going well so far, even though I did have a wobble and felt myself being called by the chocolate, but I got through it with God's help.  Yes, I am praying every time I get a craving, because I know that I don't have enough will power to lose weight - if I did, I wouldn't be on the 19th week of Year 2 of actively tracking my weightloss.  I would have decided I would lose weight back in Sept 2018, and poof, the weight would have melted away because I would immediately have eaten healthily, with good portion sizes, and done plenty of exercise - but we all know that didn't happen!

This week, my aim is to exercise 3 times (I have already done once - yey!).  I have been going through Body Groove's Pilates.  Each video is around 12minutes long.  I started doing one video at a time, and the last cycle I was doing 2 videos together.  Depending on how achy it feels when I am doing it, I am going to try putting 3 videos together this week, so I can finally say that I am exercising for 30min, 3 times a week. According to the NHS I should be trying for 150min a week, but I'm moving in the right direction.

Following His Heart by Donna Fasano

This book is the perfect antidote to how I felt after reading Wuthering Heights (though after chatting the book through with a friend, I do feel a bit better about WH - it just wasn't what I was expected).

Following His Heart is an easy-to-read romance the epitomises "chick lit". It follows the story of Sara, a widow in her 30s who runs her own baking company, selling directly to customers as well as supplying restaurants and other businesses cakes and desserts.

The blurb says:

Sara Carson is a 30-something widow with a busy life. Two fun-loving best friends, a caring mom who needs her, and a thriving sweet shop. What more could a woman want? But when the ancient plumbing in her shop springs a leak and a gorgeous, dark-eyed stranger rushes to her rescue, hilarity unfolds—and Sara quickly sees exactly what she’s been missing.

Something most peculiar draws Landon Richards to Ocean City, Maryland—and to the lovely Sara. This woman touches his heart like no other, and the two of them explore the heady attraction that pulses between them. But haunting dreams have a way of encroaching on reality, and the strange phenomenon that brings these two together will also threaten to tear them apart.

This is the first book in the Ocean City Boardwalk Series, where life for three enterprising women, Sara, Heather, and Cathy, isn’t just fun in the sun—love is waiting on those sandy shores!

This is a comforting story.  I read it in a day, and it left me feeling good.  It is predictable, but sometimes you just want to read something light and enjoyable to pass away the hours when lying in the sun in the garden (or on holiday if we weren't in lockdown due to coronavirus).  I enjoyed it.