More reading time required

The curse of the library strikes again. This time I picked up Stephen King's End of Watch. I've also been reading a bit of Raising Girls by Stephen Biddulph. Obviously a lot of the advice is way in advance of the stage we're at though.

I generally crave big meaty fantasy books/series but if I get sucked into the library cycle, then a "quick, lighter read" tends to trump it and I find myself saying "I''ll just race through these ones and then I'll get back to what I was gunning for in the first place". Sometimes I think that's a BC (Before Children) throwback position from a few years ago when I could just race through books, so it was the bigger the better, but when it comes down choosing my next book, I'm now not as keen to be reading the same book for several months, which is what tends to happen if I choose the 800+ pagers.

I finished Reasons to Stay Alive (I knew it'd be a quicky read!) yesterday. As someone who's suffered from depression in the past, it was quite an insightful read and I could empathise with what the author went through, though it's not a book that really gives you any help as to how to battle it, if you are going through it. I think it'd be more useful for someone to read who is having to live with someone with depression.

On returning a book and following my toddling daughter around, I got sucked back into the world of library books. I wasn't even looking and I ended up picking out Caitlin Moran's Moranifesto, David Mitchell's (the comedian) Thinking About It Only Makes It Worse and Matt Haig's Reasons to Stay Alive. Then whilst I was there, I decided to read up on what I might be letting myself in for with Ellie and got Steve Biddulph's Raising Girls (I'd read Raising Boys previously). I started Reason's To Stay Alive alongside my other book as it seemed like it'd be a quick read.

It was brilliant as usual and not too bad a showing from the UK either! Also keeping its place in the "programmes that work even better when watched alongside Twitter" list. I'm not too sure about the winner. It was nice enough, but nothing outstanding I thought. Other than that, I finished Big Little Lies, which was quite intriguing, and I am still watching many many other programmes and would like to get to the end of my catch-up tv backlog so I can watch something completely new on-demand.

On Friday I finally finished The Killing 3 and started Rage of the Dragon by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman - one of my own books. Hurrah! Now that I have received the fourth & final book for my birthday, I thought I'd crack on with book 3 (seeing as it's not that long since I read the previous two).

Started watching Little Boy Blue (about the murder of 11yr old Rhys Jones) - cried lots Eurovision semi finals tonight - yay! I wonder how many fewer points we'll get on Saturday as a result of Brexit

Finally finished Broadchurch Line of Duty - fab stuff! Started Big Little Lies - not quite finished the first episode but it's quite good so far. Grantchester - don't have to pay too much attention to this but is generally an enjoyable watch. The Last Kingdom - one ep to go, but it's been a consistently good series. The Legacy - glad I managed to start this before it vanished! Next up, I need to catch up on Spin and Versailles.

Saw Guardians of the Galaxy 2 at the weekend - enjoyed it.

Yep, I'm stuck in this library cycle at the moment. I have one more book to finish and then I'm desperate to hand it back in and not get any more out so that I can return to my own TBR. The problem is I now regularly go in on a Monday with Ellie after I drop James off at school as it's a short walk into town from the school and she loves looking at all the books there (plus we get a stamp for her Bookstart record which gets her certificates and eventually a 'Bookstart Bear'). Even if I go straight to the kids section and don't look at the fiction shelves, there's still a risk I'll see something on the "new book display".

Doctor Who - liking it so far. my hubby is letting James (our nearly 5 year old) stay up and watch it so it's a different experience Only just discovered The Legacy season 3 has been airing without my knowledge and have just managed to catch the first episode at lunchtime before it disappeared off NowTV in one day's time. Phew! Not yet had chance to catch up with Broadchurch, but touch wood I have so far managed to stay unspoiled.... Murder in Successville - I love this, it's so silly and funny. Line of Duty - can't wait for the last part on Sunday!

Aww, sorry to hear about William

I think that At Bertram's Hotel was one of the few books I've abandoned in my lifetime at the time I first read it as an adolescent. I've since re-visited it and finished it, but I think I remember not liking it all that much and that's very rare of Christie's work.

The last episode of Girls Still 3 behind on Broadchurch due to a Tivo malfunction (followed by replacement) and then the rubbishness of ITVHub (only showing 1 week's worth of shows on the Tivo and only working back to the full 30 days on the website or iPhone app).

Last week I saw the live action version of The Jungle Book - one of the few times I've managed to sit down and watch a film with my son without having to go off and do other jobs. We all really enjoyed it, even Ellie - who liked looking at all the animals.

I watched all 4 episodes in quick succession and now I feel a bit bereft that it's over! I've also been watching The Last Kingdom which is pretty good.

I've had a week off work with the kids which has been pretty good (and not too stressful!). Tomorrow we go off for a long weekend away visiting friends and family before I pass the childcare baton to my husband and return to work on Tuesday - I'm not looking forward to it, but probably an easier job . Have a good Easter all

I read this to James (my 4 year old) over several nights a few weeks ago, as it was his free World Day book. He rather liked it - especially the zoo map and the pictures of all the animals.I found it quite amusing too.

Thanksfor the heads-up. It was still free today

Nah, the fourth is the best one, imo. Book 5 is pretty good too. The latter books are not quite as good iirc, but I've only read them once (whereas I've read the first 4 many times) so I need to revisit them to be sure. It's definitely a series that lasts in the memory though, and it's interesting to read in general because it's intervoven into many of SK's other novels.

I've pretty much liked all the Ben Elton I've read. I remember one of the members here really didn't like Two Brothers though. Yesterday, I finished Girl on a Train which was quite a good read. I must get round to writing all my reviews of the year - they're going to be very short at this rate as I'm so behind! Today, I'm going to start my last library book - The Killing 3 by David Hewson (and I must not get more out when I next visit the library! ). I'd rather watch it but Netflix is failing me in that respect, so the book version it is! I hope it lives up to the tv experience.

I've never really understood how the multi-quote thing works anyway

I thought this one was excellent. It really left an impression on me.

Finished watching the first seasons of This is Us and Timeless which were pretty good. Also finished Catastrophe. Fab series & excellent last performance from Carrie Fisher. Started watching the latest series of Line of Duty. So far so good.