Talisman

That's slightly warmer than where I am then, where on Thursday night the temperature plummeted to minus 8 degrees ! That is cold. I am starting to think about the trip to Iceland now, which will be 5 weeks today. I had a play around with the camera last night and have worked out the best way to use the manual mode. I have also managed to set a second pair of winter walking trousers courtesy of Ebay. Apart from that I have been doing a lot of writing - I have been working on a rewrite of the book I wrote and published in 2006 since the middle of November. I am up to chapter 7 out of 33 and the word count has already increased by 4000, bearing in mind that the index has been removed (no point in having one for kindle books, as you can search them anyway). On the work front, I have decided not to go for the role of Support Worker as I realise that it is not at this time the right thing to do. I have come to realise that my desire to do this was borne from the issues I had with one of the other Managers where I perceived that I was not being seen and treated as an equal. Although I could probably do this job and would in time be good at it, I need to be sure that I am doing it for the right reasons, and this is not one of them. I need to work on m my own sense of self worth first. For the moment then it is on hold.

I read The Outsider last year and loved it - very thought provoking.

The fish bond at work did the same - I had to break through the ice with the aid of a mop handle, to make sure the fish were alright.

We had a few flecks of snow this morning, but it didn't settle. At 9am the temperature was minus 3 which was colder than Reykjavik.

It's been foggy for most of the day here, with temperatures hovering around maybe 5 degrees or so.

Happy New Year everybody ! The New Year is off to a good start for me - towards the end of November I decided to start rewriting the book that I wrote and published 10 years ago, and I am making good progress. The first 2 chapters have been completely rewritten. The 2nd chapter has doubled in size, so has now been split into 2. What was the introduction has also been added to and moved to a different place, so that it is now chapter 4. Only 31 more chapters to go before it's all complete ! I had forgotten though how much I enjoyed the writing process the first time around and all the learning and research that went along with it. Of course it is a lot easier now as there is so much more information out there, but I have discovered some amazing things already, which will surprise a lot of people when all the threads are pulled together. I have a trip to Iceland booked for March to also look forward to which I am now starting to make plans for - looking at the various options for Northern Lights tours and so on. There have been some good sightings this season, so I am hopeful of seeing them again.

I started last year with good intentions of reviewing or last writing a little, of each book that I read, but halfway through the year came to a screaming halt. I am not sure why that happened - life I suppose, but am not going to beat myself up over it, for what matters is the reading itself. It was then a quieter year than the previous one - I completed 90 books in 2013, but 74 in 2014. There are a few reasons for this - much of my reading is done when on holiday and since I had a touring rather than relaxing holiday, there were less opportunities to do this. Of course there was also the small matter of a wedding to plan. Towards the end of the year my reading changed as I started to re-write my own book. My reading for the coming year will no doubt reflect this change, as more esoteric and non fiction books will come into the fray. At the end of the day though, it's all good. I read books in order to learn about not only myself, but also the world around me. Life for me is a continuous process of doing this. I have done plenty of both this past year and I am sure it will continue, even if the learning is a slightly different theme ...

I pre-ordered my copy some time ago, but so far it has been back three times, so it's anyone's guess as to when it will actually appear.

That was my favourite too from last year - especially that scene with the duck !

Oh no - definitely not ! I haven't read the books myself, although I must admit that I have had a sneaky look inside them, but I got my next door neighbours a parody of them for Christmas - The Fifty Sheds of Grey trilogy (the husband, who was ring bearer at our wedding, actually is a gardener) - they loved them and there have been peels of laughter wafting across the fence !

Your favourite read of the year? Above his Station: Darren Craske A Well Tempered Heart: Jan-Philipp Sandker The Ringtone and the Drum: Mark Weston What is the What? Dave Eggers The Shock of the Fall: Nathan Filer Season of the Witch: Arni Thorarinsson Sao Tome - Journey to the Abyss: Paul D Cohn My Name is Salma: Fadia Faqir A Constellation of Vital Phenomena: Anthony Marra Your favourite author of the year? Darren Craske Your most read author of the year? Jason Smart (4 books) and Darren Craske (3) Your favourite book cover of the year? N/A - I only read Kindle books The book you abandoned (if there was more than one, the one you read least of)? None - I finished all of them The book that most disappointed you? The Fifth Wave: Rick Yancey The funniest book of the year? Above his Station: Darren Craske The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden: Jonas Jonasson The Humans: Matt Haig Your favourite literary character this year? The rat from the Darren Craske books ! I also liked the Professor in Matt Haig's The Humans Your favourite children's book this year? N?A Your favourite classic of the year? N?A Your favourite non-fiction book this year? The Ringtone and the Drum: Mark Weston What is the What? Dave Eggers Loving What Is: Byron Katie Your favourite biography this year? N/A Your favourite collection of short stories this year? N?A Your favourite poetry collection this year? N?A Your favourite illustrated book of the year? N?A Your favourite publisher of the year? N/A Your favourite audiobook of the year? N/A Your favourite re-read of the year? That's easy - the one I am currently rewriting, written by yours truly !

If you really want to know about Aztec culture I can't help feeling that non fiction is the way to go, as novels are well, fiction. Even if the author has done his or her research, they are embellished accounts of what life was really and cannot be considered real. Of course not everyone likes to read non fiction, but in my experience it is the only way to really learn about things.

Pretty chilly with a heavy frost - still, it could be worse, in Iceland the other night it was minus 12 !

Indeed. Having looked through my wish list, which has well over 100 titles on it, mostly literary or non fiction, I can see that less than one third of them are available through the Unlimited Program, if that.. For me personally then, it does not live up to its name - but I guess that for others who do read the sort of stuff that is included it might be a good deal. It's horses for courses, as they say ....

It does sound like a good idea, and I did consider it, but as others have said, there are a lot of books that are not included. As I tend to read the less popular books, chances are that most of the things I am interested in would not be included. The big thing for me though is that it doesn't really support the authors in the same way - you are not buying the books but borrowing them, as least that is my understanding. The author then doesn't receive anywhere near the same level of royalty that they should. A lot of the books that I read are non fiction anyway, particularly since I started to rewrite my own work, and these are the sort of books that like I keep permanently, so I can refer back to them. After all, 5 years from now I might want to do another rewrite or maybe write something else, so you never know when I might need to refer to them again.

Frozen custard sounds interesting Virginia ! Coran and I also went shopping yesterday. I bought a Merino wool T shirt and some new walking boots for the trip to Iceland in March and various goodies from Lush - I can usually smell their shop before I actually see it, even with a cold ! It was really nice though to go into 2 of my favourite shops - Rohan (outdoor specialist) and Lush and be instantly recognised - the girl in Lush remembered about our wedding and was asking us how it went, which I thought was really thoughtful and kind. Coran showed her a picture that was on her phone, which she was delighted by. The staff in Rohan were friendly too, greeting both of like old friends - mind you, I do spend a lot of money in there! It really does make a difference and other retailers should take note.

I tried to read the Gary Jennings one years ago as a teenager but didn't get very far with it as it creeped me out too much ! I think I gave up about a third of the way through.

I had a look at the Kindle sale, but as tends to happen, I have read most of the interesting books already. My reading has taken a bit of a dive these past few days, because while I am off work it makes sense to concentrate on the writing instead. It will be difficult to find the time after I go back to work. I have been reading stuff, but not just in book form - various articles on the Internet about strange shaped skulls and the various cultures that practised this sort of thing - all fascinating stuff. At least one book on this subject has been added to my wish list for purchase later on.

flies

Coran and I went to see Exodus yesterday, which I have been looking forward to for a while. The story is quite different from the Biblical version (as was Noah), which was for me at least was interesting.

I know that I used to hate getting critical reviews of my work (and I have had a few in my time), but I don't let it get to me anymore. At the end of the day you are never going to please everyone and we all have our own ideas and opinions. My own book was never going to be a bestseller, and I am sure when the re-write is finally done, the new version won't be either. I am not doing it for others anyway, but more for my own learning.

She was discharged from hospital last night and is now home, thank goodness, which is a huge relief all round. They have confirmed that it was indeed a blood clot that travelled from the lung into the heart and caused the blockage in her artery. She was then by all accounts, extremely lucky as that can easily be fatal. I am finally ready for Christmas though I am pleased to say. We did the Christmas food shop first thing this morning (Sainsbury's was already busy at 8am this morning, so I dread to think what it will be like next week). Presents are all bought and cards all posted. After we did the shopping, Coran dropped me of at the sports centre up the road for a nice massage and dip in the hot pools (an early Christmas present to myself) which was thoroughly relaxing and very nice, so I am now feeling suitably pampered and relaxed.

It's my sister in law Kylie - Coran's sister. She is still in hospital. Coran spoke to her on the phone this morning and despite having very little sleep, she seemed in reasonable spirits. It seems though that as well as the heart problem, she may have a blood clot on the lung, or possibly in the leg, which is not the best news. It seems likely then that she may be in for a while yet.

I hope so too. Apparently they did an Ultrasound first and the Angiogram will be later on. There is a risk though that is she has another heart attack during the test, that they may have to do an emergency bypass. It is then for the moment, a bit of a waiting game.

My sister in law had a heart attack last night and had to be taken into hospital. We didn't find out until this morning, so I had to rush home from work. It is hopefully though not as serious as it sounds. She texted us about half an hour ago to say that she was going in for an angiogram, which will hopefully tell them more about where the blockage is and how serious it is.