2015 Reading Challenge

Started: 19 January 2015 - Completed: 4 August 2022

 
1.  A book with more than 500 pages - All The Colours of Darkness by Peter Robinson
2.  A classic romance - Persuasion by Jane Austen
3.  A book that became a movie - Inferno by Dan Brown
4.  A book published this year - The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins 
5.  A book with a number in the title - A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
6.  A book written by someone under 30 - A Study In Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle
7.  A book with nonhuman characters - Definitely Dead by Charlaine Harris
8.  A funny book - The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy by Douglas Adams
9.  A book by a female author - Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris 
10. A mystery or thriller - Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris 
11. A book with a one-word title - Stalker by Faye Kellerman
12. A book of short stories - Not Safe After Dark & Other Short Stories by Peter Robinson
13. A book set in a different country - Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden 
14. A nonfiction book - The Year of Reading Dangerously: How Fifty Great Books (And Two Not-So-Great Ones) Saved My Life by Andy Miller
15. A popular author’s first book - Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
16. A book from an author you love that you haven’t read yet - One Grave Less by Beverly Connor
17. A book a friend recommended - The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud 
18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book - A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
19. A book based on a true story - The Lady In The Van by Alan Bennett
20. A book at the bottom of your to-read list - The Skeletons of Scarborough House (The Chapelwick Mysteries - Book 1) by Kitty French
21. A book your mom loves - J K Rowling: (audiobook versions)
      - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
      - Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

      - Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
      - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
      - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

      - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

      - Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows
22. A book that scares you - The Small Hand by Susan Hill

23. A book more than 100 years old - The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
24. A book based entirely on its cover - The Restoration of Otto Laird by Nigel Packer 
25. A book you were supposed to read in school but didn’t - Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
26. A memoir - Memoirs of a Professional Cad by George Sanders
27. A book you can finish in a day - The Old Man And The Sea by Ernest Hemingway 
28. A book with antonyms in the title - Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
29. A book set somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit - The Ferrari Club by Steve O'Brien
30. A book that came out the year you were born - In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
31. A book with bad reviews - Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger
32. A trilogy - The Eldarn Sequence: Robert Scott & Jay Gordon

Book 1 - The Hickory Staff

Book 2 - Lessek's Key

Book 3 - The Larion Senators
33. A book from your childhood - Enid Blyton:
      · The Island of Adventure
      · The Castle of Adventure
      · The Valley of Adventure
      · The Sea of Adventure
      · The Mountain of Adventure
      · The Ship of Adventure
      · The Circus of Adventure

      · The River of Adventure
34. A book with a love triangle - The Vampire Diaries: The Awakening & The Struggle
by L. J. Smith
35. A book set in the future - Fisherman's Hope by David Feintuch
36. A book set in high school - Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl
37. A book with a color in the title - The Black-Eyed Blonde by Benjamin Black
38. A book that made you cry - A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
39. A book with magic - Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke 
40. A graphic novel - Jack The Ripper: A Journal of the Whitechapel Murders 1888-1889
by Rick Geary
41. A book by an author you’ve never read before - The Witch's Ladder by Dana E Donovan 
42. A book you own but have never read - Margaret Rutherford: A Blithe Spirit by Dawn Langley Simmons
43. A book that takes place in your hometown - Ten Days by Gillian Slovo (London);
44. A book that was originally written in a different language - 100 Years of Solitude
by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
45. A book set during Christmas - Mystery In White by J Jefferson Farjeon
46. A book written by an author with your same initials - Affinity by Sarah Waters
47. A play - The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde
48. A banned book - Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell
49. A book based on or turned into a TV show - Bad Boy by Peter Robinson (DCI Banks)
50. A book you started but never finished - Trust Me, I'm A Vet by Cathy Woodman

Light At The End of the Tunnel

I am happy to say that finally there is light at the end of the tunnel of what has been for me a very long tunnel.  I have a JOB!  It is such a relief, I interviewed at the beginning of July and started working on 20 July.  It is a secretarial position at a small firm of solicitors in Hythe so only a short bus ride from home so no long commute anymore which is excellent and everyone has been very friendly and welcoming.  The benefits of working local far outweigh any losses from working in London.  It is a very busy position but that is great too I just concentrate on what I’m doing and my mind doesn’t have time to wander and worry about other stuff.

Travelling to Hythe has been really nice along by the seafront and I get off by the Military Canal every morning.  It is great being so close to the shops I can pop into the supermarket before work; there is a library a short walk away and with my bus pass I can now pop on and off the buses locally which is great.

I still have to complete my probation but fingers crossed everything seems to be going well at the moment but I have a lot to learn.

Struggling with being unemployed

It’s been a year since I was made redundant and apart from two short periods of temporary work I am still searching.  Every interview becomes harder it feels like a part of me is being sucked out and left behind.  It is very frustrating I’ve never had a lot of confidence in myself, I read the job descriptions and my heart sinks with phrases such as dealing with high pressure situations and demonstrates proactivity and takes the initiative, etc.  The feedback I receive is “we like her but …” normally related to feeling that I am quiet and they worry I won’t be able to deal with the partners/fee earners but I want to scream at them I worked for 27 years as a secretary I can’t have been that hopeless.  But I suppose they have to whittle down the candidates and this is the way they do it.  I find it hard to sell myself in interviews to find the right phrases to say I don’t have enough STAR stories.  STAR = Situation, Task, Action, Result.  I’m no good at making things up I can only be myself.

Every time the phone rings my stomach does somersaults usually I deal with agencies when they initially contact you they are all confident - oh your CV is excellent we’re get you a job in no time and you know it’s a lie.  I decided to switch my focus more towards local jobs it would be nice not to have to travel so far but I’ve have had a couple again they went with someone more suited to the role.  For one of the positions I applied for and did an interview, and was told they went with someone else about a week later I got a call from a different agency asking if I wanted to apply for the same role!  That was a real boost to my confidence.  A lot of the problem is my field of legal work is mainly employment and pensions and for a lot of local secretarial jobs it’s more conveyancing or family based legal work and companies want experience in those areas before they will consider you for interview.  I’m willing to travel to other areas of Kent, Canterbury, Tunbridge Wells, Margate, Sevenoaks, Tonbridge, I don’t mind, I’m willing to try a different area of law if someone would be prepared to give me a chance.

I really don’t know where to go to from here I keep thinking what else I could do change of career, go back to college, but you need a talent that you can work on and I’ve never been very academic.  And my anxiety is playing havoc with my emotions, even when I’m watching TV in the evenings every few minutes I can feel the ache of anxiety in my stomach and the despair just hits you, when am I ever going to get a job again.

I suppose I just have to keep plodding along hoping that I’ll get lucky.

New Beginnings and a Revived Interest

In June this year I found myself for the first time in my life facing redundancy which although was a shock to deal with emotionally I was not altogether surprised since my role had become quieter and it had become obvious there was less work to go around.  It has been an adjustment dealing with this new world of job hunting and especially the daunting prospect of attending interviews since the last one I had was 27 years ago!  I have been using outplacement consultants provided as part of my redundancy package and have joined a few employment agencies to help me navigate my way.  As a result of my new found status I have found myself far too distracted to concentrate on reading so have picked up my cross stitch needle to help.  The last time I did a cross stitch update was in April 2015 far too long ago so it does feel good to be stitching again.

I have made some progress with my Humphrey Bogart project his face is finally complete as you can see.  I am pleased to say I am nearing the end than the beginning I have two small sections at the bottom to stitch and have begun the first already though I took the photo before.  My Dad is pleased too.

I also decided after having been given several tapestry cushions many years ago as gifts and been saying to myself on many occasions I will learn to do tapestry one of these days so I can make them.  Finally got off my butt and bought a small basic learners tapestry kit and am over half way through.  I have found it pretty easy to pick up after following a very helpful You Tube video:

Link to Video - Beginner's Guide To Tapestry

The design is by Orchidea and is called "My First Embroidery" it is quite a small piece only 6.5" x 8" - I found it slightly difficult to see the difference between the white and very light grey stitches in the colour guide I far prefer working with black and white symbols as you quite often do in cross stitch patterns.  But it does stitch very quickly and I'm already over halfway and it looks quite effective.  It is nice to have a break every now and then from the tiny stitches I have to do for the Humphrey Bogart piece.

Hopefully I'll have some good news on the job front soon.

My 2016 Year In Books

Thought that I would share my year in books through 2016 from GoodReads to my Blog:


https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2016/2230482

My favourite book was Slaughter On A Snowy Morn: A Tale of Murder, Corruption and the Death Penalty Case That Revolutionised The American Courtroom by Colin Evans which was a fascinating true story of injustice and corruption of those who are suppose to uphold the law but broke it due to laziness and personal ambition.  It was a real page turner Colin Evans detailed the characters in such a vivid style and I really enjoyed learning the backstory of each.


Highly recommended.

My least favourite book was A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James - sadly it was the first book I read for the book club I joined this year but it was so hard going it was brutal, violent, deeply unpleasant reading and very hard to follow due to the Jamaican dialect it was largely written in.  Why is it so often that books which win the literary prizes are so inaccessible.

Not recommended.

Remember, No Matter What You're Gonna Be Okay

Anyone who suffers from anxiety will know it is immensely frustrating.  You get frustrated at yourself because it has such a debilitating effect on your life and because others people who don't suffer from it just don't understand.  There are lots of resources out there to help including therapy and self-help books.  But I wanted to recommend Paul Dooley's podcasts (The Anxiety Guru Show) which are available on iTunes and via his website:

http://www.anxietyguru.net/

Paul is a qualified therapist and runs his own practice in San Diego.  However, he far more importantly knows exactly what anxiety is like as he suffers from it himself so has first hand knowledge of the effects and the different therapies/tools that assist in controlling anxiety.

Paul's podcasts vary in length and cover all aspects of anxiety including how to cope at work, in relationships, socially etc using straightforward language not psychobabble.  Paul's podcasts are about practical solutions and advice.  Paul does occasionally talk about his therapy practice and he does have ebooks for sale on his website but he doesn't force these on you.  Paul's podcasts are about helping others.

He often makes humorous comments and little asides off the mic which have me chuckling.  It helps alleviate the seriousness of the subject but does not in anyway undermine the information he is conveying.  He helps boost your confidence and gives you hope that recovery is possible if you are willing to put the work in.

"Remember no matter what you're gonna be okay."

Example of How Anxiety Affects Me

So this is me - my tentative Friday afternoon/evening arrangements - having to leave work early to catch a train then a bus to the dentist.  Then as I want to go and see Star Trek: Beyond afterwards locally I have to get a bus back into town, have a bite to eat beforehand and then get a bus home afterwards.  

So a little bit complicated but I am not planning a trip to Mongolia for goodness sake so why am I getting anxious and have butterflies.  I feel ridiculous but I find writing things down - the order of events focuses me a little.  And yes I'm anxious but like Paul Dooley (www.anxietyguru.net)* says:

"The better you tolerate the unknown the better you deal with anxiety - manage not knowing - roll with it".

"Stay in the moment.  Day by day.  It won't feel so overwhelming.  Eventually it will subside."

Breathe.

UPDATE (9/8/2016 - 07:30)

I realise I get worried about pressure of deadlines so being on time for appointments stresses me out.  Paul Dooley is right it's about control - I don't have control over the train so I worry I will be late (hey this is Southeastern we are talking about!).  But be organised leave yourself plenty of time.

Also I hate telling people in advance what I'm doing in case I either change my mind and bottle or something goes wrong.  But this time I made a point of telling people what I was doing and everything went fine I made the appointments with plenty of time to spare and went to see the movie which was great by the way.

I also went to a march at the weekend through Hythe never done that before it was for a collective protest to Save Princes Parade (see photo), against the lorry park and Otterpool.  I'm really pleased I went in fact very proud of myself.

*Note: Paul Dooley runs a website www.anxietyguru.net and a podcast - I will do a separate posting about him.