Apparently it’s 1 December, which is kinda scary cos I’m pretty sure I’ve failed parlously re my 2014 New Year’s Resolutions. Well, I would have if I’d made any.

But more importantly it’s a Monday (not to mention the birthday of a friend’s daughter, so Happy Birthday Jaz!) and time to share my weekly reading.

Last week’s reading

As planned I read Nest, a novel I’d bought after going to a local author event. It was a lovely novel and beautifully written.

In last Monday’s post I said I wasn’t sure what I’d read next but that was easily solved as a few new arrivals popped up in NetGalley. I started with MJ Arlidge’s Pop Goes the Weasel. I’d read his previous (debut) novel Eeny Meeny  earlier this year so was keen to read the second in this series.

And in a pretty quiet reading week I bought a second book…. the latest by my beloved JD Robb, Festive in Death. I’ve talked before about how much I enjoy this series. They’re my  go-to / ‘comfort’ novels.

Reviewing and blog posting

I posted reviews of Five  by Ursula Archer – an Austrian author whose novel focussed around geo-caching – which was new to me. I also posted my review of Nest  and coffee and chat session I went to with author Inga Simpson. And I reviewed Festive in Death  in Goodreads.

I had a whinge about visiting the dentist and getting somewhat freaked out and I wrote about an author’s voice and whether or not I should be inserting my own in my NaNoWriMo novel.

And finally I pondered on whether the notion of TV on DVD was old school in a world where people stream online stuff.

Other stuff

I have to admit I’ve been a bit down. A school friend (and second cousin of mine) passed away unexpectedly just over a week ago. The idea of someone my age dying (ultimately of heart failure) scared the shit out of me. My mother’s also had some recent heart-related tests (and needs more) and she’s had a close friend in intensive care after a stroke.

On a positive note I’ve stuck with my exercise and although this is only week two I’ve been to a circuit class twice in the past two weeks. Perhaps this will pull me out of my ‘life is f*cked’ funk and I’ll suddenly want to get fitter and healthier. And lose weight.

And on an even more positive note… this!

Yep, I won NaNoWriMo! Which essentially just means I wrote the required 50,000 words in the month of November. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it for a while but the combo of a few things helped:

• Reminding myself a first draft is just about getting words on paper
• Using Scrivener software which allowed me to jump about in my ‘novel’ and write the bits I felt like writing
• Knowing this may never see the light of day but knowing I’d regret it if I didn’t finish. Again!
• Forcing myself to sit down and write ‘something’. Once I start I’m usually fine. And I write quickly, so if I just let words spill out of my fingers I find I’ve easily written 1500 words in an hour.

Next week’s reading

As for my reading next week… I’ve just started The Crooked House  by Christobel Kent – a psychological thriller about childhood secrets (which incidentally, seems to be a ridiculously common theme which I adore!).

 

And then I’m planning to get to The Girl on the Train  by Paula Hawkins, which is described as Rear Window  meets Gone Girl. So the mind boggles!

 

 What’s on your agenda for this week?

Linking up again with Sheila from Book Journey to share my weekly reading.