Simon Thomas on depression, anxiety and the loss of his wife.


Man realises 10 years too late that his dishwasher shelves were adjustable.
The title is incredibly appealing… Shortly after Christmas I watched a documentary on Sue Townsend and remembered this had been on my shelf waiting to be read for ages 🙂
Eva Beaver (yup, that’s her married name) has just sent her twins Brian Jr and Brianne (yup, their Dad/her husband is called Brian) off to Uni and as soon as they’re gone, before her husband gets back, she goes to bed. It’s the first time she’s not had to be responsible for looking after her children and she’s going to make the most of it!
Of course, there are a few initial problems to resolve – bathroom, food, etc, and some marriage issues! Her mum and mother in law along with a handyman who she befriends all help with delivering food and keeping an eye on her, but gradually word spreads about the woman who doesn’t leave her bed, and people start wanting to know why. Is it spiritual? Does she have powers? Is she protesting something? People start coming to her for advice and camping out on the street. It feels a bit like that scene in Forrest Gump when he runs for no reason but people can’t cope with the idea there’s not *some* reason for it!
There’s some really weird stuff that goes on with various relationships and thought processes, but it wouldn’t be Sue Townsend if that wasn’t the case!

Scotland has given all its gritters funny names and you can track them live!
The clever way Iceland is slowing down its cars.

My friend bought me this for Christmas, so it was a good book to start the year with.
Lizzy has been dating Ian for 10 years she was 18 and is desperately waiting for a proposal, so when that comes crashing down, she has to rediscover how to function on her own and see how much she’s changed in that time.
There’s no point trying to claim this is sophisticated literature, but it’s a comfortable, easy read (evidenced by the fact I read nearly 400 words in 6 days!), and it’s fairly warm and fuzzy. Definitely enjoyed it 🙂

“I am feeling quite good today. Quite good is way better than excellent. Excellent is scary. Aim for beige emotions.” – Matt Haig.
This guy knits jumpers of the places he’s going to wear when he’s there.

Finished just in time for the end of the year!
I never thought I’d manage to read a Dickens, but gave this a go for a few reasons
Even with that it took a long longer than I expected, but I’d like to partly put that down to the busy-ness of December and having a couple of magazines to get through as well.
My main knowledge of the story comes from The Muppet Christmas Carol, which means that no matter how hard I tried, every time Bob Crachit appeared, all I saw in my mind was Kermit the Frog, and Scrooge was most certainly Michael Caine!
Oh, and a chick flick [loosely] based on the plot if that’s more your cup of tea is Ghost of Girlfriends Past.
Much as I really had to concentrate to get through it at times, it really was heartwarming and worth the effort.
Favourite line: “It is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.”
