Bleak House is taking its toll!

Is it me or does Bleak House, by Charles Dickens seem to be a very long book. I seem to have been reading it for absolutely ages! That's not to say that I'm not enjoying it - but to be honest, if I'd been Charlie's editor, I think I would have tried to persuade him to do some judicial cutting of what, to me, seem like superfluous sections. Maybe I'm just used to reading more modern prose which is a bit more to the point. Anyway, onwards I go - thank goodness I've got a bit of light relief on the reading front with The Left Hand of God by Paul Hoffman, which I'm reading on audio. There's a tad more action going on and at least the occasional laugh!

A book that might just change your life!

I have just read a book that really resonated with me and has already started to transform my daily routines. It's called How to save an hour every day, by Michael Heppell which I read as an audio book, narrated by the author himself. The concept is to look at the things you do during a day and how you approach doing them and assess whether a) you really NEED to be doing them (do you really need to hoover the house every day); b) you really SHOULD be doing them (can you delegate, or push back); c) you could I be doing them in a more EFFICIENT way (do a job, just that job, until it's finished). I have really, REALLY found this little book useful. I have got very stressed by "not having enough hours in the day" to do all the things I think I should or want to be doing. I know it's early days, but this book has already helped me to be more focused. My biggest weakness is to start a job, then let myself get interrupted by emails or other people or by another job that's also on my to do list ... and then try and restart that job later, or maybe next week, So, I spend time going over stuff I've already done to remind myself of where I was ... anyway, you get the picture. This book has helped me to turn a corner with this tendency and I've already completed jobs that have been loitering for ages. It's a real sense of achievement to actually feel like I'm making positive steps every day. I've also dumped my massive TO DO list, which I diligently wrote out each day, rewriting things that were on it from the previous day, and then adding more things every day - and then, just to make sure I'd ticked something off, do a couple of  the really easy things. Now I focus on the MUST DO's - up to 5 a day (and they can be work and home related ... this is NOT just about your working life, but home too), and they become the centre of your attention. I have found that on most days, I not only do those five, but other things also get done as if by accident. The aim of the book is to save you an hour a day which you can spend on something you really would rather be doing - whether that's exercise, more quality time with the family, taking up a hobby, gardening, whatever. There are some liberating ideas, and I know I'm going to be revisiting the book from time to time to pep myself back up again if I feel I'm flagging once again. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone struggling to find time they didn't think was there for them.

My STAR rating: FIVE.

Length: 192 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99 (Audible)
Other formats available: print; ebook.

Can love really triumph over all adversity?

This is the question at the centre of Harvesting the heart, by Jodi Picoult which I read as an audiobook. We open with Paige trying desperately to catch a glimpse of her son and estranged husband through the window of what used to be her home. What follows is her journey to that point and beyond. Paige was abandoned by her mother when she was five, but adores her inventor father who then brought her up single-handed. Aged 17, she runs away from home, abandoning her hopes of attending art school, but too ashamed of her recent actions and unable to face her father. She ends up working in a diner, where she meets, falls for and marries an ambitious young doctor who couldn't have had a more different upbringing. Delirously happy until the birth of her son, she becomes untethered by exhaustion and overwhelmed by memories of her mother, and starts to convince herself that she is set to repeat the mistakes of her own mother. Can she reconcile herself with her past and find her way back to her husband and child and convince them that no matter what has happened, her love for them is strong enough to bring a reconciliation and get their lives back on track? Jodi Picoult is an author who tackles difficult issues, often using unsympathetic characters, but her skill as an author is to keep you following their story and try to put yourself in their shoes and ask the question ... so what would you do? I think you either love her books or hate them. I'm in the former category. Sometimes a hard read, but always interesting, this edition was helped hugely by having a female and male narrator, flipping the viewpoint between Paige and her husband. Time with this book is time well spent.
My STAR rating: FOUR

Length: 512 print pages.
Price I paid: £5.99 (Audible)
Other formats available in: print; audio CD; ebook.