M.E Awareness Month 2021
May is here and that means it’s M.E Awareness Month!
If you’ve been reading my blog and articles for a while, you know this month is a time when I focus solely on raising awareness for M.E and all my articles for this month will be centred around that. As well as a few new articles, I’ve also decided to re-post a few articles I wrote last year and the year before that I had published on my old blog site. So my plan is to publish a new article every Monday and Friday ~ health allowing of course.
Here’s a couple other things I have coming up this month:
April Book Wrap Up
I decided to post my April Wrap Up a little early as May is M.E Awareness Month and I have a number of posts planned around that for the month. So I didn’t want my Wrap Up to get missed or mixed up with those articles.
I didn’t really have a set TBR for April, just an idea of what I wanted to pick up. So in total I managed to read six books, three physically and three via audiobook. Here’s my mini reviews on the books I’ve managed to read in April:
A Girl In One Room by Jessica Taylor-Bearman ~ Book Review
If you’ve been reading my articles for a while then you’ll know I love to write book reviews. I enjoy telling you all about the books I’ve been reading and my thoughts on them. But sometimes I come across a book that makes such a huge impact on me, that I find myself struggling to put my thoughts into words - in a good way. A Girl In One Room by Jessica Taylor-Beaman is one such book! But I’m going to do my best to tell you all about this book and my thoughts because Jessica’s story is an important one and the more people that read it, the better.
Relatable Book Characters ~ Mental and Physical Health
Like many people, I generally use reading as a form of escape from real life, but it is always comforting to come across characters who may be struggling with something similar to yourself. So I thought I'd share a few of my favourite characters with you; some you may not be familiar with, some you may never have made the connection to having Mental or Physical health issues and some you may know well.
March Bookish Wrap Up
It’s time to tell you all about the books I managed to read during March and although it started off a little rocky regarding book choice, it finished really well. As the book club I co-host with a friend was holding a Read-A-Thon, I had a few books I read for that plus a couple of added extras. So I managed to read a total of 4 physical books, 2 audiobooks and one I read both physically and via audiobook.
My Bed and M.E
This month is National Bed Month and like many chronically ill people, especially those with Moderate/Severe M.E, my bed is very important to me. So I thought I’d tell you bit about why that is and what I feel are some of the important factors in ensure you bed is a cosy a haven as possible.
Since becoming seriously ill, my bed isn’t just the place I sleep anymore as I spend at least 3 days out of 7 each week in it resting. So my bed, and by extension my bedroom, has become a lounge, a dining room, an office/study, a library and at times even a kitchen!
10+ Years of Animal Crossing
As someone who is mostly housebound, playing a game which is mainly set outdoors in nature is just wonderful. Playing as my character, I can walk/run around enjoying my flowers and trees, do my jobs, chat to my animal friends, pick my fruit, go swimming and hang out with my actual friends ~ all things my health doesn't allow me to do in real life on a daily basis. I basically live vicariously through my little character!
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins ~ Book Review
"It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth Hunger Games. In the Capitol, eighteen year old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to out charm, outwit, and outmanoeuvre his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute…”
February Bookish Wrap Up
How was your February? I hope it was a kind one and you were able to read a book or two. I read a total of three books this month, two physical and one audiobook, plus one play. Here’s what they were, along with my thoughts…
Your Lockdown ~ My Life
All these restrictions being put on your freedom to go out and do what you want, to live your life, for a housebound person those restrictions are being placed on them, not by the government of the country they live in, but by their health and their bodies ~ both are out of everybody’s control. So in short, your lockdown is effectively my everyday life and has been for a number of years.
January Bookish Wrap Up
Welcome the first of the new format of my Monthly Wrap Up articles! I realised that trying to do a more favourite based wrap up just wasn’t working for me by the end of last year, as most of the things in my life that I love, don’t really change much from month to month. So rather than simply repeat myself each month ~ that’s not fun for you to read or me to write ~ I’m going to make my wrap ups purely about the books I’ve read within each month. So each month, I’ll write little mini reviews, which will hopefully help those of you that are looking for books read.
Bookshop.org Book Haul
Book Shops, large or small, are such magical places and they need all the help they can get during these times when people simply cannot set foot into the shops. So buying from BookShop is a great way to help and I felt so proud knowing that I’d helped out a local shop with my order.
Hello 2021
With everything going on, I did struggle to know how to even start this piece and what I could even say. I don’t want it to seem like I’m ignoring everything going on but right at the start I said I wanted this to be a safe place for both my readers and for myself. A place to read about other things or to find comfort if you live a life with chronic illness
Goodbye 2020
I think we can all agree that this year has been a difficult one and no matter what your 2020 has looked like, whether the restrictions effected your life in a big way or not really at all {like myself}, you all deserve a medal by surviving it! While the Pandemic isn’t going to magically disappear as soon as it’s the 1st of January 2021 and all restrictions and guidelines still need following, at least 2020 will be over and I think that will be met with feelings of relief for many people.
December Wrap Up
I said in my November wrap up that I would be publishing my December a little earlier than usual just so I can take a break from writing and posting ready to start again in the new year. So here we go, here’s a few things I’ve been enjoying over the past few weeks of December.
Ready Player One / Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline ~ Double Book Review
I thought I’d do something a little different for this article and review two books in one. Since they’re part of a duology, I thought it would be nice to share my thoughts of both them together, how they compare to each other and whether or not, I think Ready Player One really needed a sequel.
November Wrap Up
With the start of December upon us, it’s time for my monthly wrap up post. November didn't have the best of starts but overall, in comparison with how my December has started, it wasn’t that bad really. So within further ado, let me tell you about a few things that I’ve been enjoying this past month…
December TBR
Even though I don’t really do monthly TBR’s, I thought I’d give it a go this month as I have a few books that I’d like to read before the end of the year. Looking at the book stack next to me, I feel it might be a bit adventurous but I’m going to do my best and hopefully I’ll read most of them, if not all of them.
Are Bloggers writers?
can you have a blog and be classed as a writer if the articles you write are published straight onto the internet rather than into a book or newspaper? Am I a Blogger or a Writer?
Lockdown 2.0 ~ Things to help from a stay at home pro!
So as someone who is very use to staying home, {I have been well enough to leave my house once since December 2019} I thought I’d share some tips and things that help me through the autumn/winter months