Learning new things

It’s a new year and that can only mean one thing for me. The quest for knowledge. Every year I spend ages thinking about professional development and what is the next best thing to help me with my career.
It gets harder because really I am pretty much where I want to be give or take a couple of things. It’s a lucky place to be and I know it.
This year I have decided that I am going to do something non work related and something I have been thinking of doing since my 20s. Some counsellor training.
It will take years and I don’t want to freak myself out with the magnitude of that. I will take it one step at a time.

Emotional intelligence

So…I have started doing a self-coaching course and my task for this week was to write a blog post on emotional intelligence.  This obviously has made me think about what ’emotional intelligence’ really is.

I always consider myself to be quite self-aware – but I realised – with the help of a handy online quiz – that I am actually quite secretive about the traits I am less happy about.

Can you be self-aware but emotionally a bit daft some times?

It has made me consider that as well as ‘knowing myself’ I should be more open to the idea of people knowing me – I think I have prescribed to the ‘fake it until you make it’ for so long that I am a bit stuck in the ‘faking it’ stage. I have never quite ‘made it’ but I do get by and I do preserve.

I have started opening up a bit to my selected few of trusted parties. It feels a bit wobbly but it’s probably a good thing.

So, what is emotional intelligence – maybe knowing ‘yourself’ and knowing who to trust ‘yourself’ to?

 

Holiday reading: My name is Victoria, Transmission, Monster

During half term week I managed a rare thing and actually managed to read a few books whilst on the Eurostar.

My name is Victoria was one that my daughter borrowed on both our behalves from the school library. Although it includes a lot of historical content it is at heart a work of fiction and I think this is a good thing because nothing holds back the arc of a good story. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I think there could be more done to cross market these to adults as well. I will have to try one of her adult books and compare them I guess. I suspected the end before it came in part but there were still a few surprises in store.

Transmission was a book I borrowed from work as part of Black History Month activities. I am always partial to a dystopian novel and on first glance this appeared to have all elements of a good end of the world novel. It was much more than that though – the world never actually ended but it was changed, there was intrigue, drama and mystery around the main characters. You never knew quite what would happen and the ending was a shock in parts. I wanted to know more about Arjun and what ultimately happened to him apart from creating the perfect social media fuelled conspiracy.

I didn’t realise that Michael Grant had added to his FAYZ series until I looked him up to try and get an idea if these were suitable for my daughter. I read the series some years ago and the books have now come back to us via my nephew. Having read Monster I have remembered that I don’t think she will be reading them just yet – however, it reminded me how good they are. Incredibly violent but essentially built on human emotions. When I have finished this series I may go back to the beginning again.

Monster by Michael Grant

Transmission by Harry Kunzru

My name is Victoria by Lucy Worsley

Game review: Lost cities

I have recently written another review for Lost Cities the board game. More games are getting played now the weather seems to have taken a rubbish turn. I am hoping for the same positive influence on my book reading!

 

Book review: The Doll Factory, Elizabeth MacNeal

This book had been on my to read list for so long that I can’t remember where the recommendation to read it came from. I finally got round to it and now I regret not starting it sooner!

Its set at a time when London is buzzing with The Great Exhibition and there is a new wave of painters on the block who are busy upsetting people – Millias being one of them.

The book is really quite creepy as it spirals into a decent that only just redeems itself in the end. I really enjoyed reading this. I was rooting for the characters and at some points in the book (you will know when you get there) I gasped out loud.

This is Elizabeth MacNeal’s debut novel and I can’t wait for her to write another.

Buy The Doll Factory from Amazon

Game review: Mr Lister

I recently reviewed this game sent to me by Zatu for their site.

You can find my review here.

 

Book review: Lady Mary, Lucy Worsley

I have mentioned before that I went to see the lovely Lucy Worsley at the Wimpole History Festival. It made me want to read one of her books and also inspired my daughter.

She was the first one of us to get hold of one in the school library (Lucy Worsley writes for children and adults). Because she enjoyed it so much I decided that I would take the easy option and read it to.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. She really brings to life the back story of someone who later became known as Bloody Mary. In this sense I found it reminiscent of Wicked, which I read many years ago and thoroughly loved (I am not surprised it became a hit musical). You learn all about the things that made Princess Mary (as she started off) the person she became.

My daughter also wrote a review for school and I have reproduced it below and she puts it very well.

“The book Lady Mary is great. The book is about a 9-year-old princess who is to be married to Charles the Emperor. When Mary is 16, king Henry the Eighth declares that he does not love queen Catherine of Aragon anymore but has fallen in love with one of Catherine’s servants, Anne Boleyn…

In that same year Anne Boleyn becomes Queen and has a baby girl called Elizabeth. Princess Mary is then banished from court and told that her half-sister is the princess and the rightful heir to the throne. Then Lady Mary is taken to Hatfield to be imprisoned. Mary is starved from December 1533 till February 1535 eating only bread and water and also hearing about the death of her mother Catherine.

Henry sees what has happened to Mary and how cruel Queen Anne is and decides to be-head Queen Anne. When Princess Mary is allowed back in court, she is introduced to her new mother Queen Jane Seymour. Later that same year Queen Jane has a baby boy named Edward And Mary signs a letter saying that he will be the heir before her. Sadly, Edward fell suddenly ill and dies at fifteen leaving Mary the throne.

I like this book because it takes you through a detailed journey of a princess’s life and how she got her such a bad reputation.

I think that the people who would like this book are people who enjoy history, theology and the time period of the Tudors and maybe people who like learning about princess’s.”

Lady Mary on Amazon

 

 

 

 

Book review: Commonwealth by Anne Patchett

What a saga this is! It shows a series of interesting and interrelated family situations over many years. I really wanted it to go on for longer and was disappointed when it ended.

All of the characters are flawed, whilst there behaviour is completely believable. It shows the complex nature of relationships these days. The jumping nature of the book between timelines helps bring out the messy nature of the stories within it.

Another great book by Anne Patchett. I am always surprised at the variation of subjects in her books. They always have human relationships at the core though.

Commonwealth on Amazon

Book review: The fresh complaint – Jeffrey Eugenides

I have never liked short stories. I find them unsatisfying in length and usually in content too. However, as Jeffrey Eugenides is one of my favourite all time authors I was still looking forward to getting stuck into this. And didn’t I just…

I didn’t want to put it down. My family were annoyed with me, I woke up early to read it, and generally I just wanted to be left alone.

I just love the way he writes. The stories were tragic and magical in equal measure. There is always a little left to interpretation but his style of writing leads to a contemplative ending rather than just a finishing of text.

The Fresh Complaint – Jeffrey Eugenides

Book review: The Farm, Joanne Ramos

This book is quite creepy in the fact that it doesn’t seem much of a stretch until this becomes a reality. Jane is just trying to make a good life for her daughter – and this leads her to essentially rent her womb to someone else for money.

The back stories for the other characters in The Farm elicit sympathy, even where you wouldn’t expect to find it – and you are rooting for everyone to have a happy ending.

The ending itself is ambiguous –  whether its happy of not is up to your judgement.

The Farm: Joanne Ramos