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Yes I was. I love those books when I was younger but reading them as an adult I find Mara ... almost insufferable .. she is such a Mary Sue. I don't think I'd want to go back and read the other books after that.

Also read some distressing stuff about Feist who was apparently abusive to his children but I can't find anything to support that online.

[I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Suffering is not a competition or a race to the bottom so don't feel like you don't have the right vent, that's what that's there for. Wow that's awful - life really loves to creep up behind you and kick the legs out from under you just when you think you're finally getting on top of things. Reach out if you need support.]

Hey TJM,

I hope you're well. I re-read those books a few years back so I say go for it. They don't hit the same way they did when I was 15 but it was nice to re-immerse myself in that world for a while.

I had a NY resolution before to read one book a month and that was a success. I meant to keep it up but found myself spending more time online scrolling reddit mindlessly. I'm try to spend more time reading and less time on the computer so I picked a few books that looked interesting and got them for myself for Xmas.

January's reads were:

I'm with the band - Pamela des Barres
The Drivers Seat - Muriel Sparks

February:

The long way to a small angry planet - Becky Chambers
The Witchwood Crown - Tad Williams (It's a sequel to The Dragonbone Chair Trilogy ((in four parts!!))

March:

You Exist Too Much - Zaina Arafat
Malleus - Dan Abnett

Nothing pencilled in after that so recommendations welcome.

The finger has not been recovered. It fell in a really awkward and dusty place so I plan to have a proper look for it this weekend.

I'm pretty sure I can get him fixed but I don't want to get my hopes up as I know the person is retired and they may not be inclined to take it on. I'll pop down to the local shop this weekend and see if I can suss it out; need to finger though.

I certainly can't it it with my hammer hands.

Don't despair Paddy, you don't need to deal with him you or feel threatened. You can open a case with the RTB and they can deal with it. They have a rent calculator on their website and you can use it work out exactly how much he is allowed to increase your rent by. The max he is allowed to increase it by was 4% but this is now linked to the rate of inflation so it may be lower. Don't deal with him in person unless you can record the conversation as he may try and bully you into accepting this agreement or threaten eviction (I'm not sure what the legality of recording conversations is in Ireland but I think it's allowed). Keep all your correspondence and submit it all with your case. Try and get everything in writing.

I'm determined to read two books a month this year.

Jan has been a success - finished the Pamela des Barres book (meah) and read 'The Driving Seat' by Muriel Sparks. It's a very strange book by a woman about a woman who gets murdered on holiday.

On to 'A long way to a small angry planet' now ..

I knocked over my Judge Death figurine and broke both his arms. I found most of the bigger pieces but I can't find his little finger. FML.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I felt they were too on the nose and somewhat unnecessary; they broke me out of the reverie I usually enjoy while watching a good movie.

You're probably right about that but it's such a cop out. Whatever about the 60s but I'm sure her recollections of the 70s have not incorporated any of the feminist thinking that was prevalent at the time.
It's a rock and roll version of 'Pray, keep sweet and obey' or whatever that Netflix documentary was called.

So far I've read about teenagers giving adult men hand jobs, adults watching girls as young as 12 perform sex acts on each other, the casually mentioned death of a 3 year old that happened in her presence that's simply never referred to again, the possible sexual assault of a young woman in a public place, two of her friends are on heroin and she's almost been sexually assaulted three times (she hasn't even turned 21).

Yeah it's all very peace and love except she seems to spend a lot of her time crying over guys that use her for sex and move on and not an ounce of introspection in sight.

Yellowstone.

I'm really not sure what the hype is about.

If you cut off the first few minutes and the last few minutes The Wonder was great.

Liked Glass Onion more than I thought I would.

Recently watched Grey Gardens the documentary about the Kennedy women (well they were related to Jackie so I guess they were Bouvier women). This could have been subtitled Internalised Misogyny: The Movie. Fascinating on multiple levels.

"I'm with the band" - Pamela des Barnes

Just awful; so many really creepy and disturbing things happening casually from one page to the next. This is tempered somewhat by some genuinely lol moments but overall just WTF?

I understand she is now a creative writing teacher and the mind boggles that a woman who teaches people how to write never passed beyond writing like a teenage girl. I had initially thought she was going for an 'Artist as a Young Man' vibe where Joyce's writing improves as he ages but I was very wrong on that count. Her prose is insufferable. I'm not finished yet but I don't see it improving.

This is a book that seems to be written without a single shred of self reflection, examination or criticism 0f herself, the men she associated with or the times and their impact. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Thanks Paddy, I know I'll be ok in a few months but just have to go through the next few months.

Like the Wu Tang said "The glorious days is gone and everybody's doin' bad"

I'm not in the best form myself the last while. My job has been really stressful and things recently ended with someone I had been dating. I know that it's for the best and they weren't the right person for me but it still stings. I have a pretty hectic year ahead of me with work and studies but I'm just feeling so anxious at the moment seasoned with bouts of melancholy. I hate feeling this way and I know that in the words of an ancient Persian philosopher this too will pass but life has just lost it's sparkle at the moment.

Thanks Jade and Paddy for the updates; I had hoped that the new year might bring better news.

I guess we're all in the same boat to varying degrees so deep breath and one day at a time and one thing at a time.

How is everyone after Xmas and NY?