What Am I Reading? Week #2

So, while we are stuck at home, I thought it would be a great blogging opportunity to share with you my reading list for the week ahead.

If, like me, you are a voracious reader, I’m sure you have an extensive TBR (To Be Read) pile, and self-isolation offers you the perfect chance to work your way through it. Or, also like me, you continue adding to it by purchasing 0.99p Kindle books… but that’s not the point here.

What do you plan on reading this week?

1. The Boy by Tami Hoag. I will probably hold Ms. Hoag semi-responsible for my love of the romantic suspense novel, as well as my intrigue and vague knowledge of life in Louisiana, as I devoured her books when I was younger. I haven’t read anything by her in years, and The Boy was like coming home to a long-forgotten loved one. Her books are no longer of the romantic suspense genre, but more of the police procedural thriller type which keeps you transfixed until the bitter end. Oh, and I love the bits about the bayou. The Boy is about the murder of a seven-year-old boy and the resulting investigation by detectives and husband-and-wife team, Broussard and Fourcade. I’ve nearly finished it, but it was definitely worth a mention.
2. Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach by Ramsey Campbell. If you are a fan of horror books and have never read Ramsey Campbell, then you need to rectify that immediately. Mr. Campbell is a true master of the spooky, supernatural genre, and never fails to deliver. Ray’s and Sandra’s first family holiday in Greece, on the island of Vasilema, takes a turn for the weird as they discover a number of local eccentricities—the lack of mirrors, the outsize beach umbrellas, islanders who seem to follow the family around. Things are not as they seem, as they soon find out. It sounds deliciously terrifying! I bought this book recently for my Kindle – an absolute bargain at 0.91p.
3. Cujo by Stephen King. When I was younger, I devoured Stephen King’s masterpieces, notably the horror ones. But I’m not sure if I ever read Cujo, the one about the rabid St. Bernard dog. When this surprising possibility dawned on me earlier this week, I logged onto Amazon and ordered it straight away. I’ll be reading it later in the week.
4. The Silence by Daisy Pearce. This was my Amazon First Reads selection for February, and I’m finally getting round to reading it. “Stella Wiseman was a child TV star, but there’s nothing glamorous about her life now. Alone in her thirties, she’s lost her parents and her friends and she’s stuck in a dead-end job. But just as she hits rock bottom she meets Marco, a charismatic older man who offers to get her back on her feet. He seems too good to be true.” As described on Amazon – sounds like an excellent psychological thriller. We will see!

Happy reading! Stay safe. ❤️

Quarantine Day #5

I realise that I hadn’t posted on here in yonks, so I decided that, seeing as we are in the midst of a global grounding, I might as well pick my blog up again. Because I miss posting here, y’know.

Yep, so it’s only day #5 for me because I live in the UK and we took longer than everywhere else in the world to take this pandemic seriously. And that’s not even a joke!

Last Monday, I was back in work as normal, although some of my team were already working from home as the schools had closed. (That took an age for the government to decide on too!) Monday evening brought a speech from the Prime Minister. At last, he advised people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary. He didn’t mention lockdown, but we all knew that was what he meant. I’m unsure as to why he was so reluctant to come out and actually say it. He’s probably regretting it now, as he has tested positive for the virus.

Anyhoo, my team took to the group WhatsApp straight after the speech, and it became obvious that the management were reluctant for us to all work from home. Unfortunately, though, they now had little choice – the government had spoken. And, to be honest, after a few weeks of trying to act nonchalant, I was starting to worry, especially about my parents. And, secretly, working from home has been my ambition for a long time.

So, on Tuesday, I took my laptop into work for the IT guy to prepare for WFH (as all the cool kids are calling it). I managed to wangle an additional monitor and, once they let us leave (which they clearly did not want to do), I raced home excitedly and set everything up in my spare room-cum-office.

Wednesday was my first day working from home. I love it! I have seen numerous people on Twitter complaining about it, but what’s not to like?! I can work flexi hours, turn up late, wear my scruffs and no makeup everyday, and nobody can tell me off for it. Because they can’t see me! And I can still get all of my work done without co-workers pissing me off.

For an introvert, it is the ideal situation. It’s just a shame that people have died to allow this to happen.

Admittedly, it is an extremely scary situation, and I hope you are all doing what you can to stop the spread of this terrible virus. I may be happy to stay at home, but I am very aware that I am, on this occasion, doing it for a good reason rather than just being antisocial. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for unwittingly passing the virus on to someone else because I couldn’t follow simple instructions.

If you don’t need to leave the house, then don’t, and hopefully we can get this under some control very soon. Stay safe.