The Mancunian Yank

 A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (10/10🌟!) - Ove is a grumpy old man who sees the world as simply black and white, a man who loves things to be done the correct way not only in his life but in his neighbourhood as well and when his new neighbours move in with a bang (or a loud scrape to be Ove-rly accurate) he gets a lot more than he bargined for..... I ADORED this book. It's characters are so colourful and individual but complement each other perfectly from cantankerous Ove and the stray cat to the very pregnant and highly emotional Parvaneh and her lovable oddball family. From shy Misrad to the wide, wonderful computer nerd Jimmy. This book is packed with heart but as someone with a dark, dry sense of humour this book also made me grin and laugh out loud. There's love, loss, and redemption in this novel. It's a deeply moving, tender and quite hilarious read and one of the many things I loved about it was the fact that all of the emotions were so well balanced as ever...

 My friends are all dying around me in different ways and it's reached that point again where I find myself withdrawing from them, going through the motions that I care when I'm questioning if I do. One has a brain disease and multiple health issues that are killing them slowly, the other gets suicidal and depressed whenever their partner isn't with them constantly and another is drinking and smoking their way through trying to cope with lockdown and relationship issues as well as not having the opportunity to use their intelligence in a positive way. Lockdown's made us all lazy, crazy but also angry and scared.  I'm not afraid of death personally but for the people I care about it's very difficult for me to accept, even while knowing that a part of us all is dying everyday and that death is a natural part of life.  My ways of dealing with my first friend are to read a book together from our homes as a sort of mini book club. I use the calls and texts every othe...

I've got another confession to make (and yes, I did just use a Foo Fighters lyric) a lot has changed for me during this second lockdown. I survived living in a shared house and I survived contracting the virus. When my test came back positive in October I laughed, first hysterically in fear, secondly in utter disbelief then, finally, in a humorous way as I saw the funny side of it (I now had a legitimate reason, enforced by the government, to stay away from people for 11 glorious days). I told only the closest people to me about it and I'm really grateful that I have those people in my life, checking to see if I needed anything (I'd already made sure that I had everything I needed before I self-isolated). A part of me was glad I'd get some alone time as the fatigue and nausea hit me at full force. But I also realized something else.     I've mentioned before that I have lived with mental health issues (including anxiety and depression) and was using some of my time ...