End of May and we’re already almost halfway through the year, good grief, and at the May reading round up. The weather is ramping up and sitting with a book is a real joy, as anything else causes menopausal overheating at my age!

Every time I click on Google right now I see another announcement about books that have won significant prizes in literature. This must mean it’s that time of the year - the moment prominent book awards start to announce their annual winners.

Spring is here and it’s time for the April reading round up!

My main focus the last couple of weeks has been existing on a VLCD, or Very Low Calorie Diet. That’s 800kcals per day to people in the know, made up of packets, usually soups or shakes.

March had me at a concerted effort to improve my reading, and a reminder to myself that I have Audible and audiobooks because of disabilities and days where it is very difficult to read.

Archaeological news has kind of been made this week with the release of findings of a new Iron Age Cart Burial made on a Persimmon housing development in Pocklington…

A baby mouse just strolled past the fireplace…

February was a combination of finishing off books I had already started or had my eye on from last year, alongside starting reading with a book club, as reading can be a lonely exercise.

I had to see the doctor recently, who’s told me I can’t drive anymore.

January’s reading mix was a continuation of Christmas, and I found this meant an eclectic combination of genres that I found over the Christmas period.

So, a couple of years ago, after being a disabled worker and student for quite a while, decisions were taken out of my hands and I was (finally) medically retired. In my 40s and a lifelong employee in at least one job at a time, a mother, and also a lifelong student, artist and creative, this was a real shock to the system, but realistically it was hardly even a decision anymore.

There is (of course) an online planner for reflecting on how you can round out your skills to become a better researcher overall.  It is Vitae’s Researcher Development Framework, which is something that I, interestingly, once reflected on a great deal but then had a go at when I had lost all interest in it, for the simple reason that it was 2021, Covid arrived, my PhD course was suspended and my imminent medical retirement began to be openly discussed. I was basically, to all intents and purposes, past it.

Sometimes, the best thing you can do when studying, is walk away from it. 

The temptation to a new researcher (well apparently to me anyway) is to always believe that the research questions are not encompassing enough.  This makes it very, very difficult to actually write a question. 

How the first version of my gallery was actually created.

My first association with audiobooks, which was actually for research purposes.

Replay value is a choice for most players; the idea is that after their first play through, a player will want to come back, at some time in the future, and play the game again.

I'm feeling the frustrations related particularly to trying to test certain aspects of gameplay, namely bear taming.

A reflection on past research, the process of producing that research, and eventually using and then reusing the completed pieces.

The difficulties of collating research information as a mature student in a newly technological age.