What are you reading?

I thought it was time to take stock and do a catch up of all my favourite books that I've been reading recently. Reading is a great passion of mine - I always have a book on the go and always make sure I take time out to read no matter how busy I am. Reading gives me an escape - a little step back from busy life and a venture into another world.  I love all sorts and genres of books, but here are a few that are mostly family stories, mysteries or thrillers with a twist.

The Girl From Nowhere by Dorothy Koomson

Dorothy Koomson is a favourite of mine - I enjoy her writing style as she cleverly unfolds a story. This one explores adoption, childhood and the complicated relationships that can be a consequence of adoption. It's a tiny bit slow to start, as she sets the scene, but then in typical Dorothy Koomson style a few twists and turns make this a really enjoyable read and complete page turner.

 A Single Breath by Lucy Clarke

This is another favourite author of mine, her books are usually set by the sea - when I think of the sea, I can almost hear it and see it. I find sea so relaxing, so a story set by the seaside is always a good start for me. This one is set in Tasmania, a place I've never been to, so that captured me from the beginning too. It's a mystery that Lucy Clarke unfolds with beautiful prose that transports you straight to Tasmania as if you were really there. 

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

This author is new to me, but if you love a good spy thriller this may be the one for you. It's quite a long book, but it's a real page turner so don't let that put you off it. The book visits some interesting places such as Afghanistan, the Middle East and Italy to name but a few and is full of twists and turns which keep you on your toes throughout.  

Elizabeth is Missing by Emma Healey

I was interested to read this book as it explores the devastating effects of dementia. My mother in law suffered for years with it when she was alive, so for me, it gave me a good insight into how confused and lonely she must have felt. This book also unravels a psychological mystery from the past, but is filled with humour and romance. The author very cleverly writes from the view point of Maud, who suffers from dementia, so it enables you to see and feel what it really must be like to suffer from it. It also gives a families point of view when they live with someone who has dementia. Very insightful as well as a good story. 

The Son - in - Law by Charity Norman

This is a beautifully written book, written from three perspectives - a husband's, a mother-in-laws and a daughter's. It's all about forgiving and learning to let go; about putting the needs of those you love most above your own needs. Again, another page turner as Charity Norman unravels the story from three very different viewpoints until we have the whole picture of the tragedy that has happened to this family.  It's captivating right from the start. 

The Quality of Silence by Rosamund Lupton

Set in North Alaska, a mother and her blind daughter, Ruby, set off to search for Ruby's father who has gone missing, but someone is following them and trying to stop them. I love the setting in this book - the harsh cold Arctic - I always enjoy a setting that transports me to the other side of the world and somewhere completely different. This book is a beautifully written thriller and a real page turner and it also covers very real and important issues such as fracking, wilderness, native people living in their natural habitat and the greed of our more supposedly 'civilised' society.   

Those are just a few of my favourites and favourite authors of the moment.  I'm also reading my way through several series of books, but more on them another time. This week I've just started 'The Bones of You' by Debbie Howells - I shall let you know how I get on with it. So far, so good! 

What are you reading? What can you recommend? I'm always interested in a good book! 

And just to finish off - fancy reading a  memoir? Here's one to try if you haven't already. I was delighted to have my book featured on the PSC Support website. PSC is also a rare and debilitating disease like Pulmonary Hypertension that I suffered from. Often a PSC patient's only hope is that of a liver transplant, so we experience very similar journeys in some ways. Read the review on the PSC website or checkout the reviews on Amazon - over twenty 5 star reviews -  and see what you think.

PSC Support Review: 

Click on the link if you fancy a read of 'Life is for the Living':

Life is for the Living

If you wish to find out more about PSC visit the PSC support website

PSC Support Website

New Challenges - Writing a Book!

I'm nearly 23 months post transplant, I can't believe where the time has gone, but that's because having my transplant has changed my life so much and allowed me to do so many things and be so busy. It's given me a chance to try new things and have new experiences as well as do things I used to do, but thought I wouldn't ever do again.

Article in Emphasis magazine

One thing I've always dreamed of doing is writing a book. I've always wanted to do this ever since I was little, as I love reading books and I love writing. I'm one of those people who cannot physically walk past a book shop without having to go inside and come out with a handful of books. I've more books loaded on my kindle than I can manage to read and I love real books too, so have bookshelves full of books everywhere around the house. There is something special about holding a book in your hand and the thought of holding a book I've written myself is a dream I want to make come true. 

I decided after my transplant to get myself writing more and I enrolled on a writing course. My course started with writing articles for magazines and for a while I worked on writing articles about my Pulmonary Hypertension and Organ Donation and Transplant to help raise awareness. It gave a purpose to my writing and they are subjects I'm passionate about. I was delighted when I had some success in getting published. It gave me some personal achievement, as after having been ill for so long and being forced to give up my career I'd lost some sense of purpose. It gave me some sense of satisfaction to see my own writing in print and published in magazines. I wrote articles for varied magazines with different audiences. 

Article in Cumbria magazine

After acceptance of terminal illness and facing an uncertain future and then being given your life back, part of recovery through all these stages is finding some purpose in life once again. You suddenly have your future back when you thought you might not have one.Then you have to find what you want to do with that new future. It's similar in those stages of being chronically ill, part of coping is finding new interests for yourself when your unable to do things you could do before. Some people strive to get back to work, to a job or career they've always done or they're forced to start anew and find fresh challenges. 

I used to be a primary teacher and decided that although I loved my career, I'd left it behind years ago and it's time for something diffferent. I decided to write instead. After completing those first few assignments of my writing course, my future assignments were taking me in new directions to write about a variety of topics and although I still want to do this, I couldn't get myself motivated about them, because I still had an overwhelming need to keep writing about my transplant and write a book.

Article in Woman's Weekly Magazine

In the end I decided to concentrate on writing my first book and the saying goes, 'write about what you know'. I started writing about being diagnosed with PH and then being told I need a transplant, then all the waiting and finally getting my transplant. All those thoughts and feelings that I went through. There I had suddenly arrived at that book I've always wanted to write - it turned out to be a memoir. All those years of saying one day I'll write a book, I didn't ever dream it would be about these topics! 

It's taken a year so far and I'm delighted I finished my first manuscript recently. It still needs work - some editing and redrafting and then there's work to be done on book design and working my way through self-publishing. I'm therefore still a short while off to completion, but it's given me a new purpose. It's a huge learning curve as I tackle each step, but that's what is wonderful about having a transplant - the new opportunities and choices that you suddenly have with your new life. That chance to do anything you wish and take on new challenges. 

When I was sick, I still used to look for challenges and opportunities - things I still could do - that's when I started writing and I set up my blog. It gave me a purpose - a chance to raise awareness about subjects I was interested in and a chance to use my photographs - photography was another interest I found while feeling poorly. The two went hand in hand and now one thing has led to another...

Because of my transplant, I'm getting closer to my dream. For me, it's been part of recovery - all that writing has been truly therapeutic. For my family, I hope it will be a momento and a catalogue of events that shows how we coped and overcame a very challenging time. In the process I hope it may help others understand some of the issues patients with long term and chronic disease face and what they have to go through, as well as raise more awareness of living with a rare disease like PH. I hope it demonstrates the huge hope and benefits that having a transplant can bring and helps raise awareness of the shortage of organ donors, as I had to wait two years for my transplant. Ultimately I just hope some good can come out of it. 

I was lucky to do a couple of press interviews recently - one paper wanted to do something on my book and although I'm not quite done, it's always great publicity for PH and organ donation, and so was a great opportunity. Another paper wanted to publicise the fact transplant operations are down in number for the first time in years compared to previous years, so again promoting more awareness for organ donation and transplant. Of course with my transplant story comes my PH story, so inevitably more awareness for that too. Here are the links below to the two press articles.

The Comet news article

The Hertfordshire Mercury

I'll keep you posted on my book writing and progress, but in the meantime what has everyone else done to help yourself through illness or recovery or just for a new challenge or fresh start? I'd love to know!