Things to do when you have nothing to do

I often struggle with loneliness and boredom when I'm stuck at home by myself.  I get my energy from spending time with people.  This means that when my friends are busy and I'm home alone for days on end, I start to feel depressed.  

I took these holidays as an opportunity to learn some ways to combat this loneliness.  This list is of all the things I like to do with my alone time.  Just because I'd rather be spending time with my favourite people doesn't mean I can't have a nice time by myself.  

Making bath-time special

I need to remind myself how great a bath can be for self-indulgence.  These are my suggestions for how to make your nightly soak special:

• Use tealight candles for a twinkly twilight ambience.

• Use Lush bath bombs or bubble bars.  They're cheap and can last a long time if used slowly.

• Watch TV on a laptop.  I love SBS On Demand and ABC iview for great home-grown TV, documentaries, and foreign films.  

• Stock up on food and drink!  I love taking a cup of tea or Milo into the bath.  Also lollies or a packet of bikkies are perfect bath-appropriate snacks.

• Follow up your bath and get ready for bedtime by moisturising your skin and massaging your tired muscles. 

• Slip straight into pyjamas and enjoy the soft snuggliness that only flannel can offer.

At-home indulgences

Here are some small things that I do to make home-alone time less lonely and boring.  

• I'm a big tea drinker so one of the biggest indulgences is making fresh loose leaf tea.  

• Rent a movie and play it in the background to make any chores you might have more interesting.

• Refresh your nail polish.  This is so cliched and girly, but I find it really relaxing to take time out to do something nice for myself.  

• Watch Youtube vlogs.  My favourite video bloggers are Jim Chapman and Tanya Burr.  Watching their videos makes me feel like I'm spending time with lovely people even when I'm stuck indoors.  

Small escapes from the house

I often feel a bit caged up in my house.  I always feel better and fresher if I can escape it for a little while.  These are some things I like to do to get out of the house:

• Errands might not look like fun, but having something to do can give you a sense of purpose.  Small errands like a trip to the shops aren't time-consuming but get you out of the house.  

• I often crave coffee but I can't make a good enough cup at home.  I love to go for a quick drive to the coffee shop, with my favourite cd pumping in the stereo for an escape from the house.   

• Take a book or your lunch to the park or beach, and enjoy the shade and change of surroundings.  

• Go for a run or walk the dog.  Running especially can improve your energy and motivation levels.

• Spend some time in the library.  You can take advantage of the free wi-fi to do your own thing, or enjoy the air-con and comfy sofas for reading.  

So these are my personal favourite things to do when I'm home alone.  I hope that you find some  of these suggestions helpful if you ever get the short end of the social-committments stick and are feeling lonely.  I'd love to hear what you enjoy doing when you're home alone, so leave a comment.

What We Read: 2014

Happy New Year!  Now is the perfect time to look back and reflect on what made 2014 an amazing year of books.  

What We Read: 2014

• A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
• If on a winter's night a traveller... by Italo Calvino
• Humans of New York by Brandon Stanton
• Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie
• The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
• The Meaning of Liff by Douglas Adams
• Northern Lights by Phillip Pullman
• How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
• Seven Little Australians by Ethel Turner
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
• Sleeping Dogs by Sonya Hartnett
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
• Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
• The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
• We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver

Lowlights

These are the books from 2014 that I didn't enjoy or I disliked for some reason.  Apologies if any of these are your favourite!

Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson is a modern children's classic.  I expected to find it magical and moving, but it reminded me of too many other American kid stories.  The slow-pace and heavily accented dialogue made me question its appeal.

How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff is a coming-of-age story set in a futuristic World War III.  Daisy is a rambling, lackadaisical narrator.  She is anorexic and has an incestuous relationship with her cousin.  Rosoff's aimed for Daisy to be a fresh viewpoint for discussing the topics of war and growing up.  But the narrative treats anorexia as nothing more than a convenient character quirk.  The plot jolts to an end with a six-years-later segment which feels shoe-horned in.

Sleeping Dogs by Sonya Hartnett focuses on domestic abuse and incest amongst members of the Willow family.  It is a disturbing, gritty tale set against an inhospitable outback Australian backdrop.  The sharp writing style and grim depictions of the landscape are excellent, but I wouldn't revisit this story.

Highlights

These are the books from 2014 that changed the way I think and feel.  They have stayed with me long after the final page.

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess is confronting and violent, and won't fail to impact your perception of human nature.  The language is weird and rich, making sure you remember this wild story of a future world of violence and criminal reconditioning.

If on a winter's night a traveller... by Italo Calvino is an adventure in which the reader is the hero.  The writing engages the reader directly through second person point of view, leading you deeper and deeper into its web of overlapping stories.  No explanation can do this genius narrative justice!

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut reimagines the classic war story in a way that shocked and inspired me.  Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time.  His narrative of time travel through WWII and an alien abduction discusses war so that readers can reach an unexpected high of empathy.  Vonnegut's prose is beautiful, minimalistic, and resonating.  Scenes and ideas that we are tired of seeing over and over again are made new in this book.  

The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins is popular for all the right reasons.  The writing is riveting and the story validates young readers' journeys of growth to self-empowerment. 

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is brilliant and witty.  Readers assume that 15-year-old narrator Christopher has Asperger syndrome or high-functioning autism.  His narration immerses readers into the almost claustrophobic complexity of his hopes and fears.  The story is hilarious, nerve-wracking, and thought-provoking.

We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver is stunning.  Eva's son Kevin murdered his classmates in a highschool massacre.  Eva narrates the story through a series of letters that reflect on and explain her thoughts and feelings, from before Kevin's birth to current day.  In Eva, Shriver has created a human being so full of empathetic fear, guilt, and retrospect that I couldn't escape its intense impact.  This book turned my thoughts on human life, love, and relationships upside down.  

It may have been a slow year for blogging, but the books of 2014 have taught me and changed me.  I hope that your reading continues to excite you.  Leave me a comment to share the books you loved from 2014 and let us know what you can't wait to read in the new year!