Welcome to another Weekly Balance post! Let’s take a look at the last seven days, what I’ve been thinking about and what I’m recommending to you guys from this week.

What I’m thinking about…

Resilience. It struck me this weekend that we have been living such incredibly altered lives for well over a year now. That takes courage, strength, bravery and a whole bucket-load of resilience. We aren’t designed to live life in extended ‘lockdowns’ – and yet here we are, several weeks into one in Ireland since the beginning of the year. It is, in a word, rough. And I know many of you reading are feeling the fatigue with the current situation, especially while we wait for vaccine roll out to progress.

I’d love to have a quick fix answer, but of course, I don’t. What I will say is that re-focusing time and time again on the positives, and the joy from the things we CAN do, are helping me on the days when I’m feeling the most fed up and isolated. Phone calls home. Video calls with family and friends. Hobbies. Cooking a nice meal. Buying myself a fancy Easter egg 🙂 We have to take the joy where we can get it, and we need it more than ever right now.

What I’m reading…

This week, I’ve been reading The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah. It is an absolutely incredible book and I’ve nearly finished it… hence my review will be next week! I know many of you have read this book so do share your thoughts on it with me, I’d love to know.

The April Book Club pick for this coming month is The Four Winds by Kristen Hannah. It’s her latest novel and I’ve absolutely loved her style of writing in The Nightingale. If you’d like to join us this month, just read along and keep an eye on my Instagram for the details of the book club discussion later on in April.

I did finish a lovely audiobook this week called Asking For A Friend by Andi Osho. It’s a very fun and funny story of three best friends – Jemima, Meagan and Simi, all at different stages in their lives but united in their disastrous love lives. Jemimi, the author whose afraid of love, Meagan, who has a strict life plan that no one is messing with, and Simi, n aspiring actress who just wants to find the one. It’s a really great novel, following the women as they begin a dating game to set each other up and find romance, with many mishaps along the way! The narration by the author on Audible was brilliant too.

As always, let me know what you’re reading in the comments below.

What I’m listening to…

Here’s my top 3 podcasts from this week.

How To Fail with Elizabeth Day: The season finale of this podcast was an interview released this week with author Kazuo Ishiguro, who probably needs no introduction. I have his novel The Buried Giant on my nightstand to read soon! It’s a really fascinating conversation about his life, process as an author, and, of course his ‘failures’ and what they have taught him.

The Penguin Podcast: This is a favourite of mine because of all the author interviews I can listen back to. This week, I listened to an interview with Amor Towles, author of A Gentleman in Moscow which I recently read and LOVED. The podcast, like the book, is a charm.

Millenial Love: This podcast has been around a while but I listened to an interview today with author and journalist Dolly Alderton, on friendship, love and millenial dating. A really nice listen, and from 2018, so a solid throwback to a pre-pandemic world!

What I’m watching…

This week I’ve been totally absorbed by The Nightingale so haven’t been watching much actually! The Bold Type on Netflix remains a solid favourite.

And that’s a wrap for this week gang! If you want to get in touch, you can find me @theirishbalance on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I hope you have a lovely week ahead folks – remember, stay informed with the advice from your local health authority regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay safe, wash your hands, wear a mask, keep your distance and be kind!

Ciara x