The first quarter of 2020 finished. The new decade has begun with a real bang. By now I think we’ve all had a chance to experience the lockdown and some of us maybe even got used to it. I hope you are all safe and sound.

It still surprises me how much the world can change in a few weeks. On the other hand, once again I am in awe at human resilience and capability to adapt. Yes, we suffer and dislike the isolation, but we’ve found ways to cope. So many wonderful and inventive ways to stay connected to help each other to remember that, despite everything, what makes us human is our social nature and adaptability.

I write this having completed my third week of working from home and considering the weekly shopping trip to Tesco’s a highlight of my day. And after the second-week crisis, I am fine. I got used to it, found my new pattern. I wake up earlier than when I was going to the office, just to give myself time to exercise, enjoy a long, luxurious breakfast and read or write a post before I start working. Now that my Bigger Half is also home we can have something that was never possible: lunch together. I really enjoy that. The evenings till now were pretty lazy, but I think once my monitor arrives I will also try to spend some time in the evening writing or studying.

We can make it, it may even be good for us in some aspects. If you manage to stay healthy and log off your daily work on time you will end up with some extra time to think, to stop rushing (there’s nowhere to rush to) and to really focus on here and now, on the things we’ve always passed by. For me, it is an opportunity to reassess what is important to me, what I cannot go on without, but also what I can let go. I don’t think I’ve had so much time to think since I was at university. And I plan to enjoy it. Taking it one day at a time (yes, the longer perspective is killing me too, but I made a choice to not think about it).

What surprised me is that since the lockdown started I haven’t been able to focus on reading. During the last three weeks, I finished one book. I do stand a chance now to catch up on my reviewing at some point. It may be good or it may be bad, frankly, I don’t care. In these circumstances, it is what it is. Below you can find what I managed to read over the last three months.

How are you coping? What helps you? What makes you mad?

18. A Voice in the Night – Andrea Camilleri (r)
17. Life Among the Savages – Shirley Jackson (r)
16. No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference – Greta Thunberg (r)
15. Lionel Asbo: State of England – Martin Amis (r)
14. The Hunt for Red October – Tom Clancy (r)
13. The Day of the Triffids – John Wyndham (r)
12. The Life of a Stupid Man – Ryunosuke Akutagawa
11. And So It Begins – Rachel Abbott (r)
10. VOX– Christina Dalcher (r)
9. Mysteries of the Mall and other Essays – Witold Rybczynski (r)
8. Machines Like Me – Ian McEwan (r)
7. The Trouble with Mirrors – Charlotte Elkins, Aaron Elkins (r)
6. Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan – Jonathan Manthorpe (r)
5. The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson (r)
4. The Bell Jar – Sylia Plath (r)
3. Wściekła Skóra – Agnieszka Miklis (r)
2. Wystrzegaj się Futury – Douglas Thomas (r)
1. A Keeper – Graham Norton (r)