A sport I want to try

 I deliberately didn't read this topic from Long and Short Reviews out to my husband, because he would have collapsed laughing. I am definitely not the sporty type. I have, however, certain sports I've enjoyed in the past - dangerous ones.

Back in my student days I was a static-line skydiver. Not a very highly-trained one as I quit before I got too far, but I loved every second of those jumps. There's something beautiful about hanging in mid-air and seeing the chute open above you.

I also did a bungee jump at Battersea Bridge once, which probably would have been scarier if I had been able to see where I was falling - short-sightedness for the win there.

I would definitely do both of those again, but as for new sports, I would love to try wingwalking (which is prohibitively expensive and would also require me to lose weight) and, more groundedly, tennis. I never got to do it at school and so never had the chance to get into it. Instead I was stuck doing swimming every semester, and I'm fairly sure my PE teacher thought terrible things about me given that I managed to skip nearly every week because of an ear infection or my period.

So which sports would you like to try?

Do you enjoy shopping? Why or why not?

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews essentially has two answers for me.

Online? Yes.

In person? Less so.

I got into the habit of doing most of my shopping online to avoid Christmas crowds, since there are few things I hate more than being stuck in a mile-long queue in Primark. However, since then I've found online shopping to be preferable in most instances. Apart from avoiding the queues, you also have the advantage of being able to look for exactly what you want without having to lug yourself round from place to place (as was proven when my husband was looking for an electronic item and nowhere had it, but insisted on still displaying it in the window "so people can see what we've got." Um, you haven't got it, that's the point.)

The only snag is the shipping cost, but as long as it's not ridiculous I can deal with it.

So how do you feel about shopping?

A skill I wish more people had and why

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews hit home, because there is one thing that has always annoyed me and probably always will. And I really do wish more people had this ability.

The ability to follow directions.

Specifically, people who ask for directions in the street and then don't follow them. 

I had a woman once ask me how to get to a building which was clearly visible across the street; I pointed it out and directed her to the crossing, and she walked six feet and asked someone else - who shrugged and told her he had no idea where it was. Well, I tried.

I also had quite a lot of people at a previous temp job who couldn't understand that they needed to turn right when coming out of a lift. Invariably they would turn left and then be surprised they were in the wrong place. I never did manage to figure that one out.

So what skill do you wish more people had?

Books that are tearjerkers

 Okay, so this one from Long and Short Reviews was a tough one. I'll be the first person to admit that I don't cry over books. I don't generally read the sort of books one might cry over - fair play to Nicholas Sparks, but give me a happy ending any day. So I was struggling to think of any book I might consider a tearjerker.

Then I remembered "The Time Traveller's Wife".

I admit I only read it because of all the press attention it got, so I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy it more than I thought I would. Of course, we all know - and I think the book and film have been out long enough for it not to be a spoiler - that Henry dies near the end, so that part was obviously going to be a downer, but I wasn't particularly expecting it to affect me.

However.

As the scene is presented, Henry tells Clare on New Year's Eve that he's about to make the final time-jump that will kill him. Henry has no control over when or where he will jump, so there is nothing either of them can do but sit and wait for it to happen. And I was immediately reminded of my father's last days in hospice, when my family and I were sitting watching his chest rise and fall and knowing that at any moment there would be no more breaths. There is something devastating about knowing that the person in front of you is about to die and there is literally nothing you can do but watch.

Which is probably why I never read the book or saw the film more than once.

So which books do you think of as tearjerkers?

ROMANCE GRAB BAG GIVEAWAY

 ROMANCE GRAB BAG GIVEAWAY

June 1st - 30th

Fill your eReader with a surprise!

https://ellenmint.blog/romance-mystery-bag-giveaway/ 

Is your eReader full of tumbleweeds? Do you need something to read but have no idea where to start? Let my mystery box pick for you!

Fifty-One authors teamed up to bring you THIRTY-NINE mystery bags of romance. Alpha heroes, untouchable bosses, sexy vampires, kilted pirates, and more wait to sweep you away. There will be numerous winners!

You get to pick between the three categories that interest you most: Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal

Enter whichever genre is your catnip, or go for all three if you love everything romance.

Do you want a sneak peek hint of which books are available in the bundle? Visit the giveaway page to check them out and enter.

The giveaway is sponsored by these wonderful authors:

Ellen Mint • Tember Sapphire • Cynthia Terelst • V.J. Allison • Jane Maguire • Amber Daulton • Seelie Kay • Jennifer Wilck • Courtney McCaskill • Charlie Lane • Kathleen Ayers • Tanith Davenport • S J Coles • Ella Cooper• Rosanna Leo • Maggie Sims • Sheri-Lynn Marean • Tina Gallagher • K.E. Turner • Will Forrest • M.C. Roth • Maren Jenner • Cass Scotka • Tracy Sumner • Robin Jeffrey • LS Phoenix • Catherine Peace • E. Rose Lynn • Collette Cameron • TJ Finn • Megan Slayer • Kristian Parker • Erin Zarro • Merry Farmer • Amy Craig • Celia Breslin • Aubrey Wynne • Zoe Dawson • Karenna Colcroft • Michelle McCraw • C. J. Burright

Museums or galleries I've visited or want to visit

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was interesting. It's been a while since I've been to any museums or galleries, I have to admit. However, there are a few I think are worthy of mention.

I've visited the Bronte Parsonage twice and would definitely recommend it if you're in the area and have an interest in the Brontes. They have a remarkable collection of Bronteana and the parsonage itself is a beautiful building. Similarly, I visited the Anne Frank House when I was in Amsterdam and found it to be a humbling experience - just seeing how enclosed their hiding place was is really quite eye-opening (although please don't go there with my ex, who stood around saying "Can we go now? This is boring.")

As for where I want to visit, I plan to go to the Richard II Museum soon (I'm a Ricardian all the way) and would love to see all of Vermeer's paintings, if not for the fact that they're all over the place.

I'm interested to see what everyone else will mention!

How I feel about staycations

 This topic from Long and Short Reviews was an interesting one. I had originally thought staycations simply meant spending a holiday taking a break at home, but I've since been advised that - in UK terms at least - this also means holidaying within the UK. In that case, I'm on safe ground, because there are so many beautiful places to visit in the UK, and I love to take short breaks around the country.

Living in Yorkshire, I'm within easy reach of places such as Scarborough and Whitby, where I've stayed many times. I also spent the weekend in Chapel St Leonards last year (in search of bee-eaters which were allegedly breeding locally, not that we saw any) and have a break scheduled later in the year to Great Yarmouth, which I'm very much looking forward to as I've never been there. 

Beautiful scenery, beautiful coastline and new wildlife, as well as history galore - what's not to love?

While I'm here, I just have to mention that to go along with my new release "Get Out Of Here" the previous four books in the Rock My World series are now on sale for £0.99:

They're available at https://www.firstforromance.com/series/rock-my-world - please feel free to check them out :)

So how do you feel about staycations?