2016 summary & 2016 reads

The best of times, the worst of times?  That seems to be a reasonable summary of 2016.

On the "best" side I would say the holiday we had in the South Island is up there.  Visiting Dunedin, the Caitlins then on around the bottom of he South Island was fantastic.  Then we drove up to Queenstown and had a few days there as well.





Both children have had a reasonable year at school.
Mr13 starts high school next year.  Mr13's dyspraxia has been managable and he's made progress.  High school will be a new challenge but I think the school we've chosen is the right one for now.
Miss9 joined soccer this year and got the prize for the Most Improved Player at the end of the season. She does enjoy getting out there and kicking the ball around.

In May I got to go to Aurora Leadership Institute in Sydney.  This is a 5 day leadership course/retreat for librarians held in the beautiful surounds of Q Station, North Head, Sydney.  It was a valuable experience for me, and is something I will carry with me.



My work year has been challenging but positive.  I feel like I'm mostly succeeding as a manager.  There is always room for improvement though.

On the "worst" side the biggest challenge for this year has been DH's mental health which took a turn for the worse in July and resulted in him resigning from his job. The environment there was not helping his anxiety and while they tried to accommodate him, it was clear that it wouldn't be sustainable as part of the issue was workplace culture.  Some treatment and counselling has helped, and now he's in the job hunting mode which isn't easy.  Living in Auckland on one income is survivable but no fun.  I am so fortunate to have a job which has enabled us to survive while he takes time to recover.

On the reading front, it has been a great year!  Most of my reading has been recorded on GoodReads with a few exceptions.
Total: 89
Fiction: 57
Non-fiction: 32

Books that stayed in my mind:
Seven Eves by Neal Stephenson
The Poseidon's children series by Alaistair Reynolds
Both are sci-fi which is interesting.

I don't have any particular reading goals for 2017 because I read what I feel like.  My "to-be-read" list is huge! Survival has been very much on my mind so have been reading some of Bear Grylls work. In his view some marks of the survivor are positivity, resourcefulness and never giving up. Things I need to bear in mind for 2017.